Course Description
ART 102 History of Art II
This course provides an overview of the history of art from Renaissance to the end of the 20th Century. It explores the relationship between the art of different cultures of the Western world and the specific historic context within which it was created. Emphasis will be placed upon how the various arts participate in the expression of each period and the parallel elements found among the different arts—painting, sculpture and architecture.
ART 131 Prague Art and Architecture
This course examines the key developments in Czech visual arts and architecture from the early medieval to the contemporary period. Slide-based lectures are complimented with visits to monuments, art collections and galleries. This course will provide students with an overview of the history of art in Prague. In this respect, the course intends to have students acquire knowledge of the main characteristics of art styles while observing and analyzing paintings, sculpture, and architecture first-hand.
ART 252 Digital Photography
The aim of this course is to provide students with a comprehensive overview of photography as a digital medium. Coursework will provide a platform for students to explore technique and process as well as their own creative pursuits. Particular emphasis will be placed on concept development, digital capture, editorial technique, digital presentation, and printing. Post-production software programs will be introduced, but not highlighted in this class. In addition to practical application, students will be introduced to a wide variety of contemporary visual artists through gallery visits and discussions. Upon completion of the course, students will have an improved understanding of digital photography in both form and function, laying the foundation for further exploration of the digital process.
ART 250 Visual Culture
The course is designed to present and build a basic working vocabulary in order to discuss the way visual images are composed. Students will learn to identify and understand the visual function of each of these elements in terms of their desired effect or impact on viewers. Students will also analyze, explore, question and discuss the relationship between the artist, viewer, subject and the various functions of visual art in society.
CIS 161 Computer Information Systems
The course introduces the students to the basic features and uses of computer and information systems. The course begins with an introduction to the origins of computing, move into the technical foundations of computing, continue with a discussion of hardware, software, and operating systems. The bulk of the class, however, relates to the introduction to and use of popular software applications that are useful for students’ academic and professional careers.
COM 101 Composition I
This course is designed to develop and improve essential writing skills. Interactive lectures, in-class activities, and peer critiquing will play an important role in this course, which is required for all students in their first year. By the end of the course, students will have a firm enough grasp of the mechanics of English grammar and usage to enable them to write the essays and reports that form a major part of college study.
COM 102 Composition II
This course will focus on developing the practical skills required to plan, prepare and present a speech to a small or large group. Participants will discuss the nature of good communication, especially in terms of public speaking; learn and practice skills for preparing speeches; and [resent several short speeches to the class. The course will be particularly useful for practicing speaking skills and for developing self/confidence when speaking to a group.
COM 110 Public Speaking
This course will focus on developing the practical skills required to plan, prepare and present a speech to a small or large group. Participants will discuss the nature of good communication, especially in terms of public speaking; learn and practice skills for preparing speeches; and [resent several short speeches to the class. The course will be particularly useful for practicing speaking skills and for developing self/confidence when speaking to a group.
COM 202 Introduction to Mass Communication
The course introduces the students to the history of media technologies, the economics of media, making the news, alternative media, advertising in society, ideology, the public, activism, and media, media effects, the emerging global order.
ECO 105 Introduction to Economic Thought
This course covers the ideas of major economists from Smith and Malthus through 20th century theorists. The material will illustrate major themes in Economics from the operation of Markets through Macroeconomic theories of modern economies. Students should gain both a basic understanding of market economics and a view of economics as a method of analysis which provides insights into the behavior of individuals, markets and national economies.
HIS 104 World History II (From 1500 to the End of the Cold War)
This class begins with a survey of major world civilizations in the Early Modern Period (native “Americans,” the Muslim empires, and China and Japan) then deals with several “revolutionary” European events of global importance, including English constitutional developments in the 17th century, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution. Emphasis is placed on how these European events influenced non-western cultures. Modern themes, such as late 19th century imperialism, the global significance of the two world wars, and the international dimensions of the Cold War will be examined including the way western trends, such as liberalism, industrialization, or Communism were adopted, adapted, or rejected by people around the globe.
HIS 110 United States History
This course will focus on certain themes while attempting to give a general overview. Main topics will include the transition from colonialism to the balance of power written into the Constitution; solutions to the Native American Question; slavery and events involving the Civil War (1820–65); industrialization, labor and capital; immigration, WWI, and the Americanization of the United States; the New Deal and WWII.
HIS 122 European History II: The Making of Modern Europe
This course examines the transformations in European politics, society, culture and economic life from Renaissance to the end of the World War II. It focuses in particular on major characters, events and trends, and considers the growing strength of nationalism, the rise of mass political movements, the impact of economic modernization on both individuals and society. The goal is to go beyond the national histories and to discuss the continuity and discontinuity, common trends and fundamental issues in the history of modern Europe.
HIS 231 History of the Cold War and Post-Cold War Transition
Allies and enemies in the WWII; Teheran, Jalta and Potsdam, the bomb; the Truman doctrine, the Marshall Plan and the crisis of 1948; Cold War in the Far East; China and the Korean war, 1950; the Soviet Union of Nikita Khrushchev; USSR vs. USA in the Middle East; from Berlin to Cuba; Vietnam to the Helsinki accords; Reagan vs. Gorbachev; the revolutions of Eastern Europe.
HIS 236 The Jewish Experience in Central Europe
Jewish religion and traditions in Central Europe, history and legends, the Holocaust, Jewish philosophy, Jewish displaced persons in Allied politics, Czechoslovakia and Israel, Judaism during Communism, contemporary Central European Judaism.
HIS 237 Central European History
Encounters with the Roman and Byzantine Empires; early states; Christianity; the political, social and cultural transformations of the Central Europe in the Middle Ages; Humanism, Renaissance, Reformation and Counter-reformation; impact of Enlightenment, of the French Revolution and of the Napoleonic era; Central Europe in 19th century; Central Europe from 1850 to the WWI; Central Europe in the WWI and in the inter-war period; Central Europe and the WWII; Central Europe during the Cold War; the collapse of Communism in Central Europe.
HIS 270 20th Century Social History
Social history of Europe before and during WWI, social conditions of the Nazi and Communist regimes in the interwar years, social aspects of the Cold War.
HIS 370 East Central European Post-War History (Cultural Perspective)
Countries to be covered include Czechoslovakia (the Czech and Slovak republics), Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and the former East Germany. Though this is not a Soviet history class, there will be some discussion of the role of the Soviet Union (and later Russia) in Central and Eastern European affairs.
JRN 200 Reporting I
News story structure, developing story ideas; newspaper organization, news style, gathering information, interviewing, note taking, attribution, use of quotes; media ethics, sources and story research, press releases, obituaries, speeches, news conferences, covering breaking news, sensitivity vs. “political correctness,” importance of good writing, using public records, writing a feature/series, investigative reporting.
JRN 201 Reporting II
Structure of newspaper, news story structure, covering speeches and official releases, speed vs. accuracy, copy preparation, interviewing, use of quotes, headline and caption writing, AP style review, story order, fundamentals of layout, graphic considerations, covering legal issues, libel and liability, investigative journalism, public records research, anonymous source vs. not for attribution, personal data research, use of humor and irony, ethics, bias and accountability, how the media gets influenced, remaining objective vs. advocacy journalism, news features vs. arts, community and trend stories, alt publications, internet reporting, broadcast reporting, industry publications.
JRN 223 Media Ethics and Democracy
Introduction to ethical decision making; information ethics; critique of news and examination of what drives news coverage; journalist’s loyalties; public relations: advocate or adversary; media economics; the mass media in a democratic society; challenges of war coverage in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as under the oppression of totalitarian regimes like Uzbekistan; objectivity; privacy issues; green Journalism.
JRN 250 Intro to Broadcast News and Video Production
Difference between print and broadcast journalism, challenges of broadcast writing, writing to a target audience, broadcast writing principles, broadcast writing guidelines: script format, script layout, broadcast story structure, writing the story, visual grammar: basic shots, angles, compositions, camera movements, field techniques for shooting TV news, basics of digital video editing, practical video editing.
JRN 276 Digital Tools for New Media
Concepts and tools to be covered include content distribution platforms such as blogs and content management systems, open source, digital mapping and its impact on journalism, multimedia and cross-media reporting, and leveraging social networks for reporting.
JRN 290 History of Broadcasting/Media
The new age of the electronic media, Political versus Public Airwaves, Battles on the Airwaves. The New Frontier: Television, Political Communication: The electronic media and the way we speak, How broadcasting changed the job of the journalist, Internet News, The craft of radio and television , “Producers’ Guidelines”.
JRN 321 Media Impact in the New Europe
The course will examine the role and impact of international and domestic media on political developments in Europe. It will explore the perceptional particularities of various European audiences, the role of historic circumstances and media tradition in shaping it. The course will also discuss how the media can shape attitudes toward social and natural environment. It will be examining the way of doing journalism at Prague-based, US-funded, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and comparing it to the approaches of other media companies: Czech Public Radio, Czech Public TV, TV Nova, TV Prima; historically also to BBC and VOA Czech, Polish and other CE/EE broadcasting. Students will gain special insights into coverage of current events by leading Prague-based media companies. They will learn about the dynamics of social tensions in transitional and post-communist societies, and how the media is contributing to shaping the history of countries faced with their legacy and with the new challenges of EU membership.
JRN 322 Contemporary Czech Media in Practice
Organization of the Czech media, expected genres and style, required working methods and skills, the differences between journalism in the Czech Republic and in the world, the people controlling the Czech media and working with them, working with local politicians and authorities and getting information from themOrganization of the Czech media, expected genres and style, required working methods and skills, the differences between journalism in the Czech Republic and in the world, the people controlling the Czech media and working with them, working with local politicians and authorities and getting information from them.
JRN 351 Documentary Photography
This course, subtitled “Between Document and Art” aims to introduce students to documentary photography. Students will become familiar with international documentary photography, both historical and contemporary. The course places special emphasis on personal documentary projects, with the goal of practical application of theoretical knowledge. Students will gain hands-on experience by creating a documentary photography series themselves.
JRN 380 Ethics in Journalism
Fairness, accuracy, professional behavior, conflicts of interest, coverage of race and ethnicity, the issue of patriotism versus the responsibility to tell the truth, and the question of individual privacy versus the public’s right to know.
JRN 420 Political Communication
Political philosophy and theory & the media, history of mutual relations of the media and politics, communication of politics—brief overview, political communication in the age of globalization and the new media, political marketing—from premodern to postmodern phase, political propaganda in non-democrat regimes (fascism, nazism and communism).
JRN 421 Democratic Journalists in Exile in the Cold War
Communist take-overs, purges of journalists and political writers, escapes from behind the Iron Curtain, exile structures in Great Britain, United States, France, Switzerland and other countries, exile movement and existing diplomatic relations, issues related to recognition of governments in exile, role of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Voice of America and BBC, exile periodicals, editorial boards, publishing centres, exile journalists and the collapse of Communism. Visits in Libri Prohibiti, Center for Czechoslovak Exile Studies, in the Institute for Contemporary History and Institute for Study of Totalitarian regimes.
JRN 422 Propaganda in Non-Democratic Regimes
At the beginning, the course is aimed at social researchers, who defined the concept of propaganda from Karl Marx through Sigmund Freud, Max Weber, Harold D. Lasswell, Walter Lipmann up to Paul F. Lazarsfeld, Joshua Meyrowitz, Neil Postman, Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman, and Frankfurt School, Toronto School of Communications, Mass Communication Theory). The historical part of the course will examine propaganda since the ancient period until the rise of the mass society (ancient, medieval, Catholic versus Protestantism etc.) through Marxism, Fascism, and Nazism. After the fall of the communism in Eastern Europe, the focus will be aimed at Yugoslavia during its break-up in the war years 1991–95. Finally, Islamic fundamentalism and Anti-Western and Anti-Zionist discourse will be examined and contrasted to the role of propaganda in comtemporary western democracies.
JRN 430 Selected Issues in Journalism and Communications
Course focuses on selected issues in journalism and communication studies, according to the specialisation of the lecturer.
LEG 101 Introduction to Law
The general areas of the law that are most relevant and affect daily interactive relations: the basic orientation in legal problematic, basic necessary theoretical background, basic concepts and terminology, understanding of the various service of processes and hierarchy of courts, (with particular emphasis on the comparison between administrative and judicial functions), under both Continental European legal system and Common law.
LIT 231 Literature of Prague
This course will study literature which is “of Prague” in both senses of being about Prague, and of originating in that fascinating, complex society which was and is unique to Prague. It will cover the period from 1890s to the present day and include German and Jewish writing alongside Czech. Prague will be seen in all the aspects—the glory of its art and architecture, the labyrinth of its fantasies, and the energy of its avant-garde alongside the humor of everyday life and the pain of exile and exclusion. Students will gain an understanding of 20th century Czech culture and society through the writings of Čapek, Hašek, Havel, Hrabal, Jesenská, Kafka, Kundera, Meyrink, Neruda, Seifert and Weil.
MGT 267 Intercultural Communication
This course is about communication within different cultures (i.e. cross-cultural) and communication between different cultures (i.e. intercultural). Students will become attuned to the values, beliefs, and assumptions they hold generally and about communication specifically as they interact with people unlike themselves. The course combines theory and research from a communication perspective and a humanistic worldview. The course will involve the application of communication concepts through activities, simulations, reflection blog on the PragueBlog, group discussions and group projects/presentations.
MKT 258 Introduction to Advertising
There are many separate aspects of advertising: campaign planning, message, media selection, measuring effectiveness, and tools of communication. We will study them and review the nature and structure of advertising agencies.
Topics Covered: i) the history of advertising; ii) the advertising process; iii) analyzing brands; iv) writing advertising copy; v) public relations; vi) socially responsible advertising.
MKT 268 Public Relations
This course will introduce students to the many forms and purposes of public relations, as practiced in the United States and in the Czech Republic. Students will become familiar with many definitions and styles of American public relations and will be introduced to several types of companies and organizations using public relations in the Czech Republic. A wide variety of public relations techniques and operating areas are examined.
Students will learn how public relations contribute to the success or failure of organizations and the impact public relations can have on specific publics and society as a whole.
PHI 125 Introduction to Philosophy
The historical, social, and cultural context of Plato’s Republic; the classical Greek vision of reality and meaning of life; stoicism and Epicureanism, two visions of the meaning of life in the roman empire; the Middle Ages, Faith and Reason, The City of God and The City of Man; modern philosophy and the age of modernity; mathematics as a paradigm for knowing and reason versus experience; contemporary responses to the Kantian vision.
PHI 171 Modern Intellectual History
As a history of modern intellectual thought, this course explores seven thinkers from the 17th to the 20th Century (Spinoza, Rouseau, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Bergson, Wittgenstein), who will be examined in the historical and cultural context of the period in which they lived and worked. Humanist concepts discussed will include individuality, freedom, justice, equality, power, culture, nature, and love, as pre-given universal realities, though these terms have been invented, interpreted, and continuously revised throughout history.
PHI 180 Freedom
Freedom has always been a topic of heated discussion. Today it is one of the central tenets of western society, but it remains one of its foggiest ideas. What may it mean and what may it offer? This course will examine that word's meaning and implications from various aspects. Themes include: the relationship between the individual and society; when it is possible (or even moral) to break the law; if freedom can be institutionalized and, if so, for what reasons can those institutions be overthrown; and whether freedom is limited to political laws or is subject to higher ones, like ethical or religious norms or considerations. These themes are explored through traditional lectures, media presentations (films, television shows and documentaries), questionnaires and a role-playing game.
POL 101 Introduction to Politics I
The course is intended as an introduction to the study of Political Science. It will focus on basic ideas, concepts and ideologies in Political Science. Topics will include but not be limited to politics, government and the state; sovereignty, the nation and supranationalism; power, authority and legitimacy; law, order and justice; rights, obligations and citizenship; democracy; equality, social justice an welfare; liberalism; conservatism; socialism; nationalism; fascism.
POL 102 Introduction to Politics II
The course will deal with the structure and process of government. Trans-national comparisons will be made that highlight critical variables in the concept and practice of government. Similarities and differences will be examined. Interaction among the public, private and social sectors will be acknowledged, however, the emphasis is primarily on the study of government and the polity.
POL 160 East Central Europe in Transition—Public Lecture Series
Definition of communism, socialism, totalitarianism, democracy, period of transition; history and politics of East Central Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, politics of Central European countries 1945–89, totalitarianism, authoritarianism, institutions and structures of communist systems, communist constitutions, party systems, communist party organizations; period of normalization, role of dissident movements (Czechoslovakia, Poland) and philosophy, personality of Václav Havel, revolutions in East-Central Europe, development of new political elites, roads to democracy, types of transition, split of Czechoslovakia; building and developing new constitutional systems, party systems, roots, developments, party programs, ideologies, leaders, elections, cabinets 1989–2005; media in the transition period; foreign policies of the East Central European countries 1989–2005; European challenges for the East-Central European states, Euro-optimists vs. Eurosceptics, the EU Constitution, role of NATO, new security threats; corruption in the East-Central Europe; nationalism, radical right, extreme political parties in East-Central Europe; immigration policy; history of the Roma minority in Central Europe; Central European NGOs and their major issues, gender issues; women in the Czech politics.
POL 250 Political Geography
The political geography of the world order, uneven development, the rise and fall of the superpowers, the multipolar world, the state and the world order, the nation-state, the state as spatial entity, people and the state, the global villagers, citizens and the city.
POL 256 Introduction to Diplomacy
Diplomacy of the 21st century, diplomatic relations, diplomatic missions, MFA organization and structure, diplomatic protocol, diplomatic privileges and immunities, international organizations, international law, conferences, entertainment.
POL 375 Public Policy
Evolution of political economy, emergence of public choice, methodological frameworks, fundamental postulates, principles and definitions, Pareto Optimality; the private market, pure competition, market factors affecting income distribution, private market failures, private market and welfare; growth of the political market, public goods, free riders, demand for public goods, cost-benefit analysis; source and acceptability of preferences, problem of uncertainty, intertemporal allocation, adjustment costs; social welfare beyond Pareto Efficiency, substantive values other than efficiency, instrumental values, interpreting distributional consequences; freeing, facilitating, and simulating markets, using subsidies and taxes to alter incentives; introduction to institutions, theoretical problem in cooperation, behavioral assumptions and institution theory, transaction cost theory of exchange; institutions and informal constraints, formal constraints, enforcement of transaction costs, transaction and transformation costs; organizations, learning and institutional change, stability and institutional change, path of institutional change; the fall of Communism, transitions to democracy; methodological preliminaries, capitalism and socialism.
POL 381 Multiculturalism in Europe
Sociological perspectives; political science and political philosophy approaches to multiculturalism; ethnic and race relations, ethnocentrism, xenophobia, islamophobia, racism; discrimination, power and inequality; theories of race, ethnicity and nationalism and their reflection in practice; various models of interethnic relations; diversity and conflicting values; development of policies solving interethnic tensions; definitions and forms of discrimination levels of discrimination; equal opportunity policy and positive action; institutional racism in Europe and USA; immigration and asylum policies; legislative framework: international instruments for protection of minorities and non-discrimination; antidiscrimination legislation in UK, the Netherlands, and Canada, the EU ´race equality´ directive; civil principle and minority rights protection; the Czech government program of Romani integration, the Minority Law and other measures to ameliorate interethnic tensions.
PSY 150 Introduction to Psychology
The purpose of this course is to give students a brief overview of some of the most important areas of psychology. The students will examine different approaches applied in the study of psyche from the beginnings of psychology as a specialized scholarly field to modern clinical and cognitive applications.
PSY 250 Social Psychology
The purpose of this course is to give the students an insight into the dynamics between the individual and the society. The focus will be upon realizing how an individual is influenced by the environment and in return how he can influence the environment.
REL 140 Comparative Religions
This course is designed to introduce you to the world’s major religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Animism, Christianity, etc.) and postmodern religious relativism, as well as to explore some crucial questions about religion: What is religion? How can someone compare religions? Are they all true? Why are people drawn to religion? We will explore these and other questions together through class discussion.
SOC 100 Introduction to Sociology
This course is an introduction to sociology, using historical, theoretical, practical, and topical approaches to the subject. Students will first explore some of the key figures of classical sociology—Durkheim, Marx, Simmel, and Weber. In the second half of the class, students will explore selected topics in sociology and will discuss methodology and the status of the discipline in contemporary society.
SOC 351 Media Topics in Gender and Culture
General concepts of culture and gender; gender socialization and conditioning, femininity and masculinity as social constructions; sexuality, patriarchy; TV and men’s and women’s genres, soccer and melodrama; plastic operations, anorexia and bulimia; crisis of masculinity; youth cultures and gender; gender stereotypes, sexually explicit advertising; film and gender, gender redefinitions; gender, media, mass culture; sexuality, subjectivity and identity; art and gender.
SOC 352 Gender Equality in Europe
Gender as a concept emerging in the 1990s, gender mainstreaming, registered partnership, gay, lesbian, transgender issues; Communist concepts of gender equality, the Communist empire and its concepts of Femininity and Masculinity; gendering state socialism, changing gender patterns in Western Europe in the second half of the 20th century; parental leave, tax benefit systems, single mothers, governance–NGOs; women and science: production and distribution of knowledge; masculinities in Europe, the rise of men’s studies, cultural legacies of the civil rights movements; women and politics, globalized woman; public spaces, distribution of public budgets according to gender equality; advertisements, debate over misogyny in public sphere, gender and minorities, forced sterilization of Roma women, women in subcultures.
SOC 370 Popular Culture and Media Theory
This course will introduce you to several thinkers—some philosophers, some psychologists (at least one), some anthropologists, and others—who have thought long and hard about the media and popular culture. They have different answers about what is culture and media, how do they make meaning, what is the best way to interpret their messages? And what do these theories tell us about what it means to be human, what is really real?