Wilson teaches in Czech
Popular history professor, university historian and GC&SU Jazz Band concert master of ceremonies Dr. Bob Wilson taught three courses at Palacky University in Olomouc, Czech Republic during the spring semester of 2005.
“I have had the extraordinary opportunity of teaching history to Czech students in Olomouc, a beautiful Moravian city that retains much of its medieval character,” Wilson said.
Wilson said his love of history and jazz took him to the university, where he taught The Age of Jefferson, The Southern Mind – Continuity and Discontinuity and the History of Jazz. Wilson is the first GC&SU professor to teach at Polacky University.
“In 2003 Dr. Todd Shiver invited me to accompany the GC&SU Jazz Band on a May tour of the Czech Republic, and I promised myself that I would return at the first opportunity,” Wilson said.
Upon his return Wilson was a part of the faculty exchange, which allowed him to become a part of their education system. He lived in the fourth story of an apartment at the edge of the historic district of Olomouc. The 15-minute journey from his apartment to class allowed him to take in the sites and sounds of the Morovian city daily. Wilson marked many weekends in the Czech by visiting castles and villages surrounding Olomouc via train. He recalled that the train system is great but that it is hard to get around because not many people speak English, and the Czech language is so hard to learn.
According to Wilson, Czech students signed up for his courses to improve their English and to learn about the history of North America and its culture. Wilson said he was faced with an contrasting educational culture. Students in the Czech can register for numerous courses that meet at the same time. They take their pick at which ones to attend because grades are based on a pass-fail system without letter grades. He also told of how the university president and the college deans are elected tri-annually by Palacky’s University Senate.
Wilson expressed that the Czech students had very little knowledge about Thomas Jefferson and the South, so he had to start from the beginning. He said the students read Jefferson’s own writings and responded to them very well.
“My courses, except for the jazz history course, which consisted of lectures and recordings, were conducted as seminars. The students eventually responded wonderfully well, but for most it was a new experience,” Wilson said.
The secondary educational system of the Czech Republic is centralized around ideals of memorization, recitation and critical thought. Wilson said many of his students didn’t really know what they thought about issues because they were never prompted to express their own opinions.
“They told me, however, how appreciative they were of the opportunity to explore historical issues of causality and to be able to advance their own ideas,” Wilson said.
Wilson said that he gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from the experience, and it has helped him become much more familiar with Central Europe and the role they played in European history. He says he now emphasizes Central Europe much more in his World Civilizations classes, and he has become much more sensitive to international students and the challenges they face living in a foreign place.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Nov 18 2005. Filed under News.
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