1. Some days ago there was an incident at Columbia University where
   students prevented a fella from the Minutemen Project from speaking.
   Another incident regarding free speech was the Westboro Baptist Church
   planning to hold a protest at the funeral for the Amish girls.

   In the latter situation restricting free speech would seem reasonable,
   and I know that in political gatherings there are "free speech zones",
   but it seems strange that some Universities enforce campus speech
   codes. Isn't the whole point of universities the free exchange of all
   kinds of ideas?

2. What was the response in America to the film Fahrenheit 9/11? It seems
   utterly absurd to me that any American would want to make a film like
   that during a time of war. Trying to think in comparable terms, if a
   Finn had made a similar film during the height of the Continuation War,
   I would have a very hard time thinking about that person as anything
   other than a traitor to his country.

   Has it always been acceptable to openly question and ridicule the
   President during war-time, or is this a relatively new phenomenon?

========================

1. Where do the professional sports teams get their names? Are they
   normally just named by the publicists and advertising? Or is there some
   fact or fiction, a myth behind them. For example, are there
   particularly many avalanches in Colorado, panthers in Florida or
   Carolina, or senators in Ottawa? Why are so many names connected with
   animals and nature? (Jaguars, Dolphins, Eagles, Lions, Bears, Bulls,
   Hawks, etc.)

2. What is the reason that computer programs and operating systems are
   depicted in a strange and mystified way in movies and TV? It seems that
   no-one has ever heard of a mouse, and everything is operated by odd
   lengthy keyboard commands. I would expect IT-companies would be happy
   to sponsor shows and true-life applications could be used.

3. What is the origin and meaning of the phrase "my two cents". In which
   context is it correctly used?

========================

1. Several weeks ago I was watching this program "Dismissed" on MTV. The
   point in "Dismissed" is that two women (or men) compete for the same
   man (or woman). One of the competing women had white (although tanned)
   skin and blond hair; the other had darker skin and black hair, because
   her family originated from Puerto Rico. When the women were telling why
   the guy should pick them, the previous woman thought that he should
   pick her, because she's an "All-American Girl", having blond hair, blue
   eyes and so on. She mentioned the concept "All-American Girl" at least
   three times. As far as I can remember, all the traits of an
   "All-American Girl" she mentioned were connected with looks. Finally,
   to my question: Do Americans have some sort of general definition for
   the concept "All-American Girl"? And if so, does the concept usually
   refer more to looks than to other traits? Would a white American, in
   this context, be considered more American than a black or yellow or...?

2. In the US7 References there's a link to "Defining 'diner'". Have you
   been to the American Diner here in Tampere? In case you have, how well
   does it match your idea of an American diner?

========================

1. St. Patrick's Day and Labor Day are not celebrated here in Finland. Are
   there any other holidays that are "US-specific"? (Excluding July 4th.)
   What about the other way around, what holidays are celebrated in
   Finland but not in the US?

2. How esteemed are the college-level sports leagues? Are they just
   stepping stones to the major leagues for the players? How widely do
   they attract fans?

3. What kind of car owner stereotypes are there in the US? Do all soccer
   moms drive SUV's and are all pick-up owners rednecks? How are Japanese
   or European car brands viewed in the US? What are considered lower
   class and upper class brands?

=========================

1. In the course reference file on the most popular sports,
   some of the sports seem to be quite local. For example, I associate
   Jai-Alai with Florida only (though it may be because of Miami Vice...).
   Also, it is probably not likely that bobsledding would be popular in
   all corners of the country. Do you know the geographical distribution
   of the different sports? Which would determine the favorite sport of a
   person more strongly; social status or place of residence?

2. What kind of connotations are there of different fast food chains? In
   movies and TV, there are often references to Wendy's, Colonel Sanders,
   KFC, etc. which are not all that familiar to us here. Can you tell
   something about a person if he/she eats at a certain restaurant? Are
   some connotations stronger than others?

========================

1. In Britain, showing your index and middle finger with the back of your
   hand turned to the direction of the other person is a very rude sign.
   This is not so in the States, is it?  Which other hand signals (rude
   or not) do Americans recognize and use regularly, and in which kind
   of situations?

2. In Finland we have one the highest literacy rates in the world; Finns
   read lots of books and subscribe to multiple magazines. Do people
   regularly read books in the States? Where do they get their books from,
   the library or are they normally bought? Does the literacy rate and the
   tendency to read vary between the races and social classes?

========================

1. I've seen many American movies about life in high school and I've
   noticed that there are some phenomena that are often present. For
   instance, the high school girls in the movies sometimes seem to have a
   rule that if you want to be cool you must never wear the same piece of
   clothing twice in public. The students are also usually divided into
   different groups (the cool kids, the computer nerds, the artistic kids,
   etc.) who don't really mingle with each other. To me both of these
   phenomena seem very superficial. Are they real or just an exaggeration?

2. The Finns have classic jokes in which there is usually a Finn, a Swede
   and a Norwegian in a funny situation. Do Americans have such jokes
   about themselves and some other particular countries?

========================
 


1. Why are college sports so big in America? In Finland it would be quite
   ridiculous for our university, or other universities, to sponsor teams
   like in US colleges, and I believe that is true for most other
   countries, as well. What makes American college sports more important?

2. Why are there so many jokes and negative references to New Jersey?

========================

1. Can contemporary Christian music in America be considered popular
   culture? How wide an audience does it have? Are Christian artists more
   popular in secular circles in America than they are in Finland for
   example. Is there a larger awareness of the existence of this type of
   music (Christian rock/pop) in America than here?

2. Does the American education system support the knowledge of popular
   culture in any way? For example, do the students go on class trips to
   the theatre or the cinema like we do here in Finland?

========================

1. Comics (or graphic novels) seem to be gaining popularity worldwide, but
   the superhero comics have been and appear still to be especially
   popular in the U.S. To my knowledge, this genre was born in the U.S.
   Why do you think this is so? Why do the superheroes appeal especially
   to American audiences?

2. Why do most American comedy shows use canned laughter? What's the
   history behind this practice and when was it first used?

========================

1. The advertising industry is obviously a lot bigger in US than it is in
   Finland. How great do you think is the influence of advertising in
   people's everyday life? How much do ads really affect the way people
   think and see reality?

2. It seems to me that there are a lot of 'true patriots' in America. Why
   are Americans so patriotic? Are they so proud of their nation? Do
   Americans think other people (specially in Middle Eastern countries)
   somehow inferior and that they, as a greater nation, have the need and
   right to meddle in other countries' business and lives?

========================

1. In many countries in Europe dubbing foreign TV-programs is the norm as
   opposed to subtitling, and I know that many people who are not used to
   reading subtitles find it distracting. In Finland, however, pretty much
   all foreign programs are subtitled, and people are used to it and even
   find it a good thing from the perspective of learning languages. So
   first of all, how common is it to see foreign programs on TV in the
   United States in the first place? Is it mostly a cable thing? And how
   is the language handled, is it more common to dub or subtitle? And what
   do people in general think of dubbing vs. subtitling?

2. Why are large chain companies so popular in the US? There seems to be a
   chain of restaurants for every kind of food imaginable, for example. It
   is common in Finland as well of course, but many of those companies are
   of American origin. I know people value the fact that they will know
   exactly what they are getting, because everything is controlled, and
   everything will be familiar to them whether they enter the restaurant
   or store in their city or in another state. But that is so impersonal
   and dull. Is there a market for smaller companies? Can they compete
   with the large chains in the US?

========================

1. I was watching Frasier last Saturday and something escaped me. Niles
   and Daphne were discussing possible names for their unborn baby and the
   name Bob came up. They dismissed the name because in its entirety it
   would have been "Bob Crane". I didn't get the joke. What's the
   sigificance?

   Relating to the same show, both Niles and Frasier have a distinct
   accent from the rest of the characters in the show. It's noticable to
   the point that it was easy to recognise them when they did voiceovers
   in The Simpsons. What is that accent? Is it something common among
   Harvard/Yale educated people?

2. I saw an American documentary not too long ago. I can't remember the
   name, but it was related to young Americans with financial problems. It
   cought my attention that wages were paid in cash at the end of each
   work day, and people actually had shoe boxes and cookie jars where they
   stacked the cash. When they needed to pay bills they went to a
   supermarket and purchased a money order which was then mailed to the
   recipient. Is this really common? Why are the wages paid after each day
   instead of once or twice a month, and why is not paid directly to a
   bank account?

========================

1. I spent last summer in London. In Britain it seems that wearing a
   hooded sweatshirt with the hood over your head identifies you as a
   juvenile delinquent, street thug and/or a thief. A lot of shops and
   clubs even had signs saying "No Hoodies - No Exceptions". Is there any
   similar piece of clothing in the U.S. that would be unwise to wear if
   you don't want to be seen as "suspicious"?

2. What happened to moustaches? In the eighties they seemed fashionable,
   the most memorable moustache-wearer being Tom Selleck in Magnum P.I.
   Now it seems they are only connected with white trash, German porn or
   leather-clad gay men. What happened?

========================

1. When you look at tv series about life in suburbs, the characters often
   have yard sales, barbeque parties for neighbors, organise children's
   school plays together or even do some kind of "citizens-on-patrol"
   guarding. It almost seems that in the States everyone knows their
   neighbors, and not attending these activities would be considered rude.
   It also seems obligatory to bring a gift basket or a home-baked pie to
   new neighbors. Are these kind of community activities common in the US?
   Would this be considered part of popular culture? Is there usually a
   housing committee of some sort, and do these things only happen in the
   suburbs, or also in the in-city apartment buidings?

2. When I was in the States, I was invited to my friend's little sister's
   high school graduation party. The party took place in their garage, and
   they served coffee and cake but also hot dogs, hamburgers and chips
   with dip. Everyone was wearing casual clothes. Are there any "rituals"
   in this kind of celebrations in the States, like there are in Finland?
   Would this be different in college graduation parties? They were also
   handing out the girl's prom dance pictures to all the guests. Is this a
   common thing to do?

========================

1. In Finland we don't actually have a 'drinking culture' unless
   binge-drinking counts. What about in America? Do they have fine wines,
   or do they sit in bars drinking beer or something else? Is there a
   'drinking reputation' in America? (Like Brits drink beer, French wine
   and Finns anything?)

2. Most American sit-coms have wealthy, beautiful, white and heterosexual
   main characters (Sex and the City, Ally McBeal, Fraiser, etc.) However,
   almost always there is someone black, gay, poor, fat or otherwise
   "different" minor character. Why is that? Is there a 'rule' for this?
   Does someone say 'Hey, lets throw in a black guy to make this more
   realistic'? Or are those the only sort that are bought for Finnish TV?


========================

1. It seems to me that the tv series that are made in the US are either
   very conservative or intentionally provocative in nature. For example,
   series having religious or homosexual elements either outrageously
   underline these themes (like South Park or L-Word); ignore the
   existence controversy (like Touched By an Angel); or only insinuate in
   a very indistinguishable manner that there might be some controversy,
   or that there is no universal truth about these things (Will and
   Grace). I have the impression that the series that are shown on cable
   channels (like HBO) are more daring and often handle difficult topics
   in a manner that can be disturbing for some people (series like The
   Shield, Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Oz, etc.)

   Is there a difference in the audience of these series?  Do race, age,
   political stand, gender or things like that separate the viewers of the
   different channels of these series? And if so, does the popular culture
   only confirm the already existing attitudes? Can media alter the point
   of views and has it ever happened in a very obious way?

2. Relating to the first question, we have talked on the course about
   'tarnished heroes'. Is there some underlying current of admiration
   towards 'bad boys' in the US and is it getting stronger? From Elvis on
   there have been controversial characters in the field of popular
   culture, and today it appears to be even more so. Thinking of rappers
   (esp. gangsta rappers like 50 Cent), basketball players (Rodman),
   characters of tv-series like Vic Mackey in The Shield) it seems that
   the values of the Americans cherish the survivors, mo matter the price.
   At the same time women who openly flair their sexuality are idolized.
   However, critisism toward them seems to be a lot harder than of males.

   50 Cent's album was called Get Rich or Die Trying, and it somehow seems
   that it is a slogan that nicely abstacts the dominating attitude. Do
   you see this as a reflection af the traditional survivor mentality of
   the old American pioneers and American dream, or are the attitudes
   really getting tougher and are the moral values at stake? Does the
   popular culture create or reflect values?