AJ16172 Contemporary Issues in US and UK Culture and Politics

Filozofická fakulta
jaro 2016
Rozsah
0/2/0. 2 kr. (plus 2 za zk). Doporučované ukončení: zk. Jiná možná ukončení: z.
Vyučující
doc. Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph.D. (přednášející)
Garance
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky – Filozofická fakulta
Kontaktní osoba: Tomáš Hanzálek
Dodavatelské pracoviště: Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky – Filozofická fakulta
Rozvrh
Út 14:10–15:45 G31
Předpoklady
AJ01002 Anglický jazyk II && AJ07002 Úvod do studia kultury USA II
Omezení zápisu do předmětu
Předmět je nabízen i studentům mimo mateřské obory.
Předmět si smí zapsat nejvýše 25 stud.
Momentální stav registrace a zápisu: zapsáno: 0/25, pouze zareg.: 0/25, pouze zareg. s předností (mateřské obory): 0/25
Mateřské obory/plány
předmět má 7 mateřských oborů, zobrazit
Cíle předmětu
This course will examine current political and cultural controversies, primarily in the United States but also in the United Kingdom, based on events in the news and the current contents of public discussion in those countries. Class discussions and presentations will aim to contextualize present-day issues, locating them in the broader streams of history and cultural development that help explain how and why they arose, what is at stake in them, who the groups in contention are, and how the contrasting positions in current debates reflect and help construct different racial, cultural and political identities. Students will increase their ability to follow and understand events in the English-speaking world with depth and insight, and will have an opportunity to develop specific expertise with regard to one or more issues of their choice.
Osnova
  • Whatever is in the news each week, plus:
  • Regions, states, and counties of the US and UK
  • Government structures and policymaking procedures
  • Presidents, prime ministers, and party organizations
  • Political traditions; "red" vs. "blue" (and vice-versa)
  • Racial and ethnic issues
  • Class, mobility, and economic issues
  • Popular cultures and stereotypes
  • Issues chosen and presented by students
Literatura
    povinná literatura
  • American political parties and electionsa very short introduction. Edited by Louis Sandy Maisel. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007, xvi, 175 p. ISBN 9780195301229. info
  • Books: Wright, British Politics; Wenz, Beyond Red and Blue; Articles: Woodard, "The Real U.S. Map," Parts 1 -5
Výukové metody
Lectures, class discussions, readings, student presentations, and possibly film or TV viewings.
Metody hodnocení
100% final exam, administered on the last regularly scheduled day of class. Students may earn extra credit by giving class presentations and by actively contributing to Facebook group discussions. The exam "re-sit" will be an essay assignment.
Vyučovací jazyk
Angličtina
Informace učitele
http://tinyurl.com/issuesUSUK

Details of the syllabus will be developed in part on the basis of students' interests. The tentative list of topics above offers a rough idea, but the specifics to be discussed each week will depend on events in the news and on the issues that students choose to report on in class. Students will also discuss and share information about news events in a group discussion forum on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/contemporaryissues2016/
contemporaryissues2016@groups.facebook.com (e-mail address for posting to the group)

Students should make A REQUEST TO JOIN this group and should make sure they are regularly receiving notices when something is posted to it.

For essential background, see the ASSIGNED READINGS and the RECOMMENDED READINGS in the online folders with those labels: http://tinyurl.com/issuesUSUK

In addition to those readings, students should be following news from the U.S. and the U.K. regularly and avidly. Besides the Facebook group referenced above, recommended ways of doing that include RSS feeds and newsreaders; see the online folder NEWS SOURCES for details. Also, a website designed specifically for this course, with continually updating "aggregated" news sources, is here:

http://www.protopage.com/contemporaryissues

That site is further divided into these pages: News and politics / Commentary / Culture / Comedy

On each page, sources are color-coded (following the American, not the British style) according to approximate political orientation: red: generally right / conservative; blue: generally left / liberal.
Další komentáře
Studijní materiály
Předmět je vyučován každoročně.
Předmět je zařazen také v obdobích jaro 2014, jaro 2015, podzim 2017, podzim 2020.