This course offers an interdisciplinary introduction to the Czech Republic, focusing on its cultural, historical, political, and social landscapes. The course runs across two semesters, but each part is independent and can be taken on its own.
The course is designed especially for international students seeking to contextualize their experience of living and studying in the Czech Republic.
This course is an English-language counterpart to the Czech course České reálie, designed especially for international students or those less familiar with the Czech Republic and its language.
Last update: Jarošová Eva, Mgr., Ph.D. (07.02.2026)
Aim of the course - Czech
Students should explore key aspects of Czech society, including everyday life, traditions, political and cultural history, education, government structure, religion, and the role of the Czech Republic within the European context. Through lectures, discussions, selected readings and field trip, the participants will gain a deeper understanding of how the Czech national identity has been shaped and how it functions today.
Last update: Jarošová Eva, Mgr., Ph.D. (07.02.2026)
Course completion requirements - Czech
Presence to the lectures (which is lecture and seminar combined), active participation, written test.
Last update: Jarošová Eva, Mgr., Ph.D. (07.02.2026)
Literature - Czech
Selection of literature:
AGNEW, Hugh LeCaine: The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, Stanford 2004. ANDERSON, Benedict: Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, London – New York: 1983. ASCH, Ronald G.: The Thirty Years War. The Holy Roman Empire and Europe, 1618-1648, Basingstoke 1997. BALÍK, Stanislav et al.: Czech politics: from West to East and back again. Opladen 2017. Baroque art in Bohemia: step by step: a catalogue of tours of baroque monuments in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. Prague: National Gallery, 2001. BEREND, Nora – URBAŃCZYK, Przemysław – WISZEWSKI, Przemysław: Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary and Poland (c. 900-c.1300), Cambridge 2013. BRÁZDIL, Rudolf – KOTYZA, Oldřich: History of Weather and Climate in the Czech Lands, Zürich 2012. BRETT, David: The Construction of Heritage, Cork 1996. Charles IV - Emperor by the grace of God: culture and art in the reign of the last of the Luxembourgs 1347-1437: catalogue of the exhibition: Prague Castle 16 February - 21 May 2006, Bamberg 2006. CÍSAŘ, Jan: The history of Czech theatre: a survey, Prague 2010. CROSSAN, William: Czech Sport Migration. Push and Pull Variations Between Sports and Cultures, Praha 2024. CURTA, Florin: The Making of the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, c. 500–700, Cambridge 2001. DOLEŽALOVÁ, Eva – PÁNEK, Jaroslav (edd.): Confession and Nation in the Era of Reformation, Praha 2011. DROZDA, Jakub et al.: The Village of Holašovice in the context of South Bohemian rural architecture, České Budějovice 20182 van DUSSEN, Michael – SOUKUP, Pavel (edd.): Religious Controversy in Europe, 1378–1536. Textual Transmission and Networks of Readership, Turnhout 2013. EVANS, Robert J. W. – THOMAS, T. V. (edd.): Crown, Church and Estates. Central European politics in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Basigstoke, 1991.
FILIPOVÁ, Marta. Modernity, history, and politics in Czech art, New York 2020. FUČÍKOVÁ, Eliška et al.: Rudolf II and Prague: the Court and the City, Praha - London - Milan 1997. GEARY, Patrick J.: The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe, Princeton 2003. GOOD, David F.: The economic rise of the Habsburg empire 1750–1918, Berkeley 1984. HAMES, Peter: Czech and Slovak cinema: theme and tradition, Edinburgh 2009. HAMES, Peter: The Czechoslovak New Wave, New York 1985. HAVLÍK, Lubomír E: Constantine and Methodius in Moravia. Sborník prací filosofické fakulty brněnské university C 11, 1964, pp. 27–50. HORNÍČKOVÁ, Kateřina - ŠRONĚK, Michal (edd.): From Hus to Luther. Visual Culture in the Bohemian Reformation (1380-1620), Turnhout 2006. JACKSON, Jake (ed.): Czech folktales. London 2024. JOHNSON, Lonnie: Central Europe. Enemies, Neighbors, Friends, New York 1996. KANTOR, Marvin: The Origins of Christianity in Bohemia: Sources and Commentary, Evanston 1990. KAPLAN, Karel: The Communist Party in Power, London 1987. KARVÁNKOVÁ, Petra (ed.) et al.: Current topics in Czech and Central European geography education, Cham 2017. KNOZ, Tomáš (ed.): Political Culture in Central Europe. (10th-20th Century). Praha– Warszaw 2005. LÁNÍK, Jaroslav: The development of Czech towns in the 1830´s to 1850´s, Hospodářské dějiny – Economic History 15, 1986, pp. 377–410. MACEK, Petr – BIEGEL, Richard – BACHTÍK, Jakub: Baroque Architecture in Bohemia, Praha 2023. MACHÁČEK, Jiří: The Rise of Medieval Towns and States in East Central Europe. Early Medieval Centres as Social and Economic Systems, Leiden - Boston 2010.
NEDBAL, Martin (edd.): A History of Music in the Czech Lands, Cambridge 2025. PÁNEK, Jaroslav – TŮMA, Oldřich (edd.): A History of the Czech Lands, Praha 20182 PÁNEK, Tomáš – HRADECKÝ, Jan (edd.): Landscapes and landforms of the Czech Republic, [Cham] 2015. PETRÁŇ, Josef – PETRÁŇOVÁ, Lydia: The White Mountain as a symbol in modern Czech history. In: Teich, Mikuláš (ed.). Bohemia in History. Cambridge 1998, pp. 143–163. von POHL, Olga: 100kamžiků: fotografie České tiskové kanceláře = photographs from the Czech News Agency. Praha 2018. PTÁČEK, Bohumil et al.: Historický atlas obyvatelstva českých zemí = Historical population atlas of the Czech lands, Praha 2017. RYCHLÍK, Jan: The ‘Velvet Divorce‘ of Czechoslovakia, 1989–1992. In: Bakke, Eliasabeth – Peters, Ingo (eds.): Twenty Years since the Fall of Berlin Wall. Berlin 2011, pp. 159–178.
SKOPOVÁ, Kamila: Christmas in Bohemia: Traditional Czech Christmas Cuisine and Customs, Praha 2012.
