Syllabus
American Studies Course outline and syllabus
1. Home assignment – online quiz (Scorm) Course introduction
2. Colonial America and its Puritan legacy Online video lecture (Jakub Ženíšek) + discussion topics
3. War of Independence and its contemporary reflections Thomas Paine: Common Sense (excerpts) Charles Johnson: A Soldier for the Crown
4. The Founding Fathers and their mythologies Robert Hughes – American Visions Howard Zinn – an excerpt (.pdf + audio)
5. American Slavery and its Abolition - intro Online video lecture (Jakub Ženíšek)
6. American Slavery and its Abolition – close reading Charles Johnson: Soulcatcher (documentary fiction) H.B. Stowe: Uncle Tom´s Cabin (excerpts)
7. Uniting American Mythologies Manifest Destiny and beyond R. Hughes: American Visions + Scorm quiz
8. Anti-War Manifestos Introductory lecture Reading: Mark Twain, “The War Prayer”; Ambrose Bierce: Chicamauga (optional)
9. US Civil Rights Movement Reading and listening M.L. King: I Have a Dream Malcolm X: The Ballot or the Bullet
10. Competing ideologies Religious Right vs Secular Left Home assignment: A debate between Jon Stewart and Michael Huckabee
11. US Foreign policies Home assignment: The World Policeman Debate Pros and cons debate
12. The use of euphemism in US public discourse
13. Course recap
Annotation
Course Profile: The course aims to span several selected topics related to American historical development, its ethnic and cultural diversity and institutions, while simultaneously boosting student topic-based 2nd language debating skills, using pre-selected wordstock. To access the course materials and seminar assignments, pls. go to: https://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=2319 enrolment key: usa