Exerting American Influence in Finland

137 Hanna Honkamäkilä Exerting American influence in Finland – Formative years of the Department of English Philology and unsuccessful attempt to develop American studies with the help of the Fulbright program at the University of Oulu in 1966–1973 Introduction American studies -related humanities courses were the Fulbright Program’s key area of development at the University of Oulu. It was closely linked to the overall development of the University of Oulu. The assignment of the first four Fulbright teachers in 1961–1965 was to teach voluntary conversation classes.1 At time students studied the natural sciences, technology, education and medicine at the University of Oulu, and they were not eager to take voluntary English courses.2 The situation changed when the Department of English Philology was founded at the University of Oulu in autumn 1965. It became then possible to do a higher degree in English. The teaching of the English philology at the University of Oulu began as a main subject in autumn 1965 under the supervision of the University of Helsinki and Professor Ole Reuter.3 Ole Reuter left his position in spring 1974. The flow of Fulbright American literature lecturers to Oulu ended at the same time too. Contrary to Oulu, the Fulbright Program continued to finance American literature lecturers in higher education institutes in Jyväskylä, Turku and Helsinki.4 A qualified American lecturer, M.A. James Lee Haines, began lecturing at the University of Oulu in autumn 1974.5 Haines graduated from Ohio University as a linguist who studied the relationship 1 See Hanna Honkamäkilä, “Reorienting Finnish higher education to the West: Promoting American Studies -related humanities courses by Fulbright exchange grantees at the University of Oulu in 1961–1965”. Faravid 48/2019. Pohjois-Suomen Historiallinen Yhdistys, Rovaniemi 2019, 89–113. 2 Annual Report of the United States Educational Foundation in Finland Program Year 1964, File 17, Suomen ja Yhdysvaltain opetusalan vaihtotoimikunta (Finnish–U.S. Educational Exchange Commission) hereafter FUSEEC, The National Archives of Finland hereafter FNA. 3 Oulun yliopiston toimintakertomus (University of Oulu Annual Report) 1.9.1965–31.8.1966, Ou- lu 1968, 45. 4 Annual Report of the United States Educational Foundation in Finland 1974–1975, 1975–1977, 19 File 17, FUSEEC, FNA. 5 Oulun yliopiston toimintakertomus (Annual Report of the University of Oulu) 1.9.1974– 31.8.1975, 65. 138 Hanna Honkamäkilä between Yiddish and English. He taught American English, but he was not an expert in American literature.6 Haines is an example of transformation from culture and literature -focused philology to linguistics in Oulu. The Fulbright Program was steered globally by the Board of Foreign Scholarships (BFS) which was based in the United States. It was formally independent but was practically tied to the US Department of State. The Board of Foreign Scholarship approved the institutional status of the University of Oulu in the Program in 1961.7 During the next forty years 1961–2001, the University of Oulu, which was founded in 1958, received one Fulbright grantee almost every year. In 1961–1972, ten out of fourteen exchange scholars from the United States at the University of Oulu were teachers or lecturers of the English language and American literature. 8 The United States Educational Foundation in Finland (USEF) managed the Fulbright Program for Finland. Despite its independent foundation base and binational nature, it was under the direct guidance of the Embassy of the United States. The American Ambassador to Finland was USEF’s Honorary Chairman, and the Embassy’s Cultural Affairs Officer and Public Affairs Officer were in fact permanent members of the board throughout period of 1953–1996.9 Finnish representatives on the USEF board were usually professors or representatives of industry. USEF’s first Secretary-General, Sven-Erik Sjögren, underlined the very close co-operation with the Legation. The Legation was the official and only link between the USEF and the BFS; the Legation administered ASLA (Amerikan Suomen lainan apurahat, Grant from America’s Loan to Finland) program, which was connected to the Fulbright Program; and in the beginning, USEF’s offices were in same building as the United States Information Service (USIS) in Helsinki.10 In this article, I explore the relationship between the Department of English Philology at the University of Oulu during its formative years and the United States Educational Foundation, which administered the Fulbright Program in Finland. My main material are the final reports 6 Interview with Ilkka Marjomaa, September 10, 2019. 7 United States Educational Foundation (USEF) in Finland’s Annual Program proposal for Academic Year 1962–1963, File 15, FUSEEC, FNA. 8 When discussing the Fulbright Program year 1961, it means the 1961–1962 academic year. It follows the timeline of the United States Educational Foundation in Finland. USEF used this until 1976. In 1977 USEF changed its annual report to cover the calendar year. 9 Annual Reports of the United States Educational Foundation in Finland 1953–1996, Files 17 and 18, FUSEEC, FNA. The Legation of the United States was raised to the Embassy in September 1954. 10 The first year of the Fulbright Program in Finland was 1953–1954. The Annual Report of the United States Educational Foundation in Finland, (P.L. 584, 79th Congress, The Fulbright Act) Program Year 1953 covering exchanges for the academic year Sept. 1, 1953 – May 31, 1954, File 17, FUSEEC, FNA. See also Marek Fields, Reinforcing Finland’s Attachment to the West: British and American Propaganda and Cultural Diplomacy in Finland, 1944–1962. Dissertation, Hel- sinki 2015, 201. Exerting American influence in Finland... 139 of the Fulbright grantees in Oulu; the annual reports of the United States Educational Foundation in Finland and the annual reports of the University of Oulu. The aim of this paper is to examine how the development of American Studies was supported and promoted at the University of Oulu in 1966–1973. Fulbright lecturers were responsible for the compulsory American literary course in Oulu as was the case at the University of Helsinki. However, relationship between USEF and English Department in Oulu ended. My aim is to explain why it happened. I contextualize my analysis to the general social and university development situation, which partially explains that Fulbright lecturer in American literature was no longer necessary. Especially, the politically heated committee work on the qualifications of university degrees in the philosophical and social sciences (FYTT), which had begun its work in 1969, affected on the situation.11 Simply put, the question was whether the emphasis in university studies should be on academic or practical skills. As committee work concerned the type of professional qualifications students should acquire, in the early 1970s, it related to discussions of how much literary and practical language knowledge English philology studies should contain. This was related to the crisis at the Department in 1973. This crisis also involved an extraordinary dispute over library acquisitions that focused on esoteric and mystical literature. The last Fulbright lecturer, Dr David Hesla took part in this dispute and heavily criticized the Department, consequently affecting the Fulbright withdrawal. Bridging the gap of American literature by Fulbright lecturers The concept of American Studies evolved along with the Fulbright legislation’s evolvement. In 1961 Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act contained definition for American Studies. Subjects as American history, government, economics, language and literature, and other those related to American civilization and culture were encouraged.12 However, these ideas were implemented already after the Second World War in Germany and Austria, where need to reform the education system and denazifying the society were urgent. To reshape the long-term positive reception of U.S. culture, school-systems were democratized, English-language 11 “Filosofisten ja Yhteiskuntatieteellisten Tutkintojen Toimikunta”, which was abbreviated and generally referred to as FYTT. Osmo Kivinen, Risto Rinne & Kimmo Ketonen, Yliopiston huomen, korkeakoulupolitiikan historiallinen suunta Suomessa (University’s tomorrow, histor- ical development of the higher education policy in Finland). Hanki ja jää, Helsinki 1993, 110– 124; Osmo Lampinen, Suomalaisen korkeakoulutuksen uudistaminen, reformeja ja innovaatioi- ta, (Renewing Finnish Higher Education, reforms and innovations). Opetusministeriön julkaisuja no 25, 2003, 37–39. 12 Gilles Scott-Smith, “The Ties that Bind: Dutch-American Relations, US Public Diplomacy and the Promotion of American Studies since the Second World War”. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 2, 2007, 288–289. 140 Hanna Honkamäkilä classes were developed, U.S. topics were augmented to the teaching curricula and American Studies were supported.13 In this article, I will study seven academic years from 1966 until 1973 at the Department of English Philology at the University of Oulu. I will refer to the first Fulbrighters in Oulu in 1961–1964 briefly in some parts as a point of reference. In Table 1, there is a summary of Fulbright lecturers at the Department of English in 1961–1972. Table 1. List of American grantees in American studies –related humanities courses at the University of Oulu in 1961–197214 Name of the Category Year of Definition of the field in Fulbright Home institu- Grantee

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