Allegheny College Study Abroad Fall 2007

With each new generation, the lives of Americans gets busier and busier. In looking at the "typical American lifestyles" of today, one would hardly believe that we were once a culture focused on flexible principles and quite self-indulgent. Advancement in manufacturing processes and technology drove us to desire more than relaxation and luxury. We came to equate our time and efforts with money and luxury, and eventually discarded the simple pleasures in life in order to gain more time. So it happened, that the American Dream became less about freedom, leisure, and privilege and more about making money and maximizing time.

Simply, people are on the go, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We Americans have set an overwhelming pace for ourselves and essentially neglected to enjoy our lives and experience the freedom that we fought so hard for. Everyone is always busy and hustling from one store to the next. There are always cars on the streets and sitting at traffic lights. The country is loaded with superstores and chains focused on efficiency and convenience to the customer. In a society ruled by the principles of competition and productivity, Americans mistakenly apply more value to the state of our economy than to the overall health of ourselves. Rather than take a few extra minutes to peruse a small store or to engage in a friendly conversation with a fellow shopper, we bustle about and rush from one place to the next. Essentially, the American Dream is quickly becoming a nightmare. If we continue to live at such a fast pace and to ignore our personal needs, our society will disintegrate and nothing will be gained from our sacrifices.

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Posted by Andrew Busch at 9:58 PM | Permalink

One of the biggest challenges my ESL teacher in high school confronted daily was probably trying to understand the different accents, cultures, and norms in her class. There were students from Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America. We all had our own ways of pronouncing English words, our own ways of dealing with issues, our own ways of doing everything. Even the ones who came from the same country sometimes had a different culture (the Haitian from the North was different from the one from the South). Despites our great differences, we all had something in common; America was our new home. America, a country who thrives on diversity, is home to varied races, religion, and cultures. The fusion of cultures in the United States is really exceptional. I can be just as proud of my original heritage as I am to be an American. When I think of America, I think of a melting pot where different heterogeneous elements mix together to form one homogenous solution.

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Posted by Rachel Jurkowski at 2:42 PM | Permalink

To me, this image by itself says more than I ever could about American culture. It represents our endless need for material possessions. We Americans are so concerned with being better than our peers, and we judge our worth by the things that we own and the amount of money we make. As soon as we get something--whether it is a car, ipod, cell phone, flat screen tv...--we are automatically searching for the newer, better version of what we have. Our nation is essentially made up of consumers, and we consumer more per person than any other nation on earth. If you turn on the television you will see a plethora of commercials for products that are new and improved, faster, bigger, more compact, more attractive, with more features than anyone really needs. It seems as though we will never be satisfied, and that refusal to settle is what drives us forward in our daily lives. This dollar bill states that we need to change our desire because our society needs to revolve less around money and remember the importance of intangible things as well. I personally feel this is very important because many of the things that we buy, such as electronics and vehicles, are harmful to the environment, but our "need" for them is so important to us that we do not consider the impact we are making. The earth should be more important to us than any of these things, and I fear that we will not realize that until it is too late and we have drained it of all its resources.

Posted by Nikki Cash at 1:14 PM | Permalink

To me this picture represents hope, which represents America. It was taken the August before my freshman year here. This was my dorm room all freshman year, and this was my bed. Starting college was a frightening, yet exhilarating prospect that summer. It was a new beginning. That's what I think America is. America is a new beginning for many people. Either immigrants who are coming here to start a new life, or people who have been raised here, like me, but are starting off on a new path.

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Posted by Kay Sadowitz at 12:42 AM | Permalink

When I think of something that defines American culture one of the first things that comes to mind is choice. Here in the United States we have so many choices that people in other parts of the world do not have. Just walking down a grocery story aisle is testament to how many different choices consumers have. Looking at this picture of a cereal aisle it is a wonder that consumers are able to choose, as there are so many possibilities. Not only do Americans have choices with regard to shopping, but also in personal freedoms. The United States was founded on the idea of having the freedom to choose religion, and we also have the ability to make mundane everyday decisions, as well as more important life-altering ones such as what career to pursue and relationship/marriage choices.

Posted by Lauren W at 4:59 PM | Permalink

At first glance, this photo may just look like a variety of faces that you would see everyday. Each face is unique to its own ethnic background. Some of the faces are old, while other faces are young. Some have dark skin, others have light skin. When placed all together, they form a picture of what American culture has become: diverse. We pride ourselves on our diversity, and the perfect blend of a variety of people. However, after the tragedy that recently occurred in our country at Virginia Tech, these faces have become so much more. These are the faces of the people that were shot unexpectedly. While our country is diverse and beautiful, American culture has projected an image that we are indestructible. It seems as though we never expect tragedy to occur in our lives, and when it does occur, we simply do not understand. Our country has taught us power, and that with this power, we are an untouchable nation. It is these ideals that make America such an easy target. We are naive. It would never cross our minds that people are being killed everyday in other countries. But through it all, we still are able to project our united front. The classmates at VT look on in sadness and grief at the faces of their friends. The people that make up this nation are good people. When tragedy strikes, we are able to come together and support each other. Deep down, we are a loving, supporting, united culture. It is times like these that we can put our differences aside; stand by our neighbors, and except diversity as something beautiful.

Posted by Theresa Clem at 9:20 PM | Permalink

"America's Royalty."
This title is the first thing that comes to my mind when thinking about what represents American culture. She's no Queen Elizabeth, but Marilyn Monroe is a name that can be associated with the elite few who constitue the star-studded roster of our equivalent to royalty.

Hollywood icons play a larger-than-life role in our culture. They represent an elite part of the economic and social system in this country. They are some of the highest-paid citizens and let's face it, most of us could only dream of partying it up with a member of this royal family. The country's consumer market needs these people in order to sell products - movies, clothing, music, video games, jewlery... most anything one can purchase is in some way linked with an icon, whether it be a poster of Britney Spears or the newest Madden football game featuring a famous athlete. These stars get special treatment, massive amounts of attention; they even have news programs dedicated to famous people's everyday lives! Our country is one that is obsessed with image and these figures give people a name and a face to attach to these images. Our youth grows up consuming media that centers around reinforcing these images and it becomes an obsession and a goal, constituting aspects of our culture.

Our culture is centered around entertainment and consumption, and these stars are the core of that industry. They have power to influence what the people of this country think, how they feel, and what they do. This power they hold is similar to the power that a royal family has - thus the title of "America's Royalty." Marilyn Monroe would definitely be considered a member of this group - she even had ties to our former president John F. Kennedy! She was an icon that influenced the people of her time. She was so famous and so influential that another icon, artist Andy Warhol, used her as his subject in this appropriation shown above. This just proves how regarded and important these people are within our culture. Our culture is obsessed with people who get paid massive amounts of money to... play a role. These stars that are regarded practically like royalty have a lot of influence over our culture... which to me seems pretty shallow. Queen Elizabeth had historical impacts on shaping the future of her country's culture - Marilyn Monroe gives us an image to strive for. When comparing the two royalties, it seems as if our version doesn't even compare at all.

Don't get me wrong, I also believe there are many positive and deeper representations of our culture, however, the very first image that comes to my mind when I think of American culture is that little old city on the west coast home to our very own royalty - Hollywood and its Stars.

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Posted by Katherine Kump at 11:16 AM | Permalink

To me, this photo speaks volumes about American culture simply because it captures so many different American values. The fact that something so simple, everyday, ordinary, and common could be cleverly turned into a politically charged and motivated piece captures the American ideal of innovation and wit. This is something that people will pass every day, and every day, they will be forced to look at it, since it's a stop sign, and not very easily ignored without some dire consequences.

This political statement is so loud and blatant that it's almost crass, in a way. If you think about it, this is actually an act of vandalism. That aspect is what ties pop culture to political activism, which I think is another typically American thing. It's fast, cheap, and easily reproducible, yet very powerful and eye-catching. This can be good and bad. Vandalism, no matter how politically motivated, is not the best medium (morally speaking) for communicating views. I think Americans have a tendency to forget things like that--we forget to value what we have, and instead focus on what we don't have or what's wrong. However, it's hard to argue that this sign doesn't do what it's intended to do. It draws attention, creates shock, and makes people think.

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This picture was taken in Vail, Colorado. I took it while I was skiing down the mountain over spring break last month. I think it captures a certain essence of American culture that is not often seen. While there is a beautiful mountain landscape in the majority of the picture, a closer look will reveal more. Throughout the history of our country, the American has learned to use the environment for his/her financial gain. Notice the side of the highway (I-70) that is developed, this is the base of Vail Mountain, also known as Vail Village. This resort town has grown rapidly because of the excellent skiing, and somewhat ritzy western appeal. On the other side of the highway, however, an unchanged landscape still exists as it did centuries before. This stark contrast, directly divided by the interstate highway, is a prime example of the American culture. A culture that maximizes profit at the expense of the environment could be one view of it, but I tend to see things through a more optimistic lens. I think that the true definition of the American culture is its ability to offer a modernized technological, structural, and touristy setting, while at the same time offering an example of true North American landscape just a glimpse away. Great scenic destinations do not go un-noticed even to the everyday American consumer. Countering cities like Las Vegas with smaller towns like Vail show the diversity of culture and landscape that our country has to offer. The contrast of the small town rural area versus that of the large American consumerist city can be seen in my picture.

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Image source: www.calvin.edu found through Google Images

Most of the photos I've taken are of horses and nature, so when I went looking for an image that represented American culture, I had a specific type of photo in mind. I've traveled to several countries, and found that you can always point out the american tourists through a few simple stereotypes. I wanted to carry that into my photo so I looked for a photo where the Americans looked awkward and out of place in the host culture, where they were striving for things 'from home', and they simply didn't assimilate well. Unfortunately, such a photo was not difficult to find, simply by Google Image searching for 'American tourists'.

In this photo, the people all fall into those stereotypes. The caption of the photo from the original site read "American Tourists try to figure out proper coins for ubiquitous vending machines in Tokyo". Of course, this is a Coke machine--they were not drinking 'matcha' or 'Qoo', two drinks that are distinctly 'Japanese'. Whatever happened to 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do'? They continue to dress like American tourists with large bags slung over their shoulders and arms (a terrible temptation to pickpockets, as you wouldn't feel it if someone slipped a hand into that bag). Cameras are slung around necks, and they're huddled together like a paranoid herd of Americans.

We as Americans tend to do this. When walking around in foreign lands, we group together like lemmings and make our lack of assimilation even more apparent. We additionally continue to eat and drink foods that are familiar and 'safe' for us, such as Coca Cola, and ordering a Philadelphia roll or a California roll when eating sushi at a genuine, traditional Japanese sushi restaurant. We also have the belief of American 'exceptionalism': while we're paranoid about health and safety when traveling, we seem to forget those concerns once we land in a country. The large bags, the clothing, the expensive jewelry that one woman flaunts around her neck all point to this group as supposedly wealthy Americans who didn't think about pickpockets on the streets.

I think this may be more than 250 words, so I'm going to wrap it up here.

Posted by Katie Locke at 12:06 PM | Permalink

REPRESENTING CULTURE:

For this posting, upload an image that you feel captures the essence of American culture. Try to choose a picture that you have taken. After you have uploaded the picture, write a response to the following prompt:

What does the image that you have selected reveal about the American way of life (its values, beliefs, the American lifestyle, etc.)?

Your response should not exceed 250 words, and should contain the title "Representing Culture" at the beginning.

Due Date: Friday, April 20, 2007

Posted by Ishita Sinha Roy at 9:09 AM | Permalink