Specialization: course opened to all study programs
Warrantor: doc. PhDr. Martin Bútora
Instructor: North-American academicians from American and Canadian prestigious universities (via videoconference and in person)
Lecturing hours (weekly): 2
Credits: 3 ECTS
Date: Wednesday 5.00 - 6.30 pm
Room: Rector´s meeting room (3rd floor of the main building)
Working language: English
Evaluation: passed/not passed
Live online streaming every class:
http://conx.state.gov/americanstudies/
Guidelines how to write an essay
Aim of the course: The Certified Interdisciplinary Introduction to North-American Studies intends to provide the students with extraordinary lectures from distinguished academicians and personalities. The aim is to evoke interest and introduce North-America by presenting particular lectures on politics, economics, security, culture, law, geography and sociologic characteristics of the region. The course will constitute an introduction into a study program specialization on North American region while discussing the question of the role of the region in the international affairs in more detail. Students who pass the course will be awarded with a certificate.
Course Sylabus and Terms & Conditions to download (.pdf)
Preliminary timetable of the course:
Week 1, February 8, 2012, 5pm CET
Introductory session: Prospects and Challenges for North-American – Central European Relations in the 21st Century. Presentation of the Transatlantic Trends.
H.E. Theodore Sedgwick (Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USA to the Slovak Republic); Ms. Oľga Gyárfášová (Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Public Affairs)
PPT: Week 1 - Transatlantic Trends survey 2011
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
Week 2, February 15, 2012, 5pm CET
Founding Ideas: The Individuality vs. the Community
Classical Liberal Ideology as the Foundation of the Constitutional System
Current Debates between Modern Liberals and Conservatives on the Role of Government
Impact on Government Policy (e.g., addressing such challenges as poverty & health care)
Allan Lichtman (Professor of History, American University in Washington, D.C.)
Week 3, February 22, 2012, 5pm CET
American Ideals in Practice
Liberty - Conceived as Restraints on Government Power (Civil Liberties)
Justice – Law & Courts
Pursuit of Happiness & the American Dream
Equality Under the Law
Race & Ethnicity
Gender
Dr. David Lublin (American University in Washington, D.C.)
Reading B - Week 3 - Lublin in classifying by race
Week 4, February 29, 2012, 5pm CET
Democracy and Politics
Democracy as a Political Ideal
Actual Political Process
Dr. Kevin Deegan-Krause (Associate Professor of Political Science, Wayne State University)
Online Quiz by Dr. Deegan-Krause
PPT: Week 4 - American Politics in a Nutshell
Week 5, March 7, 2012, 5pm CET
U.S. Economic System
Capitalism as an Ideal
Capitalism in Practice
Globalization of Economy & Implications for Government Regulation
Growth in Economic Inequality since 1980
Matthew Christ (The Graduate School USA in Washington, D.C.)
Reading B - Week 5 - Sustainable Capitalism
PPT: Week 5 - Capitalism, Globalisation and Inequality
Week 7, March 8, 2012, 5pm CET
American Religion
U.S. Belief in “The City on the Hill” – they are a Chosen People
Religious Heterogeneity
Secular State vs. Religious People (Debate over the Separation of Church & State)
Religious Activism in Politics since 1980 and the Implications
Dr. Alan Wolfe (Professor, Boston College)
Reading A - U.S. Religious Survey
Reading B - Summary of Key Findings (.pdf)
Week 6, March 14, 2012, 5pm CET
American Foreign Policy
Key Principles of U.S. Foreign Policy, Isolationism vs. Interventionism Debate
U.S. Military as an Institutional Player in the System
Who are Allies & Enemies?
Hard Power and Soft Power: The U.S. Role in a Changing World
Jeffrey Gedmin (CEO, Legatum Institute)
Reading A - The World America Made
Reading B - The Post American World
CULTURAL AND SOCIAL SYSTEMS
Week 8, March 28, 2012, 5pm CET
American Society and Sense of Self (How Americans see & present themselves)
Popular culture
Film
Music
Sport
Dr. Morris Dickstein (Professor, City University of New York)
Reading A - Week 8 - Facing the Music
Readin B - Week 8 - Interview with Dr. Dickstein
Week 9, April 4, 2012, 5pm CET
The Media
Media Framing (Putting some issues on the national agenda; ignoring others)
Impact of Media on Politics & Society
Dr. Evan Cornog (Hofstra University)
Week 10, April 18, 2012, 5pm CET
American Landscape
Idea of Frontiers and New Beginnings
Land and Natural Resources (Idea that they are limitless)
Environmentalist Ideology and Emergence of Environmentalist Movement
(John Muir, Aldo Leopold & Rachel Carson)
Current Debates
Dr. John McNeill (Georgetown University)
American History of Environmentalism.ppt
Week 11, April 25, 2012, 5pm CET
Invention and Innovation
Technological Developments
Impact of New Technologies on Democracy, Economics, Liberties, etc.
Dr. Matthew Kushin (Utah Valley University)
Week 12, May 2, 2012, 5pm CET
Where Canada meets the US: similarities and differences
Dr. Nancy Baker (Professor, New Mexico State University); Kathy Bunka (chargé d´affaires of the Office of Embassy of Canada)
