Program conveys the American way
By Michael Doke
Of the Emerald
Frank Sinatra sums it up best when he
sings: “I did it my way.”
What the entertainer conveys, says
English Prof. Barbara Mossberg. is the
American way of doing things. He also
conveys the independence of the
Marlboro man alone atop his horse, the
drive of the immigrant who came to the
then-New W'orld and even the wealthy
Ewing family on the television show
“Dallas.”
Through his song. Sinatra depicts the
independence, drive and goals of the
“pure” American, she says. And
Mossberg is one to know about this
country’s image, as she and history Prof.
Allan Winkler soon will be in charge of a
new American studies program on
campus.
America represents many things, such
as mobility, ambition, originality,
technology, self-reliance, power and op
M
portunity, Mossberg says. By contrasting
“Americana” — Mickey Mouse,
McDonald’s restaurants, Mark Twain,
Babe Ruth, “American Graffiti” and
“Star Wars” — with America’s history,
Mossberg attempts to landscape
America’s self-image in an American
studies preview class offered this year.
“By definition, Americans are people
who dream of doing things a better
way,” she says. “These are the kinds of
people who came to America in the first
place. It’s the American dream; we can
raise ourselves by our own bootstraps.”
All Americans, in essence, came out of
an obscure past looking for a new life
and a fresh chance, Mossberg says. This
culture is different from others because
of this immigrant experience, she adds.
“We escaped the old world of limited
and restricted fate,” she says. “This idea
is seen in the heroes we have.”
The popular American hero is the lone
figure, she says. “He is a stranger who
rides into town from the East. Unknown
to everybody, he stays in town for
aw'hile, solves its problems and then
rides back out of town.
“It makes sense to our culture that we
make him a cult hero. We idolize the per
son who doesn’t belong,” she says. ‘
“Take Rip Van Winkle or Huckleberry
Finn. They are virtuous because they
escape civilization."
While we identify with the stranger,
we are struggling to establish a com
munity, . she says, and tension arises,
because a high value is placed on
conformity.
“Our pace is fast, we are very mobile,
we don’t stand still,” Mossberg says.
“We believe in the possibilities of our
future; you can be anything you want.
But if you just stand still, if you don’t
better your parents, that’s failure.”
America’s world role is one of am
bivalence, she says. Americans are ad
mired by people in other nations for their
ideals. There is
sympathy for
American prob
1 e m s and
respect for
American
honest
y and self
criticism,
Mossberg says,
hand, however,
the power this
country has as a
counter-part with
the Soviet Union
over the fate of
the world is a
great concern,
she says.
‘‘Most
Americans are
not that deeply
aware . . . that
this country is
such a world
power,” she
says. “We are
more concerned
with our own
community and
our own lives in
general.”
All of these
factors — in
dependence,
drive, mobility
and power .—
make up the American image, Mossberg
says. The American studies degree will
interrelate these areas through books,
films and lectures.
Once the degree is offered next year,
approximately 50 faculty members from
12 departments will offer 70 courses per
taining to the program.
“The priority is to have the student in
tegrate their courses around a theme.
The degree is individually tailored to the
students interests, as long as they are
working with American studies facul
ty,” she says.
To receive a major degree in the pro
gram. students must complete 30 hours
of related courses, with at least 21 upper-.. .
division hours. An essay and an upper
division seminar also are required.
The essay and seminar are needed for a
minor, along with 15 hours of. related
classes, nine of them upper-division. t
Photo by Michael Clapp
Prof. Allan Winkler took an opportunity last April to give his
history students a taste of American studies at its best:
Don’t Fall For It!
An open letter to students who are considering Speed Reading Courses:
During the last several days, Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics has been placing large ads and distributing flyers to attract students to a
free speed reading lesson. With the amount of reading required in a university education, many students are looking for ways to increase
their effectiveness and efficiency as readers and are quite understandably attracted to such advertising. That’s why colleges across the
country have been offering speed reading classes as an alternative for students who would otherwise be prey to grasping entrepeneurs. It is
important that students know that the University of Oregon provides such a program, specifically focused on the needs of universi
ty students, for one-tenth the cost of Evelyn Wood.
In addition, students should know that Evelyn Wood’s marketing techniques are at best questionable. For example, a student who at
tended the Evelyn Wood session called our center to inquire about the differences between that program and the University’s. During our
conversation I realized that he had been erroneously told that we use reading rate-building machines, an approach to speed reading that has
been thoroughly discredited. Moreover, he said that somebody else in the room confirmed that information based upon personal ex
perience in one of our classes. It was then that I realized that Evelyn is up to her old tricks; the second student was surely a plant. I’ve been
at this university six years and have never even seen such a machine here!
For at least ten years I have seen Evelyn Wood salespeople misrepresent the programs of Cal, Stanford, Texas and now
Oregon. Through the years I have consistently disapproved of the anti-intellectualism pervasive in Evelyn Wood’s advertising (e.g.
“Don’t waste your time studying. ”); the mendaciousness in their marketing (discrediting academic reading programs); and their general
lack of insight into academic reading (e.g. “You can speed-read Hegel. ”).
Evelyn Wood Corporation is right when they say it is possible to increase one’s reading speed. They are absolutely wrong when they
say that they offer something that cannot be learned as well in a university program. Most university courses, certainly ours, have distilled
the most effective techniques from the various commercial programs and from research in the psychology of reading and have applied
them to academic purposes. The University’s course is not only cheaper ($40); it is better.
I encourage all students who are interested in increasing their reading speeds to inquire about the University’s course at the Learning
Resources Center. We will be opening extra sections this week. Talk to one of the staff members at the Learning Resources Center or to
students who have taken the course. A potential expenditure of almost $400 certainly warrants such investigation.
Sincerely,
Dave Hubin, Director
Learning Resources Center