Movies, McDonald’s, and Mickey Mouse: Hong Kong Student Reflections

Year 2002, Issue: 15, 73 - 88, 01.04.2002

Stacilee Ford

Abstract

There are many possible futures for American studies. New Americanists at ease with literary, postcolonial, and cultural critiques of the nation/state have challenged the notion of American exceptionalism and called for a reconfiguration and re-naming of the field.[1] A special double issue of American Studies in 2000 [2] argued for the increased recognition of the significance of globalization theory for American studies and the need to turn more frequently to social sciences scholarship in order to place the U.S. in a global and comparative frame Yetman and Katzman, 6 . Ultimately, university budget cuts may also drive curriculum decisions as many American studies departments/programs look for ways to make courses more practical and skill-based. For example, our program responded to student demands to include business courses in our American studies curriculum. Such a move is not uncommon and increasingly the field will, perhaps more fully embrace non-traditional areas such as business and tourism. In addition to these changes, greater exchange between institutions inside and outside of the U.S. is likely. Increasingly, the future of American studies is to a certain extent – both intellectually and pragmatically speaking - outside of the U.S.

Keywords

Movies, McDonald’s, Mickey Mouse

References

• Foglesong, Richard E. “Disney in Hong Kong,” guest lecture in course at Hong Kong University “Consuming Culture: Decoding American Symbols” Spring.
• Foglesong, Richard E. (2001). Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando. New Haven: Yale University Press.
• Ford, Stacilee and Slethaug, Gordon (1999) “Hong Kong Students Look at the U.S.A.: American Studies in Hong Kong”. American Studies, 40:2 (Summer): 151-182.
• Giroux, Henry A. (1999). “Disney and the Politics of Public Culture”. In Giroux, The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield: 17-61.
• Noble, David W. (2002) Death of a Nation: American Culture and the End of Exceptionalism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Ritzer, George (2000). The McDonaldization of Society. Thousand Oaks CA: Pine Forge Press.
• Ritzer, George, and Malone, Elizabeth L. (2000). “Globalization Theory: Lessons From The Exportation Of McDonaldization and the New Means Of Consumption”. American Studies 41: 2/3 (Summer/Fall): 106-15.
• Rowe, John Carlos (2002). The New American Studies. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Watson, James L. (ed.) (1997). Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East Asia. (Stanford: Stanford University Press.
• Yetman, Norman R. and Katzman, David M. (2000). “Globalization and American Studies”. American Studies 41,2/3 (Summer/Fall): 1-14.