| Course title | Culture III: American Studies |
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| Course code | KAJ/KKU3B |
| Organizational form of instruction | Seminary |
| Level of course | Bachelor |
| Year of study | not specified |
| Semester | Winter |
| Number of ECTS credits | 5 |
| Language of instruction | Czech |
| Status of course | Compulsory |
| Form of instruction | Face-to-face |
| Work placements | Course does not contain work placement |
| Recommended optional programme components | None |
| Course availability | The course is available to visiting students |
| Lecturer(s) |
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| Course content |
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List of topics to be addressed in lectures and seminars - this overview is informative, the order in which these will be dealt with and the amount of time dedicated to them depends on the particular teacher and students' needs (those, however, cannot change the set content or course requirements). Lecture topics: Defining American Studies: History, Schools in the US and Europe, Main Figures. The First Americans - the Native American Nations. Colonial America and the Route to Independence. Native American Resistance (Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Tecumseh). The First American Presidents and their politics (the Monroe Doctrine, etc.). American Slavery and the Civil War. The South after the Civil War (e.g. the Reconstruction, the Jim Crow legislation). The Industrial Revolution; Immigration; The Progressive Age. The US in World War I. The Roaring Twenties, the Prohibition and the Great Depression. The US in World War II. The 1950s and the Cold War. The 1960s and 1970s and the Civil Rights Movements. The End of the Cold War and American Society in the New Millenium. Seminar topics: American Myths and Symbols. Early American Texts, Puritanism. Colonial and Revolutionary Literature. Transcendentalism. American Romanticism. American Realism. Turn of the century, transition between Realism and Modernism. American Modernism. The Harlem Renaissance. Beat Literature. The Novel of the 1960s and 1970s. Contemporary American Literature (e.g. literature of immigration, minority literatures). The extent of the face-to-face instruction: 17 lessons/semester
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| Learning activities and teaching methods |
| Lecture, Seminár, E-learning, Students' self-study |
| Learning outcomes |
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The course serves as an introduction to the history and culture of the USA. It offers a complex overview of American history and it also focuses on selected key events which are analysed in their political, religious, and economic context. The main emphasis is on comprehending the importance of dominant historical events which shaped American society into how we now know it. The subject also offers an overview of literary and non-literary texts which help students gain a better insight to the selected periods.
A basic overview of the history, culture and literature of the USA. |
| Prerequisites |
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B2 level of English, successful completion of Culture I: Introduction to Culture and Literature.
KAJ/CKU1B ----- or ----- KAJ/KKU1B ----- or ----- KAJ/PKU1B |
| Assessment methods and criteria |
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Oral exam, Student's linguistic performance analysis, Written assignment, Test
It is essential that all students enroll to the course on elearning.tul.cz./Google classroom since this is the main means through which materials and information will be shared with students - links for seminar groups are available through the KU3BE course on Moodle, and will also be provided by the respective seminar convenors. Lectures: participation is not obligatory (knowledge of discussed topics, set reading and supplementary materials is students' responsibility); mid-term/end-of-course written tests (to be awarded the credit, students have to achieve 70 % and above in each of the tests, and only then they will be allowed by STAG to register for the final oral exam). https://elearning.tul.cz/course/view.php?id=17090#section-0 Seminars: Active participation in seminars (1 absence is allowed), assignments (to be fulfilled according to instructions and submitted before the set deadline (these can be of different formats and frequency - specified by the particular seminar convenors), and a final oral exam. Should the teacher find out student will not have read the compulsory reading prior to class, s/he can put that class as one the student missed. Added emphasis will be placed on students' productive language skills so as to ensure these are of the required standard. |
| Recommended literature |
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| Study plans that include the course |
| Faculty | Study plan (Version) | Category of Branch/Specialization | Recommended semester |
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