S P O T L I G H T - Ohio University

Volume 7, Issue 2 (2014)

Institute for International JournalismE. W. Scripps School of Journalism

Special Edition:Study of the United States Institute

on Journalism and Media

GlobalS P O T L I G H T

Editors’ Note Welcome back, to SUSI 2014! This year’s scholars join us from Russia to India, Chile to Australia, as well as many points in between. In this issue of the Global Spotlight scholars share insights they have gained throughout the SUSI program, through which they traveled throughout the U.S., visiting Cleveland, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Funded by an annual, renewable grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Study of the U.S. Branch in the Office of Academic Exchange Programs, SUSI cele-brates internationalism as well as the sharing of culture and knowledge among the participating countries and the United States. This issue provides first-hand account of our scholars’ first impressions of the United States, cultural and academic interests, and the challenges they face as they attempt to stay connected with loved ones back home as they embark on this six-week adventure. It’s been a busy six weeks, but we ask you to join us as we look back on a fun and informative sum-mer. We hope that you enjoy this issue of the Global Spotlight!

Sincerely,The Editors-in-Chief

Global Spotlight StaffAdvisorDr. Yusuf Kalyango

Editors-in-ChiefNisha GarudAshley Hopkins

SUSI Directors and StaffDr. Yusuf KalyangoProf. Bill ReaderProf. Mary RogusDr. Jatin Srivastava

Contributing WritersSUSI Program Assistants

Kingsley Antwi-BoasiakoKay-Anne DarlingtonNisha GarudAshley HopkinsLuke KubackiMichael WolvenChu Wu

SUSI ScholarsProf. Mirna Abou-ZeidProf. Lionel BrossiProf. Brenda BukowaProf. Lorna Chacon-MartinezProf. Lai Yu Bonnie ChiuProf. Merja Drake

Prof. Shashwati GoswamiProf. Awad IbrahimProf. Agnes Jacob-NepomucenoProf. Sarah HarmelinkProf. Yousef KazimProf. Zin Mar KyawProf. Aruna LokuliyanaProf. Ellard ManjawiraProf. Radu MezaProf. Sayf MohamedProf. Nargiza RyskulovaProf. Inna Shumkina

PhotographerCamilo Perez

Page 2 Global Spotlight

2014 SUSI group photos.

Around the

1. Prof. Mirna Abou-Zeid, Lebanon

2. Prof. Lionel Brossi, Chile

3. Prof. Brenda Bukowa, Zambia

4. Prof. Lorna Chacon-Martinez, Costa Rica

5. Prof. Lai Yu Bonnie Chiu, Hong Kong

6. Prof. Merja Drake, Finland

7. Prof. Shashwati Goswami, India

8. Prof. Awad Ibrahim, Sudan

9. Prof. Agnes Jacob-Nepomuceno, Philippines

10. Prof. Sarah Harmelink, Australia

11. Prof. Yousef Kazim, Kuwait

12. Prof. Zin Mar Kyaw, Burma

13. Prof. Aruna Lokuliyana, Sri Lanka

14. Prof. Ellard Manjawira, Malawi

15. Prof. Radu Meza, Romania

16. Prof. Sayf Mohamed, Tunisia

17. Prof. Nargiza Ryskulova, Kyrgyzstan

18. Prof. Inna Shumkina, RussiaPage 3 Global Spotlight

and back

SUSI’s 2014 International Scholars

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AthensIn and around

When you think of the USA, things that come to mind first are Hollywood, the first man on the moon, the stars and stripes of the American flag, sky-scrapers, BBQ parties, the statue of Liberty, rednecks, cheerleaders and Amer-ican football, well anything, but tradition.

Athens, on the contrary, is a small town of traditions. It hosts the oldest university in Northwest, the architecture is preserved to fit the Greek-styled two-storied buildings, and the first Christian church in Athens proudly dis-plays the date on its wall. Athens takes pride in its history, hosting weekly the oldest Farmers Market in the state, Athenians still shop locally and resist oc-currence of Starbucks, instead choosing local coffee shop that serves caffeine with conscience.

Likewise contemporary Athenians, the first permanent European settlers, who arrived in Athens in 1797 and chartered the Ohio University in 1804, named the country for the ancient center of learning, Athens, Greece, so that centuries after people, like me would travel to Athens, Ohio to study and to remember how to strive and cherish the traditions.

Lai Yu Bonnie ChiuHONG KONG

Finding tradition in a small Ohio town

(Left to right): Kingsley Antwi-Boasiako, Ellard Manjawira, Awad Ibrahim and Jatin Srivastava.


I was very lucky to have participated in the Study of the US institute for journalism. Although time is passing away quickly, it has impressed me deeply as a opportunity of wonderful experiences with friendly and coop-erative international and American colleagues making me feel at home.

Though I really miss my family and friends back home in Tunisia, I am re-ally getting used to staying here in small Athens with my new best friends. The greatest thing about this program is that I got to learn about US cul-ture and media along, with the cultures and politics of 17 other countries thanks to my fellow SUSI members. I am not talking about historical and general overviews that we can get on Wikipedia; this is first-hand experi-ence.

Sayf MohamedTUNISIA

SUSI scholars reflect on their time in Ohio

Athens reminds me so much of the quaint little town I grew up in, tucked away in the far-away country of India’s northeastern state, Assam. The Hock-ing River silently flowing by the university, the geese quacking and welcoming the morning. I wake up at 5:45 watching the morning break out. That is also the time I talk to my family back at home in India -- the boys back home with stories of school to tell. I walk on the bike path and it is a spot in the campus, which I will take with myself from Athens.

This was an interesting sojourn for me to reconnect with my childhood and my home. Ohio University you will be remembered in a special way.

Shashwati GoswamiINDIA

(Left to right): Zin Mar Kyaw (bottom), Radu Meza, Shashwati Goswami, Lionel Brossi, Sayf Mohamed, Lorna Chacon-Martinez, Merja Drake, Awad Ibrahim and Ellard Manjawira.


We had a very nice trip to Hopewell. It is a beautiful place full of mystery. It is a mystery why and how Native Americans build these mounds and what purpose these mounds served. I also enjoyed the Tecumseh! Out-door Historical Drama.

Merja DrakeFINLAND

Tecumseh! in Chillicothe -- where one’s knowledge has been ful-ly widened by learning how the Native Americans fought hard to maintain its land but succumbed to the great wisdom of sharing the same land and be one great nation, under the banner of united states.Agnes Jacob-NepomucenoPHILIPPINES

The road to Chillicothe, Ohio reminded me of the surroundings of Valdivia, a small city in the south of Chile, where meandering rivers and native forest provide a kind of eternal mist, creating an atmosphere similar to that of the tales of knight-errantry.

We went to see the Tecumseh! drama, which takes place in an immense amphithe-ater surrounded by nature, next to the Great Seal State Park. The theatre complex includes a prehistoric Indian mini-museum, a terrace buffet, a snacks store and the “Mountain Gallerie Free Shop,” where enthusiastic parents were buying toy-weapons for their children.

The play tells the story of a Shawnee leader who fights to protect his homeland and his people from the American settlers. It was more than interesting and worth the visit.

Tecumseh!

Lionel BrossiCHILE

Live drama in Chillicothe, Ohio

“The memorials of Native Amer-ican and Hopewell cultures once nourished in this land. Surround-ing Athens are silent reminders of what can happen to a culture stripped of its traditions.”

Nargiza RyskulovaKYRGYZSTAN

(Left to right): Awad Ibrahim, Brenda Bukowa, Agnes Jacob-Nepomuceno, Inna Shumkina, and Mirna Abou-Zeid, with the Tecumseh! Live Drama cast in Chillicothe, Ohio.


Coal mining was once big business here, but now the mining towns, some built and owned by the companies themselves, are barely surviving as ghost attrac-tions for the occasional tourist who ventures into this widely ignored side of the US. Perhaps the best memorial to industrial age struggles between coal miners’ unions and companies is the fire burning underground continuously for the past 120 years -- after being started by strikers in the late 19th century.

As we climbed up the stairs to Robinson’s Cave where some of the defining mo-ments in workers’ unions had been decided, our guide told us, sparing little de-tail, about work conditions, technology and tragedies, strikes and strike-break-ers, ethnic tensions, moonshine, secret compartments hidden illegal distilleries during the Prohibition, company abuses, life and death in communities now populated by old nostalgics living in the crumbling ruins of once lively towns.

However close or distant, short or long it may be, communities, especially small ones, look at common, shared history, often intertwined with personal narra-tives in order to make sense of their lives. When living inside the decrepit shell of an industrial mining town, there’s no choice but to cling to a past where life was about conflict, competition and struggling, not just carrying on.

Little Cities of Black Diamond

Radu MezaROMANIA

The United States you do not see in the media

Houses lining the streets in a coal-mining town found in Little Cities of Black Diamond.


Exactly a year ago I read Haruki Murakami’s novel 1Q84. Thanks to SUSI about a week ago we visited Amish country, and it was a chapter of 1Q84 come alive. We met with two Amish community members, and just like characters in Muraka-mi’s novel, both of them were reasonably successful in their businesses, modest about their achievements and loyal to their community.

Just like Murakami’s characters, the Amish members were worthy of admiration and their lifestyle choices were healthier than typical US citizens’. Their lifestyle was a reaction to over-consumerist American society. They motivated their choices with desire to remain truthful to their traditions, to preserve values of simple living, family and grace. They spoke about spiritual slavery of modern living and technology.

In Murakami’s 1Q84, things took unexpected turn, developing in the most outrageous ways, just as things usually unfold when a cause becomes more im-portant than life. For the Amish in the USA the struggle is still ongoing and will continue, while the question about possibility of striving for authenticity without running away from life remains open.

Nargiza RyskulovaKYRGYZSTAN

Exploring a simpler way of American life

Inside Amish Country

(Left to right) Aruna Lokuliyana, Lionel Brossi, Shashwati Goswami, Radu Meza, Mirna Abou-Zeid and Inna Shumkina.


Forget Athens, for a little while and come with me to Cleveland (located in northeastern Ohio on the Southern shore of lake Erie approximately 60 miles (97 km) west of the Pennsylvania border), and let’s meet the Amish people. Take a moment and imagine life without TV, cell phones and com-puters. Unbearable right? But this is the life that these people live 24/7, 365 days a year. I will be honest, I have never come across a land as beautiful as the Amish country, this is another slice of heaven that I am sure was left behind on earth for Americans to enjoy.

Forget about heaven for a moment and lets talk about the Amish lifestyle. In addition to not having the modern telecommunications gadgets, these people follow strict Christian beliefs, and only reach a certain level in their formal education. Their lives are centered on using their hands to make a living, and for them this is enough.

Brenda BukowaZAMBIA

Amish Culture in America: The USA is not what I saw on television

A traditional horse and buggy, found in Amist Country Ohio.

(Left to right): Agnes Jacob-Nepomuceno, Brenda Bukowa, Lionel Brossi, Shashwati Goswami, Awad Ibrahim and Aruna Lokuliyana.


Arriving inAtlanta

The SUSI scholarship program provides a fertile avenue for learning the rich culture of United States vis-a-vis its impact to the world.

[While in Atlanta we were able] to visit in the epicenter of the renowned Civil Rights Movement -- the Martin Luther King Jr. historic site, and Jimmy Carter’s Library and Museum. We experienced happiness in the World of Coca-Cola and learned how it evolved and influenced universal pop culture.

We explored global cable news, CNN, and were amused by state-of-the-art broadcast facilities and its huge broadcast studio.

Agnes Jacob-NepomucenoPHILIPPINES

From CNN to the World of Coca-Cola

(Left to right): Lai Yu Bonnie Chiu, Inna Shumkina, Brenda Bukowa, Ragan Kalyango, Agnes Jacob-Nepmuceno, Awad Ibrahim, Zin Mar Kyaw, Shashwati Goswami and Lionel Brossi.


We dined at the Sun-Dial Upscale Restaurant, a revolving restaurant in Atlanta, while appreciating the sunset and the night scenery of Atlanta. I loved my strawberry Gazpacho and grilled salmon. It took the restaurant one whole hour to have a 360-degree panorama turn, and we were all busy taking pic-tures with different views outside of the windows.

Lai Yu Bonnie ChiuHONG KONG

The art of fine dining: Inside the SunDial

Photo by Inna Shumkina

(Left to right): Ragan Kalyango (bottom), Lai Yu Bonnie Chiu, Mirna Abou-Zeid, Inna Shumkina, and Zin Mar Kyaw.


Taking it back toSan Francisco

Last week, we went to San Francisco, where we stayed at the Embassy Hotel. The idea that I had about this city is that it is industrial, businesslike, cold and unicol-ored, a blue-collar environment. However, the culture of San Francisco is major and diverse in terms of arts, music, cuisine, festivals, museums and architecture.

San Francisco’s diversity of cultures along with its eccentricities can greatly in-fluence anyone who visits this city. It is set along the water, with rolling hills and a unique mix of architecture. It contains some notable landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. As we only had two days, I had a few tours as a way to familiarize myself with the city. I discovered dazzling museums, cool neigh-borhoods and quite possibly the best ice cream on earth.

The first day we went to Pier 39, with sea lions, waterfront dining, street perform-ers, live music and shopping. Then we had to climb up Lombard Avenue, which is best known for its eight sharp turns that have earned the street the distinction of being the most crooked street in the world.

Centered on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia. Although the Mission District has been known for its Hispanic and Latino population, the Mission Dis-trict is culturally diverse, as it has been a “stop-over” for many immigrants. A mix of Latino culture, Hipster bars, artisan restaurants and funky shops, the district is well worth exploring. I didn’t feel like a tourist anymore.

Sayf MohamedTUNISIA

Traveling to a city worth falling for(Left to right): Inna Shumkina, Lai Yu Bonnie Chiu, Agnes Jacob-Nepomuceno, Mirna Abou-Zeid, Sayf Mohamed,

Shashwati Goswami and Merja Drake.


From the beauty of man’s ingenuity through the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California and treading with excite-ment to the GOOGLE headquarters; to the magnificent exclu-sive tour inside the $400 million complex in the home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team at AT&T Park, to meeting top editors of the Wired Magazine and, of course, walking down the financial district of San Francisco and mixing with a multinational public, to a fun-filled ride in the San Fran’s historic cable car: these and many unwritten events are memo-rable cultural study tours provided by the SUSI program.

Agnes Jacob-NepomucenoPHILIPPINES

Exploring the golden gate of US media

2014 SUSI Group; Photo by Inna Shumkina


Tweets fromSUSI 2014


Follow us on Twitter:

@scrippsiij


2014 SUSI Scholars in Washington, D.C. Clockwise from top left: 1) Mirna Abou-Zeid; 2) Aruna Lokuliyana, Shash-wati Goswami, Yusef Kazim, Lai Yu Bonnie Chiu, and Mirna Abou-Zeid; 3) Merja Drake, Radu Meza, Sarah Harmel-

ink, Lionel Brossi, and Lorna Chacon-Martinez; 4) Radu Meza, Brenda Bukowa, Agnes Jacob-Nepomuceno, Ellard Manjawira, Inna Shumkina, Awad Ibrahim, Shashwati Goswami, Lionel Brossi, Sayf Mohamed, Aruna Lokuliyana,

Lorna Chacon-Martinez, Mirna Abou-Zeid, Sarah Harmelink, Zin Mar Kyaw, Lai Yu Bonnie Chiu, and Merja Drake.

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