Course Description

This course aims at exploring modern Czech and Central European culture through studies in film and literature with a special focus on Swejkian and Kafkaesque features of 20th century culture. It introduces the Czech New Wave, which attracted international attention in the 1960s. It shows the diversity and creative capital of Czech society, which was not damaged by the war or the communist horrors of the 1950s, and it followed up on the democratic and worldly interwar avant-garde. This course provides exposure to the Czech cultural environment while examining authors, texts, images, and films. Students are expected to utilize their comprehensive skills and employ critical thinking concerning a variety of topics in Czech and Central European culture. Historical and theoretical contexts will be provided, explored, and discussed; essays will be read. The course is also a journey into the Czech and Central European consciousness, soul, and values; it focuses on topics, themes, and popular imagination of the 20th century as reflected in Czech literature, art, films, and culture.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Utilize their acquired comprehensive skills and employ critical thinking on variety of topics concerning Czech and Central European culture;
• Acquire an understanding of the Czech and Central European consciousness, soul and values;
• Comprehend main cultural topics and themes and understand popular imagination of the 20th century as reflected in Czech literature, films, and culture.

*Course content subject to change