USESEC001 Introduction to Central European History and Culture

Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Winter 2016
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Rudolf Žáček, Dr. (lecturer)
Mgr. Lubomír Hlavienka, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Rudolf Žáček, Dr.
Institute of Central European Studies – Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to introduce the essential issues of social and cultural development of modern central Europe. The course is divided into two consequential parts. The first one, with historical objective will include the issue of identification of central European area in the frame of historical science, the second part of the course will be dedicated to development aspects of cultural sphere. After the general classification of the term culture the course will focus on description of principal phases of cultural development in specific region of central Europe from renaissance till the second half of the 20th century and transmissions, parallels and contrasts between the individual periods in particular. After completion of the course, the students should be familiar with elementary hierarchy of cultural activities and be able to exploit the principal concepts of culture in the study of history of individual central European countries as well as in evaluation of topical issues of the whole region.
Syllabus
  • I. The introduction to modern central European history studies (taught by mgr. Mašata)
    1. Does Europe have history? The different concepts of history of Europe.
    2. Enlightenment - prologue to modern European history.
    3. New face of Europe - industrialization as a phenomenon of modern society.
    4.From corporal to civil society - the changes of "long 19th century".
    5. Urbanization - birth of the city.
    6. The role of education in development of modern society.
    II. The introduction to central European culture studies (taught by dr. Šopák)
    1. Culture, different concepts definitions, culture-philosophy relations, culture as historical category.
    2. Renaissance and humanism - classification of concepts and concrete fulfilment in the situation of southern, western and central Europe in the 16th century.
    3. Parallels and oppositions of courtly, aristocratic and popular culture in the 17th and 18th century.
    Faith and culture - confessional dimension of culture from the Thirty Years´ War till the World War II, sacral and secular opposition.
    4. Modern culture I: intellectual contribution of the 18th century England and France and situation in German lands.
    5. Modern culture II: culture of liberalizing society after 1850 and cultural plurality from the turn of the 19th and 20th century till World War II
    6. Defining the concepts of civilisation and culture in (central)European thinking of the beginning of the 20th century, crisis of culture and its reflexion in interwar and post-war period.
Literature
    required literature
  • Eagleton, T. Idea kultury. Brno 2001. info
  • KŘEN, J. Dvě století střední Evropy. Praha: Argo, 2005. info
  • WANDYCZ, P. S. Cena svobody. Střední Evropa v dějinách od středověku do současnosti. Praha: Academia, 1998. info
  • LAWLESS, L. Co je to kultura. Olomouc: Votobia, 1996. ISBN 80-7198-106-0. info
  • BĚLINA, P. a kolektiv. Dějiny evropské civilizace. Praha-Litomyšl:Paseka, 1995. info
    recommended literature
  • Soukup, V. Přehled antropologických teorií kultury. Praha, Portál 2000. info
  • ARNOLD, M. Kultura a anarchie. Brno, 2014. info
  • Zahrádka, P. (Ed.). Spotřební kultura. Praha, 2014. info
  • Štěpánek, V. (Ed.). Velká válka a areálové souvislosti: kultura, literatura a kulturní historie slovanských národů. Brno, 2014. info
  • KNAPÍK, J. - FRANC, M. a kol. Průvodce kulturním děním a životním stylem v českých zemích 1948-1967. I, II. Praha, 2011. info
  • SCHAMA, Simon. Krajina a paměť. Praha, 2007. info
  • LEPAPE, P.:. Země literatury. Štrasburských přísah do Sartrova pohřbu. Brno, 2006. info
  • DAVIES, N. Evropa. Dějiny jednoho kontinentu. Praha: Obzor, 2005. ISBN 80-7260-138-5. info
  • CHARLE, Christophe. Paříž na přelomu století. Kultura a politika fin de siécle. Brno, 2004. info
  • FONTANA, J. Evropa před zrcadlem. Praha: Lidové noviny, 2001. ISBN 80-7106-395-9. info
  • TVRDÝ, J. Průvodce dějinami evropské filosofie. Brno: Komenium, 1947. info
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
Teacher's information
The students have to pass two practical tasks aimed at performing principal skills of the work with scientific text (completion of thematic bibliography and seminar paper on chosen topic). The course will be completed by a written test.
The course is also listed under the following terms Summer 2018, Summer 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2016, recent)
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