Prague Courses – 2024 Summer Session II
Studying abroad can be a more meaningful and invigorating learning experience than at home—both inside and outside of the classroom. You may be more curious and alert than you usually are so use this heightened energy to enhance your studies as well as your cultural and geographical explorations. You may also encounter different teaching styles and course processes; be prepared to adapt and to learn.
Courses
You may take three to seven credits per session. At least one 3-credit course is required each summer session you are enrolled. Course availability is contingent upon student enrollment and is subject to change.
Click the course title to view course details, description, and availability.
Session I
- Summer Session IAnthropology Sociology 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
This course provides critical insights into a social function of modern and postmodern art, street-art, underground, dissent, alternative, experimental, performance, situationist, alter-globalization movement, etc. Multidisciplinary perspectives of cultural, literary, and media studies are explored. Seminal readings on the listed topics are used to discuss the practices of ‘alternative’ urban lives in postindustrial society and certain trends of artistic production. Focus is on political interpretation of youth subversion and disclosures of power mechanisms. Visuals and field trips to diverse events and sites are a part of this course.
- Summer Session IArt Film 300-level 3 credits Taught in English
The course will offer the insight into the Czech cinema from the "other side". The aim is to show different faces of Czech filmmaking, i.e. the variety of approaches toward the film media. Alongside the classic Czech movies the students will have a chance to watch experimental films, the documentary, and poetic film. They will learn what magic realism and surrealism is and how these two "ism"s present themselves in the cinema. They will watch the films of a variety of genres, mainly those that are very unique for the European cinema (e.g. Western). They also will watch the films that to a certain extent, experiment with the form of the film - using interesting flashback pattern or excluding a spoken word.
- Summer Session IArchitecture Art 300-level 3 credits Taught in EnglishSummer Session IIArchitecture Art 300-level 3 credits Taught in English
The course is a survey of styles, trends and movements focusing on the fine arts and architecture in Prague and the Czech Republic against the background of European influences. It covers the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, up to Modernism and the Contemporary art scene. Special attention will be paid to the unique characteristics and developments of art (e.g. Prague Castle, Baroque churches, Czech cubism) and to the most significant periods in Czech history (era of Charles IV, Rudolf II). Tours, field trips and visits to museums and galleries are a substantial part of the course.
- Summer Session ICzech 200-level 1 credit Taught in EnglishSummer Session IICzech 200-level 1 credit Taught in English
This course introduces students to the Czech language and provides skills essential to communication. The instructor supervises model conversations and real conversational situations during walks in the old town. Students with previous knowledge of the Czech language attend the advanced module of this course, read short articles in local newspapers, and do independent research on the social and cultural life of Czech society. This course is also suitable for students from Czech heritage families.
- Summer Session IGeneral Business Marketing 200-level 3 credits Taught in English
This course will introduce students to fundamental marketing concepts as well as an important ideas and issues in marketing products and services to consumers. This course can be broken down into two components: first, students learn how to understand the marketing environment (market analysis), and then how to implement successful marketing strategies in such an environment (marketing strategy). The course is based on a combination of lectures/discussions, case studies, videos, outside speakers, company visit(s), country snapshots, and a final marketing project in which student teams introduce a product or service into the Italian market.
- Summer Session IHistory 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
The course will provide the students with basic knowledge of the Modern Central European political, social and cultural history. For practical reasons, the course will primarily use the example of Czech history in order to stimulate independent reflections of other cultures, seemingly familiar yet very different from that of the students. It will compare and contrast the Czech modern experience with the histories of other Central European countries, which all historically shared the same fate of small nations between two large historical rivals: Germany in the West and Russia in the East. An integral part of the class will be several field trips.
- Summer Session IPolitical Science 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
Decades after successful transitions from communism, liberal democracy in some Central European countries continues to be challenged. In this course, students will develop the theoretical and historical foundation necessary to analyze political transition of central European nation states as well as an advanced understanding of Czech, Polish, and Hungarian politics. This course will cover topics related to the challenges of democratic transitions in central Europe, the rise of populism, and ongoing polarization. Students will be encouraged to challenge the mainstream understanding of “transition” as a predictable, gradual, and irreversible progress, as understood by the western model.
Prerequisite: one semester of college level political science
- Summer Session IEconomics 200-level 3 credits Taught in English Cancelled
This course is an introduction to microeconomics. We will study the way that people, firms, and governments respond to incentives, and the allocation of resources. We will develop economic models (simplified versions of reality) to study a range of topics such as supply and demand, consumer and firm decision making, and government intervention. By the end of this course you should be able to think critically about the tradeoffs that people, firms, and governments face, and to examine important policy issues such as price controls, taxes, externalities, and the roles of markets and government.
- Summer Session IAgriculture Geography 200-level 3 credits Taught in English
Food is central to our lives; this is so in many more ways than the action of eating to sustain body and brain. Food is embedded in culture and acts as a strong, binding link between families and societies, and even between societies as food products and recipes travel the world. More importantly, what is less known is that food production and consumption stand at the crossroad of the big world challenges that humanity faces: hunger, poverty, energy, environment, climate change, and population growth. Finally, access to food is a condition to the political stability of a country as mass demonstrations against high food prices (known as ‘food riots’) have shown in recent years.
The objective of the course is to help students understand the multiple roles that agriculture, food production. and consumption play in the XXI century, as well as how they can act as both a problem and as a solution to the world challenges ahead of us.
The lecture will be divided in 3 parts:
- The global challenge of food security
- Agriculture at the crossroads of other global challenges
- Transformation of food systems
Each lecture will include a short introductory lecture, followed by a presentation and discussion of the readings, film screenings, and field trips.
- Summer Session IArt Journalism 200-level 1 credit Taught in EnglishSummer Session IIArt Journalism 200-level 1 credit Taught in English
Because the development of photography has always been closely connected to both the technical and creative spheres, in this course the theoretical and historical aspects of photography are introduced through practical exercises.
Ultimately, this will lead to the development of students’ own ways of visualizing their traveling experiences. Students who complete the course successfully will have produced a small book of well-crafted photographs that professionally documents their summer semesters abroad.
- Summer Session IHistory Political Science 400-level 1 credit Taught in EnglishSummer Session IIHistory Political Science 400-level 1 credit Taught in English
This course is designed as an introduction to Vienna and Budapest, the capital cities of Austria and Hungary as well as Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Students will visit historical and contemporary sites of cultural and political significance with a focus on the historical development of the region, ethnic relations, European integration, and contemporary political and economic conditions.
Co-requisite: Vienna and Budapest Tour
Session II
- Summer Session IIArt English Film 300-level 3 credits Taught in English
The course will offer intensive insight into the Czech cinema. The aim is to show different faces of Czech filmmaking, i.e. the variety of approaches toward the film media. Alongside the classic Czech movies, the students will have a chance to watch and analyze experimental films, the documentary, and poetic film.
- Summer Session IArchitecture Art 300-level 3 credits Taught in EnglishSummer Session IIArchitecture Art 300-level 3 credits Taught in English
The course is a survey of styles, trends and movements focusing on the fine arts and architecture in Prague and the Czech Republic against the background of European influences. It covers the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, up to Modernism and the Contemporary art scene. Special attention will be paid to the unique characteristics and developments of art (e.g. Prague Castle, Baroque churches, Czech cubism) and to the most significant periods in Czech history (era of Charles IV, Rudolf II). Tours, field trips and visits to museums and galleries are a substantial part of the course.
- Summer Session IIEconomics General Business 300-level 3 credits Taught in English CancelledDescription not available at this time.
- Summer Session IIEnglish 400-level 3 credits Taught in English Cancelled
This course will cover topics in Czech literature from the Czech National Revival in the nineteenth century to the present. Students will read and analyze texts by iconic Czech novelists of the twentieth century, such as Hašek's The Good Soldier Švejk, Hrabal's Too Loud a Solitude, Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and Topol's selected texts. This course will challenge students to explore the historical and cultural contexts of literary works and make theoretical connections between them and film adaptations.
Prerequisite: one semeseter of college-level writing composition
- Summer Session IIGeneral Business Management 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
This course examines the challenges facing managers that are competing in a global economy. We will devote our attention to strategic management in a globally competitive environment and the role of culture in motivation, leadership, communication, negotiation, decision-making, HRM practices, and the management of a multicultural workforce abroad or at home. We will cover the process of management based on both the macro (organizational) level of environment and strategy and the micro (interpersonal) level of culture and human resources. Some of the critical topics to be explored include:
• The international environment: politics, economy, culture, technology, and law.
• Managing international strategic planning and implementation.
• Managing people and processes across borders and cultures.
• Ethical dilemmas in international management.
- Summer Session ICzech 200-level 1 credit Taught in EnglishSummer Session IICzech 200-level 1 credit Taught in English
This course introduces students to the Czech language and provides skills essential to communication. The instructor supervises model conversations and real conversational situations during walks in the old town. Students with previous knowledge of the Czech language attend the advanced module of this course, read short articles in local newspapers, and do independent research on the social and cultural life of Czech society. This course is also suitable for students from Czech heritage families.
- Summer Session IICzech 200-level 1 credit Taught in English
This course introduces students to the Czech language and provides skills essential to communication. The instructor supervises model conversations and real conversational situations during walks in the old town. Students with previous knowledge of the Czech language attend the advanced module of this course, read short articles in local newspapers, and do independent research on the social and cultural life of Czech society. This course is also suitable for students from Czech heritage families.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Czech Language I
- Summer Session IIPolitical Science 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
Central and East European (CEE) countries seem to be standing at the crossroads. Liberal democracy is challenged across the region. Populist, authoritarian and anti-politics tendencies are rising. Does this stem from unresolved legacies of the Communist past? Or does it reflect pre-Communist authoritarian political cultures? Or does it simply mirror contemporary global tendencies of anti-establishment moods? With a similar geopolitical position in the former East Bloc, countries like Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary differed significantly in the types of their communist regimes, as well as their transitions to democracy in 1989-1991. This comparative aspect will be studied with special focus. Students will be also encouraged to challenge the mainstream understanding of “transition” as a predictable, gradual and irreversible progress towards the standard “Western” model. The course is designed as a seminar based on a guided discussion about carefully selected texts collected in a reader; active participation of the students is essential.
- Summer Session IIEnvironmental Science Political Science 300-level 3 credits Taught in English
Sustainable Development has become a commonplace term and a major reference point in global, national, and municipal politics of most countries, and increasingly also in the actions and policies of various political leaders. The overarching 2015 global framework of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) required UN member states, international organizations, as well as NGOs, businesses, cities and other stakeholders to align their activities/policies along 17 broad areas, ranging from poverty, inequalities to environment, peace, and good governance.
In this course, we will first explore the theories and concepts that support this global development framework. In the first block of the course, we will discuss links between sustainability and quality of life, learn about different ways to measure progress and discuss the ways in which the SDG is different in comparison to previous global development projects. In the second block, we will analyze, based on selected issues of poverty and migration, the role of different actors, the challenges they face, and the types of solutions they offer. The third block will be devoted to the highly important topic of our day – climate change. After establishing background, we will examine strategies offered by businesses, as well as by local communities, to mitigate the impacts and adapt to the new conditions. We will conclude the course with presentations of field projects and discussions synthesizing course themes and major take-aways.
Individual classes combine traditional lecture with interactive debates and workshops, screenings of documentaries, case studies, and guest lectures. As part of this course, students will be invited to visit concrete organization (be it a business, an NGO or a public organization) that is designed on the principles of sustainable development and explore its activities and contributions. At the end of the course, students will have the opportunity to share and discuss their findings.
- Summer Session IIHistory Sociology 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
In this course, students will explore twentieth-century Jewish theology and analyze specific events from the Holocaust, or properly speaking shoah, meaning catastrophe, annihilation, or devastation. This course will help students develop the theoretical foundation necessary for identifying and analyzing the role of ideology and faith in the Holocaust.
Prerequisite: One semester of college-level humanities
- Summer Session IArt Journalism 200-level 1 credit Taught in EnglishSummer Session IIArt Journalism 200-level 1 credit Taught in English
Because the development of photography has always been closely connected to both the technical and creative spheres, in this course the theoretical and historical aspects of photography are introduced through practical exercises.
Ultimately, this will lead to the development of students’ own ways of visualizing their traveling experiences. Students who complete the course successfully will have produced a small book of well-crafted photographs that professionally documents their summer semesters abroad.
- Summer Session IHistory Political Science 400-level 1 credit Taught in EnglishSummer Session IIHistory Political Science 400-level 1 credit Taught in English
This course is designed as an introduction to Vienna and Budapest, the capital cities of Austria and Hungary as well as Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Students will visit historical and contemporary sites of cultural and political significance with a focus on the historical development of the region, ethnic relations, European integration, and contemporary political and economic conditions.
Co-requisite: Vienna and Budapest Tour
To request a course syllabus: syllabus@usac.edu
U.S. Visiting Professors
While most USAC courses are taught by local faculty, the following U.S. professor will also teach in this program:
Prague Summer Session II, 2024
Course: The Holocaust: Twentieth-Century Jewish Studies
Ellen Paul, Fort Lewis College.
Dr. Ellen Paul is Professor of History at Fort Lewis College. Dr. Paul teaches courses on western civilization, Hitler and the Holocaust, and Eastern European history.
Field Studies
Optional field studies are an excellent way to deepen your academic experience abroad. During your 1-credit field study course, you will participate in carefully planned excursions that allow you to explore the cultural, historical, and natural features of the Czech Republic. These overnight field experiences, combined with required academic components such as readings, research, and written assignments, will increase your understanding of the sites and locales visited.
As an experiential learning method, optional field studies complement the larger academic program and provide you with opportunities to learn in new ways, to gain hands-on experience, and to connect your classroom learning to the world around you.
Optional field studies have an additional fee, are subject to meeting minimum enrollment requirements to run, and may not be available every summer session. Refer to the course list above for current field study offerings.