The Foreign Service Journal, May 2023

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2023 35 Agitators Abound Mike Hurley Outdoor Recreation USA, Photography USA, USA 200 Years / Yerevan, Kishinev, Odessa, Tbilisi, Ufa, Novosibirsk, Moscow / 1973-1977 My first visit to the Soviet Union was in 1972 as a college student participating in the summer Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE) pro- gram to study Russian language in Leningrad. Language immersion in Leningrad paved the way for my guide experience with USIA’s exhibits program (1973-1977). I experienced three different exhibits as a guide: Outdoor Recreation USA in Yerevan, Kishinev (now Chisinau), and Odessa; Photography USA in Tbilisi, Ufa, Novosibirsk, and Moscow; and USA 200 Years in Moscow. The training in Washington prior to an exhibit was pri- marily about the technical side of the theme: photography, outdoor recreation, and a thorough grounding in the U.S. Constitution for USA 200 Years. It included pointers on how to engage Soviet audiences (e.g., don’t provoke with ques- tions about Soviet atrocities), but I don’t believe there was ever a “script” or rules that restricted our ability to speak our own minds. This lack of rigid instructions surely was one of the important aspects of our ability to make points with the Soviet audiences. We actually believed what we were saying. We were often confronted with agita- tors whose job it was to ask us pointed questions. The exhibits were visited by 10,000 people per day. As a non-native speaker, I found this emo- tionally and physically draining, so the added provocation compounded the encounter. Taking a “warts and all” posi- tion, however, was part of the strength of our presentations. I did not disagree directly with an interlocutor, but rather tried to explain the context of their questions. They’d ask things like, “Why do you hate Black people?” “Why do Americans eat out of garbage cans?” “Why are you Exhibit guide Mike Hurley on the fishing stand at the Outdoor Recreation exhibit in Yerevan (now the capital of independent Armenia), 1973. COURTESYOFMIKEHURLEY