CORE136 American Cultural Influence in the Global Era

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Denisa Krásná, BA (Hons), Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 12:00–13:40 G24, except Mon 21. 4. to Sun 27. 4.
Prerequisites
TYP_STUDIA(BM) && FORMA(P) && !(PROGRAM(B-AJ_) || OBOR(FBAJpV) || PROGRAM(B-AJA_))
B2 level English.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 100 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 37/100, only registered: 0/100, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/100
Course objectives
The main aim is to cover aspects of American culture, which are now present globally in various forms. The course will approach individual topics from the perspective of Cultural Studies, a discipline that critically examines various aspects of culture from an interdisciplinary perspective including social, artistic, political, philosophical, legal, economic, etc. phenomena, as they have developed in recent decades.
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to: critically examine various aspects of American culture; identify American influences in global cultural phenomena; apply the methodology of Cultural Studies to discuss cultural artifacts; critically reflect upon the U.S. influence on various aspects of our everyday lives; distinguish between various types of culture in general and cultural products in particular.
Syllabus
  • 0. Introduction: What is America? What is culture? (All teachers)
  • 1. American Studies today. Culture as an American export commodity. Americanization of culture. (Kačer)
  • 2. American politics as a global culture war (Kačer)
  • 3. American genres in popular culture: theater (Kačer)
  • 4. American musicals and “All That Jazz” (Kačer)
  • 5. Hollywood international and the national responses (Pospíšil)
  • 6. It’s only rock’n’roll, baby! American popular music and the world (Pospíšil)
  • 7. Consuming US culture as a Political Act: The Reception of American Culture between 1948 - 1989 (Pospíšil)
  • 8. Playing Indians in Europe, Wild West Show in Moravia (Vanderziel)
  • 9. Racist cultural forms: the blackface, Minstrel shows (Vanderziel)
  • 10. Sport as a cultural product and the rise of American sports (Vanderziel)
  • 11. Politics of Consumption – the food industry and consumerism (Krásná)
  • 12. MeToo and the influence of American gender politics (Krásná)
Teaching methods
Lecture, discussions (general and in groups), reflective writing, analysis of cultural material (text, A/V, produce, etc.).
Assessment methods
Short in-class tests (12 tests with 10 questions each; 60 points total required to pass; possible final make-up test when the student has few total points); a 5-minute presentation on a chosen topic (created and recorded at home, uploaded to a shared folder for evaluation).
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2026.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/CORE136