Courses
The Department of Middle Eastern Studies offers a wide range of courses for foreign students that include basic courses on the history of Africa, Israel and/or Islam, as well as specific and upper-level courses on particular issues related to the Middle East, Horn of Africa, or contemporary Islam. The list of courses including brief descriptions can be found below:
KBS/1AMH Africa in the 19th and 20th Centuries
10 credits Summer/Winter
Modul is intended to explore modern and contemporary history of Africa, since the period of European colonialism to the beginning of the 21st century. Students will be informed about basic trends and historical periods in this timeframe. Different colonial systems, influence of European colonialism on African societies as well as legacy of European colonialism in contemporary Africa will be analyzed.
Instructor: Assoc. Prof. Jan Záhořík, Ph.D.
jzahorik@kbs.zcu.cz
KBS/1UDA Introduction to African History
10 credits Summer/Winter
The course deals with basic approaches to African History, and discusses early history of Africa until European colonialism.
Instructor: Assoc. Prof. Jan Záhořík, Ph.D.
jzahorik@kbs.zcu.cz
KBS/1IOI Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam
5 credits Winter
The course will be focused on the rise of Islam in the Indian Ocean in regard to international trade, slave trade, and European colonialism. It will discuss all important historical, cultural and social changes of the Indian Ocean as crossroads of Arab, Persian, African, Asian, and European influences and mutual interactions.
Instructor: Assoc. Prof. Jan Záhořík, Ph.D.
jzahorik@kbs.zcu.cz
KBS/1AME Horn of Africa and Middle East: history, culture, religion
5 credits Summer
The course will be focused on historical, cultural, and religious ties between Northeastern Africa and the Middle East since Antiquity to the Present Day. It will discuss all important events in modern and contemporary history that connect both regions. At the same time, religious (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) and cultural trajectories associating the Horn of Africa with the Middle East in a broader cultural unit will be analyzed. Last lecture will summarize the whole course.
Instructor: Assoc. Prof. Jan Záhořík, Ph.D.
jzahorik@kbs.zcu.cz
KBS/1IIS Introduction to Israel Studies
5 credits Summer
This basic course will introduce the student into the discourse of Israel studies. The course focuses on internal history of the State of Israel, its politics and society as well as religious and cultural affairs. While Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an important part of the Israeli history, this course aims to explore the topics that are important for Israeli history and identity, yet they are not directly related to the Middle-Eastern conflict. The course will start with the birth of Zionism and continue through the history of the Yishuv, Zionism during WWII, birth of Israel, mamlakhtiyut period of 1950s, Israel as emerging local power in 1960s, shifts in Israeli society during 1970s and 1980s up to the impacts of two intifadas and failure of the peace process. The last lectures will explore contemporary issues of Israel (minorities in Israel, "Startup Nation", social gaps, orthodox Jews etc.) and the history of Czech-Israeli relations.
Instructor: Zbyněk Tarant, Ph.D.
ztarant@kbs.zcu.cz
KBS/1CISL Contemporary Islam
10 Summer/Winter
The aim of this course is to offer a deeper insight into the development of Islamic thinking since the second half of the 19th century to the present days. Students will acquire knowledge of the main spiritual as well as affiliated political courses and trends, they will gain a closer understanding of crucial figures of this period and their backgrounds, sources and projects. Students will be also introduced to the various Middle Eastern religious scenes, typologies of modern Islamic thinkers and activists, as well as an appropriate terminology. The course is designed for foreign students and the language of instruction is English.
Instructor: Daniel Křížek, Ph.D.
dkrizek@kbs.zcu.cz
KBS/1EMEA Europe, Middle East and Africa
10 Summer/Winter
The course will deal with complexities of history of mutual relations and interactions between European, Middle Eastern, and African societies and political entities from the medieval times to the Present. Lectures will offer insights into themes that include dynamics of relations between Christian Europe and Islamic East and Mediterranean, Western perception of Islam and Muslims, development of European social sciences regarding the Middle East and Africa, history of the so-called Islamic Spain, different forms of contemporary Islamic thinking and their place in globalized world, Israel-Palestinian conflict and its international dimensions, colonialism in Africa, and so on. The course is intended for foreign students and the language of instruction is English.
Instructor: Daniel Křížek, Ph.D.
dkrizek@kbs.zcu.cz
KBS/1IISL Introduction to Islam
10 Summer/Winter
The course offers a complex introduction to Islam. Islam as religious system with all its historical, spiritual, moral, legal, and cultural bases as well as its relation to the development of Muslim societies will be the main focus. The contents of the course will include topics such as Islamic theology, prophetology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic jurisprudence, ritual practices, ethics, etc. Furthermore, various Islamic legal schools, branches, sects, traditions, and tendencies from Medieval to the Present times (Sunna and Shi'a, Islamic mysticism, Islamic modernism, radical forms of Islam, etc.), specificities of various regions on a map of contemporary Islam as well as Islamic arts and architecture will be discussed. The course is designed for foreign students and the language of instruction is English.
Instructor: Daniel Křížek, Ph.D.
dkrizek@kbs.zcu.cz
KBS/1PRO Final project
20 Summer/Winter
The course is designed exclusively for foreign students who are on University of West Bohemian on a long-term study internship. In this course conditions for the processing of the thesis will be provided for the students (bachelor's, master's or doctoral), respectively, a large independent project (eg. Research related to the graduate thesis or journal article). The student is assigned full time internship supervisor (consultant), with whhom the student individually consults research and word processing, gives his assessment of the graduate thesis, or partial outcomes research. At the end of the internship, students will defend their findings before the committee.
Instructor: Jan Záhořík, Ph.D.
jzahorik@kbs.zcu.cz