SOC290 Sociology of Generations

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2019
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Ing. Radim Marada, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Ing. Radim Marada, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Prerequisites
None
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 10 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/10, only registered: 0/10
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course introduces students into the world of generational differences and relations. It mainly draws on the Czech and Slovak collective experience, which -- thanks to the politically turbulent last 100 years -- made of it a true laboratory of generational experience and research. The focus will be on the formation and social/political functions inter-generational conflict after 1989, and this in the perspective of the (generationally loaded) relationship to the collective past, communism especially.
Learning outcomes
Students acquire basic skills in working analytically with the concept of generations, generational relations, generational memory and collective memory in general. They'll be led to understand how precisely processes on the level of generationally tinted collective memory affect various spheres of life and experience: politics, family, work, civil society, sports, arts, religion, etc. They will also acquire knowledge on the relevant aspects of the recent developments in these spheres especially (but not exclusively) in western societies, especially (but not exclusively) in post-communist societies after 1989, especially (but not exclusively) in the Czech and Slovak Republics.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to the course: sociology of thick lines 2. Sociological concept of generations 3. Sociological concept of collective memory 4. The concept of collective trauma 5. Holocaust, communism and collective trauma 6. Legacy of communism in generational imagination 7. Reading week: students working on individual projects 8. The concept of nostalgia 9. Nostalgia and selling retro 10. Generational memory in film and literature 11. Commented and discussed individual project presentations 12. Commented and discussed individual project presentations 13. Closing colloquium and evaluation of the course; final instructions related to individual projects and the final essay
Literature
    required literature
  • BACH, Jonathan. Consuming Communism: Material Cultures of Nostalgia in Former East Germany. In Olivia Angé; David Berliner. Anthropology and Nostalgia. New York; Oxford: Berghaim 21, 2014, p. 123-138. ISBN 978-1-78238-453-3. info
  • GAL-EZER, Miri. From "silent generation" to cyber-psy-site, story and history: The 14th Tank Brigade battles on public collective memory and official recognition. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2012, vol. 6, 1 (SI1). ISSN 1802-7962. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CP2012-SI1-4. info
  • The collective memory reader. Edited by Jeffrey K. Olick - Daniel Levy - Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011, xviii, 497. ISBN 9780195337426. info
  • Collective memory and European identity : the effects of integration and enlargement. Edited by Klaus Eder - Willfried Spohn. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Pub., 2005, x, 228. ISBN 0754644014. URL info
  • Cultural trauma and collective identity. Edited by Jeffrey C. Alexander. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004, ix, 314 p. ISBN 9780520936768. info
  • Otevřená minulost : autobiografická sociologie státního socialismu. Edited by Zdeněk Konopásek. Vyd. 1. V Praze: Karolinum, 1999, 371 s. ISBN 8071847550. info
  • IRWIN-ZARECKA, Iwona. Frames of remembrance. : the dynamics of collective memory. New Brunswick [N.J.]: Transaction Publishers, 1994, xiv, 214. ISBN 1560001380. info
  • Generations. Edited by Stephen Richards Graubard. 1st ed. New York: Norton, 1979, ix, 214. ISBN 039395093X. info
    recommended literature
  • Representing East Germany since unificationfrom colonization to nostalgia. Edited by Paul Cooke. New York, NY: Berg, 2005, x, 236 p. ISBN 1845201892. info
  • BARTHEL, Diane L. Historic preservation : collective memory and historical identity. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1996, ix, 182. ISBN 0813522935. info
Teaching methods
Introductory lectures are followed by moderated seminar discussions. Individual preparation of students combines the study of relevant sociological literature with their own analytical work on (rather simple) seminar projects.
Assessment methods
Special accent is put on the activity in classes, quality of individual presentations and quality of the final essays.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Information on the per-term frequency of the course: jaro 2013 a jaro 2014.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2019, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2019/SOC290