The Swedish Students' Image of the United States

is due not only to the power and wealth of the United States, but fully as much to the more intimate fact that at least half the families of Sweden have relatives across the Atlantic. Swedes perhaps indulge a tendency to feel more closely acquainted with America than is actually the case. The old myths of gold in the streets, of opportunity and unlimited freedom, die hard. But they are being brought into question. Sources of information about the United States for Swedes in general, as well as for Swedish students prior to a trip to America, are comparatively easy to identify. In the schools and in the universities specific instruction about lands beyond the ocean is meager indeed. Basic geography is taught, but American history comes into the curriculum merely as a part of world history. Students learn about the American Revolution; they gain some acquaintance with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln; they know the part played by the United States in the world wars of the twentieth century. American literature is notably neglected in the secondary schools and is only beginning to find a

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