Prague Courses – 2026 Summer Session I
Academics
Prague offers an immersive academic experience where history, culture, and creativity converge in one of Europe's most compelling cities. Its medieval architecture, complex political past, and influential artistic traditions create a vivid backdrop for exploring how societies change and how people understand identity, memory, and expression. With a lively creative scene, a growing focus on sustainability, and an atmosphere that blends deep historical roots with modern energy, Prague provides an inspiring setting for interdisciplinary learning across the humanities and social sciences.
You will enroll in three to seven credits in each summer session. At least one 3-credit course is required each session you are enrolled. Courses are taught in English and no prior knowledge of the Czech language is required, though taking a language course while you are abroad is encouraged for a richer cross-cultural experience.
Courses Offered
Course availability is contingent upon scheduling constraints, meeting enrollment minimums, and is subject to change. View course details and descriptions.
Summer Session I
Czech Language, Culture, & the Arts
- Alternative Culture, Literature, Music, and Lifestyles
- Experiments in Czech Film
- From Medieval to Contemporary: Exploring the Great Art and Architecture of Prague
- Introduction to Czech Language I
- Travel Photography
European Studies
- Modern History of Central Europe
- Politics in Europe's New Democracies
- Psychology and Society
- The Global Food Challenge
- Vienna and Budapest Field Study
Summer Session II
Czech Language, Culture, & the Arts
- Czech Cinema - Image and Memory
- From Medieval to Contemporary: Exploring the Great Art and Architecture of Prague
- Introduction to Czech Language I
- Introduction to Czech Language II
- Travel Photography
European Studies
- Adapt and Overcome: The Environment and Sport Performance
- Central Europe's Green Revolution
- Modern Central European and Czech Politics
- The Holocaust: Twentieth-Century Jewish Studies
- Vienna and Budapest Field Study
U.S. Visiting Professors
While most USAC courses are taught by local faculty, we are excited to have the following U.S. professor(s) teach with us in Prague this summer:
Summer Session II
Katherine Spillios, Ph.D., University of Mount Union
Course: Adapt and Overcome: The Environment and Sport Performance
Dr. Katherine Spillios is a Professor of Exercise Science at the University of Mount Union with nearly 20 years of teaching focused on fitness assessment and exercise prescription for healthy and special populations. Her research explores pedagogies to enhance student learning in Exercise Science. Honored with 2024 Founder's Award by Midwest American College of Sport Medicine for her contributions and leadership in the chapter, Dr. Spillios is passionate about travel and guiding students as they broaden their perspectives and develop global mindsets.
USAC Course Descriptions
Click the course title to view course details, description and availability. To request a course syllabus: syllabus@usac.edu
- Summer Session IICommunity Health Sciences Psychology 300-level 3 credits Taught in English
This course will provide students with a deeper understanding of the impact environment can have on physiological and psychological aspects of sport and exercise performance. We will delve into the ability of the human body to tolerate and adapt to changes in one’s environment while at rest and during sport performance. The effects of temperature, precipitation, altitude, and sleep deprivation on the body and performance will be discussed, along with methods for adaptation to help maintain peak psychological and physiological performance as environmental conditions change.
- Summer Session IAnthropology Sociology 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
This course provides critical insights into the social functions and practices of ‘alternative’ urban lives in postindustrial society, including artistic production such as modern and postmodern art, street-art, underground, dissent, alternative, experimental, performance, situationist, alter-globalization movements, among others through multidisciplinary cultural, literary, and media studies perspectives. .
- 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 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 IArt Film 300-level 3 credits Taught in English
The course will offer insight into Czech cinema, highlighting different aspects of Czech filmmaking and a variety of approaches to filmmaking, including magic realism and surrealism. Students will view and analyze classic Czech films, experimental films, documentaries, and poetic films.
- 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 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-political 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 Eastern Bloc, the communist regimes in countries such as Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary differed significantly, as did their transitions to democracy in 1989-1991. This comparative aspect will be studied with special focus. Students are encouraged to challenge the mainstream understanding of “transition” as a predictable, gradual and irreversible progress towards the standard “Western” model.
- Summer Session IHistory 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
The course will focus on modern Central European political, social and cultural history through a comparison of the modern Czech 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.
- 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 IPsychology 300-level 3 credits Taught in English
The course provides an overview of the field of social psychology—the study of human interactions within groups. The concepts (e.g., stereotypes, biases, groupthink, conformity, totalitarianism, agency) will be examined within the context of the Czech society to mitigate students’ broader cultural understanding.
- 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 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
This course will introduce the theoretical and technical aspects of photography while providing an overview of the historical development of photography as a creative endeavor. Students learn the main features of their camera, the basics of exposure management, managing lighting, and understanding composition as they develop a sense of place and their own ways of visualizing their travel experiences.
- 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