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Curriculum / Spring 2011
Czech Culture and Civilization The course traces the essential events and periods of Czech history and culture. However, its goal and method are not descriptive. The emphasis is laid upon issues that underlie today’s way of thinking of Czech people, their views and stances. One of the central issues dealt with in the course is the issue of personal/individual identity. While the 19th century prefers the idea of an individual fitting in and belonging to a national (religious, local, professional) collective, the modernity turmoil challenges this idea and unveils a personal/individual identity crisis. An attempt to substitute the national collectivity with a notion of a functional civic society in 1920s and 1930s is followed by ideological/political collective constructs of 1950s and 1960s. These phenomena reflect and are tackled in the course through interplay of polarities of heterogeneous vs. homogeneous, private vs. public, past vs. present vs. future, local vs. universal, narrow (i.e. Czech) vs. large (European) context. The course provides students with a deeper insight into the Czech mentality and character by dealing with issues which have determined modern Czech identity, as well as with current political and cultural events and issues. Moreover, students become familiarized with the city of Prague. Through both these aspects, the course will help students to integrate into and experience the Czech society from within. The course is co-taught by four faculty members, nevertheless it represents a coherency: the contributions of individual faculty members complement each other and represent a plurality of interpretative angles. Course requirements: active class participation, reading, essay and a test. The course is obligatory for each program participant and establishes the core of the first two-week core course session.
An intensive conversational course of Czech language designed to develop, at a very basic level, proficiencies in comprehension and speaking, and to introduce students to everyday culture of Czech life. Students will achieve elementary conversational skills in everyday situations including conversational keywords and phrases such as warnings, signs, personal contact words and phrases (identification, greetings, etc.), handling numbers (prices, money, Czech currency; basic weights and measures), time, making appointments, shopping (asking for things; shopping in the neighborhood stores; labels, notices), communication in restaurants, physical environment (asking the way, city transport), and travelling. The course consists of in-class lectures; excursions out of the classroom are organized where relevant. Course requirements: active participation, one final written and oral exam to summarize and test the content covered, results will be counted as part of the regular semester Czech course.
Politics of the European Union The course explains the origins and current structure of the European Union (EU). It examines the role of politics in the functioning of the EU. The course describes effects of the European Integration and the role Member States, EU Institutions and European citizens play in this process. Among others, the course examines to what extent the EU limits the power and sovereignty of EU Member States. The main goal is to familiarize students with the political system of the EU and to discuss current EU affairs, i.e. the EU politics “in doing”. There are three major theoretical parts. The first section analyzes historical basis for and theoretical explanation of the European integration. Also, it is concerned with the role of the EU internal market in the European politics. The second (core) section scrutinizes major Union´s institutions, their functions and the role of Member States in the EU. Special attention is paid to the (limited) role of the European citizens in the EU. The third section deals with the EU activities in the world, such as the enlargement process (by far the most important and most successful tool of the EU to influence neighboring states) and the role of the EU in the world economical, political and military affairs. Course consists of in-class lectures, multimedia presentations (incl. those by students), discussions, reading, and regular e-mail communication with its instructors related to current affairs. The course meets for three hours per week in two sessions.
CEE Economies and the EU Enlargement In 2004 Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia became part of the enlarged EU. Bulgaria and Romania joined EU in 2007. This had an economic impact on both the new entrants and the EU itself. The first part of this course deals with issues related to the economic transition from centrally planned economic system into the market economy. The second part tackles topics related to the EU enlargement and to current EU issues. The course is focused on economic realities of the CEE region. Local experts are regular guest speakers in the course on issues as car industry, capital market, beer industry, EU structural funds etc. Course requirements are class participation, oral presentation, midterm and final exam and a paper. The course meets for three hours per week in two sessions.
Fragmentation of Europe and Reintegration by the European Union This course is concerned with the current stage of fragmentation and reintegration tendencies in Europe. The European continent is a dynamic and fascinating region striving to come to terms with its ethnonational identities and political and economic transformations. Since the 1989 fall of the Iron Curtain, the continent is involved in modernization and reintegration largely orchestrated by the European Union. Nevertheless, the importance of ethnonational, political, and economic diversity endures and its importance has increased due to the fragmentation of former communist federations. Current reintegration is based upon widening (i.e. EU enlargement) and deepening (i.e. EU deeper integration.) Widening and deepening are understood in terms of the changing identities in the countries concerned. Euro-skeptic, Euro-optimistic or Euro-realistic views are examined in this connection. The course approaches the outlined issue from an interdisciplinary perspective. Course requirements: active class participation, regular weekly reading (about 60 pages per week), oral presentation, midterm exam (with a short paper of 3 pages), project resulting in a final essay of 10-12 pages (first draft after 10th week). Project topics are based both on lectures and in-class discussions, and on additional reading. The course meets twice a week for total of three hours.
Social Change in East Central Europe: From Communism to EU Membership The course focuses on the complexity of social change in East Central Europe in the period between the fall of Communism and the accession to the European Union. It emphasizes the mutual interrelations between social, economic, and political developments. Special attention is paid to the external influence of the EU accession on these processes. The course is organized into four thematic parts. The first part covers socioeconomic changes in the region, including changes in the national economy, social structure, poverty distribution, social mobility, education, and housing. The second part deals with voting behavior, the development of national party systems, and issues of local democracy in relation to region’s history, cultural diversity, development of social structures, ethnic relations, and electoral laws. In the third part, gender issues and value changes are discussed. In the concluding part, the hypothesis of East - West convergence in political, social, economic, and regional development is tested. An important part of the course consists in a project, which is conducted by students on topics related to the course. The course consists of in-class lectures, reading (30 to 40 pages weekly), presentations and discussions. Course requirements: active class participation, midterm and final test, oral presentation of project, essay (10 to 20 pages) based on project. Class meets twice a week for total of three class hours per week. Instructor: Tomáš Kostelecký
Gender and Culture: Selected Current Topics The course analyzes contemporary phenomena shaping our everyday existence in this world as men and women. Starting with the debate of the “communist gender experiment” students move into political and sociological arenas to debate registered partnership, transgender issues, reproduction rights (including sterilization of Roma women), sex trafficking, pornography, and representation of sexes in public life. Youth subcultures will be presented from a gender viewpoint. Other major cultural myths upholding tradition-al concepts of masculinity and femininity – film, media and advertising will be studied and compared to the new virtual possibilities of cyberspace, “reformed” spirituality and post-feminist readings of popular culture and cartoons. The course is heavily supported with visual documentation, field-trips, and stars exciting Czech guest-speakers from the field of arts, politics and religion. The course meets for three hours per week in two sessions. Instructor:
Czech History of the 20th Century: An Oral History Project The main goal of this course is to familiarize students with development of the Czech society in the 20th century and to provide thus a necessary background for the oral history project students will participate in. The course focuses on the key crossroads of modern Czech history (emergence of an independent state, Nazi occupation, establishment of the Communist regime, Prague Spring, Velvet Revolution). The oral history project, which constitutes an integral part of the course, is organized by the Institute of Contemporary History of the Academy of Science of Czech Republic. The thematic focus of the project is the late sixties in the U.S.A. and Czechoslovakia - parallels and differences and/or Czech exiles in America who returned back home after 1989. American students will participate in the project together with Czech students and young assistants of the Institute of Contemporary History. The course meets for three hours per week in two sessions.
The course is designed to bring students to a general understanding of European mentality as a unity established on the basis of Christianity, urban culture, and market economy, a unity that is permanently (from time to time?) unbalanced, occasionally almost destroyed by civil, religious, and national conflicts. The extreme plurality and constant, often brutal discussions among individual kingdoms, states, political fractions, guilds, heretic sects, aristocracy, and clergy – the never-ending flow of ideas, influences and technologies - may have created the seemingly uniform but in detail very complex European phenomenon. Can it last in contact with globalization, Americanization, Islam, and its own internal conflicts and transformations? What is at the heart of the European Phenomenon? With what kind of potential can it endow the common European future? The course will lead students through the main European periods of architecture such as Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles which will be interpreted in terms of mentality changes, intellectual history and cultural anthropology. Approximately half of the lectures will be held in the classroom while the excursions to some well known as well as totally unknown historical monuments and sites will take place during the other lectures. Course requirements: reading of 50 pages per week; two midterm essays (Which place or building you have found most interesting in Prague and why?, 1400 words, Describe the route taken by any tram from one terminal to the other, how does the city change, 1400 words) final essay (comparison one of the aspects of European and American life, is there something valuable Europe can give to America and vice versa, about 3000 words). The course meets for three hours per week in two sessions.
Jews in East Central Europe: Life of a Minority The course describes the life of the Jewish community in Europe since the formation of Jewish settlements around the 10th century until the present time. The historical aspect is enriched by detailed insights into both Jewish spirituality and social life. In-class lectures are combined with the field trips to Prague Jewish monuments. The course has three foci: (1) The situation of the Czech Jewry is the natural departure point. However, the course provides meaningful comparisons with related regions, above all, a comparison with the very specific development of Polish Jewry are necessary for understanding of Jews of Central Europe from 16th century onwards. (2) Emphasis is placed on constantly recurring interference of the Jewish minority and the surrounding society. Development of the minority is thus not viewed in isolation but in its very particular interconnection with the majority society. (3) The character of the daily life of the Jewish people in the period under scope is studied through an analysis of rites of passage, festivals and customs as well as of social structures and the different social roles of classical Rabbinic Judaism (child, woman, layman, rabbi etc.) are described. Students will become acquainted with the internal and external problems which the Jewish community has faced on its journey throughout its history. The values central to the Jewish society of the past and present will be defined and their origin indicated. Are these values particular to the Jews? How does a minority present itself to the outside world? How does it reflect its own position in the society? What is the attitude of the Jewish minority towards the processes of its integration, acculturation or even assimilation? These questions will be asked with regard to specific socio-political and cultural environment. The goal of the course is not only to understand the Jewish history as such; it might become helpful for anyone aspiring to get oriented in today’s globalized and still fragmented society. The following sites will be visited on the field-trips: the Old-New Synagogue, the Maisel Synagogue, the Pinkas Synagogue, the Klausen Synagogue, the Ceremonial Hall of the Burial Society, the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Spanish Synagogue, and the New Jewish Cemetery. Course requirements: regular active participation; students are expected to read assigned texts prior to each session where they will be discussed; two short quizzes – midterm and final; a paper or project based on students’ own research (min. 3,000 words; the project topic can relate to both the lectures or field trips); a presentation of the project. The course meets for three hours per week in two sessions. Instructor:
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in European Context: Confrontation, or coexistence? The course addresses the role of religion in the constitution of Western Civilization in general and the specific contribution of the monotheistic traditions to this process in particular. Many of the basic “secular” values have originated in the religious setting, therefore, the religious experience should be paid due attention so that such social phenomena as minority issues, racism, or nationalism can be understood. A general introduction into the study of religion, students will be explained elements of the three major monotheistic systems Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, in both phenomenological (comparative) as well as historical perspectives. The general principles are then applied to concrete periods of European history, with special attention paid to interaction among the three religions/cultures in given historical and geographical contexts. Their respective contributions to the shaping of the European culture will be examined and their role in this multicultural process will be evaluated. The historical-phenomenological survey will be completed with an assessment of the contemporary situation. The course consists of in-class lectures, readings of relevant texts and discussions of current issues. The course is concluded with a round-table conference on one of the chosen topics (to be determined by the instructor after discussion with students). Course requirements: active class participation, readings, and three short quizzes (Judaism, Christianity, Islam); final essay (10-15 pages), the topic of which will be chosen by the student after consultation with the instructor. The course meets twice a week for total of three hours.
The course gives a comprehensive overview of European art history from Ancient Greek and Roman inspirations to the present times. Stress is placed on the way European art development is reflected in the art and architecture of Central Europe and on the art and architectural resources of Central Europe and Prague. Most of the course lectures take place outside of classroom at various historical sites, in museums, and galleries. During 21 excursions, Prague artistic history is presented as a succession of crossroads of influences coming from/to different parts of Europe. The course takes advantage of Prague as a unique city where development in art and architecture from the Middle Ages until modern times is discernible. In metropolis like Paris, Vienna or London the tumultuous growth in the last two centuries practically erased their Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance or Baroque past. In Prague these epochs can be observed not only on solitary monuments but also on the entire layout of streets and gardens. Prague is also notorious for its 19th century architecture inspired by the Czech National Revival. Last but not least, there are 20th century experiments like Cubist Prague (the original Czech contribution to the history of architecture) or the famous Dancing House of 1996. An integral part of the course are excursions to historical towns in the Czech Republic (Kutná Hora, Český Krumlov, and Karlovy Vary). In descriptions of architectural monuments, parks, sculptures, paintings and decorative arts, the emphasis is placed upon the way European art evolved and how innovations were transmitted from one cultural center to another. Prague was the spearhead of Church reformation creating Protestantism which was later thoroughly recatholicised and therefore religious influences on art and architecture are always analyzed together with political, economic, national and social aspects. The course meets for three hours per week and is not exclusively intended for art history students. Course requirements: active class participation, reading (100 pages per week), home works based on reading, midterm and final essays (1500 and 3000 words respectively) and midterm and final tests (consisting in identification of painting and/or architectural monument and its analysis, explanation of basic art concepts, questions based on reading, lectures and excursions). The course meets for three hours per week in two sessions. Instructor:
Emblematic Reductions: Icons of American and Czech Popular Culture Familiar with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and other Disney Company products? Have you, however, interpreted them in comparison to the Little Mole, the animated robber Rumcajs or Ferda the Ant? Know a lot about Superman, Batman and other DC Comics superheroes? Compare them to Vinnetou, a Central European image of a Native American gentleman, accompanied by his white brother Old Shatterhand, of German origin. Tired of James Bond? Watch and interpret his Czech Communist cover version from 1970s. This course focuses on the semiotic interpretation of emblems (icons and stereotypes) of pop culture, e.g. entities produced by the intentional reduction of meaning. It will cover discursive practices that produce semantic reductions, be it mass media, the pop-culture industry, or mediating exchange chains between distinct cultures and nations (U.S. and Czech at the center of the course attention). The materials covered and interpreted will also include stereotypes of national mentalities, the most influential people who never lived, ideological propaganda stereotypes, emblems constructing the images of politicians, emblems of cities, distinct commercial strategies in different cultural contexts, and pop music, of course. The course is based on a cultural studies perspective and stresses semiotic methodological approaches. A comparative approach towards similarities and differences of U.S. and Czech pop culture material frames the whole course. Course requirements: regular class attendance, active participation in discussions, reading: 100 - 150 pages per week; 3 workshop presentations; final paper (3000 words). Instructor:
Readings from Central European Literature: Meeting Points, Diverging Lines In this course, students read Central European literature from the last days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the present time, when currently independent countries belong once again to a larger unit, i.e. to the European Union. While reading “canonical” texts of modern Central European literature, students will be looking for uniting themes and diverse paths taken in the turbulent common past of this territory. The first block of readings reflects the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Selected texts represent a whole range of sentiments – from the idealistic enthusiasm of J. Roth to bitter satire of J. Hašek; from nostalgia for the bygone days of false security of S. Zweig to ambiguity of values and envisioned danger of fascism of R. Musil. Confusion of languages, nationalities, and religions will be another topic of discussion here. Second block deals with reflections of WWII primarily in Hungarian and Czech literature and film. False concepts of heroism; patriotism and anti-Semitism; white spots in national histories and inability to communicate the experience of Holocaust will be discussed. Third block is titled “Future Perfect” and deals with enthusiasm and disappointment connected with Communism. Last block is dedicated to contemporary fiction dealing with re-inventing of history and images of the 1990s and beginning of the new century. The course consists of in-class lectures and discussions, film screenings and visits to topic-related exhibitions. The following texts (excerpts) will be read: Joseph Roth: Bust of the Emperor, Jaroslav Hašek: Good Soldier Švejk, Stefan Zweig: The World of Yesterday, Franz Kafka: selected short stories, Robert Musil: Confusion of Young Toerless, Josef Škvorecký: Cowards, Imre Kertesz: Fateless, Jan Drda: The Silent Barricade, Milan Kundera: The Joke, Václav Havel: The Power of the Powerless, Peter Esterhazy: The Book of Hrabal, Jáchym Topol: Sister and Daniela Hodrová: Perun’s Day. Films: Mefisto (I. Szabo), Cremator (J. Herz), Fighter (documentary by A. bar Lev) Course requirements: active participation in discussions, 2 tests and one paper (10 pp.). Film screenings and visits to exhibitions are an integral part of the course, and thus compulsory. Class meets twice a week for total of three class hours per week.
Modern Czech Film: History on Screen This interdisciplinary course provides a deeper insight into the issues of modern Czechoslovak history and socio-cultural developments as documented by both major feature films and documentaries. Viewed against the general backdrop of key historical events, the participants will gain more intimate knowledge and understanding of the unique Czech New Wave in Cinema (Miracle of the Czech New Wave) which was an intriguing response to the political and cultural thaw of the Sixties and thoroughly investigate the works of art in the aftermath of the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Screenings will include films of renowned artists and Academy Award winners such as Miloš Forman and Jiří Menzel as well as other prominent representatives of the Czech New Wave: Věra Chytilová, Jan Němec, Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos. Historically the screenings include films covering WWII (The Shop on Main Street), the Stalinist fifties (The Joke, Larks on a String), politically friendlier sixties and the typical new wave style (Miloš Forman’s Loves of a Blond and Firemen’s Ball). Attention is paid to the most significant works of the post-1968 Soviet invasion, the so-called normalization period and to cinematography in the course of building up democracy after 1989. Course requirements: students are required to attend screenings, read respective articles and reviews from a course pack (20 pages a week) and actively participate in the discussion sessions; 3-page responses to the screened films are required, they serve as guidance for discussions. There is a mid-term exam (3-4 pages in-class essay) and a comprehensive final exam in the form of an out-class written essay (10-12 pages). The course meets twice a week for total of three class hours per week.
The elementary Czech course is focused on the development of the four basic proficiency skills (speaking, writing, listening comprehension, and reading), with emphasis on speaking and listening comprehension in everyday situations. Basic concepts in Czech grammar will be introduced and compared to English. The course covers the following topics: conversational basics; shopping, asking for things, making orders and reservations; making appointments; asking the way, travelling; likes and dislikes; jobs, professions, nationalities; daily and other routines; plans; past events; speaking about one’s origin, home, family and friends; age, health, condition and feelings. Grammar of the year-long elementary course is covered. Course requirements: active class participation (including homework and ability to communicate orally). Evaluation: quizzes, midterm and final tests. The course meets three times a week for five total of hours and is taught in groups of ten or fewer students. Instructors:
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