- Re:Views

Transcription

- Re:Views

Spring 2016
Re:Views
Transatlantic Partnership:
Interviews with His Excellency Andrew H. Schapiro
and Michael Žantovský
The Many Sides of Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel
US Elections 2016
Tento projekt vznikl za finanční podpory a taktéž nemateriální pomoci Grantu TGM Spolku absolventů a přátel
Masarykovy univerzity, Filozofické fakulty MU, Katedry anglistiky a amerikanistiky FF MU, Brno Expat Centre,
ESCape, Krmítka a Plánotisku.
This project was realized with financial as well as non-material help and support of TGM Grants of Alumni and
Friends of Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts MU, Department of English and American Studies FA MU, Brno
Expat Centre, ESCape, Krmítko, and Plánotisk.
Editorial staff
External Contributors
Markéta Šonková, editor-in-chief
Anna Formánková, chief of staff
Martina Krénová, finances and web
Tereza Pavlíková, editor & transcripts
Šárka Panochová, external staff coordinator
Blanka Šustrová, editor
Tereza Walsbergerová, editor
Helena Brunnerová, photography
Zuzana Motalová, graphic tasks
Radka Michaláková, editor
Barbara Ocsovayová, PR & editor
Natália Poláková, editor
Pavel Peléšek, editor
Pavla Wernerová, PR & editor
External cooperation: Petr Čučka (photography & postproduction), Irina Matusevich (production
& postproduction), Audiovisual Support team E-learning Office, FA MU (production assistance),
Pavla Nováková (editor), Tomáš Varga (editor).
Katarína Gažíková, quality check
Štěpán Šonka, graphic design, typesetting & composition
PhDr. Kateřina Tomková, PhD, editing & course supervision
Unless stated otherwise, contributions in the magazine do not necessarily express opinions of the entire editorial staff, external
contributors and staff, sponsors, partners and patrons, Department of English and American Studies, Faculty of Arts, or Masaryk
University. Neither does the magazine wish to act as an official medium for communicating opinions of the above mentioned subjects.
Authors of the particular articles and pieces are solely responsible for their content. Unless stated otherwise, the magazine does not own
any of the pictures or photographs; their authors or owners are always credited. The magazine is a non-profit project.
It is believed that usage of low-resolution images for scholarly, commentary, criticism, research, and the like purposes qualifies as fair
use.
Published by
Re:Views Magazine, z.s.
IČO: 04915984
Arne Nováka 1/1
ISSN: 2464-7306
602 00 Brno
Publication date: May 16, 2016
Published twice a year (once per academic semester) in Brno
Cover picture: Jeffrey A. Vanderziel by Helena Brunnerová.
Dear readers…
The king is dead. Long live the queen!
Well, although our king did not quite die – as I am relieved
to say – it is still an end of one era. Finally, after all those
years of reading about it, I can begin to imagine how
the British felt when Edward VII sat on the throne after
Queen Victoria. Just like them, not many of us remember
anyone else but Jeff to sit on the throne of the Department
of English and American Studies. So to console our hearts
and minds, let us all celebrate the fact that he still stays
as our viceroy.
Back to 21st century and the simile-free language. I have
to say that this Issue really is special. Not only because
we have seven new editors and a brand new workshoplike course where we produced many of these lines –
fortunately no one was harmed (Roald Dahl, you should
learn from us, we have safe working conditions!) – but
most of all, because I am really proud that many people
working on the magazine, many of those who usually
do not work with us, and even those who maybe heard
about us for the very first time, helped us produce this
incredible issue. To all of you, I send my biggest thanks!
Not to steal all the thunder, it is fair to say that the
circumstances helped us too... The US presidential
elections are always something to observe. So we observed
them for you. And we also asked some of those most
qualified to express their opinions and ideas on what is
going on. But it is not only the US where something is
happening. It seems like the British Isles are becoming
keen on referenda. So we had a look in that too.
And some of us even overcame their fear of the inquisitive
lenses and stood in front of a camera. Three cameras, in
fact. I feel very privileged I could talk to His Excellency
Andrew H. Schapiro, the US Ambassador to the Czech
Republic whom I asked about Czech-American relations.
And because there is no such thing like too many good
news, I could ask questions on similar topic also Mr.
Michael Žantovský. The result is an amalgam of ideas and
experience(s) from both sides of the Atlantic – one from
a diplomat who formed our new democratic ties with
the USA and one from another diplomat, who nurtures
and cultivates these ties now – and I sincerely hope you
shall like both the articles as well as the videos.
As always, I would like to thank you all for your support
and I hope you shall enjoy reading Issue IV as much as
we enjoyed working on it!
On behalf of the Re:Views Magazine,
Markéta Šonková
editor-in-chief
Contents
The Many Sides of Jeffrey Alan
Vanderziel ................................ 4 - 9
The Fulbright Program ........ 10 - 15
“To boldly go where all the smart people have gone before” ..... 10 - 12
The Fulbright Commission
in the Czech Republic .......... 13 - 15
The Transatlantic Partnership
..................................... 16 - 29
Interview with Michael Žantovský ............................... 18 - 21
Interview with H. E. Andrew H. Schapiro ............................ 22 - 29
US Elections 2016 ................ 30 - 43
The Candidates ..................... 30 - 32
The American Spectacle ...... 33 - 35
How to Elect a POTUS ........ 36 - 39
Expert Section ...................... 40 - 43
Brexit .................................... 44 - 55
Student Interview ................. 56 - 57
Letter from Abroad .............. 58 - 59
Podcasts ................................ 61 - 67
Critique: Jacob Riis .............. 66 - 69
Review .................................. 70 - 73
IDEAS ......................................... 74
4
The Many Sides of Jeffrey Alan
Vanderziel
By Martina Krénová and Tereza Walsbergerová
Although he is not leaving the department altogether, the fact that he is stepping down as head after 15 years
definitely feels like the end of an era. That is why we decided to sit down with the former Head and current
Deputy Head of the Department of English and American Studies at Masaryk University in Brno, Jeffrey Alan
Vanderziel, find out more about his life, and take a peek at the many different sides of the man who has gone
from doing the local paper delivery route in San Francisco suburbia to being in charge of one of the oldest English
departments in the world.
The Pupil
Though it may seem like he had in many ways the
stereotypical American childhood, it was a pretty
rough ride. While he primarily grew up in San
Francisco suburbs, his family moved around a lot,
which meant that as a very young boy he often
found himself having to be the new kid at school.
“I wouldn’t say I had a lot of friends or was very
popular. Junior high school was a pretty miserable
I pretty veraciously read everything. I
had read The Lord of the Rings by the
time I was sixteen probably about five
or six times.
experience for me.” Thus, instead of trying to fit in
with the jocks, the popular crowd, or the brainy
kids, he busied himself with other things. For
example, he got himself the stereotypical American
job of delivering the local paper. “I started off
with one paper which was once a week, and then
I moved on to a paper that was Monday through
Saturday in the afternoons. After school I would
come home, wrap papers, if it was raining put them
in plastic sleeves, and then deliver them. I probably
had about a hundred papers.” More importantly,
like all lonely children, he buried himself in books,
predominantly fantasy and science fiction. In his
sixth grade he was first exposed to J. R. R. Tolkien’s
The Hobbit, which then prompted him to join a
science fiction book club when he was fifteen. “I
pretty veraciously read everything. I had read The
Lord of the Rings by the time I was sixteen probably
about five or six times.” In other words, reading
became a way to escape his everyday life.
The Scholar
though he did not know this yet, shape the next
twenty-seven years of his life. “My life has never
been planned in the sense that I’m going to A, B,
C. Yes, I’m going to A, but what happens after that
would depend on what happens with A. And so
I came, and what happened after is the result of
I cannot imagine the sight of Dykes
on Bikes leading Prague Pride would
go very well here, topless women on
their hogs riding down the street, that
would be a bit much. In the States, in
San Francisco, it’s normal.
things that happened here.” After he went back to
the States in 1990, realizing his dissertation was
not going anywhere, he decided to return. “At that
time Don [Sparling] and Doug Dicks who was a
Fulbright scholar at the Department at that time,
said ’why don’t you come back and do American
Although he claims to have had no literary heroes
with whom he would identify in his personal life,
there were a few scholars who helped mold his
young mind into the academic that he is today.
“There was a teacher in junior high school that was
quite influential, Mr. Lesley, later when I went back
to night school, there was a woman who inspired
me to take up anthropology, Betty Goerke, and
then at college, in my undergraduate, there were
two professors who inspired me in some respect
– one was Brian Fagan, who influenced me in
the sense that he was a believer in popularisation
of scholarship and writing for non-scholarly
audiences, and the other was my thesis supervisor
Mike Joachim, who introduced me to European
archeology.” Possibly as a result of these influences,
he then went on to do his doctorate in Central
and Eastern European Paleolithic Archaeology
at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
between the years 1986 and 1991.
Furthermore, one of the most significant points
in his academic life was his Fulbright Scholarship
stay in Czechoslovakia in 1989, which would,
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Photo courtesy of Helena Brunnerová
studies,’ and I said ’I’m not really doing anything
in the States’ so I came back.” Moreover, because
of the fact that his family moved around so much
when he was a child and he therefore does not have
strong attachment to places, nor to people, he was
able to stay long-term. “People come, people go,
people move, people go away… I think that that
has allowed me to stay here.”
The Expat
Since he came to Brno after the Revolution, the
curriculum at the department had just undergone
a massive change from more linguistics and
literature-oriented one with very little history
and culture to something more similar to the
curriculum as we know it today. In his words, it
was not a smooth transition. “The Department had
a very turbulent period in the mid-90s when there
were serious disagreements among staff about the
direction of the Department. I wasn’t at the center
of those, I was a marginal, young, new person at
the Department, and so it wasn’t really my place.”
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When it comes to the attitude of Czech students
towards America, he does see a shift, but he does
not believe that the interest was any stronger back
then. “Students in the early 90s had an idealized
vision of America without really knowing it, so
it was difficult when you presented them with
an America that didn’t correspond with their
The things that have happened have
happened, whether we believe in
karma or some greater force or energy
or whatever it is. If I went back and
changed something then I wouldn’t be
where I am now – the butterfly effect – I
believe in that very much.
imaginings, just as it is difficult now when you
have students who have this vision that they get
from the media and you are trying to present a
different vision, and it doesn’t correspond with what
they have seen or heard about America.” Relatedly,
he believes that Czech media do not offer enough
diverse programmes which could help educate the
public about American culture. “You don’t find
black and Hispanic shows here, you just find the
white shows. Dubbing is a whole other issue. Until
that changes a lot of things won’t change here.”
Diversity is not the only thing he believes that
Czech society perceives and processes rather
specifically. For instance, when asked about
what he thinks about the Czech responses to the
American presidential race and the Donald Trump
phenomenon, he pointed out the Czech (and
Slovak) inability to take foreign experiences and
turn around and look through that lense at their
own culture. “A lot of things I hear Donald Trump
saying I hear the current Czech president echoing
in a slightly less vulgar language, but the core ideas
are the same there.” At the same time, he notes
Czech and Slovak presidents do not have much
influence, whereas if Trump became president, he
would have a lot of control: “I think Europeans are
right to look at Trump with some caution, because
he is basically unpredictable, that’s the key thing,
and he has power.”
Furthermore – in connection with his Gay Studies
course – when asked about differences between
the LGBT+ communities in the Czech Republic
and the USA, he chalks most of them up to
population size in general. “In some respects the
Czech community is much less fractured than
the American community. In the United States
within the gay and lesbian community there is
much more atomization of interests and part of
it is patterns of residence, part of it is economic
issues.” He mentions the gap between the economic
status of lesbians and gay men in relation to the
pattern of residence and family, which has been
narrowing for the past ten years thanks to marriage
equality. “Here the community is to a large degree
more cohesive simply because of size and also
socialization, although you also see differences,
lesbian clubs and gay clubs, but it is not quite as
diverse as you see in the United States.” Further
differences are in the level of visibility, or rather
the Czech refusal to stand out, and the general
atmosphere, which is more relaxed and less political
here; there are no sit-ins or picketing, or protesting
outside of Parliament. “I cannot imagine the sight
of Dykes on Bikes leading Prague Pride would go
very well here, topless women on their hogs riding
down the street, that would be a bit much. In the
States, in San Francisco, it’s normal.”
encourage students to participate actively in classes,
he feels like it is a bit too late because of the school
system. “It goes back to what’s been imprinted on
you since primary school.” Additionally, he agrees
One needs to recognize, and to a fairly
large degree sublimate one’s own ego
and recognize that the greater good of
the Department is the key element.
that going abroad might help in overcoming this
fear of standing out, albeit not every student can
go to Bristol, as many universities offer interesting
and exciting opportunities. Moreover, even if the
Erasmus experience is not perfect, that does not
change the fact that every experience is a valuable
one.
When enquired about the dreaded tests and quizzes
that he seems to favor in his classes, he says that
when he started teaching here they did a lot of
essays which, as the Department grew, became
The Teacher
Since in a previous interview with the ESCape
magazine (2007) he said that in his experience
Czech students were more passive than American
students or even other foreign students, the question
was whether that is still the case today. Apparently,
not only is it still true, but it is also the case in the
combined studies classes, which are attended by
more mature and adult students. “They came in
and they all went to sit at the back of the room, and
I made a comment that that is not going to be the
case, and so they moved and we talked about this a
little bit and there is this Czech fear of standing out.
You don’t want to draw attention to yourself, for
either reasons that you might get positive attention
that might cause jealousy among your colleagues,
or negative attention from the teacher, that you’re
not a good student.” Although he does his best to
7
Photo courtesy of Jiří Rambousek
impractical and reading the same texts over and
over became a bit tiring. “I don’t have problems
with students writing essays, and certainly at the
master’s levels my students in my courses write
essays, but I think that the tests are more objective
– they’re fair to the students. And there are essay
questions in some courses, so it is not just the
knowledge or fact-based exams. And partly it is
the background of what I grew up with. It is what
I experienced.”
The (Former) Head
When it comes to being a head of a department, he
has learned that it includes many responsibilities
regardless of its size. “I’ve been very fortunate
that throughout my term as the Head the senior
academic staff – Prof. Franková, Prof. Urbanová
– were always very supportive of me, and I was
able to work across the various subdisciplines. The
problem in departments as diverse as ours is that
within the subdisciplines you’ll get people with
competing interests.” In other words, he understood
that linguists want and need something different
8
from what translators, teachers or literature and
culture people need and want, and balancing these
competing interests without being seen as favoring
one or other can sometimes be difficult. The key
to successfully running a department is then in
looking at broader picture and listening to others.
“One needs to recognize, and to a fairly large
degree sublimate one’s own ego and recognize
that the greater good of the Department is the key
element.” Furthermore, he has learned that while
delegating responsibilities and duties is important,
the Head always has to have a hand on everything,
because ultimately, the Head is the one taking full
responsibility. Finally, even though running the
department might be very exhausting for some
people, he says that he has enjoyed it and has not
found it particularly exhausting. “Teaching is in
many ways much more exhausting than that.”
Now that Jeff Vanderziel is stepping down,
students might expect him to teach some new
courses. For instance, he is already preparing a
new one for the bachelor’s level and in the near
future he will probably teach his Trickster course,
Photo courtesy of Helena Brunnerová
which he revived last year. Fortunately, as teaching
courses that match teachers’ interests is one of the
My life has never been planned in the
sense that I’m going to A, B, C. Yes, I’m
going to A, but what happens after that
would depend on what happens with A.
advantages of this Department – it has always been
encouraged and allowed by the Heads – the staff
almost always teaches what they are interested in.
“There have been some staff changes over the past
year, and that means some people have left, and
so we have some gaps that would be nice to fill,
but I think that the model that we have is a very
functioning model.” There are some new subjects
or topics that he would like to see being taught
here – digital humanities being one of the areas.
What is more, next year a Fulbright lecturer might
come here to teach a course on graphic novel,
which he considers something pretty exceptional
within the framework of university studies.
Additionally, as he is famous, or “rather infamous”
9
in his own words, for not socializing with students,
is it going to change now that he has stepped down
from his position at the Department? When asked
this question, he said that not socializing with
students is only partly because of his position at
the Department and that it is mostly because he
knows that socializing with students minimally is
better for him psychologically. To put it differently,
if you are expecting to become his best friend, you
You don’t find black and Hispanic shows
here, you just find the white shows.
Dubbing is a whole other issue. Until
that changes a lot of things won’t change
here.
Jeffrey Alan Venderziel, B. A.
Born September 21, 1960 in San Francisco,
California, USA
Academic Qualifications:
1986-1991: Doctoral Studies in Anthropology
(Central and Eastern European Paleolithic
Archaeology) University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign
1986: B.A. with Highest Honors in
Anthropology, University of California.
Honors Thesis: „A Spatial Analysis of a
Mesolithic Site on the Federsee, Bavaria, West
Germany“
University Activities
might be disappointed. “I can imagine that I will
be more social with students. But will I be very
social with students? No. And this is just for my
own psychological well-being. There have to be
situations that I can control and I can get out when
I want to get out.” Interestingly, he emphasizes the
Czech double-standard towards professors, which
is that in many respects Czech and Slovak students
often have expectations of the non-Czech staff
that they would not necessarily have of the Czech
staff. “For example, has anyone ever asked Milada
Franková why don’t you go out with students, why
don’t you socialize with students? Or ask Naďa
Kudrnáčová, why don’t you socialize?”
Department Deputy Head, Department of
English and American Studies, Faculty of
Arts, Masaryk University (2016-)
Department Head, Department of English
and American Studies, Faculty of Arts,
Masaryk University (2001-2016)
Academic Senate, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk
University: Member (2000-present), Chair
(2002-2008)
Academic Senate, Masaryk University:
Member (2002-present), Member, Economic
Committee (2003-present)
A Happy Man?
Extrauniversity Activities
In general, Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel has never
been one to look back on his life and question
his choices. “The things that have happened have
happened, whether we believe in karma or some
greater force or energy or whatever it is. If I went
back and changed something then I wouldn’t be
where I am now – the butterfly effect – I believe
in that very much.” So is he happy? No, but he is
contented. Satisfied. “I’m happy… in that sense
I’m content with the choices I’ve made. Happy is
not a word I would use very often to describe my
emotional state. I’m not a happy smiley person
if you haven’t noticed (laughs).”
Board Member, Fulbright Commission in the
Czech Republic (2010-present)
Board Chair, Fulbright Commission in the
Czech Republic (2013-14)
Board Vice-Chair, Fulbright Commission in
the Czech Republic (2014-15)
Member, Czech and Slovak Association of
Americanists
Member, Central European Association for
Canadian Studies
Member, Czech Association for English
Studies
10
The Fulbright Program
“To boldly go where all the smart people
have gone before”
By Pavel Peléšek
An important aspect of transatlantic relations is the exchange of knowledge. One of the most effective
ways of doing this is the exchange of knowledgeable minds. The Fulbright Program does precisely this.
With decades of history and thousands of participants from the ranks of both US and foreign students,
scholars, and professionals, it is one of the oldest and most renowned academic exchange programs in the
world. Even the Czech Republic has its own special contract with the US Government and participates in
the Fulbright Commission. Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, the now-former head of the Department of English
and American Studies of Masaryk University, used this opportunity as a student and now serves as a
Fulbright Honorary Ambassador.
Many have heard about Erasmus – the international
exchange program designed to promote cooperation
between European countries and to broaden the
horizons of those who decide to participate in it.
However, many are not familiar with its even older
transatlantic counterpart – the Fulbright Program.
An idea of an American senator named James
William Fulbright, it was established in 1946 and,
according to the official advertisement, it serves the
noble purpose of “increasing mutual understanding
and supporting friendly and peaceful relations
between the people of the United States and the
people of other countries.” This article briefly
presents the properties of the Fulbright Program,
its history, the selection of grants and basic facts
about the life of its creator.
How it works
The way the Fulbright Program works is quite
similar to the one we are familiar with - the
Erasmus Program. The US Government and the
governments of the respected countries form a
mutual agreement and then share the funding. In
the US this is supervised by the U.S. Department of
State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
and the Council for International Exchange of
Scholars (CIES) which assists in the administration
of the Fulbright Scholar Program for faculty and
professionals. The partnership abroad is then
established by the corresponding authorities of the
local government and the US Embassy.
The scholarship itself is then granted to individuals
in the US to study, teach or perform research in
other countries and vice versa. This privilege is
assigned by the US-based presidentially-elected
Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. When
selected, the person then travels to their desired or
allocated destination and the rest follows a similar
pattern as the Erasmus Program – live, study, enjoy,
to your heart’s content and your bank account’s
now-raised limit.
Types of grants
While most of us have the idea of a scholarship
associated with students only, a wide range of
scholarships is, in fact, offered to many categories
of participants. The following paragraphs offer a
brief outline of the most prominent ones.
Students do indeed form the first category of grants.
Here students from the US and abroad are given
chance to study and conduct research outside of
their home country thanks to the Fulbright U.S.
and Foreign Student Programs respectively.
Fellowships exist also for US students only, and
11
enable them to perform research in music via
the Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships and to work
in foreign government ministries or institutions
through the Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship. The
Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant
Program is another specialized scholarship which
provides opportunities for young foreign English
teachers to improve their teaching skills and to
broaden their knowledge of American culture and
society, as well as to strengthen the instruction of
foreign languages at universities in the US.
Another group enjoying the Fulbright scholarship
are scholars. Academic faculty members can
lecture and conduct research abroad and in the
US thanks to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program
(Americans abroad), and the Fulbright Visiting
Scholar Program and Fulbright Scholar-inResidence Program (Foreigners in America).
Another significant part of the Scholars Program
is the Fulbright Specialist Program which sends
U.S. scholars to serve as expert consultants on
curriculum, faculty development, institutional
planning, and related subjects at overseas academic
institutions
programs can be seen on the website of the Bureau
of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
The Mastermind
The mind behind this project was an American senator
named James William Fulbright. Born in Missouri in
1905, he decided to pursue knowledge beyond the US
territory and, after graduating from the University
of Arkansas, he continued to study at Oxford in
the United Kingdom. During his stay in Europe he
traveled all over the continent and learnt a great deal
about the cooperation between the countries there.
After returning from his studies abroad he broadened
Teachers from non-university schools receive
another significant part of the Program’s funds.
The Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program sends a
US teacher abroad and in exchange hosts a foreign
teacher in the US. The Distinguished Fulbright
Awards in Teaching Program then enables teachers
to pursue their individual projects such as research,
teaching or leading seminars.
Last but not least there are grants for professionals
who no longer study nor are involved in education.
The Hubert H. Humphrey Program is designed
especially to receive distinguished foreign
professionals in the US for a year to take part in a
non-degree program of academic study and to earn
more professional experience. Thus they broaden
their area of expertise or gain deeper insight into
their profession.
his understanding of the law at the George
Washington University and afterwards returned to
his alma mater in Arkansas to work as a lecturer and,
later, to be promoted to its president as the youngest
to ever hold that post.
The programs mentioned here are the most
frequently awarded on global scale. Some more
locally important and otherwise specialized
Twenty years after his European travels, at the time
being a junior senator from Arkansas, he used his
experience to form the basis of his proposal to
James William Fulbright
via Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs,
United States Department of State
12
establish an international educational exchange
program funded by the surplus material left after
waging the Second World War in 1945. It was
approved by President Truman the next year and
became the scholarship known today as the Fulbright
Program.
Though this was the beginning of his internationally
most popular deed, it was far from the end of his
career as a senator that stretched for another 30 years.
In 1949 he became member of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee and ten years later rose to the
post of its chairman. He also supported funding of
the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
His political career was not only about funding
educational and cultural institutions, though. He was
mostly a man of standards and was not afraid to voice
his disapproval, as evidenced by his protest against an
appropriation for the Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations chaired at the time by Senator Joseph
R. McCarthy. He also was also one of the few who
raised their voices against President Kennedy before
the failed invasion to Cuba in the Bay of Pigs in
April 1961.
Some Numbers
The Fulbright Program awards approx.
8,000 grants annually.
Approximately 360,000 „Fulbrighters“ have
participated in the Program since 1946.
Currently, the Fulbright Program operates
in over 155 countries worldwide.
54 Fulbright alumni have won Nobel
Prizes, 82 have won Pulitzer Prizes.
Pavel Peléšek
The Fulbright Commission in the
Czech Republic
By Pavla Wernerová
The international Fulbright program also has its
representative, the Fulbright Commission, in the
Czech Republic and its webpage is the first thing one
should search for if interested in the program.
The Fulbright Commission was established in 1991
by a bilateral agreement between the governments
of the Czech Republic and the United States with the
aim to improve mutual understanding by means of
educational, cultural, and scientific exchanges. The
exchanges are based on governmental scholarship
programs and also on advising services. The Fulbright
Commission in the Czech Republic offers several
scholarships for people who are interested in studying,
teaching, or conducting research in the USA.
As to the specific scholarships, this article is going to
highlight those programs that are aimed at students
of master’s and PhD degrees. In general, the Fulbright
program is not aimed at the students of bachelor’s
degrees but more at students at the second stage of
their academic path. Apart from the scholarships for
students, the funding is also available for scientists,
university lectures or for physicians.
The widest public attention was attracted by his
frequent voicing of doubts during the Vietnam
War era. According to his biography, his reputation
soared so high that in 1963 Walter Lippman1 wrote
of Fulbright: “The role he plays in Washington is
an indispensable role. There is no one else who is
so powerful and also so wise, and if there were any
question of removing him from public life, it would
be a national calamity.”
Scholarship for Postgraduate Studies
Photo by Helena Brunnerová
However, raising one’s voice against a government is
a quick way of losing popularity polls and this soon
proved to be true. After 30 years in the Senate he
was defeated by a landslide in the 1974 election by
Governor Dale Bumpers, who had the odds play in
his favor thanks to his support and funding by the
interventionist and pro-Israeli right-wing groups.
After his defeat he practiced international law at
the law firm Hogan & Hartson for 18 years to his
retirement in 1993. He was awarded the Presidential
Medal of Freedom by Bill Clinton for his merits.
Two years later he died of a stroke at 89 years of age.
1
American writer, reporter, and political commentator. Author of the concept of
Cold War and the modern psychological understanding of the term “stereotype”.
Pavel is an MA student of English Language
Translation, a science-fiction and fantasy reader,
and an avid computer game enthusiast. Ever
since he started playing games he knew that one
day he would like to work in the games industry,
and for this purpose he intends to make use of
his studies and join a famous game developer
to help with localization of games. Right now,
however, he is drowning in fear of the upcoming
Erasmus and the imminent threat of having to
come up with a diploma thesis topic.
13
This scholarship is intended for students who want to
study or conduct a research during their master’s or
doctoral degree in the USA. Students can either go
for a visiting research (they will work on their own
research project), or they can obtain a degree in the
USA (then they will receive a scholarship for the first
year at the university only) or they can go to study to
the USA for one year without getting a degree there.
The scholarship is granted for one academic year (9
months) and covers living costs, the cost of the return
flight ticket, the health insurance and the tuition fees
(a maximum of $15,000). If you would like to learn
more about the requirements for the scholarship, you
can find all the information here.
Fulbright-Masaryk Scholarship
One of the unique scholarships in the Czech Republic
is the Fulbright-Masaryk scholarship. This scholarship
is aimed at the students seeking their PhD degrees
who are not only experts in their fields but who are
also active in their communities and in their public
life just like Tomáš Garrique Masaryk was. With that
being said, the applicants are supposed to work in
the academic senate, in a non-profit organization,
or in various public organizations. Meeting these
requirements is necessary for obtaining this
scholarship.
The basic requirements are very similar to the previous
scholarship; the other requirements differ a little. The
most important part is that an applicant has to have
her/his own research project and needs to have an
invitation letter from an American institution. You can
find more information about the Fulbright-Masaryk
scholarship here.
People of Fulbright
Although one can find plenty of information about the
program on the website of the Fulbright Commission,
the real experience of its participants might turn out to
be more useful than browsing the official information.
Application Process
If you are interested in applying for the Fulbright
scholarship, it is important to start getting all the
documents ready as soon as possible. As Roman
Madzia (a graduate of Masaryk University who
took part in the J. William Fulbright program as a
research fellow at the University of Toledo in Ohio
14
in 2011/2012) points out, the competition in the
program is so high that if you make any mistakes in
the paperwork, it can backfire against you. The Czech
Fulbright Committee evaluates the applications in
October/November. If you apply for a 1-year nondegree research stay, it is best to start preparing all
the required documents in March or April, he advises.
Preparing the application ahead is not the only
important factor which should be taken into
account while applying. It is also very important to
highlight the qualities of one’s project, as Roman
Madzia emphasizes: “When applying, one should
stress the way in which the research project is going
to contribute to the mutual cultural understanding
between the US and the Czech Republic. Given the
prestige of the program, it unfortunately does not
suffice to be just an excellent student, you need to
have something ’more’ and be able to sell it. This is
why a lot of Fulbrighters are not just smart, but above
all quite interesting people.”
Republic, as Vanda Černohorská emphasizes. Most
of the American universities are campus-based and
because of that, students do not go to school only for
classes but they also literally live there. Apart from
classes, many sport and cultural events take place on
campus and students spend most of their free time
there. Because of that, their ties towards their alma
mater are much stronger than in the Czech Republic.
“Therefore, being a proud and active member of the
university community is not an exception here, it’s
the norm,” she adds.
Staying in the USA is not only about enjoying student
life on campus, though. Sometimes things can get
very difficult and discouraging, especially because of
the bureaucracy, as Roman Madzia stresses. When
trying to set up a bank account, things can get very
complicated because for that purpose it is necessary
to have a domicile, but in order to get a domicile, one
needs a bank account. Sometimes, staying in the USA
can feel like living in Noodledom.
Get Ready to Work Hard
Studying All the Time? Fortunately
Not...
Being admitted for the program is not the only
challenge you may experience during the program.
After being granted the scholarship, you may be
surprised by the amount of work which is expected
of you at a US university. The classes in the USA are
nothing like the ones you may know in the Czech
Republic. “Simply put, American graduate life is
no Sunday walk, it is tough – tougher than you can
imagine,” Roman Madzia points out. You should be
prepared to receive an amount of assignments you
have never seen in your life. In the US, it is common
to be obliged to read 4 books a week just for one class.
Also the Americans often write mid-term papers
which regularly check the knowledge of the students.
Vanda Černohorská, a visiting assistant in research
at Yale University, agrees with that and adds her
own experience from the classes at Yale University:
“Despite the tremendous amount of required reading
and class-related workload, students come to lectures
and seminars well prepared and ready to ask curious
and critical questions.”
Life in the US
The lives of university students in the USA are
very different from what we know in the Czech
In spite of a heavy workload you may experience
during the program, it is not only about that, as
Vanda Černohorská stresses. At Yale, she has access
to all the university’s facilities where she can work
on her research and she can also attend the classes of
her choice without the necessity to pass the exams.
Therefore, she receives priceless feedback from her
fellow graduate students and the faculty members.
In spite of the fact that the main aim of the Fulbright
program is to work on one’s degree or research, it is
not only about that. “It is also about exploring US
culture, getting involved in your local community,
meeting new friends both inside and outside your
academic circles, discussing US and world politics,
tasting new food, attending sport events or going on
a road trips. In other words, making the most of your
time across the pond,” she says.
So What?
Fulbright program is not only about your stay in the
USA, it influences your life and even your personality,
as Roman Madzia evaluates retrospectively a few years
after finishing the program. “It was a game changer.
You have to realize that while the Fulbright program
15
is not well known in the Czech Republic or Europe in
general, in the US it is a big deal. You will be treated
according to this general perception and you should
take it as a challenge to live up to it. The Fulbright
program has opened many doors for me which would
otherwise remain closed. On a more personal note,
I would say that it has made me better as a person
because it has made me stay constantly opened to
whatever new is coming. I believe it has also made
me more self-confident but, on the other hand, also
humbler than before. I guess that living in a country
such as the USA can teach you to neither under- nor
overestimate yourself. It just teaches you to believe in
yourself. This healthy self-attitude gets checked pretty
often as you go about your life there, and will enable
you to get to know yourself better.”
Do You Want to Apply?
options in the USA such as 2-year community colleges
or summer programs.
Jakub Tesař, a study advisor in EducationUSA,
emphasizes that it is the best to start getting all
the required documents ready as soon as possible.
He points out that the candidates who are serious
about studying at some of the American colleges or
universities should start at least 18 months before
the planned beginning of the academic year. If you
are interested in getting the help from the advisory
centre, you can make an appointment with a student
advisor free of charge and make the first step to your
studies in the USA.
Pavla Wernerová
Are you interested in the program but are you not
sure whether you should try or not? Do not hesitate!
“Try it, believe in yourself, do not be scared of the
unknown, when you’re there - constantly challenge
your comfort zone, let the life on the other side of the
Atlantic disturb you and change you, never complain,
make the people who welcome you there never forget
you and do not regress to your old habits the moment
you’re back home,” urges Madzia.
In case you would like to learn more about the people
on the Fulbright program, you can watch the TV series
One Year with Fulbright which is not only about
students admitted for this program but also about
lecturers and scientists.
EducationUSA
The Fulbright Commission in the Czech Republic
does not manage only the Fulbright program itself
but it also helps the students who are interested in
studying in the USA but do not want to apply for the
Fulbright program. EducationUSA is a global network
of advisory centers supported by the U.S. Department
of State. They offer information and guidance to all
students who are interested in studying in the USA;
their services are free of charge. The centre helps the
students with the selection of schools, the admission
process, and also with financial matters. The centre
does not focus only on the most prestigious American
universities but it also informs about other educational
Pavla is a student of English Language and
Literature and also of Regional Development
and Tourism. She is a low-budget traveller who
loves spending her time hiking, camping and
couchsurfing. She also loves tasting exotic meals
during her travels. She has already visited three
continents and she is hoping to visit another
one soon. When she is not abroad, she spends
most of her time reading good books, especially
English classics. During her studies, she became
interested in British and American politics,
which she now considers to be very entertaining
(especially with Trump being a part of that). She
is also a passionate animal lover.
16
Transatlantický úvodník
17
Transatlantický úvodník
The Transatlantic Partnership
By Markéta Šonková
Edited by Anna Formánková
There has been a long tradition of relations reaching from the very heart of Europe all
the way across the Atlantic. It dates back not only to the First Czechoslovak Republic,
but it has its beginnings as early as in the 19th century. However, although the ties have
quite a long tradition, the question is, what is their nature – is it a politically strategic
and significant partnership or is it a relationship that is rather based on cultural tradition
and continuation of the already existing ties?
We asked two men who have contributed heavily to the Czech-American cooperation
to help us answer these questions: His Excellency Andrew H. Schapiro, US Ambassador
to the Czech Republic and Mr. Michael Žantovský, former Czech diplomat, politician,
and current Executive Director of the Václav Havel Library, as both the gentlemen offer
various perspectives on the matter in question through various timings, experience(s),
and also through their own personal histories and stories. Moreover, from both sides
of the Atlantic.
Mr. Žantovský was present when the transatlantic communication channels re-opened
after the fall of the Iron Curtain, first serving as Czech Ambassador to the USA, and
then also as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense, and
Security during the critical years when the Czech Republic was in the process of joining
NATO. His Excellency Schapiro, on the other hand, is the one who currently helps to
steer the cooperation between Prague and Washington DC, working on keeping and
deepening the already existing ties.
On the following pages, you can read how both of them see the Czech-American
relationship, what was its past, and what they think might be its future.
18
Interview
Paving the Democratic Road to
Washington:
Interview with Michael Žantovský
Although he studied psychology, his career brought him to many unexpected places. He served as the
Czech ambassador to the USA, Israel, and the UK. He is a politician and a journalist. He is also a lyricist,
author, and a translator. He is the one who helped build the early relationship of the free Czechoslovak
and Czech state respectively with the USA. And now he is the Executive Director of the Václav Havel
Library. Michael Žantovský.
Michael Žantovský’s life story is one that clearly
shows that the path you think one might have set
with their university studies is not necessarily the
true path that one will actually walk down in life.
Having spent several years practicing psychology,
then being a freelance author and translator, he
eventually became active in the underground press
and Reuters in the late 1980s. However, it was the
Velvet Revolution that launched his political and
later diplomatic career.
Being one of the founding members of the Civic
Forum, he assumed the position of its spokesman.
Later, Žantovský started working as an advisor
and press secretary to President Václav Havel, a
lifelong friend of his. However, it is his diplomatic
career he is widely known for, for he served as
the Ambassador to the USA (1992-1997), Israel
(2003-2009), and the UK (2009-2015). He spent
the intermezzo in between his postings abroad as
member of Parliament for a Prague district, as the
Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) leader, and also
as chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Defence and Security. After leaving his last foreign
service post in London, he became Executive
Director of the Václav Havel Library in Prague.
He appears to be a Renaissance man whose skills go
beyond one field, as he is also a lyricist, author, and
a successful translator. It is his book Havel which he
wrote and also translated that once again brought
him international attention and that together
with his new position in the Václav Havel Library,
somewhat makes the circle of his friendship with
the late President Havel turn full.
The Re:Views Magazine staff would like to thank
the President of the SS IIPS Marek Bičan and Václav
Havel Library for their help with organization of the
interview. Big thanks go also to the Deputy Head of
the Department of English and American Studies, Mr.
Jeffrey A. Vanderziel. We would also like to thank
everyone who helped in any way while working on
this interview and the videorecording.
Michael Žantovský
The following pages bring you not only Michael
Žantovský’s view of the Czech-American
partnership in the past, as his role of the Czech
Ambassador was instrumental in the early 1990s
when the ties were being re-examined, but also
his views on the current state of affairs, as he can
make comparisons and evaluations thanks to his
long experience working abroad and with the
Czech-American bond in general. Similarly as with
His Excellency Schapiro, you can also watch the
interview on our YouTube channel.
Student Section of International
Institute of Political Science of
Masaryk University
A university society founded in 1998.
Connects students mainly from the area of
political science.
Is closely linked to the International Institute of
Political Science of Masaryk University.
Active in organizing roundtables, discussions
with experts, and field trips.
© Ondřej Němec / Václav Havel Library - used with permission.
19
Interview
Used with permission of the Václav Havel Library
Born on January 3, 1949 in Prague.
Studied psychology at Charles University in
Prague and at McGill University in Montreal,
Canada.
His wife is photographer Jana NosekováŽantovská.
He is father to 4 children.
He is the President of the Aspen Institute Prague
and is also member of the Board of Trustees of
the Aspen Institute.
Since 2015, he is the Executive Director of the
Václav Havel Library.
Translated over 50 books from English and one
from Hebrew.
Recently published an espionage thriller from
the near future Ochlazení.
20
You have been present at the creation of the very
beginnings of the Czechoslovak, and later Czech,
relations with the U.S. Have your original plans and
intentions been in any way different from the current
situation or from the current state of affairs? And what
were your original goals when creating these political
and cultural ties?
We have not exactly created ties, we have followed up
on what had happened in the past and that’s also one
of the reasons why Czech-American relationship and
ties are crucial to our history and to our present. They
date back to two hundred years ago and especially
to the period of 1840s, 1850s, when large number
of Czechs and also Slovaks emigrated to the United
States and created settlements and all kinds of
associations and groups with long traditions and
strong traditions and strong ties to their original
country. And they, in turn, help bring back some
of the American democratic traditions, some of the
values of liberty and tolerance and plurality that
America stands for. So these were the principles
and values we were trying to emulate and look for
in reestablishing the Czech-American relationship
after 1989.
You also interpreted Václav Havel’s speech at the
American Congress in 1990. To what extent did you
realize back then that you really were making history
on that day?
I didn’t quite realize it that day because I had
problems of my own, I developed a loss of hearing
due to changes of pressure on the way across the
Atlantic in the plane, and when it came to the speech
I had to lip-read the President, so I wasn’t quite sure
which spot of the speech we were exactly at at any
given moment, I suffered through the speech, and so
when afterwards people asked me: “Did you realize
that you were present at a historic moment?” I had
to say I was preoccupied with other things.
Well, Madeleine Albright praised you highly in her
memoir...
That’s very kind of Madeleine, and in retrospect of
course it was a grand occasion, but that was due to
Václav Havel and his speech, not to me.
Interview
We asked this very same question His Excellency
Andrew Schapiro and since you stand on the other side
of the Atlantic in terms of the perception of the issue, we
would like to know your opinion you as well:
There has been an ongoing notion that the relations
and understanding between the U.S. and the Czech
Republic – and earlier also with Czechoslovakia during
the First Republic era – are built somewhat naturally on
shared notion of democracy and democratic principles.
Do you feel that the current relationship between our
two countries has a basis more in ongoing cultural
ties and personal friendships related to names like
Václav Havel, Madeleine Albright, or Tomáš Garrigue
Masaryk, who provided a sort of bridge between our two
nations, rather than in an actual political partnership
of strategic importance?
Well it’s several questions at the same time. Our
relationship is based on shared values and shared
principles, there is no question about it, but at the
same time, it is based on some geo-political realities.
For a long time United States has played a similar
role in European foreign policy as that which had
been played by Britain during the 19th century.
We have not exactly created ties, we have
followed up on what had happened in the
past and that’s also one of the reasons why
Czech-American relationship and ties are
crucial to our history and to our present.
It effectively prevented any single European power
from a hegemonic role on the continent and
prevented in the short history of one hundred years
two tyrannies of communism and nazism from
prevailing on the European continent, so it is also
for this reason that continuing American presence in
Europe is, in my view at least, of strategic importance.
Whether the Europeans and the Americans are fully
aware of this at the moment is another question.
The United States in the throws of the presidential
campaign seems to be much preoccupied with its
own domestic concerns, and has been showing under
Obama administration perhaps less of an interest in a
continuing strategic role in Europe; and at the same
time many Europeans have felt that the American
21
Interview
role in Europe is no longer of utmost importance, and
some have even felt that there may be other powers,
other sources of ideas, economic cooperation and
influence, that could be more profitable for Europe
than the Atlantic bond. I am not of that persuasion,
I continue to view the Atlantic relationship as crucial
to the future of both North America and Europe, but
whether I am still in the majority is another question.
Where do you personally see the crucial milestones in
the Czech-American relations?
I have mentioned some of them. It all starts with the
settlement of larger numbers of Czechs in the United
States on the Eastern coast, in the Midwest, and in
Texas in the 19th century, the role of the United States
in helping to create an independent Czechoslovakia
at the end of the First World War, the role of president
Wilson and the experience of president Masaryk during
his stay in the United States were of much importance,
the role of the United States during the Cold War, which
had lasted for forty years, and in which the United States
and the West eventually prevailed, was also crucial and
without it there would hardly be an independent Czech
Republic and a free Europe today. And the role of the
United States in the post-1989 period when it supported
our transformation process and our aspirations to
become an integral part of the western world of the
North-Atlantic Alliance, of the European Union et
cetera, was also very important. So it’s a number of
milestones and each of them was crucial.
You personally witnessed two presidential administratives
during your time in the US – George H. W. Bush’s,
although this one just briefly, and Bill Clinton’s. Now it
has been almost 19 years since you returned from the
USA. So in context of your academic and diplomatic
experience, how do you perceive the current presidential
election process? And how much has America changed
since your day?
I left the United States as ambassador nineteen
years ago, but I keep going back almost every year,
I hope I have not lost touch with the country. It has
changed, it has changed considerably, it has changed
demographically, it has changed culturally, and it has
changed politically, and not in all respect for the better.
I mean the political atmosphere in the United States
today is much more charged, much more divided
than it was during my time when the idea of what the
Americans call “bipartisanship” was still relevant to
what was going on in the United States Congress and in
other government institutions. Also some of the more
radical, more populist, streams of political opinion,
whether it is the policies of the Tea Party organisations
or of some of the candidates in the current presidential
campaign, were not as pronounced in my time as they
are now.
Maybe in relation to what you have just said, do you
think that the upcoming presidential election and its
results might give rise to any difficulties within the
Czech-American relationship? I know it is hard to predict
because we do not know the results yet...
There was an American movie producer who said it is
hard to make predictions, especially about the future.
But seriously, there are all kinds of scenarios that could
follow the victory of one or the other leading candidates
in the current presidential campaign, and some of them
would certainly have impact on American foreign
policy, on the relationship between America and
Europe, and indirectly also on the Czech-American
relationship, but I wouldn’t go further than that at this
moment.
This is my last question, and I would like to go back to
Václav Havel. His 80th birth anniversary is approaching
and the Václav Havel Library, which you are the Executive
Director of, is planning a whole series of events named
“Havel@80”. Since you and Václav Havel contributed
significantly to the transatlantic partnership, can we
expect any events related to Czech-American relations,
maybe in cooperation with the Václav Havel Library
Foundation in New York?
We work together with the Václav Havel Library
Foundation, it’s our sister organisation, we organize
a number of events together, we conduct fellowships
of Czech and American students reciprocally in our
institutions. We will hold an evening in memory of
Václav Havel in New York at the end of September,
and closer to home there also may be some events
related to Václav Havel and myself and the transatlantic
relationship at the upcoming Globsec security
conference in Bratislava in April1.
1
The interview had been conducted before the event in question took place.
22
Interview
23
Interview
Going the Extra Mile:
Interview with His Excellency
Andrew H. Schapiro
He has a B.A. from Yale, an M.A. from from Oxford, and a J.D. from Harvard. He was Barack Obama’s
fellow student and he volunteered in a church soup kitchen. He also plays the guitar and sings a Rolling
Stones’ song when asked. His name is Andrew H. Schapiro and he is the 9th US Ambassador to the
Czech Republic.
One would hardly find a better qualified person
to execute the role of the U.S. Ambassador
in Prague than the current ambassador, His
Excellency Andrew H. Schapiro. Not only has
he a flawless CV, but his whole life has been
an ongoing Czech-American experience and
he never forgets to mention his origins and
ties to this country that go all the way back
to World War II. Moreover, he always gives
the impression of being proud of his cultural
heritage.
Since he is not a career diplomat but a political
appointee, he had to suspend a very successful
career in law to assume his role at the Prague
Embassy. In his early years, he served as a Law
Clerk to Judge Richard Posner of the United
States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
and to Justice Harry Blackmun of the United
States Supreme Court. Later, he worked as a
public-interest lawyer in the office of the Federal
Public Defender in New York City where he
defended those who could not afford to hire an
attorney themselves. As he mentioned, some of
those cases were most memorable for him, as he
knew he was making a difference when helping
those people1. However, he also represented
companies such as Google and YouTube which
he defended during his 16-year private practice
in two law companies. He, too, was repeatedly
selected to be included in publications such as
Best Lawyers In America, Legal 500 USA, and
The American Lawyer.
1
His Excellency is ver y active in his
ambassadorial role and he puts emphasis not
only on the political and cultural aspects of his
job, but he also promotes a strong engagement
on philanthropic and humane bases which
pervades the entire Embassy. He and his wife
helped in the soup kitchen in St. Thomas
Church at the last year’s Thanksgiving, some
of the Embassy employees publicly volunteered
as blood donors, and for the last five years, the
Embassy has been supporting the Prague Pride
parade. He also visited the annual Manhattan
Rescuers Memorial held in Liberec, East
Bohemia, and the Embassy awards the “Alice
Garrigue Masaryk Award” for Human Rights,
to name a few.
The Embassy under his lead also participates at,
shields, and endorses events that seem unrelated
to its main activities and tasks. There has been a
support of the Mezipatra Queer Film Festival,
Summer Film School in Uherské Hradiště,
5th Annual Roma Spirit Award ceremony,
Transparency International’s campaign “Blow
the Whistle”, and most recently, also a 6-week
social media campaign on transparency and
accountability #protikorupci that the U.S.
Embassy launched together with the Embassies
of Canada, Finland, Korea, Norway, and the
UK.
Although all this is something that is more or
less expected from an Ambassador. Andrew
Mentioned during his public talk at the Faculty of Law, Masaryk University in Brno on March 10, 2016.
24
Interview
Since you were appointed to the Czech Republic,
you actually work at the place that issued
documents which saved your mother’s life. Then,
there is the picture of St. Nicholas Church that
your grandmother painted in 1925 which is one
of the things she took with her when fleeing from
Czechoslovakia in 1939 – and this picture is now
hanging on the wall in your office. It seems to me
like turning a full circle. So I would like to ask you:
How did your family react when you told them you
were being appointed to the Czech Republic and
did it somehow feel like coming back to your roots?
Ambassador Schapiro performing “Jumpin“ Jack Flash on the Jan Kraus
Show; used with permission of the U.S. Embassy Prague.
Andrew H. Schapiro
Ambassador Schapiro and his wife Tamar Newberger volunteering in the
St. Thomas Church Thanksgiving soup kitchen; used with permission of the
U.S. Embassy Prague.
Schapiro, on the other hand, seems to be willing
to go several steps further and is not afraid to
answer some rather informal questions like
what his music choices and skills are or to
actually show them on TV in Show Jana Krause
where he played the guitar and sang a Rolling
Stones’ song “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”.
On the following pages, you can read the
interview we conducted with His Excellency
on March 10, 2016. If you prefer watching the
interview to reading it, a video recording is
accessible on our YouTube channel.
The Re:Views Magazine staff would like to thank
His Excellency Andrew H. Schapiro for his time
and the U.S. Embassy in Prague for their help
with organizing the interview. Big thanks go also
to the Deputy Head of the Department of English
and American Studies, Mr. Jeffrey A. Vanderziel.
We would also like to thank everyone who helped
in any way while working on this interview and
the videorecording, as well as Faculty of Law
staff for allowing us to shoot the video on their
premises.
Used with permission of the U.S. Embassy in Prague
Born in 1963 in Chicago, Illinois to a
Czechoslovakian immigrant.
Holds a B.A. in History from Yale College, an
M.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
from Oxford University, and a J.D. from Harvard
Law School.
Is married to a software engineer and scientist Mrs.
Tamar Newberger. They have two children.
He was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to the
Czech Republic on August 14, 2014.
25
Interview
It really does. I don’t think you could write a story
like this and have people believe it. Unfortunately
my mom is no longer alive, so she did not get to
The chemistry was magnificent and I
think for everyone who was in that hall
when they were playing the national
anthem of the United States and the
national anthem of your country, many
people, including me, were almost
crying. It was a special feeling.
see this, but all my cousins, my sister, my uncle
– he was born here also as a little boy – it was
very hard for people to believe. But I will say I
did not discover all of the connections until I got
here, so I knew of course my mother’s story of
coming from here, but some of the documents I
only found when I arrived here because I brought
lots of things with me that we had in boxes in our
house and never looked at, so every day there
has been a new discovery. It certainly makes the
whole time here more meaningful.
There is also the history of Czech community in
Chicago where you were born. Was it somehow
noticeable during your childhood or formative
years? Would you say you have been better
prepared for your ambassadorial role here thanks
to being half-Czech and thanks to growing up in
an area where there is Czech tradition? Did your
perception of the Czech Republic change after you
assumed your role at the Embassy?
You know it is true in Chicago there are many
Czechs. We have a neighbourhood called Pilsen,
we have a street called Cermak or Čermák Road
– named after one of our mayors who came from
Czechoslovakia, actually Bohemia – statues of
Masaryk, but… in many ways my mother’s family,
my mother was like a lot of American immigrants
– she wanted to be American. She came as a little
girl, she did not want to have an accent. When she
was little, she did not want her parents to speak a
foreign language when they were walking on the
street... Later in life she said she felt bad about
that. That she wished she had embraced more of
those things. So there was a way in which I felt
the community, definitely, in my family and other
immigrant friends; but there was also a way in
which my mom made very clear that she wanted
to be American. I think that is kind of typical.
You are the 9th US Ambassador that resides in
Prague since the Velvet Revolution and you seem
to be very prolific in your activities. Some of your
predecessors had a topic on their agenda they were
especially passionate about. For John Shattuck, it
was human rights, for William J. Cabaniss, it was
trade partnership between our two countries. So I
would like to ask you if you also have one or two
topics on your agenda you would like to focus on?
I think one of them, it is the reason I am here
today1, is that I very much like to connect with
your generation – the people who were born
People sometimes forget that one of the
jobs of an embassy is not just to talk to
people, but is to listen.
after 1989 and might not remember how things
were and for that reason might not value the
transatlantic relationship as much as their parents
do. It is very important to me to make sure that
the special relationship we have continues into
the next generation. And then the other piece of
that is I would like, if I can, to encourage Czechs
as individuals and the whole Czech Republic,
to continue to be engaged in the world as much
1
The interview was conducted on March 10, 2016 after a public talk at the Faculty of Law, Masaryk University.
26
Interview
in other parts of the country and there is always
an opportunity for that.
Which relates to my next question – the Embassy
puts emphasis on its approachability and actively
promotes American culture. Also, social media are
important for communicating with public, both
for you personally as well as for the office. How
do Czechs respond to all this? Has this attitude
changed the way the USA, the U.S. Embassy, or
the people who work there are perceived by Czechs?
A 1939 passport belonging to His Excellency’s late mother; used with
permission of the U.S. Embassy Prague.
as possible. So contributing, as you are, to
peacekeeping missions, advocating for democracy
and human rights around the world which you
have always done; that is such an important
tradition and it means a lot to me, and I hope
the country will continue to do that rather than
turning inward.
You regularly participate in events that are
important for Czech history. Obviously you are
expected to be seen at some of these events, but
you seem to be going beyond the call of duty, for
example when showing your support for the “Short
Trousers for Václav Havel” initiative. So I would
like to ask you what these events and initiatives
mean for you personally and what significance you
see in them in terms of Czech-American relations?
It is very important. We have so many historical
ties – whether it’s liberation events related to the
end of World War II in Pilsen and other parts of
the western parts of the country, I love attending
those. Whether it’s commemorations of Havel
and the Velvet Revolution or unveiling of the
Jan Palach memorial. I was a student of history
– that’s what I studied at college before law – and
I think it is only by remembering and valuing
the sacrifices that happened before ours, that we
can really value what we have today, and it is
important to remember that things can change
fast. But one more thing, which is I love getting
out and just seeing people – not just in Prague but
Well you might be in a better position to answer
that question than I would about how I am
perceived by Czechs. But you are definitely right
that in today’s world, you cannot just rely on a
press release or sitting inside your walls. You
need to be active, to be engaged. So whether
it is Facebook or Twitter or just having lots
of programmes that people can attend; I have
asked everyone at the Embassy to really think
of creative ways that we can be out, that we can
be approachable, that we can show ourselves as
the normal people that we are. Maybe that’s part
of the American brand, this idea of trying to be
open, trying to be friendly, trying to have fun –
there is nothing wrong with fun – and I hope that
we are making those connections.
Interview
but is to listen. And I have found for all of us
that when we go out and if I speak to students at
university – I even want to speak to some students
in high schools, because they have a lot of ideas
and energy too – we come back and we have
learned things: what do you care about, what do
you worry about, what don’t you like about the
United States? That is important for me to know
and I am not afraid to hear that. I want to hear
I think it is only by remembering and
valuing the sacrifices that happened
before ours, that we can really value
what we have today, and it is important
to remember that things can change
fast.
people say “We are worried about gun violence”
or “You are trying to be the policeman of the
world” – I want to have those conversations with
people and so it is talking, but it is listening just
as much.
Yes, I think so. Though, the Embassy is not only
active in cultural events, but also in visiting Czech
educational institutions. You personally visited
6 universities only between November 19 and
December 4, 2015. Your Counselor for Public
Affairs, Mr. Ray Castillo, visited also high schools
and even elementary schools. How do you find
interaction with Czech students and what goals are
you hoping to meet when visiting Czech schools?
You know, last year, it wasn’t just me and it wasn’t
just Ray Castillo. We had many people from
our Embassy going down to even some of the
most junior officers. Going out, they might talk
to a high school or a small school or a club or
a group – because that really is a way to make
connections. But it is also a way for us to learn,
because people sometimes forget that one of the
jobs of an embassy is not just to talk to people,
27
I would like to go back to the cultural ties, because
there has been an ongoing notion that the relations
and understanding between the United States
and the Czech Republic – and earlier also with
Czechoslovakia during the First Republic era –
are built somewhat naturally on shared notion
of democracy and democratic principles. Do you
feel that the current relationship between our
two nations has a basis more in ongoing cultural
ties and personal friendships related to names
like Václav Havel, Madeleine Albright, or Tomáš
Garrigue Masaryk, who provided a sort of bridge
between our two countries, rather than in an actual
political partnership of strategic importance?
You did not mention Jaromír Jágr, that was a
connection too. I don’t think it is either – or,
we have both; we have not just the cultural
connections but I think Americans and people
all over the world when you talk to them about
the Czech Republic or Czechoslovakia, they think
about culture, high culture, they think about
literature, music, it is part of your brand – I was
talking about ours, but part of your brand.
28
But the other part of your brand is this Havel
idea of co-responsibility. And I even used a
quote from Havel today in my speech to the
law faculty, about how one person’s suffering has
to be seen as everybody’s suffering. Of course,
Interview
the great powers, and General Patton stopped
in Pilsen and didn’t go further – history might
have been different if he had. 1948, I don’t know
if there was much we could do. 1968, maybe a
low, not a milestone. And yet, during all those
years afterwards, our Embassy maintained a real
dialogue with and connection to people who
valued freedom. Not just the famous dissidents,
but also more ordinary people. And someone who
worked at our Embassy during those times, the
1980s, recently said to me that she remembers
people from some other European embassies
saying: “Why do you Americans always spend
all the time with these dissidents, you are just
going to irritate the government.” and she said:
“Well, because it is the right thing to do.” And
then they woke up one day and these dissidents
were the government, they were in charge.
Interview
But a real high was this Dragoon Ride convoy. I
don’t know if you remember, last year there was a
plan to move a large number of American troops
who were coming back from their exercises in the
Baltics, through Poland and through the Baltics
to join up in the Czech Republic and go back
into their base in Germany. And in the weeks
leading up to this convoy, many people on the
press and on the Internet were saying “Oh there
will be protests”, “People will throw tomatoes at
the Americans”, “They don’t want them here”, and
when the actual day came, you had thousands
of people waiting in the rain, in the cold, to
cheer for the troops, waving flags to greet them,
and for me, that was just a marvelous moment.
Because we were a little nervous about what was
I would like, if I can, to encourage
Czechs as individuals and the whole
Czech Republic, to continue to be
engaged in the world as much as
possible.
The U.S. Embassy in Prague showing support to Prague Pride; used with
permission of the U.S. Embassy Prague.
not everyone walks around every day thinking
about Havel’s ideas, you have a normal life, but
I think and I hope that people here still realize
the valuable legacy, the inheritance you have, and
the respect it gives this country in the world. So
it is both.
What do you think were the crucial milestones
in the Czech-American relations? And also, was
there any moment during your time at the Embassy
when you felt especially strong support of the Czech
Republic to the United States or vice versa?
So strong moments… You know there have been
highs and lows – the founding of Czechoslovakia,
obviously the United States, Woodrow Wilson,
gave lots of support, that was a high, that was a
special time; and this country, Czechoslovakia,
was really one of the most successful countries in
Europe between the wars, we had lots of ties. But
1938 is a low, I think the whole western world still
needs to feel some shame and sorrow about the
fact that we did not do or could not do anything
to help this country stand up against the Nazis.
1945, great, we helped liberate the west of the
country, but there was also a low there: there
were political decisions, negotiations between
The U.S. Embassy Prague showing their support for the „Short Trousers
For “Václav Havel“ initiative; used with permission of the U.S. Embassy
Prague.
So that is a high. Obviously the Velvet Revolution,
the whole period of the 90s, a high. And then, we
have had our little ups and downs over the times,
but it has always been a strong, solid relationship,
and I am sure it always will be.
The second part of your question was if there have
been some specific times during my time here
in terms of the highs and the lows – I have not
really seen lows. I mean there’s always Internet
trolls, if you talk about times where I feel they
mock the United States, never read the comments,
you know, on Twitter, Facebook, because they are
crazy, although sometimes they make a mistake
and they jump into the Russian alphabet, that has
happened sometimes, they use a cyrillic script.
going to happen. You can see that there was lots
of support and I don’t think so many people
would have come out if there had not been all
this speculation and worry and opposition. I will
always remember that.
You were appointed during the second Obama
administration. Do you think that the relationship
with the Czech Republic somehow changed during
the two administrations? And also, with the
upcoming presidential elections, do you think that
the Czech-American relationship might possibly
change in the future? I know it is hard to predict...
I don’t think there has been any big change
between the two Obama administrations. That
would be hard to figure out also because of course
there was also a change of the government here,
so trying to decide what minor changes there
have been... Our relationship is very strong and
I noticed this especially in November of 2014
when almost the whole Czech government went
2
4
3
5
is untranslatable into English due to differences in grammar.
6
“It is not easy, I have to study, but I don’t have a of of time.” – in broken Czech
Note: His Excellency is studying verbs “to do” and “to write” but Czech language has verb aspects that need to be distinguished between which is what he is commenting on and which
“Why?”
“But it’s fun and I like Czech language.” – in broken Czech
“It is important to try, to make an effort.” – in broken Czech
29
to Washington for the unveiling of this bust of
Havel in the United States Capitol. And there are
only two or three other non-Americans, maybe
four, Winston Churchill, a few others, and now
Havel. The chemistry was magnificent and I think
His Excellency Schapiro accompanied by Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav
Sobotka and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during the 2015
“Dragoon Ride”; used with permission of the U.S. Embassy Prague.
for everyone who was in that hall when they were
playing the national anthem of the United States
and the national anthem of your country, many
people, including me, were almost crying. It was
a special feeling. So there is a real connection
on the political level in this administration. It
is impossible to predict what will happen in the
next administration, but I cannot imagine any
reason why the relationship would not continue
as strongly and solidly, regardless of which man
or woman wins the next election.
And our last question – to finish on a less serious
note – how do you actually enjoy studying Czech?
(laughs) Není lehký, potřebuju studovat, ale
nemám moc čas? Času2. Now I am learning
“dělat” and “udělat” and “psát3” and “napsat4” –
proč? (laughs)
I was asking the same question myself. (laughs)
(laughs) I think because you don’t have these
verb tenses like -ing, ale… to je zábavný, líbí se
mi čeština5, even if it is a little bit difficult. And
I am going to keep trying until my very last day
here, no matter if I am here another year or two
or how many it is, it is important to try. To je
důležité zkusím? Snažit se6.
30
US Elections 2016
P a r t y Gun Control
Affilation
US Presidential Elections 2016
Written by Radka Michaláková, Barbara Oscovayová, Šárka Panochová
Edited by Šárka Panochová, Tereza Pavlíková
This year is Barack Obama’s last year in the office of President of the United States. It is also his eighth year as President which
means that he cannot run for the office again. And this year, more than in the last few election cycles, some surprising faces
have appeared in the race and are swinging the American political scene. The media have been covering the Presidential race
for more than a year now. The discussion has penetrated everywhere, it seems almost impossible to avoid it. Re:Views brings
you a series of articles about the candidates, the election process, and the campaigns as they unfold in the Spring of 2016.
The Presidential Candidates: What Has The U.S.
Got in Store for Us This Time
By Radka Michaláková
Four years have passed and here it comes again, the presidential election cycle. At its beginning there stood 23 fresh faced
candidates from both the Democratic and the Republican parties, all joined by a single goal: to become the head of the
United States of America. As of the end of March - when this article is being written - only five remain. So what should we
expect of these five candidates, what makes them stand out from the rest? And why should we even care who wins?
For one, considering the obstructions president Obama is
facing with his nomination for judge Scalia’s replacement,
the future president could very well be the one to
nominate a new judge to the U.S. Supreme Court. Also,
unlike the Czech president, the U.S. president possesses
the nation’s nuclear codes and is the commander-inchief of the U.S. Army. And, last but not least, as the new
American president, the winner of this race will have the
final say in many of the social and economic issues that
are being discussed in the U.S. today.
THE CANDIDATES
Even though this year’s presidential election is special in
that there is a candidate on both sides who does not fit in
too well with the party scheme, much of every candidate’s
stances are still toeing along the traditional party lines when
it comes to the most common topics. See for yourselves.
On gun control, both Democratic candidates, Sanders and
Clinton, support limitations to the potential gun owners,
all the Republican candidates, on the other hand, view
possession of a gun as their God-given right and intend to
keep things exactly as they are in the Second Amendment.
To quote Donald Trump: “I won’t let them take away our
guns!!”
Abortions are another topic that follows this pattern of
candidates keeping to their respective parties’ stances,
with all the Republican candidates pushing to take away
funding from Planned Parenthood clinics and/or ban
abortions altogether.
As for global warming, two out of the three Republican
candidates refuse to even consider it happening while
the third, John Kasich, concludes that while it perhaps
is indeed happening, it is probably nothing to worry
about. On the opposite side of the spectrum stand the
Democrats, with Bernie Sanders calling climate change
“the single greatest threat facing our planet.”
Proposals on tax policy are in the same vein of differences
between the two parties. Republicans would like to
reduce taxes for all, even for the rich. Democrats would
endorse the exact opposite; putting Wall Street under
more pressure features in both candidates’ agendas and
so does increasing the taxes for the wealthy.
Finally, the question of how to deal with immigration
can again be answered based on the respondent’s party
affiliation. Trump, as a representative of the Republican
side, came up with proposals of deporting every illegal
immigrant and refusing to grant citizenship to their
American-born children. “We need to BUILD A WALL”
as a response to the immigration problem became
31
US Elections 2016
Abortions
C l i m a t e Obamacare Taxes Raise Taxes Cut Deportation
Change
of Illegal
Immigrants
Clinton, H.
DEM
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
NO
NO
Sanders, B.
DEM
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
NO
NO
Cruz, T.
REP
NO
NO
NO
NO
NO
YES
YES
Kasich, J.
REP
NO
NO
Sort of
NO
NO
YES
NO
Trump, D.
REP
NO
NO
NO
NO
NO
YES
YES
something of a slogan of his. It also has aroused much
controversy. The Democrats feel the immigrants should
be granted full legal rights instead.
Knowing these basic party templates, what more is there
to each of the candidates?
BERNARD
“BERNIE”
SANDERS
DEMOCRATS
HILLARY CLINTON
Photo Courtesy of Gage Skidmore
Photo Courtesy of Mark Nozell
The wife of a former U.S. president and herself a
former U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is
said to be the candidate with the most experience
at actually leading the state. An archetype of a
reasonable democratic candidate, she has run for
office once before, against Barack Obama in 2008.
The ex-first lady is also the one candidate with the
largest prejudices stacked against her since, as a
rapper named T.I. stated, “not to be sexist but, I
can’t vote for the leader of the free world to be a
woman.” If elected, she would be the first woman
in the office of a president of the United States.
Out of the two Democratic candidates Bernie
Sanders is the race’s black horse. Sanders, a
Jewish senator from Vermont, is hugely popular
with younger voters, and, along with Trump, the
source of both the biggest surprise and the most
controversial opinions in this year’s run. The oldest
presidential candidate is supportive of the LGBT+
group, racial minorities, as well as women’s rights.
However, his biggest goal seems to lie in evening
out the economic inequality of the current U.S.
populace and he is more than willing to go big
about it. Doubling the minimum wages, making
colleges free, and expanding healthcare to be
universal for all are just some of his proposals,
Bernie Sanders is intent on “making the wealthy,
Wall Street, and large corporations pay their share.”
32
US Elections 2016
REPUBLICANS
“TED” CRUZ
other two Republicans in the primaries. His five
reasons why not to vote for Donald Trump are
definitely worth listening to.
DONALD TRUMP
33
US Elections 2016
The American Spectacle: Snapshot
to US Campaigning
By Barbara Ocsovayová
US Elections – that time of a year when presidential candidates become rock stars. Billboards and political jokes are
long outdated and as always, Americans go just a little bit further with their campaigns. But what role do media play
in all this? Is 2016’s Presidential Election the most fruitful year for political memes? What are grassroots campaigns
and how do they work? Let’s shed some light on it all!
Media Coverage
Ted Cruz, the Republican candidate who is
probably the most influenced by religion, hails
from Texas. He boasts a record of having “led the
way to preserve the words ’Under God’ in the
Pledge of Allegiance at the U.S. Supreme Court”
and “Successfully defended the words ’Under God’
in the Texas Pledge of Allegiance.” If that is not
enough of a proof that his faith stands quite high
on the list of his priorities, the fact that he insists
that “marriage is a sacrament between one man
and one woman, it has strengthened societies
for millennia, and we must uphold the truth of
marriage” surely is.
JOHN KASICH
Photo Courtesy of Michael Vadon
The Ohio Governor is the most moderate among
the remaining Republican candidates. For whatever
reason Kasich also remains the most overlooked
one. While he does finally seem to be gaining some
time in the spotlight, he struggles to catch up to the
A presidential candidate who does not shy away
from being different. According to a recent poll
conducted by the Washington Post a mere linking
of his name with a statement dramatically increases
the likelihood of rejection of that statement by
his opponents as well as its endorsement by his
supporters, regardless of the statement’s content.
He says things as they are since “being politically
correct takes too much time.” Sometimes he
sparks public outrage by his comments, like
when he stated that women should be punished
for having an abortion. He recanted a few hours
later. Nonetheless, there is always something new
with the man: When Bernie Sanders challenged
his 2012 tweet that “the concept of global warming
was created by and for the Chinese in order to
make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive,”
Trump asserted it was meant in jest. No written
confirmation of humorous intentions was issued,
however, when he had made the call for “a total
and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the
United States until our country’s representatives
can figure out what is going on” because “there is
great hatred towards Americans.” Nor when he
stated that “if and when the Vatican is attacked by
ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate
trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have
only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would
have been President.” At least as of yet.
All the statements of and information about the candidates that are featured in this article and are not sourced otherwise come directly
from the candidate’s official websites.
1
The media play a huge part in American culture
and the presidential race would not be any different.
Polls show that the majority of US citizens use cable
television as a main source of information about
the elections. However, numbers show an increase
in mentioning one candidate: there is a huge gap
between numbers of mentions of Donald Trump and
other presidential candidates. The media, as always,
aim for bigger viewership and Donald Trump is the
hot topic nowadays, impossible to ignore. Media go
as far as to put him on a metaphorical pedestal by
dismissing Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in
favor of giving Trump $2 billion worth of free air
time. American media are playing a big game of who
is going to snap next, for instance by asking Bernie
Sanders about Hillary Clinton and ready to capture a
moment when Sanders finally speaks up. The media
transform into gossipy places of talking about how
one candidate is dressed and how the other styles
their hair – or what is left of it. Therefore,the media’s
credibility is to be doubted even more .
definitely does not stay idle and is quick at using its
imagination to pour out hilarious creations. People
speak their minds and are turning their concerns into
less serious than they are. This year’s elections have
seen a rise of memes. Their targets are diverse, i.e.
turning Ted Cruz into the Zodiac killer – a notorious
unsolved case from the seventies - which has given
birth to such projects as funding abortion clinics in
Texas by making T-shirts with this motif. Memes
like these take up a life of their own and provide free,
albeit debatable, publicity for the candidates. Did
Bernie Sanders truly speak to the bird of freedom?
Is Donald Trump actually a modern version of Lord
Voldemort? All these crazy ideas born as jokes make
a mere mortal wonder and look up the source of
these anecdotes.
On the other hand, social media provide people
with insights such as showing videos of speeches
and rallies recorded on mobile phones and thus,
Social Media
Modern age, however, brings bigger freedom and
when the media misinform their audiences, people
turn to both their salvation and damnation: the
Internet. Nowadays, information travels at the
speed of light, both the correct and the completely
wrong. In this year’s Elections the web has been the
main source of information for the public which
Twitter Screencap by Barbara Oscovayová
34
US Elections 2016
giving people a chance to be present there secondhandedly. The Internet might be full of gags and
misleading routes, yet when one seeks the right kind
of information, they can learn how to register to vote
and even find out whether they can even vote for their
own candidate.
Comedians are also among the sources for the public
to build their opinion on. Though 2016’s Presidential
Elections might provide an endless chain of Donald
Trump jokes, it still falls short compared to previous
years.
Reaching Out to Their Voters
People can form their opinions based on the
information they have gained from television and
the Internet. However, candidates themselves try to
reach out to voters by using various tactics to gain
their interest and trust. Most of those who live in the
Czech Republic and Slovakia have seen politicians on
a couple political talk shows and countless billboards
all over the country. US Elections work differently. It is
the universal truth that politicians like to talk a lot and
US political candidates are famous for their speeches.
Bernie Sanders’s rally in Brooklyn, Photo Courtesy of Peter Foley/EPA
Though it is surprising how many people travel from
one country to the other just to hear them speak. Yes,
Americans are invested in the elections virtually, but
even more so personally. They make an effort to hear
out their chosen candidates in person and sometimes
it makes for big spectacles and audiences made of
thousands of people.
There are different campaigns which benefit from
this interest and include common people in the
election process, i.e. door-to-door campaigns where
the candidate or the candidate’s supporters literally
go from one house to the other, knocking on people’s
doors and asking for their support.
Nonetheless, the strangest part in which US
campaigns differ from those in Europe is definitely
the data that campaigners gather about their voters,
as Jessica N. Grounds mentioned in her talk given at
Masaryk University. This data varies from getting to
know where people work, what they shop for, what
magazines they subscribe to and the list goes on . It
might be a bit scary and uncomfortable for a person
to realize there is a huge amount of data about them.
However, research shows that people do not mind as
35
US Elections 2016
much as they perhaps should. Americans feel included
in a campaign and essentially, in the results as well,
even more than only through their vote.
supporters, mainly women, who had a clear vision of
a female president and joined forces to work towards
their mutual goal.
Grassroots campaigns are based on this concept
as well: a need to be included. A big shift came with
Barack Obama’s 2008 election, before which common
people had not quite felt so involved in campaigns. But
grassroots movements changed it. Suddenly, regular
people could be a part of public funding; they could
simply donate a few dollars and in return they would
get e.g. a sticker. There would always be a specific
notion that unites people working for grassroot
movements, in this case a support for a certain
presidential candidate. One of the biggest grassroots
campaigns has been that of Hillary Clinton which had
started even before she announced her intentions to
run for president. It has been possible thanks to her
Lastly, freedom of speech has always been of great
value in the US and freedom of political speech even
more so. Due to that, some people might be offended
by campaign tactics which cannot be ignored, i.e.
door-to-door campaigns, but they cannot quite
argue against them. Others, however, embrace the
opportunity to be a part of their presidential race, be
it by offering a small donation or joining thousands
of supporters in a rally to hear their favorite talk.
Whichever the case, this year’s elections are taking
it a little bit further once more and it sure will be a
spectacle for non-Americans to watch and eagerly
await the results.
Radka Michaláková
Barbara Ocsovayová
Photo by Helena Brunnerova
Radka is an MA student at the Department of
English and American Studies as well as at the
Department of Classical Studies at Masaryk
University. Predictably enough, she is a huge
nerd. While often found trying to figure out
the meaning of life from Cicero’s or Seneca’s
writings, she is just as willing to spend hours
debating the writings of J.K.Rowling. Her
biggest pet peeves are Albus Dumbledore and
Marcus Licinius Crassus. When in need of a
break from pondering the ancient societies,
Radka likes to focus her energy on analyzing
contemporary nations instead, beginning with
the U.S.
Barbara is a BA student of English Language
and Literature whose interests lie in the fields
of literature, American culture, and arts. Her
drawers are therefore full of half-used artistic
supplies, literary experiments, and loads of
books just waiting to be read. She hopes to
travel a lot via volunteering and/or saved up
money from her part-time job, while her three
cats eagerly expect her to return home soon.
Her current goals are to successfully finish her
studies whilst writing the greatest BA thesis
based on current issues in the US that will surely
redeem the world one day.
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US Elections 2016
When people vote in a primary, their votes
only gain a certain number of delegates for the
candidate. It is the delegates who then officially
choose the party nominee at a national convention
(explained below). At first, it is important to
determine who these delegates are. This is a realm
of the parties’ influence: the numbers of delegates,
their categories, and how they are assigned to the
candidates varies according to the party you are
looking at. Once again, simply: Both parties have
a certain number of pledged delegates, whose votes
follow the results of the primaries.
How to Elect a POTUS
By Šárka Panochová
November 8 is only a few months away, the candidates are still fighting for support in the primaries, and the media
are bursting with a constant influx of new material. Even for those who have been following the race for months,
though, the actual POTUS selection process might be a tough nut to crack. Also, POTUS is not a nasty word. If you
are familiar with the American obsession with acronyms, the fact that they have one for the office of the President
Of The United States should come as no surprise. This article will walk you through the POTUS election process
step by step.
Warning: Bumpy Road Ahead
A disclaimer at the beginning: Describing all the
steps of the procedure precisely and concisely at
the same time, as was originally intended, would
take up a lot more pages than there are in this
magazine. For the sake of brevity, therefore, some
of the details are left out. You are encouraged to
follow the sources and find the truth on your own.
Step 1: Primaries
legislatures as primaries are), and how exactly the
voting is done. In short, in a caucus there is a lot
more face-to-face contact among the voters so it
takes longer than a primary where people come
to cast the ballot and go home1 . (For those who
are interested, this short video from The Atlantic
nicely summarizes how the Iowa caucus works.)
If the state holds a primary, it decides whether it
is going to be open or closed. In an open primary,
voters do not have to be registered with either
party to come and vote, they can choose on the
day of the primary. In a closed primary, on the
other hand, voters have to be registered to vote
with one of the parties to be allowed to cast the
ballot2. Deadlines for such registrations and for
voter registration in general again vary by state
(see above).
Many of the technical proceedings about the
primary election process are in the hands of the
individual states. States have different voter laws,
they decide when the elections will take place, if
they want a closed or an open primary, and the
candidates have to file statements of candidacy
in each separate state to get on the ballot. Not all
states, however, are primary states – some hold
caucuses instead.
The difference between a caucus and a primary is
in a lot of technicalities such as who calls its date
and who administers it (caucuses are in the hands
of the state parties, not in the hands of the state
Coleman, Kevin J., Joseph E. Cantor, and Thomas H. Neale. “Presidential Elections in the United States: A Primer.” CRS Report for Congress.
April 17, 2000. pp. 11.
2
Ibid, 11.
1
In addition, there is also a number of unpledged
delegates. These are known as superdelegates in the
Democratic Party and can be state party leaders,
distinguished members of the party, former and
current Democratic Governors, etc. Republicans
award bonus delegates based on how the states
have voted previously, based on the number of
Republican Senators or Representatives, and
Republican Governors,… These delegates can
vote for whoever they choose but as they form
only a fraction of the overall number of delegates
(unsurprisingly different for each party), they
have real influence only if the race is very close or
during a brokered convention4. The rules are much
more complicated than this brief explanation can
convey and not exactly transparent (for example,
North Dakota’s system is yet again completely
different).
Voting booth, Photo Courtesy of Šárka Panochová
The first step in this process is choosing the party
nominees. The candidates campaign in all 50 states
as their goal is to gain as many votes as possible
to secure the nomination for themselves. It turns
out, however, that primaries are way more complex
than they seem at first glance:
37
US Elections 2016
Ordinary rank-and-file voters cannot do much
about this system other than go cast their votes
and then simply follow the delegate count as the
primary season progresses. Here are the delegate
counts for both Republicans and Democrats.
Step 2: National Conventions
After all states have held their primaries or
caucuses, the chosen delegates for each party
go to their respective National Conventions to
choose their party nominees for President and
Vice President. This years’ conventions are both
going to be held in July, the Republican one on
July 18-21 in Cleveland, OH, and the Democratic
Photo Courtesy of Lars Plougmann via Wikimedia Commons
one in Philadelphia, PA, in the week of July 25.
The delegate counts are known even before the
conventions start which means that no big surprises
should come out of them. But what if after all the
primaries no candidate gains the number necessary
to secure a majority of delegate votes, that is, 1237
on the Republican side and 2383 on the Democratic
side? In that case a brokered convention ensues. The
process is rather complex, but it can be said that in
a brokered convention, delegate votes are “brokered
through political horse-trading and multiple
ballots5”. The last time this happened was in 1948
and 1952 on the Republican and Democratic sides
respectively, and neither of the party nominees
who came out of them won the general election
later that year.
Step 3: General Election
Once the nation knows the party nominees, the
real race for the White House begins. The next
ballot people cast is in the general election, which
is held “on the first Tuesday after the first Monday
in November every fourth year”6. The closest date
that fits this description is November 8, 2016.
In the general election it does not matter if people
are registered with a party, they simply need to be
registered to vote and, as of July 1971, older than 18
(it was actually 21 before that date). Their votes are
recorded, but the final say on who will live in the
White House in the four following years formally
Ibid, 9-10.
Coleman, Kevin J., Joseph E. Cantor, and Thomas H. Neale. “Presidential Elections in the United States: A Primer.” CRS Report for Congress.
April 17, 2000. pp. 38.
3
6
38
comes from what is called the Electoral College.
In fact, citizens vote for electors pledged to their
favorite candidate7.
Electors are people who are chosen by the
state parties as a recognition of their loyalty or
distinguished service to the party. Each state gets
as many electoral votes as they have representatives
in the US Congress, Senators and Representatives
combined –the number is based on the size of the
state’s population8. Half the states have less than 8
electoral votes (3 being the smallest number) and
only six states have more than 20 votes, the biggest
being California currently with 55. Look here for
this year’s allocation of electoral votes. The magic
number the candidates for President are aiming
for is 270, the majority of the 538 electoral votes.
Of course there is more to it: recount of electoral
votes every ten years, swing states, safe states,...
If you are interested, there are plenty of details to
read more about.
There is no federal law that requires electors to vote
according to the results of the popular vote in their
US Elections 2016
state. But some states require it either by state law
or by pledges to the electors’ respective parties9.
It almost never happens that the electors would
go against the people so as a slight exaggeration it
could be said that the electors are there only pro
forma. The trick is elsewhere…
Disunited States
It is important to bear in mind that the United
States is a collection of 50 states which have
considerable levels of autonomy. And it is the
individual states’ laws that regulate many of
the election procedures. What this means is
that if you lived and voted in one state for
thirty years and suddenly moved, you might
need to do some research about your new
home state’s voter laws, primary system, or
the regulations concerning your electors.
Almost all states (except for Nebraska and Maine)
have a winner-take-all policy regarding the general
election. This means that the candidate who wins
the simple majority of the popular vote takes all
the electoral votes of that state10. Votes cast for the
candidate who fails to gain the majority are virtually
lost. And it can happen that the US President
may be elected by the majority of electoral votes
not winning the majority of the popular vote. As
dramatic as it sounds, though, this situation has only
occurred a few times in history. The noteworthy
case is the 2000 election of Bush v. Gore. Again,
there is more to it but there are always well-done
educational videos like this one which can help you
navigate through the system.
Directly Indirect
via Wikimedia Commons
What Are The Takeaways?
Voted sticker, Photo Courtesy of Michael Bentley
If nothing else, it is enough to remember that
the process is way more complex than may be
generally believed and that it is almost beyond a
mere human’s abilities to get to the bottom of it.
Which is why there is no shame in letting others
do the research for you and then just digesting the
information. (Look how Samantha Bee beautifully
summarized the early-April controversy about
Democratic superdelegates.)
Ibid, 37.
In the whole mess of trying to follow the
right rules and not forgetting about all the
important dates, it is easy to lose track of
the fact that for all the voting, the ordinary
people never actually vote for the candidates
directly. In the primaries, they choose
delegates for the national convention which
selects the nominee, and in the general
election, it is the few chosen electors who
cast the final votes. It is easy to dismiss this
hint at indirectness by remembering that
the electors mostly follow the popular vote,
but there are still the unpledged delegates in
the primaries and all the “loser” votes in the
winner-take-all general election…
Rules Change
What To Remember About the
Election Process
Donkey ≠ Elephant
Each of the parties has its own different
internal set of rules and procedures for every
step of the way. From the categorization of
delegates, to how delegates are awarded to the
candidates, to the way primaries or caucuses
work, to the selection of electors, a lot is in
the hands of the parties. And to make it even
more interesting, it is not always the national
but often a state party leadership who decides.
7
39
US Elections 2016
Last but not least, to add to this beautiful
confusion, another disclaimer: Americans
seem to be quite stubborn about keeping
some of their historical legislation, for
instance the Electoral college system (this
original idea of the Founding Fathers still
appeals to the federal government even
though several attempts have been made
to change the system). This is, however, not
the case with the rest of the POTUS election
process. Rules have been changing ever since
the first election and change is definitely not
a thing of the past! It is enough to trace the
history of the primary selection to get the
idea11.
11 Coleman, Kevin J., Joseph E. Cantor, and Thomas H. Neale. “Presidential Elections in the United States: A Primer.” CRS Report for Congress. April 17, 2000. Print.
40
US Elections 2016
The 2016 Elections – How Experts
See Them
Politics worldwide is becoming more and more complex, and it is less and less common that approaches and
understandings of related issues concern one point of view only. The current US elections, being widely observed all
over the world, are no exception to this statement. Hence, we have approached Miloš Gregor – expert on political
marketing, Jessica N. Grounds, specializing in work with women in politics, Professor Charles D. Hadley who
comments on political party systems, and Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel who examines the role of minorities, to share their
perceptions of the current race. MŠ
CHARLES D. HADLEY
Courtesy of Professor Hadley
University Research Professor Emeritus
Department of Political Science
The University of New Orleans
What can one learn from the still unfolding
nomination of Republican and Democratic
candidates for President of the U.S.A.? Through
1968 the Democratic and Republican Parties
selected their nominees in national conventions
to compete in the presidential election, sometimes
after many rounds of balloting by the assembled
delegates from the fifty states. But the process
changed in 1972 because of the controversy
over the 1968 presidential nomination of Vice
President Hubert H. Humphrey amidst election
challenges, violent street protests outside the
Democratic National Convention, and a narrow
general election loss to Republican Richard M.
Nixon. Reforms were recommended by national
level political party commissions, and they were
written into law and made binding by the fifty
state governments. Political parties gave up their
most important power, the selection of presidential
candidates, to party activists who registered to
vote and participated in the party caucuses (e.g.,
Iowa) or state run primary elections (e.g., New
Hampshire) to select delegates to national party
conventions. The elected delegates are required to
vote for their candidate, e.g., Donald J. Trump or
Hillary Clinton, on the first convention ballot.
The Republican Party reformed its candidate
selection process to emulate the Democrats in 2012
by using a system of proportional representation
(PR) to select national convention delegates in
order to make the process more democratic and
interesting. It proved to be all too interesting.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (1
of 11 candidates) had to fight in multi-candidate
low voter turnout elections until the very end
of the nomination process because PR let all 11
candidates earn blocs of national convention
delegates. The Democratic Party, on the other
hand, had incumbent President Barack Obama
who was not opposed for re-election.
Given its 2012 experience, the Republican Party
reformed its delegate selection process again for
2016.* It used PR through February and changed
to winner-take-all beginning in March with the
expectation it would wrap up the nomination
process quickly. It is doing just that, but for outsider
Trump rather than very well-funded establishment
candidates like former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
(brother of President George W. Bush). Because
political parties in the U.S. are such very loose
41
US Elections 2016
associations, it led to the domination of the
selection process by Trump who was a political
party gadfly (Democrat, Republican, Reform, and
Democrat again) until 2012 when he moved back
to the Republican Party. Winning about a third
of the votes cast in multi-candidate state contests,
Trump built and continues to build a commanding
lead in national convention delegates, regardless of
how hard the Republican Party establishment and
its donors work to deprive him of its nomination.
On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders, a selfdescribed socialist or “democratic socialist,” was
officially an Independent who caucused with the
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives
and U.S. Senate to receive committee assignments.
He did not “change” political parties to become a
Democrat until November 2015 so he could seek
the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination
because it was easier to get on the election ballots
prepared by the state political parties for caucuses
or state governments for primary elections. Hillary
Clinton, of course, is a mainstream establishment
Democrat with a very well-funded campaign
organization.
The unexpected is the 2016 norm. Presidential
candidates Trump and Sanders took advantage
of the looseness of political party affiliation to
compete for their party’s nomination in caucuses
and primary elections under a system of state (not
national) laws that regulate primary elections and
ballot access. A process designed to quickly anoint
a Republican presidential candidate unexpectedly
works to anoint billionaire real-estate magnate and
television personality Donald J. Trump. The PR
system used by Democrats keeps Bernie Sanders
in the race (like it did for Romney’s 10 Republican
opponents in 2012) regardless of the fact that he has
no chance to take the nomination away from Hillary
Clinton who has momentum and a commanding
convention delegate lead, especially among “Super
Delegates,” the 18% of the Democratic National
Convention delegates by elected positions, e.g.,
Democratic National Committee members, the
party’s state Governors, its self-selected U.S. House
of Representative and Senate members, etc. The
Bottom Line: Expect Republican Trump and
Democrat Clinton to oppose each other in the
November general election, and don’t be surprised
if there is a well-funded third party candidate.
* The commentary was written in late March 2016.
JESSICA N.
GROUNDS
Courtesy of Jessica N. Grounds
U.S. Political Strategist
Founder, Solid Grounds Strategy
Co-Founder, Running Start
Women voters and issues related to gender are a
hot topic in the 2016 presidential election. The
election has had two top women contenders for
president for both the Republican and Democratic
parties. Even though Carly Fiorina (Republican
candidate) has dropped out of the competition, it
was important to have her perspective in the race
and it added a lot of commentary in the news about
the importance of encouraging more Republican
women to pursue political careers and run for
office.
Hillary Clinton, by far the most experienced
public leader in the race, still faces questions about
her qualifications and ability to lead the country.
There is still an undertone of uneasiness by voters
about electing a woman president even though
many voters will not publicly admit their concern.
Hillary Clinton is running her campaign very much
speaking about issues that are uniquely impacting
women’s lives including the wage gap between men
and women, reproductive health care (abortion
rights), paid maternity/paternity leave, paid sick
leave, and minimum wage, among a number of
other critical issues. She has framed her candidacy
about strengthening American families, a topic
that particularly resonates with women.
In terms of women voters, they will be key to
winning the election for president. Women voters
have been the majority of voters in presidential
42
US Elections 2016
elections since 1964 and there has been a gender
gap (difference in the way men and women vote)
since 1980. This traditionally helps Democratic
candidates. For example, there were gender gaps
in both of President Obama’s last elections and
the gaps helped him to win. Garnering support
among women of all ages will be key. Right now
Hillary has had an advantage in women supporting
her, although she has seen challenges with young
women voters in some states, like New Hampshire.
It will be key for all candidates to speak about issues
uniquely impacting women’s lives, like the wage
gap and poverty, which affect women more than
men in the United States. Recently research has
shown that 90% of Americans think the country is
ready to elect a woman president, but only about
31% think it is a major priority to elect a woman.
My hope is that women voters will see that voting
for Hillary Clinton will help empower them in their
lives to reach their full potential.
* The commentary was written in early March 2016.
MILOŠ GREGOR
Courtesy of Miloš Gregor
Specialist , Department of Political Science
Researcher, International Institute of Political Science
Masaryk University in Brno
The United States is a mecca of political
marketing and many historical milestones related
to the political campaigning originated there.
Eisenhower’s 1952 TV spots, the tradition of TV
debates starting with Kennedy and Nixon in 1960,
the negative advertisement Daisy which decided
the 1964 elections, or Obama’s social media in 2008
– all this meant a revolution in the use of political
marketing tools; and it also came from the USA.
This year’s elections, nonetheless, do not seem to
promise to bring any breakthrough in terms of new
technologies or tools. Yet they are special as well as
new, to some extent. It is mostly due to the mood
pervading the society, the voters’ behavior and the
unpredicted success of certain candidates that were
not expected to succeed in the first place.
US Elections 2016
of affairs. However, with a pinch of exaggeration,
it is possible to say that the support that Trump
has been enjoying is a result of other candidates’
neglect of the white working men. And now they
are paying the price.
* The commentary was written in late March 2016.
JEFFREY ALAN
VANDERZIEL
The democratic candidate Bernie Sanders labels
himself a socialist. Needles to say, his rhetorics and
stances really do comply with such statement. Still,
it is Hillary Clinton who leads by a big margin in the
Democratic camp and for whom facing an active
rival candidate might turn out only beneficial in
the end. If it were not for this duel, her Democratic
nomination would be certain and the primaries
would be her solo ride. However, the media would
turn all their attention to the Republicans which
could turn fatal for her. After all, the saying – out
of sight, out of mind – is especially true of political
campaigns.
Donald Trump has been a long-term Republican
front-runner whose populist rhetorics has cost
some of his rival candidates their places in the
presidential run. They have tried to disrupt the
support he has been receiving by igniting a serious
debate, pointing to the emptiness of his words, as
well as by using similarly populist proclamations
as Trump himself. Yet, to no avail. Trump stays
ahead and remains the darling of a whole range of
Republican voters.
Regardless of the differences between them, Sanders
and Trump do have things in common. First, it is
their populist rhetorics and second, the favor of
those voters who are disappointed with the current
situation and who have become disgusted by the
today´s politicians. Moreover, one more factor has
come to the fore: it has become commonplace for
individual candidates to try and appeal to specific
target groups. Once, it might be Hispanic voters,
another time, it is the African American voters or
women. It is believed – depending on individual
states – that these groups can turn decisive when it
comes to victory there. On the other hand, the nonminority population has been slightly forgotten.
Certainly, as in any other case, it is hardly possible
to determine one single cause of the current state
Courtesy of the Department of English and American Studies
Deputy Head, Department of English and
American Studies
Masaryk University in Brno
One of the key factors in determining the
identity of the next president of the United
States will be voter turnout among minority
voters, in particular African American and
Hispanic voters, who, according to the Pew
Research Center, each make up 12% of eligible
voters. Together with other minority groups,
minority voters will make up a record 29% of
the eligible electorate, which is a record for
the United States.1 It is important to note that
these voters are concentrated in specific parts
of the U.S., i.e. African American voters across
the South and in urban centers elsewhere, and
Hispanic voters across the Southwest, from
Texas to California, meaning that their impact
is magnified and can influence the Electoral
College result in a number of key states such as
New Mexico, Colorado (Hispanic voters) and
in the Rustbelt states of Michigan, Ohio, and
Pennsylvania (African American voters).
43
There are two further key factors that will
determine the impact of African American
and Hispanic voters. First, the identity of the
respective presidential and vice-presidential
candidates. Based on past history, the
Democratic Party candidate can most likely
expect the overwhelming support from African
American voters – since 1964, no Democratic
candidate has received less than 82% of their
votes. If Hillary Clinton is the nominee, she
likely will need above 90% support in this
community given her low popularity among
other parts of the electorate, in particular white
men. The situation with Hispanic voters is more
complex given the situation in the Republican
Party, where one of the remaining candidates
(Donald Trump) has made numerous comments
perceived by Hispanics as inflammatory (e.g.
his infamous wall and other negative comments
about immigrants) and another, Ted Cruz, is of
Cuban descent, although that is not something
he has particular stressed during this primary
season. So although Democratic Party candidates
have consistently received a large majority of the
Hispanic vote (56-78%), the presence of one of
these two candidates on the ticket could have
unforeseen consequences — negative for Trump
and potentially positive for Cruz. In either case,
the Democratic candidate may well choose to
tap a Hispanic politician as their running mate,
especially given the fact that the Republican
Party convention in Cleveland occurs in midJuly, while the Democrats do not meet until the
end of that month, giving them the advantage
of being able to react to the makeup of the
Republican ticket.
The second factor is the movement in a number
of states, including North Carolina, Texas,
Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to name several,
to require certain types of photo IDs in order
to be able to vote. Recent research by scholars
at the University of California, San Diego2,
has indicated that minority voter turnout is
suppressed by up to 10% in states with these
types of laws. This could have a critical impact in
certain key battleground states like Pennsylvania,
where the Democratic candidate needs a high
minority turnout in order to carry the state and
gain its Electoral College votes.
* The commentary was written in late April 2016.
Krogstad, Jens Manuel. “2016 electorate will be the most diverse in U.S. history.” Pew Research Center, February 3, 2016.
Hajnal, Zoltan, Nazita Lajevardi and Lindsay Nielson. “Voter Identification Laws and the Suppression of Minority Votes”. Working Paper,
UCSD, 2016
1
2
44
Brexit
Brexit
Hamlet’s Dilemma Revisited
Written by Natália Poláková
On June 23 Britons will step into Hamlet’s shoes and face a difficult question: “To be or not to be in the
EU?” The debate about Brexit, the potential withdrawal of Britain from the EU, has been heating up since
British Prime Minister David Cameron proposed a “better deal” for Britain in 2013. The campaign was
largely overshadowed by the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum but since then the arguments for
the Brexit have evolved into a fierce fight between the “inners” and the “outers”.
Introduction
The rise of the extreme right-wing United Kingdom
Independence Party (UKIP) following the 2008
economic crisis reflected disenchantment with
EU values in Britain. A loss of confidence in the
policies and the concept of the EU itself is now widely
understood under the term Euroscepticism. Where
are these Eurosceptic tendencies in Britain coming
from? Who is the Eurosceptic “outer” and who is the
Europhile “inner”? What are the possible outcomes
of the referendum and above all, what does Cameron
want from the EU?
This article provides a historical overview of the
rocky relationship between the UK and the EU
and explores pro-European and anti-European
sentiments in the current debate. It tries to explain
Only one in eight Britons states to feel
“European”.
the core of British Euroscepticism and its evolution
as well as the uniqueness of British media which in
many cases hide their biased opinions and exaggerate
the impacts of EU membership on Britain. A wide
range of studies have been chosen and evaluated to
cover the discussion of the upcoming referendum.
Whether you are an “inner” or an “outer”, do not
let any scepticism bite off the pleasure of reading
this article!
Ups and Downs in the UK-EU
relationship
The British phenomenon of Euroscepticism has been
subject to many political and cultural studies. The
latter mostly explored the issue of island mentality
where the English Channel acts as a psychological
barrier to relate with Europe. Some of the Britons
may suffer from this sea-sickness even today given
a very low percentage of the supporters of European
identity. In fact only one in eight Britons states to
feel “European” and this attitude seems unchanging.
No wonder Britain has always been labelled as the
“awkward partner”.
Despite the post-war economic hardship and failure of
Churchill’s politics of appeasement with Nazi Germany,
the Second World War played a vital role in nourishing
Euroscepticism. Some European nations stood on
the wrong side, some stayed neutral and others were
conquered, while the legacy of the war gave the British
a sense of moral superiority vis-à-vis the other nations.
Thus, the war is sometimes perceived as the country’s
“finest hour”. Even though in the aftermath of the war
Churchill keenly advocated reconciliation of France
and Germany and called for the “United States of
Europe”, he did not intend to include Britain in the
unification process. He recognized her uneasy position
perplexed inside the famous “three circles” – United
Europe, United States and British Empire giving the
priority to the latter two. He stated that “if Britain
must choose between Europe and the open sea, she
must always choose the open sea”. His words resonate
even today emphasizing liberal trade and criticism of
the excessive EU regulations. However, is the “open
sea” a safe option in the stormy world?
While European nations sought to establish the
European Economic Community (EEC), Britain
confidently protected its colonial interests, most
notably by intervening in the Suez Canal in 1956. The
operation triggered a world-wide outrage, especially in
The “Party of Europe” tirelessly
negotiating the entrance was the
Conservative Party, the very same one
calling for the withdrawal from the EU
today.
History
Looking further into British history and the
glory days of Pax Britannica, Great Britain always
represented a Balance of Power, a sort of authority
watching over the political developments in the
world rather than associating with individual
countries. Moreover, it promoted trade partnerships
with its colonial empire, not continental Europe, also
discouraged by the earlier continental blockade of
Napoleonic France. However, this could not be said
of the political ties with Europe as Queen Victoria,
“Grandmother of Europe”, was related to most of the
royal families on the continent. British unshakable
geopolitical position came to an end with two World
Wars, which left Britain insolvent, giving away its
hegemony to America as a new world superpower.
45
Brexit
the United States, and cost Britain the last drops of her
super power status. Thus, the Suez crisis is considered
as the moment of Britain´s gradual turn, in the terms
of politics and trade, toward continental Europe.
Moreover, the British disease1 was becoming very
painful. So was the road to the EEC after the initial
rejection of the Rome Treaty in 1958 when Britain
virtually missed the boat. Its two applications to enter
were repeatedly vetoed by French President Charles
de Gaulle in 1963 and 1967, who did not conceal
his hostility toward Britain and considered her the
“Trojan horse” with a “special relationship” with the
1
United States. Indeed, when the public was asked in
1967 about Britain´s most important international
ally, 68 per cent chose either the United States or the
Commonwealth.
Referendum on Europe 1975
Finally, Britain entered into the European
Community (EC) in 1973 but without consulting
the public. It is important to note that the “Party of
“Europe will be stronger precisely
because it has France as France, Spain
as Spain, Britain as Britain, each with its
own customs, traditions and identity.”
Europe” tirelessly negotiating the entrance was the
Conservative Party, the very same one calling for the
withdrawal from the EU today. The first years of the
EC membership were anything but a rosy picture. The
rising oil and food prices stipulated the Eurosceptic
Labour party to deliver populist speeches about the
ineffectiveness and high cost of EC membership and
in 1975 the UK faced the Referendum on Europe. The
mainstream press was mostly pro-Europe biased and
thought to be manipulated by the Conservatives and
big enterprises, who advocated the importance of the
EC for British economy and trade. The history repeats
itself and the same arguments may be found in the
current debate but with the Conservatives pushing
for Brexit or Labourists wanting to stay in.
Even Margaret Thatcher, later a prominent
Eurosceptic, was in favour of Britain staying in,
saying: “Everyone should turn out in this referendum
and vote yes, so that the question is over once and for
all, we are really in Europe, and ready to go ahead”.
Fifteen years later she would not have given green
light to go ahead. Furthermore, on the referendum
day the Daily Mail warned the voters with this
scary headline: “A day in the life of Siege Britain:
NO COFFEE, WINE, BEANS OR BANANAS, TILL
FURTHER NOTICE”. Whether it was fear of the
unknown or a thorough economic evaluation of the
EC membership, in the end two thirds of Britons
voted to stay in.
A term coined to express British relative political and economic decline.
46
Brexit
Rise of Euroscepticism
When Thatcher won the elections in 1979, she
set out to renegotiate the terms of membership
because British financial contributions to the EC
budget were thought to be too high given the poor
state of British economy. After years of arguing,
the rockiest moments of the UK-EU relations,
she finally “got her money back” in the form
of British rebate in 1984. However, the biggest
boost to British Euroscepticism came in the 80’s
when European Commissioner Jacques Delors
spoke to trade unions about harmonizing social
The Suez crisis is considered as the
moment of Britain´s gradual turn, in
the terms of politics and trade, toward
continental Europe.
policies and working rights, a very delicate matter
in Britain given the outcomes of the 70’s trade
union strikes.
Delors’ plan was believed to prompt Thatcher’s
Eurosceptic stance and in her Bruges speech she
emphasized the importance of British sovereignty
stating that “We have not successfully rolled
back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to
see them re-imposed at a European level with a
European super-state exercising a new dominance
from Brussels.” She additionally declared that
“Europe will be stronger precisely because it has
France as France, Spain as Spain, Britain as Britain,
each with its own customs, traditions and identity.”
Today Thatcher is the inspiration for Eurosceptics
and even the term Euroscepticism was coined in
popular press to describe her anti-EU sentiments.
It is, therefore, hard to believe that the same
Thatcher helped to create the Single European
Market constituted by the first pillar of today’s
EU. Before Thatcher’s resignation in 1990 her own
party forced her to take the sterling into European
Monetary System, the predecessor of Eurozone,
from which two years later Britain was forced to
withdraw on what is known as Black Wednesday,
47
Brexit
the worst day of the UK-EU relations. Some people
say Thatcher’s negative attitude toward the EU
toppled her as leader despite the fact that it was
her who took Britain further into the EU than any
other prime minister. She resented the negotiations
about the Maastricht Treaty and remained critical
of EU integrationist policies for the rest of her
life. However, John Major voluntarily signed the
Maastricht Treaty in 1992. Though the UK won the
essential opt-outs from the single currency and the
social chapter, the treaty allowed an “ever-closer
union” leading to the creation of the Eurosceptic
political party UKIP.
In 1997 Tony Blair signed up Britain to the
social chapter and guaranteed worker’s rights
making enemies among big enterprises with the
Independent marking him as “dishonest”. His
stance was more pro-European and he even agreed
to reduce the British rebate in order to finance
the 2004 EU enlargement. The popular British
rebate negotiated by Thatcher became instantly a
very unpopular issue. He was “accused” of selling
out Britain by the Guardian while the Daily Mail
stated “We should demand our money back - again”.
Indeed, Britain has always been more supportive
of the enlarged EU rather than the centralised
EU. While deepening the EU threatened British
sovereignty, the enlargement meant inflow of
economic migrants from central and eastern
“If Britain must choose between Europe
and the open sea, she must always
choose the open sea”.
Europe, the very thorn in the British side today.
The 2008 global financial crisis and Eurozone
debt crisis triggered the Eurosceptic movement
around the entire EU, most notably represented by
Britain’s UKIP, France’s Front National, Italy’s Five
Star Movement or Greece’s Syriza. The UKIP under
Nigel Farage’s leadership saw major support in the
2014 European Parliament elections (29 per cent)
as well as in the 2015 general elections where its
support rose to 12,6 per cent.
Nigel Farage in European Parliament, © European Union 2011 PE-EP/Pietro Naj-Oleari
What is UKIP?
Leader: Nigel Farage
Founded: 1993
Political position: right-wing
Ideology: right-wing populism, hard
Euroscepticism, Thatcherism, liberalism
House of Commons: 1 seat out of 650
European Parliament: 22 seats out of 73
Key argument: withdrawal of Britain from the
EU
“The EU is only the biggest symptom of the
real problem – the theft of our democracy by a
powerful, remote political ’elite’ which has forgotten
that it’s here to serve the people.”
Source: UKIP
Tories versus EU: What does David
Cameron want from Europe?
The history suggests that there is nothing like
a deep-rooted sort of Euroscepticism. The
phenomenon persists in the British political culture
since the early integration process proposals but
at the same time has changed the right and left
spectrum preferences. Mostly Europhile Tories
from the 70’s and 80’s hopped on the Eurosceptic
boat with “captain” Thatcher in the 90’s while the
initially anti-European Labour found European
social policies fitting in their manifestos.
In 2015 the Conservatives proposed
immigration curbs and a four-year-ban
on welfare benefits to EU migrants.
In 2005 David Cameron presented himself as a
“traditional Eurosceptic” to become the Tory
party leader modernising the party image as well
as bringing up the question of Europe on top of
Conservative agenda – again. The ratification of
the 2007 Lisbon Treaty under Blair’s leadership
raised the voices in the Conservative cabinet
with Cameron declaring: “If I become PM, a
48
Brexit
Conservative government will hold a referendum
on any EU treaty.” Since his victory in the 2010
general election he has been confronted with the
Eurosceptic ranks of his own cabinet and the rising
UKIP.
four-year-ban on welfare benefits to EU migrants. In
a letter to Donald Tusk, President of the European
Council, Cameron set out his four objectives to be
achieved in the subsequent negotiations for Britain’s
special status.
In January 2013 Cameron delivered a famous
speech on Europe proposing a “better deal” for
Britain and Europe mostly in terms of reduced
He demanded economic governance where
countries outside the Eurozone would not be
discriminated in EU negotiations and the UK would
not have to contribute to the Eurozone bailouts.
The second objective included competitiveness
as a reduction in excessive financial regulations,
while the third key point proposed immigration
“emergency brake” to restrict in-work and out-ofwork benefits to EU migrants. The last objective
focused on sovereignty and Britain exempt from
further EU treaties leading to “ever-closer union”.
Obscurity of the “open sea” poses the
question whether Britain is safer inside
or outside the EU.
regulations and pledging to hold a referendum on
EU membership by 2017. Though described as a
Eurosceptic, Cameron himself did not back the
Brexit saying that “Britain’s national interest is best
served in a flexible, adaptable and open European
Union and that such a European Union is best
with Britain in it.“ The Guardian reacted to the
speech calling Cameron as “a modern-day heretic”
challenging “established thinking”, while the Sun
pointed out that he had rescheduled his speech in
case he “offended” the Germans and French as the
initial date clashed with the 50th anniversary of the
Franco-German peace treaty. He would not have
received a positive feedback with this statement:
“… today the main, over-riding purpose of the
European Union is different: not to win peace,
but to secure prosperity“. However, the current
migration crisis and recent terrorist attacks in Paris
and Brussels may have slipped economic incentives
on the side lines and the obscurity of the “open sea”
poses the question whether Britain is safer inside
or outside the EU.
Later that year Cameron brought up the issue of
immigration claiming “it is too easy to be a migrant
in Britain” and criticising the “soft touch” of the
previous Labour government. The Migration
Watch UK says that an extra 3.6 million foreign
migrants arrived under Labour. Since then
immigration remains the crucial argument in
cherishing Eurosceptic tendencies and in 2015 the
Conservatives proposed immigration curbs and a
The UK-EU settlement was reached earlier this
year but Cameron managed to get only a part
of the concessions – a four-year ban on welfare
benefits in case of “exceptional migration levels”
and an exemption from taking part in European
“superstate”. While he insists the deal will “make a
difference”, the Financial Times consider it “flimsy”
and a number of critics say that Cameron’s plans
won’t tackle the immigration issue, a major public’s
concern, at all as most migrants are either single
or young couples without children unable to claim
benefits. Along with the EU deal prime minister set
the date of the referendum on June 23.
Brexit
the right of EU citizens to work in other countries
should be restricted compared to only 27 per
cent who do not. The overwhelming majority of
respondents (73 per cent) agree that EU citizens
should be allowed to receive welfare benefits only
in their country of origin. Britons think that EU
citizens are gaining from EU labour movement,
56 per cent of Britons think that the
right of EU citizens to work in other
countries should be restricted.
one of the basic EU laws, at their expense as jobs,
housing and social services should belong to British
nationals first. To be precise, the Migration Watch
UK warns that the densely populated UK, especially
England, has a chronic shortage of housing due to
high immigration levels.
According to the Ipsos Mori issue index released
this February, 46 per cent of respondents think
immigration is the most important issue facing
Mostly Europhile Tories from the 70’s
and 80’s hopped on the Eurosceptic boat
with “captain” Thatcher in the 90’s.
Britain compared to some 20 percent for whom
the crucial point is the Europe question and the
economy issue respectively. Furthermore, the Policy
Network, a centre-left think tank, states that public
Euroscepticism assumed an “anti-EU migration
dimension”. In fact 56 per cent of Britons think that
Courtesy of YouGov.com
49
The referendum opinion polls suggest that the
British public is in the Europe question deeply
divided. According to the YouGov polls, voting
intentions have numerously changed since the
question was posed for the first time in 2011.
Before Cameron’s speech on Europe, a vast
majority wanted to leave the EU but since then the
“inners” have been keeping track with the “outers”.
Furthermore, migration crisis frustrations and
extensive Brexit media coverage have brought the
two camps even closer together. On the other hand,
the Financial Times opinion polls from April 1
show that there is twelve percent of yet undecided
voters who may potentially swing the outcome
of the EU referendum. The Telegraph also warns
that some opinion polls are “wrong” as phone polls
suggest a 17 per cent lead for Remain while online
polls have it at just two per cent. Given the number
of undecided voters and the inability of the polls to
predict the results, the outcome of the referendum
may be a genuine surprise.
50
Brexit
Campaign
Britain Stronger in Europe
KEY POINTS
Vote Leave
Britain gets £66 billion of
investments every day from EU
countries. The EU is an important
export market for 80 percent of
small business and around three
million jobs are connected to UK’s
exports. Leaving means losing
investments and jobs for UK
workers.
Trade, investments and jobs
The UK can easily secure new free
trade deals with other countries
such as China, India or America.
The EU will likely establish a free
trade agreement with the UK as it
is EU’s largest export partner.
Benefits of the EU are worth
£3,000 a year to the average UK
household. The EU membership
means lower prices for UK families
as it is cheaper to trade and there is
wider choice. If the UK leaves, the
cost of imports could rise by at least
£11 billion, leaving families out of
pocket as prices rise.
Cost of Europe
Leaving the EU does not mean
reduced immigration. Countries
that trade with the EU from the
outside have higher immigration
levels from the EU countries than
Britain.
Immigration
UK workers get vital protections
due to EU membership including
guaranteed holiday, maternity
leave, and protection from
discrimination.
Sovereignty
At international summits Britain is
represented twice – by the foreign
secretary and the EU.
Influence
51
Brexit
Dangers of the Brexit
New Opportunities for Britain
Prime Minister’s Warnings
Better place to live in
“Let us remember, this isn’t some abstract question.
These are actually people’s jobs, people’s livelihoods,
people’s life chances, people’s families we are talking
about. I say: don’t put them at risk, don’t take this
leap in the dark.”
“[Mass migration] into Britain on this scale is
not good for our country. It is not good for our
quality of life, it is not good for social cohesion in
our society, and our population inexorably headed
towards 70m or 75m will not make this a better,
richer or happier place to be ... Surely one of the
first duties of the British government should be to
do everything within their power to protect our
people from the horrors that we saw in Paris and
the indignities that we saw in Cologne. The best
and the safest way for us to attempt to prevent such
things is to leave the EU and to take back control
of our borders.”
David Cameron
The EU now costs the UK over
£350 million each week – nearly
£20 billion a year. If the UK leaves,
it can use this money to invest into
education, science or healthcare.
EU regulation costs UK businesses
over £600 million every week.
Nigel Farage
Disaster for science
The EU immigration policy is an
“immoral, expensive and out of
control system”. It puts UK’s welfare
system, schools and hospitals under
pressure. EU migrants block people
from non-European countries who
could contribute to UK’s economy
more.
EU law is supreme over UK law.
This stops British public from
being able to vote out those who
make UK’s laws. The Eurozone has
a permanent voting majority and
can always outvote the UK.
The UK has no independent voice
in the World Trade Organization.
The UK can retake seats in
international institutions
Sources: Britain Stronger in Europe, Vote Leave
Brexit has not only become a British issue but has also raised global awareness of the situation within the EU.
Have a look at what people have said about Brexit.
Bringing back the money
“Increased funding has raised greatly the level of “The UK could end austerity if it left the EU by
European science as a whole and of the UK ... we now reinvesting the money spent on contributions in the
recruit many of our best researchers from continental economy and the NHS [National Healthcare System].”
Europe, including younger ones who have obtained
John Redwood, Conservative MP
EU grants...”
Stephen Hawking and the Royal Society
Norther Ireland’s calling for trouble
Uncivilised Europe
“It’s Northern Ireland that will really get whacked if “Extremists are on the rise in Europe and are being
Britain withdrew from the European Union.”
fuelled unfortunately by the Euro project and by the
centralisation of power in Brussels. It is increasingly
Bill Clinton, former US president
important that Britain offers an example of civilised,
democratic, liberal self-government.”
Dominic Cummings, Conservative special adviser
on education
52
Brexit
53
Courtesy of YouGov.com
A threat to British expats
Brexit
The sinking Titanic
“British expatriates can lose a range of specific rights “Britain’s escape from the EU Titanic, combined
to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare with America emerging from eight years of folly this
and public services that are only guaranteed because November, could revitalise the West as a whole.”
of EU law.”
John Bolton, former US Ambassador to the United
UK Cabinet Office
Nations
Putin’s catching in the rye
Canadian dream
“Those slippery Brits are still quite good at foreign
policy and give some spine to all the other Eurojellyfish, eg on Ukraine and sanctions ... An EU
without the UK’s ’rule of law’ nit-picking will be
a weaker model for good governance and so less
attractive to other former Soviet republics. Every
little helps.”
“I think we can strike a deal as the Canadians have
done based on trade and getting rid of tariffs. It’s a
very, very bright future I see ... We want a relationship
based on trade and cooperation. The idea of being
subject to the single judicial system is the problem.”
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
The Kremlin, Russian Government
Commonwealth backs UK’s leadership
Overcrowded Europe
“We certainly think it’s a stronger position for Britain “I think maybe it’s time, especially in light of what’s
to be in Europe. We see Europe as an extremely happened, with the craziness that’s going on with the
important continent that needs strong leadership. migration, with people pouring in all over the place.”
We think Britain provides that leadership.”
John Key, New Zealand Prime Minister
Donald Trump
American interests
Like American independence
“Having the United Kingdom in the European Union
gives us much greater confidence about the strength of
the transatlantic union ... We want to make sure that
the United Kingdom continues to have that influence.”
“By leaving the EU we can take control. Indeed we can
show the rest of Europe the way to flourish. Instead
of grumbling and complaining about the things we
can’t change and growing resentful and bitter, we can
shape an optimistic, forward-looking and genuinely
internationalist alternative to the path the EU is going
down. We can show leadership. Like the Americans
who declared their independence and never looked
back, we can become an exemplar of what an inclusive,
open and innovative democracy can achieve.“
Barrack Obama
Michael Gov, Justice Secretary
Nature of Eurosceptic Voters
The first thing you may have noticed is a marked split
in the Eurosceptic tendencies in different counties.
Scotland and Wales strike with green colour with
Aberdeen and Edinburgh coming second and ninth in
the rank respectively, partly due to more left-leaning
political traditions as well as Scottish nationalism seen
in the 2015 general election where the majority voted the
Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP). However, some experts
argue that Scotland is by no means Europhile because
the EU membership is “bound up in SNP’s vision of
independence”. The Scots are in fact more likely to demand
independence from the UK, not the EU, which may be
a safer option in case another Scottish Independence
Referendum takes place. If Europhilia is a product of
Scottishness, then is the red-coloured England, depicted
as highly Eurosceptic, a possible product of Englishness?
According to the Chatham House, an independent policy
institute, voters feeling “very strong English” are more
likely to vote “out” than the “not at all English” voters.
54
YouGov points out that apart from Scotland, Wales and
cosmopolitan, liberal London, many Europhile areas are
university towns such as Liverpool, Manchester, York,
Oxford or Bristol with younger generations present, which
lead us to the social rank of Europhiles. They tend to be
either university graduates or higher income citizens as
Euroscepticism partly correlates with lower income. On
the other hand, the “outers” tend to live in often “left
behind” areas such as the Thames Estuary, declining coal
mining regions or seaside towns where qualifications are
poorer and work less skilled. Thus, divisions may actually
be only a gap in social class, education and age. As the
Policy Network suggests, working class people are “typical
losers from globalisation processes”, therefore, the ones
voting to leave.
Brexit
younger compared to 33 per cent and 24 per cent
respectively in the case of the “inners” affirming
the educational and age split between the two
camps. Further, 72 per cent claim to be “very
dissatisfied” with EU democracy and the majority
shows considerably negative attitudes toward
immigration. 68 per cent think immigration is
bad for Britain’s economy and 79 per cent see it
as a burden on welfare state, which corresponds
to the key arguments of the “leave camp” of the
referendum debate. Anti-immigration sentiments
are felt also on the identity and culture basis where
73 per cent believe that immigration undermines
British culture.
Source: Chatham House
Typical “outer”
Gender: Male
Age: 60+
Education: Left school after O-levels
Class: C2
Skilled manual worker
Region: East Anglia
Party: UKIP
Natália Poláková
Source: The Telegraph, based on YouGov data
Typical “inner”
Gender: Female
Age: 18 – 29
Education: Degree
Class: AB
High/ Intermediate
managerial, administrative or professional
Region: Scotland
Party: Green
Source: The Telegraph, based on YouGov data
Little more statistics about “outers”
According to British Election Study, 49 per cent
of the “outers” are right-wing oriented compared
to 20 per cent of the “inners” which confirms the
“outers” follow mostly the UKIP or Conservatives.
48 per cent are 55+ and left school at 16 or
Natália Poláková is a BA student of English
Language and Literature as well as Economic
Policy. She loves getting lost in the world and
looking for new adventures and challenges. She
prefers alternative ways of travelling including
hitchhiking, camping or couchsurfing. She
speaks multiple foreign languages and plans
to learn ten more to avoid a language barrier
in exotic places. In her free time she works
as an English teacher and occasionally as an
entertainer in a kids club. Apart from British
politics, she is interested in the Middle East
region, Latin American economic development
and ideology of liberalism. During her long
journeys she reads magic realism, Salman
Rushdie and Gabriel García Marquéz being her
favourite writers.
55
Student Interview
The Czech Sock in Bristol
An Interview with Chris White
Written by Blanka Šustrová
Edited by Martina Krénová
Studying English language at university is not unusual these days for non-native speakers. But what if a young
English-speaking man from Bristol decides to devote his college years to studying Czech language? It was a pleasure
to ask Chris White what had led him to this decision, how he found the language and what the department of Czech
studies in Bristol looked like.
You are studying Czech language at University of
Bristol. Why did you decide to go for a language that
only has some ten million speakers?
I wish I had some edgy, wacky reason for choosing
Czech, but I have to admit that it is in large part
because I am half Czech, and figured it was about
time I learnt the language. I have also studied
Russian for about 9 years, which is a related
language so I knew it would help my Czech. I think
Slavonic languages are brilliant so I hope Czech is
not the last I will learn.
Ironically I almost did not major in Czech. In my
first semester I found out it would be possible for
me to do Czech language as part of the Russian
wing of my degree, which would have allowed me
to switch to German, which I studied at A-Level.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you
Photo Courtesy of Chris White
look at it), Bristol could not timetable my modules
without a clash, so I had to sacrifice one of Czech
or German, and German was always going be the
one to go.
I am definitely glad I have kept Czech; it is a tiny
department at Bristol so you get to know the
lecturers really well and they are all lovely. Plus
the opportunity to do a semester abroad in the
Czech Republic is way more unique than going to
Germany or Austria.
What does your study programme look like? Do you
also study linguistics, literature and Czech culture?
Our study programme consists of about 3 hours
of Czech language tuition per week, plus a couple
of hours of non-language units that we can choose
from a selection of Czech literature, politics,
56
Student Interview
sociology etc. The actual language itself only counts
for a third of my degree credits, which irritates me
because it is by far my strongest academic thing and
I am quite bad at essays, particularly timed ones!
Last year I took a unit on Czech gender relations and
an introductory literature module. I really enjoyed
both, but made the fatal error of writing my literature
coursework on Němcová’s Babička, which is one
of the most boring books I have ever read! Am I
allowed to say that?
I love how Czech words have fixed
stress on the first syllable; Russian
stress moves around without warning
and it is an absolute horror to get right,
particularly when stressing the wrong
syllable changes the meaning of the
word.
You have said that the Czech department in Bristol is
quite small. How many students and teachers do you
have? What does the entrance exam look like?
Yes, it is very small. Czech language for beginners
is available as an open unit to all language students
so there is normally about 30 people per year doing
that, but I was the only person in my year majoring
in it last year, so there were more lecturers than
students! That sounds a bit depressing, but I love the
chance to do one on one classes with the lecturers,
you get a much more personal learning experience.
And the entrance exam? What entrance exam?
(laughs). Most courses at most unis do not have
entrance exams, we are normally admitted based on
our A-Level results. I think Oxbridge have entrance
exams, but you know – “ain’t nobody got time for
that”.
wrap my head around as a non-Slav has to be verb
aspects, but that would be equally difficult for me in
any Slavic language as it is in Czech. A lot of people
I have spoken to find the pronunciation challenging,
but I can say “ř” without much difficulty, and
besides that it is okay. I love how Czech words
have fixed stress on the first syllable; Russian stress
moves around without warning and it is an absolute
horror to get right, particularly when stressing the
wrong syllable changes the meaning of the word! I
am about to head off to Siberia for a semester and
I already know I will say “I am pissing” (which
sounds the same as the Czech “píšu”) rather than
“I am writing” (which is still “pišú” but has the
stress on the second syllable) by mistake at least
once while I am there!
Usually at British universities there are student clubs
and societies associated with the particular colleges.
Does something like this also exist within the Czech
department?
Yep, I founded it! (laughs). For a long time at Bristol
there has been a society called SlavSoc, but that is
really just for Russian students despite its name, so
my lecturer Jana Nahodilová and I (well, mainly
Jana!) decided we should form a breakaway Czech
Society, so I did just that!
57
Student Interview
I think I was prepared for the culture thanks to my
Czech relatives and a trip to Prague a few years ago,
but I think everyone has a wave of homesickness about
a month into your semester abroad. Once I got over
that though I was fine. Probably the hardest thing
for me was working out how to spend my downtime
without my Xbox or my guitar which I tragically had
to leave in the UK!
I did have one or two moments where I found myself
at odds with the xenophobia a lot of Czechs have not
quite grown out of yet, but I was expecting that to be
honest. At the end of the day, the Czechs are reserved
in a way that reminds me a lot of the Brits, and they
are always up for a beer, so what is not to like! (laughs).
I wish I knew! I know I would like to use my
languages in some capacity once I have graduated,
but beyond that I do not know. I would like to do a
masters and then see where I stand I guess. Czech
might not be much use to me in the job world but I
am definitely glad I chose it!
Chris White
What is your favourite aspect of Czech culture?
I just adore Czech beer, both the taste and the price!
Why is it that you can pay £4+ for a pint of Carlsberg
in a UK pub when less than a pound in the Czech
Republic will buy you an infinitely better beer?!
Němcová’s Babička is one of the most
boring books I have ever read! Am I
allowed to say that?
We are called Ponožka, a pun based on the trend to
call societies SomethingSoc. Get it? Sock? (laughs).
Yeah it is a dreadful pun, but we are such a small
society that it suits us to have a non-serious name,
and almost everyone so far has liked the name so
it is here to stay for now.
What aspect of the Czech language do you find the
most difficult?
We are open for both Czech students and Czechs
studying at Bristol, so it works for both parties:
Czech students can get more involved in the culture
and the people, and it lets Czechs here find someone
who speaks their language when they are getting
fed up with English. We just do little events like
meeting for drinks and watching Czech films, but
this April we are having a trip to Prague, which will
be by far the biggest Ponožka event so far.
Good question! I do not find it too hard to be
honest, I think the most difficult concept for me to
Did you experience any cultural clash after coming
here for the internship? What struck you the most?
For a nation of its size Czech cinema is very good. I
have watched plenty of Czech films at Bristol and in
Brno, and they have all been entertaining. It was a
somewhat surreal experience watching Pelíšky with
my ex-girlfriend and her mum and hearing those
two quote pretty much every single line of the film by
heart, but I gather that film is a bit of a Czech classic!
My overall favourite book is actually probably The
Unbearable Lightness of Being (by Milan Kundera),
but I have only read that in English; reading Czech
fiction is pretty exhausting with my current vocab
level, but I definitely want to get my teeth into Czech
literature in the future.
Czech humour? Yeah I am not sure I will ever grasp
that! (laughs).
What would you like to do when you finish school? A
translator? An ambassador? A teacher?
Chris White is a student of Czech and Russian
at University of Bristol, hailing from (near to)
sunny Liverpool. He spent 5 months working
at MU as an office assistant at the CEITEC
biochemistry labs on the main campus. At the
moment, he is enjoying Tomsk in the sunnier
part of Siberia, studying Russian for a semester
at Tomsk Polytechnic University before coming
back for a final year at Bristol.
One of the rare breed of Northerners amongst
Bristol’s sea of private schooled home-counties
Oxbridge rejects, Chris enjoys being blunt about
things, being a chirpy unintelligible Scouser,
daytime drinking, and boring his friends about
whichever foreign language he has just looked
up on Wikipedia. He also likes heavy metal,
Formula One, football and video games in his
spare time.
58
Letter from Abroad
A Czech among (Czech) Texans
By Jan Beneš
„Howdy,“ calls out the professor, and the lecture room, filled with one hundred and fifty students dressed
in maroon or donning a piece of clothing with “Aggies” on it, quickly responds with another “Howdy.”
The class may now begin.
Welcome to College Station, Texas, a place you have
probably never heard of. It is home to the Texas A&M
University, the first public university in Texas, and
58,577 students called Aggies, who all use “Howdy”
as an official greeting. The A&M campus is one of
the largest in the United States, housing one of five
largest public universities in the country. To top off
the superlatives, the campus now boasts the largest
American football stadium in the state of Texas
with capacity over 100,000 seats. Texas A&M is a
university with rich history, numerous traditions that
make no sense to outsiders, and Czech connections.
How does one end up in College
Station?
You would not believe how many people of
Czech(oslovak) ancestry live in Texas: just in
College Station, there are numerous streets named
after Czechoslovak migrants. The official sausage of
the Fightin’ Texas Aggies is Slováček sausage from
Snook, and there is an annual “Kolache Festival”
in Caldwell, a town not far from College Station.
When I go to meetings at the department here, it is
common to have “kolache” served for snack and it
took me a while – battling some eye-rolling – to teach
my colleagues to stop saying “kolaches” for plural.
The Czechs, Czech cuisine, Czech dances are
everywhere in Texas and I get to spread the Czech
love even further by teaching Czech classes for
the Brazos Valley Czech Heritage Society, an
organization closely associated with the Czech
Educational Foundation of Texas, which offers the
Hlavinka Fellowship to Czech doctoral students of
English from the Masaryk and Palacký universities.
The fellowship provides a unique opportunity to
study at a renowned college, earn an MA degree,
and learn what it is like to be an Aggie. Almost
everything is paid for, and I get to be both a student
and a teaching assistant at A&M.
Studying at A&M
The choice to come here was not difficult, to be
honest. Having been an exchange student at the
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 200910, I knew I wanted to go back to the US and take
courses where I would be pushed to do my best and
do research that I could not normally do in Brno.
Although the emphasis at the English department
at A&M is on digital humanities, and medieval and
early modern periods – oh, by the way, I forgot to
mention that the A&M library is the official archive
of George R.R. Martin’s works, and the actual Iron
Throne from the GoT series will be on display here
once the show is done (!) – I have been able to find
enough professors and courses to considerably
broaden my horizons. After all, it is not very common
for Czech students of English to study the material
and print culture of the texts they read, or to get to
work with Shakespeare’s actual First Folio.
Graduate-level classes are smaller than in Brno
as 15 students is the maximum number allowed.
I have taken courses where there were as few as
5 of us, and they were some of the best courses I
have ever attended. The distribution of courses at
A&M is different than in Brno: you must take one
course in pre-1660 lit, one in 1660-1900, one global/
transnational, one about a topic/theme, and one in
theory. You can also choose whether you want to
finish your degree with an exam, or a thesis. The
non-thesis option is often preferred by those of
my colleagues here, who wish to pursue their PhD.
I opted for the thesis, because over the course of
writing one of my final papers, I came across the
intriguing topic of African American aviation and
I want to explore it further. The English department
at A&M has even been kind enough to provide me
with funds to go do archival research on aviation
in Chicago. So, I get to dig in archives, which is
extremely exciting in and of itself, and visit Chicago.
That is why I came here (American football was the
other reason, really).
an Aggie by now, is that, in conclusion, I want to
highlight how special it is to study at an American
university campus – if you get a chance to study
abroad, especially in North America, do take it and
enjoy yourself. You will attend courses that you have
only dreamt of, and do research (if only for your final
essays) that is close to your heart and not limited
by the resources at your disposal in Brno. You will
experience a culture unlike any other – with all its
positives (and some negatives, especially when your
football team loses).
Jan Beneš
Gig’Em
As mentioned above, Aggies are a traditional bunch
and one of their most revered traditions, along with
tailgating (google it) before sporting events, is the
Aggie Ring Day, during which graduating seniors get
to buy a ring for $1,200 (female students pay “only”
around $650). Family and friends come to College
Station to celebrate the moment with the students,
who then get to wear one of the most recognizable
pieces of jewelry in the US. An unofficial tradition
connected with the Aggie Ring Day is that of drinking
a pitcher of flat beer in one go – or something like
that. At any rate, there is plenty of traditions to go
around at A&M.
Gig’Em – it basically means good bye, but also stands
for “go get them.” The reason I am using it here,
apart from perhaps having become too much of
Aggie rings. Photo Courtesy of Rachelle Cates
59
Letter from Abroad
Jan in front of the Texas State Capitol in Austin. Photo courtesy
of Jan Beneš
Jan Beneš earned his bachelor degree in
European Studies and International Relations
at the Faculty of Social Studies of Masaryk
University in Brno and holds master’s degrees in
English Language and Literature and in Englishlanguage Translation. He spent two semesters
studying at the University of Tennessee at
Chattanooga, and is currently studying at Texas
A&M. His research activities focus mostly on
African American literature during the Harlem
Renaissance. Outside of academics, he enjoys
watching American football on the collegiate
and professional level.
60
Podcasts
Podcast: THE Medium for the
Millennial Generation
By Tereza Walsbergerová
In the last five years the popularity of radio podcasts had risen to the point where even Stephen Colbert
acknowledged them on CBS’s The Late Show. What is so special about this seemingly mysterious and
underground medium and why one may consider it the ideal medium for the millennial generation?
This article offers a brief introduction to the ins and outs of podcast with a focus on radio podcasting in
America.
As attention spans grow shorter and the demand for
more diverse and instantaneously accessible content
grows stronger, traditional broadcast media cannot
keep up any more, which has consequently created
more space for new media to flourish and evolve. Just
like the previous generations, the “baby boomers”
and “generation X”, thrived on their consumption
of TV and radio, it can be said that the age of new
media has had similar nourishing effect on the
more technologically-savvy millennials. How? The
answer can be found among the essential needs of
the generation itself – it is all about accessibility,
independence, and diversity. Podcast is the epitome
of these things.
According to the Macmillan Dictionary, podcast is
“a multimedia file, such as a radio programme or
video, that can be downloaded or streamed from
the Internet onto a computer or mobile device”.
In other words, the main difference between a
Podcasts
common radio or TV broadcast and podcast is to
do with accessibility. While traditional broadcast is
usually aired once on a specific station at a specific
time, podcast episodes, while usually uploaded
according to a certain schedule, are accessible
to any user at any time – either by streaming the
content online on multiple different platforms, such
as Soundcloud, YouTube, Stitcher, Libsyn or Podbay,
or by downloading it into a device via RSS feed, such
as iTunes. Additionally, although the etymology of
the word (podcast = iPod + broadcast) suggests
relation to Apple products, users do not actually have
to worry about having to sell their soul to the devil
for a subscription (as they might sometimes have
to in case of TV) as most podcast providers strive
to make their programmes accessible on multiple
platforms.
Furthermore, another advantage of podcast besides
its accessibility is its independence. Despite the fact
that nowadays many authors and producers are
starting to bind individual podcasts into networks in
When it comes to fiction, the
independence and freedom connected
to podcasting is fundamental to
the creation of culturally, sexually,
ethnically, and gender-diverse content.
order to provide easier access to specific programmes,
the idea of being independent from the commercial
mainstream as well as free of charge is still very much
on everybody’s minds. Moreover, information wants
to be free, and so no topic is taboo in the podcast
world. In part for that reason there are many different
types of podcasts that can be used for many different
purposes, which satisfies the millennials’ demand
for diversity. The iTunes Store alone offers as many
as sixteen different categories of radio podcast.
Obviously, this article could not possibly contain
all of those, but here are some categories that might
interest the actual millennials reading this magazine:
The category that may perhaps seem closest to them
is education. There are many ways radio podcasts
© Photo by StockSnap on pixabay.com
61
can educate us about particular topics and the
most common way tends to be via discussion. Stuff
You Should Know is a prime example of that as it
offers hundreds of episodes, each concerned with
a certain phenomenon that may seem mundane or
even boring at first sight, but usually turns out to
be fascinating. For instance, there is an episode on
crop circles, which contains both rumoured and
actual history of the phenomenon as well as real life
anecdotes and references to topical events. Those
who are curious about the inner workings of some of
the more “everyday” matters may also be interested
in episodes about topics such as x-rays, the placebo
effect, drag queens, yawning, or the general evolution
of language.
One can safely say that the news and politics
category overlaps the most with radio broadcast
out of all the podcast categories on iTunes (some
commercial networks even upload their programmes
there). Again, the biggest difference between such a
programme and truly independent news and politics
podcast is in the level of unconfirmed, speculative
or even dangerous (yet interesting) information that
is provided to the listener. This level of truth can be,
of course, both advantage and disadvantage, but the
crucial aspect is yet again accessibility and freedom
of information. One way or another, podcasts
like Serial, which tells stories of real life events in
America, such as murders or disappearances, may
have never been produced via any other media as
successfully as podcast.
Another podcast “genre” that has become increasingly
popular with millennials since fan culture became
more mainstream is the fan podcast. While most of
these podcasts are amateur – made by fans for other
fans – there are also some very professionally made
fan podcasts out there with their production value
on the same level as any radio broadcast. What can
be appreciated the most about such podcasts is the
degree of thoroughness these fans can employ in
order to discuss every single episode of a particular
show (book, film, game...) and the number of angles
from which they look at it. For instance, Gilmore
Guys offers a very entertaining and thorough analysis
of every Gilmore Girls episode from the point of view
of two men in their twenties – one that has grown
62
Podcasts
up watching the show, and one that is currently
watching it for the first time. Their analysis includes
for instance segments such as “Pop Goes the Culture”
– a discussion of all the pop cultural references used
in every episode, “F-F-F-Fashion” – a brief discussion
of the clothing, or “Twitter Q&A” – in which the
hosts communicate with their listeners via social
media. Moreover, they often invite cast members,
random friends, or even unrelated celebrity guests
on the podcast, which adds another level of dialogue
and therefore makes the discussions more enriching.
Information wants to be free, and so
no topic is taboo in the podcast world.
The category that has perhaps been the most
nourishing to the millennials in its podcast form
is then fiction. As has been said previously, there
are several differences between a common radio
broadcast programme and a podcast programme.
When it comes to fiction, the independence and
freedom connected to podcasting is fundamental
to the creation of culturally, sexually, ethnically, and
gender-diverse content. For example, it can be said
that programmes like Alice Isn’t Dead – a horror story
about a female truck driver (Jasika Nicole) looking
for her seemingly dead wife Alice, would most likely
not be as successful on the air under American radio
broadcast networks such as CBS or ABC, if it were
even allowed there.
Furthermore, those who like their fiction to be aural
rather than visual may find that not only are fiction
podcasts a great way to pass time without having to
Serial has become such a hit it single-handedly started a new wave
of podcast craze in America. © Photo by Casey Fielser on flickr.com
focus on written text, but all of the extra material that
is not provided in written fiction – the voices, the
sound effects, the music, the meta conversations with
authors – guarantees a full immersion into the story
and therefore a virtually unique experience, which
is something that has been increasingly difficult to
find among all the distractions of the modern world.
In fact, immersion as such can be put on the list of
the reasons why radio podcast is the medium for
millennials. Some people may ask what is then the
difference between a fictional podcast series and a
classic audiobook, and the answer is that it is all in
the original intention, which is directly related to its
ability to provide immersion. While an audiobook,
as a medium, however well-produced and acted
out, will always be “just” an adaptation of a book,
which is a medium intended to engage the mind
through sight, podcast has already been created with
the intention to engage the mind through hearing,
which makes it easier for its listeners to connect
with the content. Having this connection is vital
to millennials, as in this age everything moves so
rapidly that sometimes it is difficult to stand still in
order to connect to anything at all.
In summarisation, podcasts represent that kind
of connection to the world, and not necessarily
just for the millennial generation, too. There are
no rules when it comes to podcast. As long as you
keep your mind (or rather ears) open, it can enrich
your world with plurality of opinions, freedom of
information, culture and text analysis, independent
music, or perhaps just the exact number of times
Lorelai Gilmore mentions Mussolini on Gilmore
Girls. And that counts for something.
There are as many as sixteen podcast categories on iTunes alone.
iTunes screenshot by Tereza Walsbergerová
63
Podcasts
Re:Views Recommends
Educational
Stuff Mom Never Told You
Stuff You Missed in History Class
Hidden Brain
The Heart
podcast by women for women about women
for everyone who got bored during high school history
podcast about the power of the mind
podcast about sexuality and intimacy
Fan Podcasts
Supernatural:
Gilmore Guys The X-Files Files
The Baker Street Babes
The Three Patch Podcast The Crossroadsall-male podcast for the fans of Supernatural
two men sit down to talk about Gilmore Girls
breakdown of The X-Files episodes
all-female podcast for all your Sherlock Holmes needs
podcast dedicated to the fans of BBC’s Sherlock
Fictional
Alice Isn’t Dead
The Thrilling Adventure Hour
Welcome to Night Vale
The Black Tapes
horror podcast from the roads of America
throwback to retro radio shows
fictional radio show from the town of Night Vale
scary podcast about scary things
News & politics
NPR politics
Serial This American Life
Us & Them
State of the Re:Union
for all your political news needs
investigative journalism at its finest
self-explanatory podcast by the creators of Serial
podcast about the issues that separate America
stories about the people of America
Others
A Life
No Such Thing as a Fish
Rain Man Show
The Nerdist
Happy Sad Confused podcast dedicated to everyone on the asexual spectre
in which the QI Elves discuss anything and everything
current pop cultural phenomenons up close and personal
in which Chris Hardwick talks about stuff and things
in which Josh Horowitz interviews celebrities
64
Podcasts
Spotlight
Welcome to Night Vale: Charmingly
Creepy Satire of American Paranoia
“A friendly desert community where the sun is hot,
the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass
overhead while we all pretend to sleep.” That is the
very first sentence of the cult American fictional
radio podcast Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph
Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, first released in 2012. This
sentence is not just a fantastic introduction into the
podcast, but also sums it up perfectly; the mysterious
yet charming city of Night Vale situated somewhere
deep in the American desert is a place where every
single paranoid thought that you have ever had (as
well as some that you have never had) turns out
clarify things. That is, if you would consider this a
clarification:
“Let’s go to the seven-day outlook. Your daily shades
of the sky forecast:
Monday: Turquoise
Tuesday: Taupe
Wednesday: Robin’s egg
Thursday: Turquoise/taupe
Friday: Coal dust
Saturday: Coal dust with chances of indigo in the
late afternoon
Sunday: Void”
Not only is the main character
established as queer, but the podcast
also contains strong female characters,
disabled characters, and gender-neutral
characters.
to be true. There are dark hooded figures walking
around the streets, Sheriff ’s Secret Police have their
eyes on you twenty-four seven, the mighty Glow
Cloud sometimes blazes over the town and rains
small animal carcases, dogs are not allowed in the
dog park, the angels are not allowed to be called
angels, there is a faceless old woman (Mara Wilson)
secretly living in your home, and then there is you.
(In fact, there is a whole episode dedicated to you.
You should probably listen to that one to find out
what you do in it.)
In case you are worried about becoming overwhelmed
by all the strange and supernatural – do not despair,
because Night Vale’s honey-voiced community radio
host, Cecil Palmer (Cecil Baldwin), will guide you
through it all. His show has everything you need
– news, traffic, horoscope, advertisements, the
weather, and many other segments that will surely
65
Podcasts
Welcome to Night Vale is not all just weirdness and
paranoia, though. It is also a story about love – as
the listeners get a chance to witness the blossoming
relationship between Cecil and the newcomer Carlos
(Dylan Marron), bravery – as you bear witness
to an uprising against an evil corporation, and
usually provide racial descriptions of the characters.
All in all, one may simply say that Welcome to Night
Vale welcomes everyone. Even you. To quote Night
Vale’s City Council: “Please pick up a New Citizen
Welcome Packet and mandatory orange poncho at
the City Hall.”
The mysterious yet charming city of
Night Vale situated somewhere deep in
the American desert is a place where
every single paranoid thought that you
have ever had turns out to be true.
politics – as you experience Night Vale’s mayoral
elections where a literal five-headed dragon (Jackson
Publick) is running as one of the candidates. Above
all, though, it is a story of a community and this
particular community makes Welcome to Night Vale
one of the most diverse programmes in America, full
stop. Not only is the main character established as
queer, but the podcast also contains strong female
characters, disabled characters, and gender-neutral
characters. On top of that, a great deal of the voice
cast are actors of colour, which certainly adds to
the diversity despite the fact that the authors do not
Twitter Screencap by Tereza Walsbergerová
Tereza Walsbergerová
Welcome to Night Vale
(2012–present)
Country of origin: USA
Written and produced by Joseph Fink and
Jeffrey Cranor
Music by: disparition.info
Released under: Night Vale Presents
Starring: Cecil Baldwin, Dylan Marron, Mara
Wilson, Meg Bashwiner, Kevin R. Free and
others
Running time: usually 20–30 minutes
Official website: welcometonightvale.com
Available for free on iTunes, Soundcloud,
Youtube, or Libsyn
The first Czech live performance of Welcome to
Night Vale – “Ghost Stories” will take place on
Tuesday, 10 October 2016, in Prague.
Podcasts App screenshot by Tereza Walsbergerová
Tereza has got a Bachelor’s Degree in Interactive
Media Theory and is just about to finish her
English Language and Literature Master’s
studies. Her primary focus is on (pop)cultural
phenomena, folklore, fan culture, queer
representation, and new media. She sometimes
calls herself a structuralist, but don’t tell anyone.
In her free time she raids second-hand shops,
listens to horror podcasts, and participates in
strenuous creative writing challenges. You will
find her either in coffee shops furiously typing
on her laptop or in the streets petting random
dogs.
66
Critique: Jacob Riis
Jacob Riis and the Fall of the
American Community: An Analysis
of How the Other Half Lives
By Benson Cheung
With the ever increasing globalization and immigration being the burning issue of the day, this article
looks for lessons in history. How the Other Half Lives takes the reader back a hundred years into New
York City no less cosmopolitan than it is today. Riis describes the, at times horrific, situation some of
the newcomers had to face and at the same time shares his ideas how to amend it. The ideas reflect the
times Riis lived in, but can nevertheless provide an alternative perspective. Benson Cheung’s article will
give you a gist of Riis’ observations.
In 1890, Jacob Riis delivered an urgent message to
the citizens of New York City, in How the Other Half
Lives: dominated by tenements, the city struggles
with poverty as masses of new immigrants are left
behind socially and economically. Concerned about
the rapid changes around him, Riis attributed poverty
to the process of urbanization and a subsequent
disintegration of the city’s social fabric. This can only
be resolved by rebuilding this social cohesion for an
urban setting. To this end, he largely places blame
on, and gives solutions to, five intertwining social ills:
predatory capitalism, dehumanizing environment,
a broken social mobility ladder, the fragmentation
of American moral values, and middle class apathy.
Throughout the book, Riis makes the most sustained
attack on predatory capitalism, its representatives and
its social manifestations alike, for essentially creating
and perpetuating the poverty problem. The largest
offender is the landlords who own the tenements
making up the slums’ environments. Forsaking
“the Christian standpoint” of neighbourly love for
economic profits, landlords find it more profitable
to compel tenants to stay as part of their speculation
scheme than giving them care, and encouraging their
agents to take a dispassionate view of “[collecting] the
rent in advance, or, failing, eject the occupants”1 . To
maximize profits, landlords not only further damaged
the community by encouraging “the filthy habits of
acob Riis, How the Other Half Lives, Ed. David Leviatin, 2nd
Edition (Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011), 61-62.
1 J
the tenants as an excuse for the condition of their
property”, and eventually subdividing rooms into even
smaller units to maximize the occupants, contributing
to disease epidemics, increased child mortality and
fire hazards2.
The landlords’ schemes extend to taking advantage
of the Bohemians’ expert cigar-making skills, cigar
manufacturers rent out tenements closest to their
factories, charge exorbitant rents before making
entire families work at low wages to pay for their
rents, threatening them with both eviction and job
termination should they protest3. Coercion is also
race-based: African-Americans must pay higher
rent rates than a “low European type” for even fewer
services, despite them generally being better tenants4.
Despite all this critique of capitalism and greed, Riis
certainly was no anti-capitalist, preferring instead
capitalism with a conscience—that is, to remind
business leaders that they form a part of a wider
community, and thus they have a social obligation
to at least conduct “fair play” with their tenants. For
instance, landlords like Ellen Collins and the “model
tenement” building companies generated successful
results in building respectable neighbourhoods from
reasonably low rents, renovations, and building
community areas5. Wealthy philanthropists like
Mrs. Astor and Colonel Auchmuty make long term
social investments by donating to public education,
Ibid, 64-67.
Ibid, 154-155.
4
Ibid, 163-165.
5
Ibid, 259-265.
2
3
67
so keeping street children off the streets and learning
sustainable, marketable skills6.
Riis points out that the environment is also at least
partly responsible for how people behave, and the
rotten, dilapidated tenement environment would
naturally lead to decay in humaneness and community.
The tenements’ conditions are atrocious: entire flats,
even newer ones, could be completely in the dark
with no fresh air flowing through it, despite bylaws
mandating the opposite7. Overcrowding and filth
naturally contribute to massive disease epidemics8.
There is a correlation between the lack of green spaces
and crime, having witnessed how bringing flowers into
a back alley remarkably inspire hope in the tenants
and temporarily stop fighting9. Stripped of having time
and playgrounds, children spend entire childhoods
not knowing the meaning of play.
An atmosphere of nihilism and death pervades in
the tenements. Knowing that landlords to abuse
their wallets and expect nothing else from them10,
conditions are so bad some tenants are driven to
suicide from the sheer hopelessness11. The Bohemians,
making hundreds of cigars at record speed, live in
an increasingly dehumanized environment, where
parents are treated like automatons until they drop
dead12. Socialized by this environment into treating
others with suspicion, tenants are so cynical of genuine
efforts to help them that they sooner dismantled a
landlord’s renovations than realize that there were
indeed generous capitalists13.
problems, like paying the rent, that they do not
have any surplus time to devote to finding ways of
advancement or leaving the tenements for good.
Large swaths of the East Side cannot find time to learn
English despite being “both willing and anxious to
learn”16; a twelve year old girl is already working in
a sweatshop, “can neither read nor write [and] will
probably never learn” because her family requires
all hands working frenetically to make ends meet17.
Many tenants have become so attached to the
tenements as the only life they ever knew in America
that they would rather prevent evictions and live in
the slums than be thrown out and forced to find a
better environment elsewhere18. Paradoxically, others
refuse to rise higher by staying in the tenements and
making a business oppressing new immigrants. Irish
landlords, having a head start in building a life in
America and having “adapted” themselves to the
tenement environment, came to own flats and renting
them to new immigrants like Italians at exorbitant
prices19. Sweatshop owners rise from a worker through
hard work to hiring assistants for even less wages20.
The strongest remedy for this problem, Riis writes, is
to create model tenement communities or repairing
the “broken windows” in old tenements to encourage
a communal atmosphere of respect for the urban
environment. Ellen Collins renovated her tenements
thoroughly and planted gardens for children to play
in14. Disciplined housekeepers can expel negative
influences15 . Actions like these may have encouraged
tenants that this orderly neighbourhood was
something worth caring for.
Sometimes, Riis seems to correlate race with the
probability of elevating one’s social status. Of the
minorities, only the Germans seem to be able to work
hard enough to save money in order to transcend
poverty, the rest either “rise only by compulsion” or
not at all21. Still, for most cases, poor people are not
born that way. Through his observations of tramps’
industriousness, Riis believes that poor people
are business-savvy humans who could succeed in
another environment22. Thus, people must be given
opportunities for self-improvement and opening
their horizons beyond the tenements. Riis approves
of the Jewish model of running trade schools and
subsidizing their students so they may concentrate
on their studies23, while the street Arabs are given
a respectable outlet to exert their entrepreneurial
spirit in the Children’s Aid Society, where they can
be sheltered, be given business tools to support
themselves, and opportunities to access public and
charitable educational networks24.
Moreover, the oppressive economic system traps
immigrants in a broken social mobility ladder.
Generally, people are so occupied by everyday
Riis believes that a fully American community can
never be formed without overriding disparate morals
and cultures with a unitary American identity and
Ibid, 69-71.13 Ibid, 250.
Ibid, 136.14 Ibid, 259.
11
Ibid, 66.15 lbid, 254.
12
Ibid, 158-159.
7
8
Ibid, 146.20 Ibid, 147-149.
Ibid, 149.21 Ibid, 77-78.
18
Ibid, 180-181.23 Ibid, 152.
19
24
Ibid, 74-75.
Ibid, 203.
16
17
68
moral values system. He identifies this communitarian
deficit most in the ethnic enclaves. Lamenting that
“the one thing you shall vainly ask for in the chief city
of America is a distinctively American community,”
Riis associates the ethnic turnovers with negative
connotative terminology like “queer conglomerate
mass of heterogeneous elements”25.
Like in work ethic, there is a degree of racial
determinism in how Riis describes various minorities’
moral characteristics. Italians are portrayed as
submissive to the landlords’ demands (and thus
giving the latter a carte blanche to exploit the
immigrants)26, and are “born [gamblers]” who may
cross into murder from gambling disputes27. Jews take
American thriftiness to extremes, worshipping money
and hoarding to the point of self-starvation28. Riis
denounces the Chinese for doing little constructive
business in America other than gambling, smoking
opium, and taking advantage of white “wives”—
in other words, promoting values antithetical to
Victorian American ones29.
Yet, for his ethnocentric and racist elitism, Riis
might consider his solutions very progressive and
egalitarian for his day—total assimilation, not laissezfaire exclusion, will give these would-be Americans
a more equal footing under a commonly intelligible
starting point. Identifying the immigrants’ speaking
their first language as “ignorance,” the immigrants
must learn English as a prerequisite to becoming
successful Americans30. Separating the wheat from
chaff, African Americans must surrender “[their]
ludicrous incongruities, [their] sensuality and [their]
lack of moral accountability, [their] superstition and
other faults,” and keep their relentless desire to better
themselves materially and socially31—essentially, the
American dream. Yet, neighbours must be more
tolerant of non-whites and new Americans to let their
hard work flourish32. Riis implicitly calls for the end of
ethnic enclaves as the major roadblock to integration
by dwelling on the constituent community’s internal
mutual support rather than the wider community33.
With rampant capitalism greatly driving the poverty
situation, its victims are developing a “world owes
them a living” attitude towards life—an attitude as
Ibid, 74.30 Ibid, 152.
31
Ibid, 93-94.
Ibid, 165-166.
27
Ibid, 96-97.32 Ibid, 168.
28
33
Ibid, 134-135.
Ibid, 76.
29
34
Ibid, 123-131.
Ibid, 114-116.
25
26
opposing to American entrepreneurial values as they
are dangerous. This attitude is pervasive amongst
tramps, who are considered merely lazy34. Most
dangerously, gangsters have developed “a heritage of
instinctive hostility to restraint” by being completely
uprooted from their home communities35; combined
with the perception that the world gave them “the cold
shoulder,” these toughs terrorize communities and
defy the law’s very purpose by transforming assaults
and prison-time into opportunities for honour and
camaraderie36.
Riis considers this culture of dependency and
predatory behaviour on the tenants’ part, much like
their landlord counterparts, to be distinctly anticommunity in their brash individualism. These
parasitic values further divide the community, when
those defending traditional values can no longer
distinguish between the disruptive groups and “the
honestly poor,” preferring to ignore the entire poverty
issue altogether37.
Opposing both the welfare and bullying mentalities,
Riis proposes a more muscular municipal society
creating opportunities and institutions to foster the
entrepreneurial ethic. He optimistically sees the
preservation of core American ideals in the street
Arabs—“study independence, love of freedom and
absolute self-reliance…rude sense of justice”—
comparing the children favourably to, if not surpassing
in virtue, successful community leaders38. These
children are to be assimilated into mainstream society
by charities like the Children’s Aid Society, by giving
them a respectable outlet to exercise their “habits of
thrift and ambitious industry”39. Likewise, the only
way to reintegrate paupers into society is to offer
them “some systematic way of earning [their] living
by work…to banish [their] from the street,” not bailing
them out with handouts40.
Perhaps the most urgent problem enabling poverty is
middle class apathy towards the slums—the ultimate
case of neighbour turning his back on neighbour. At
best, this inattention serves as a necessary enabler
for social problems to happen. The public overlooks
the slums’ problems until the simmering situation
explodes and the effects directly affect them; by then,
their reaction is too little, too late41. Riis reports that
despite his anecdotal estimate “that hundreds of men,
women, and children are every day slowly starving to
death in the tenements,” only a few cases of “downright
starvation gets into the newspapers and makes a
sensation.” However, Riis consoles in saying that if the
exceptional case generates an uproar, then the public
would clearly still have enough empathy and energy
to force reforms if they knew the entire situation42.
This ignorance of the situation, however, permits
the continuation of a failed prison program, which
empowers criminals by networking with mentor
thieves and building their reputation as a thug
heroes43. Police have become apathetic and “rarely
[bother] with arresting” criminals on the street “unless
he is ’wanted’ for some signal outrage”44.
But why should the middle class, or even Riis, care
about poverty as a pressing issue? For all his reformminded ideals, Riis, drawing a direct correlation
between the slum environment, crime, and the
disastrous 1863 riots, worries that if growing poverty
is left unchecked, this festering tempest will engulf the
nation in social unrest45. Using Marxian language, Riis
warns that “the tenements had bred their Nemesis, a
proletariat ready and able to avenge the wrongs of their
crowds”46—in other words, they had developed class
consciousness. Yet, from calls for reform, Riis does
not believe in revolutionary determinism; rather, he
believes that the middle class can stave off revolution
by removing the conditions that made such a radical
action thinkable47.
Likening the situation to a house on fire, Riis tells his
audience that it can only be saved when everybody
realizes that they are tied together by a common
destiny—“we are going to the same heaven together”48.
His numerous examples of charities making a
difference give the reader hope that eventually the
problems will be resolved, yet leaves enough signs
of inadequacy—like a free coffee stand closing in
two weeks of opening from being overwhelmed by
starving people49—that there is enough room for
readers to join in the anti-poverty crusade. If more
citizens become civically involved, then they may be
able to mount public pressure on previously ignored
35
45
36
46
40
Ibid, 211. Ibid, 234.
41
Ibid, 222.
Ibid, 248.
37
42
Ibid, 232.
Ibid, 177.
38
43
Ibid, 195-196.
Ibid, 222.
39
Ibid, 199-201.44 Ibid, 216.
69
47
48
49
50
predatory landlords50. Thus, calling the middle class
to action to help their neighbours, Riis cements a
civically-engaged and vigilant American community
as the keystone of his anti-poverty project.
A resurrected American community driven by middle
class engagement and united by a cohesive values
system must tackle unchecked greed and capitalism,
renovate a rotten urban environment, and open more
opportunities to rejuvenate the social mobility ladder.
If New York can unite together to have neighbours
look out for neighbours, Riis’ feared revolution will
never materialize, and this renewed community will
be preserved.
Benson Cheung
Benson Cheung is a fourth year student doublemajoring in history and political science at the
University of Toronto. While many subjects
pique his interests, his favourite topics to
study include cultural and intellectual history,
ideologies, information and media, technology,
philosophy and ethics. He enjoys reading and
debating political issues, learning about findings
from diverse research fields, and participating
in Model UN. He also enjoys travelling, and
has studied in Brno as part of the University of
Toronto Summer Abroad/Masaryk University
Summer Schools program in May and June
2015.
Ibid, 59.
Ibid, 69.
Introduction to Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives, Ed. David Leviatin, 2nd Edition (Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011), 20-21.
Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives, Ed. David Leviatin, 2nd Edition (Boston: Bedford/St. Martins,
Ibid, 123.
Ibid, 248.
© Property of ITV
Grantchester: the double trouble of
a vicar-detective
By Martina Krénová
What could go wrong when a handsome, charismatic vicar partners with a police
detective to solve crimes? The duo of a flawed vicar loving cricket, whiskey, jazz, and
women, battling his inner demons, and a highly practical police detective, who has a
strong sense of duty to make the society better, stumble upon many interesting cases,
which bring them the enjoyment of solving crimes in a good company but also get
them into a lot of trouble.
72
Review
Though at first the series seems like a typical detective show
with an amateur solving crimes alongside a police force, it
has much more to offer. First of all, it is the era the drama
is set in. The 1950s is the post-war era of a societal change
in Britain which plays a huge role in the series. Not an
episode goes without touching upon the society’s attitudes
towards Germany, homosexuality, racism, criminals, death
penalty, etc. Every case brings up a new issue to talk about.
Although it is 1950s, where gross indecency is punished with
imprisonment and limited possibilities for one’s future and
almost every murder leads to a death sentence, the series
Grantchester (2014–)
Running time: 6 x 45 mins /series, 2
seriesavailable, third series planned for 2017
Directed by Harry Bradbeer
Written by Daisy Coulam, based on James
Runcie stories
Starring: James Norton, Robson Green,
Morven Christie, Tessa Peake-Jones, Al
Weaver, Pheline Roggan, Tom Austen and
others
Official website
IMDB profile & selected promo videos
Available on Amazon and YouTube
tackles these issues with sensitivity. Sidney plays a great part
in the portrayal of these various matters, because where
society is quick to pass a judgment he shows understanding
and modern thinking. He does not always see eye to eye
with Geordie, which again creates tension, especially in the
second season, but they usually work cases out as they both
want the best for the society and people.
Being a vicar and a detective causes double trouble for
Sidney, because the two professions are polar opposites. As
a vicar, Sidney is supposed to see the good in people and
give them benefit of a doubt, but as a detective, he should
expect the worst of them. He finds that being a detective
sometimes prevents him from being a good Christian and
a vicar to his parish. Interestingly, with Sidney it is never a
crisis of faith, his faith in God remains unshaken, but finding
himself telling white lies or violating the confidentiality of
his parishioners makes him question himself as vicar quite
often. However, Sidney’s character has more struggles to
offer. He also battles his inner demons of having been a
soldier in WWII, which results in somewhat heavy drinking
to oblivion. Moreover, he is pressured to get married, because
being a single, handsome young vicar could cause him
trouble. Unfortunately, the woman he loves might not be
the woman a vicar should marry. Inner conflicts, good and
bad decisions, character flaws, rich past, and the struggle of
handling two lives make Sidney one of the most captivating
and complex characters on screen that is easy to identify
with for many.
Though flawed and struggling, Sidney with the love of
cricket and passion for jazz is probably the most compelling
character of Grantchester, after all, he is the main protagonist;
however, the show would not stand out without the other
characters. Geordie Keating, Sidney’s partner in crime, or
rather in solving crime, is quite the opposite of Sidney with
his grumpiness and seeing the worst in people, but these
differences between the two make them such a dynamic
duo. Another interesting and enjoyable character is Sidney’s
curate, Leonard. Whenever he appears on scene one might
expect a bit of a comical situation, though he certainly is
not the laughing stock. He is caring and studious and very
importantly for the author, gay, though at first he might not
realize this because he is still discovering who he really is.
Amanda, Sidney’s best friend and eventually love interest,
is one part of a love triangle in the story, with Hildegard,
a German widow, as her counterpart. Both women make
interesting characters and provide for compelling storylines.
Na kole: Sidney using his favourite way of transport.
© Property of ITV
Grantchester is an ITV detective drama set in the 1950s
Cambridgeshire village of the same name based on The
Grantchester Mysteries, collection of short stories, written by
James Runcie. The story starts when a Grantchester vicar,
Sidney Chambers (played by James Norton), is approached
by a mistress of a dead man that Sidney has just buried,
and she tells him in confidence that she thinks he has not
committed suicide, but has been murdered. Sidney then
follows the clues and meets with a local detective, Geordie
Keating (played by Robson Green), to persuade him to
look into the case. At first, Sidney’s meddling with police
business creates tension between the two, but Geordie soon
realizes not only Sidney’s talent for solving crimes, but also
the advantages of having a vicar help finding the culprits,
and he starts “employing” him on a regular basis. Being two
men with very different professions and thus opinions on
many matters creates a lot of chemistry and makes them a
great on-screen duo.
73
Review
Vicarage would not be at its best without always complaining
Mrs. Macguire, who takes care of Sidney and his household,
and Sidney’s companion Dickens, the labrador dog. The
dog is a beautiful complement to Grantchester’s scenery,
which is also a character of the show because everything
that England undergoes in that era, Grantchester does as
well. According to James Runcie, Grantchester is “an iconic
village. It stands for England”.
Although the series stands on its own, it is impossible to
talk about it without mentioning the books and the author.
James Runcie loosely based Sidney Chambers on his father,
who was the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the novels
are a tribute to him and to the profession of vicars. James
Runcie intentionally created a vicar who is handsome, sexdriven, does not like sherry like most on-screen vicars do,
and who would not be stripped down to being a comedy
cleric: “Certainly retired clergymen, who were clergy in
the 50s, are very affectionate about the books. They think
the television series pushes it a bit far because, of course,
some of the behaviour in the television series, and in the
second series certainly, he would find it hard to hold onto
his job as a priest. He’d probably be sacked. They find that
a bit odd, but they do find it very refreshing to have what I
hope is an authentic portrayal of what it was really like to
be a priest, albeit in a dramatized way”. Without doubt the
series “pushes it a bit far”, but without pushing it there, some
of the issues mentioned above would never be talked about
and characters would not have such deep struggles, thus
in that sense, the writer of the show, Daisy Coulam, does a
Sidney Chambers and his women Amanda Kendall (Morven
Christie) and Hildegard Staunton (Pheline Roggan)
© Lovely Day/ITV
terrific job in making the series her own. With gripping and
sensitive writing, complex characters, changing England,
and the idyllic set of Grantchester, this new show is a worthy
opponent to the already established Inspector Morse of
Oxfordshire.
Re:Views Verdict Series 1 introduces the two main characters and slowly develops their friendship when dealing with murders connected
to different social issues. Sidney finds that he cannot force himself to judge people the society condemns, i.e. suicides,
homosexuals, criminals, while battling the guilt of some of his? WWII acts. His long-term friend Amanda Kendall
gets engaged which creates some tensions between the two as they are in love but cannot be together, since Amanda’s
father has arranged the marriage and will not let her marry a clergyman. Meanwhile Sidney meets a young German
widow Hildegard and the relationship between the two of them starts blossoming. Everything seems to go well until
Sidney goes into town to see a famous jazz singer, Gloria Dee, perform.
Series 1: 80%
The second series begins with Sidney’s best friend Geordie determined to find him a suitable girlfriend/wife when
Sidney is accused of sexual abuse. After a young boy accidentally kills a girl and is sentenced to death, things get
darker between the two friends as they cannot agree on the matter of death penalty and they go against each other in
the murder trial. Meanwhile Sidney starts dating a new woman while trying to keep up his friendship with Amanda.
Series 2: 90%
74
IDEAS
IDEAS Strikes for the Second Time
in a Row!
By Pavla Nováková and Tomáš Varga
The members of ESCape, students’ club at the Department
of English and American Studies, had long been
contemplating possible remedies for what they felt to
be a lack of opportunity for students to share the work
they produce during their studies at the Department.
Eventually, one such remedy was found in the form of a
conference. As Jeff Vanderziel said in his opening speech,
“It is a conference organised by students for the students”
serving as a platform to practise presentation skills, to
discuss various areas of interest with peers and fellow
scholars, to broaden the participants’ horizons as far as
research foci are concerned, and, last but not least, to
connect young people considering an academic career—
all that while maintaining the ambience of safety and
friendliness. Thus, IDEAS English Students’ Conference
was born and with it, we are not afraid to say, a new
tradition.
As of this year, the conference becomes an annual event
with a regular presentation day on the last day of Spring
semester. Stay tuned for the 3rd IDEAS Conference
scheduled for May 20th. The organisers are putting
finishing touches to it as you’re reading these lines and
are looking forward to welcoming you all, whether you
come as speakers or members of audience.
Photos by Dominika Sirná
After the successful premiere in spring 2015, the
organizers wanted to take the 2nd IDEAS a step further.
That is how it has become an interdepartmental and even
international event introducing guest speakers from the
University of Graz, the University of Ostrava, Pavol
Jozef Šafárik University in Košice or from the Faculty
of Education, MU. As you can see, the conference has
become quite popular not only among the students of our
department but also at different universities in the region.
After all, it is also a great opportunity to meet scholarly
people with similar tastes as yours so the organisers hope
to see more and more students sending their abstracts
in the future.
In the end, the programme of the 2nd IDEAS featured
thirteen speakers six of whom were guests contributing
greatly to the variety of topics representing all of the
five main tracks to be followed while studying English
- linguistics, literary, cultural and translation studies,
and English language teaching. The range of topics
was, therefore, wide and offered such treats as Ester
Demjanová’s presentation on the perks and losses of
dubbing in Czech and Slovak TV production, Sebastian
Komárek’s talk on ancient runes and their function in
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Michaela Šamalová’s
paper introducing her own research project focusing on
pedagogical translation in English language teaching,
and Filip Drlík’s presentation on creating a typology of
translation errors, just to mention a few. The audience
was always ready to involve in a lively discussion, the
Cakespearean Company, group of the Department’s
miraculously skilled baking enthusiasts, provided various
delicacies which ensured everyone had enough energy
to be fully attentive during the entire course of the
conference, and so the exchange of knowledge, experience
and ideas could continue long after the conference’s
closing speech.

- Re:Views

Transcription

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