Like Czech history, Mark Slouka’s life has been accentuated by the number 8.  In 1948, his parents escaped from Communist Czechoslovakia. Ten years later, in 1958, he was born into a “Czech speaking ghetto in Queens, NY.”  The family first returned to Prague on a visit in 1968, and in 2018, Mark and his family made a permanent move to Prague.

NYU Prague has benefitted from this move – Mark has launched a creative writing workshop open to all students and staff.  “I teach how writers read – beginning writers need to learn to read their own work critically,” explains Mark. “And we talk about the use of silence- what is left out of an opening is what brings a reader in.”   

Mark Slouka has published eight books and is currently working on the ninth.  His work treads the line between fiction and nonfiction, often delving into aspects of his family’s Czech history.  His latest book, Nobody’s Son: A Memoir is about his parents’ escape from Czechoslovakia and how their lives were affected by memories of betrayal.   His novel Visible Worlds – based on his mother’s complicated past- was a finalist for the British Book Awards.  His short stories have been selected for the anthologies of Best American Short Stories and the Pen/O’Henry Prize Stories. In June, a Czech translation of  Nobody’s Son will be released.

“One of the reasons I am here is because my books have always been bicultural – they walk the line between languages, culture, histories, between the present and the weight of the past.  

Having spent my life in the States it made sense to connect to that other half of me.  It’s always seeped into my life. I am fascinated by the weight of history on the present.  What city is better for that than Prague?”

Mark’s first language was Czech, and he has had a “lifelong affair with the language, the culture, with palacinky [crepes] and svickova [creamy beef stew].”  Despite the fact that he was born and lived in New York, he remembers hearing English for the first time when he was five and was surprised that the speakers didn’t understand Czech.   

Until now, seven months was the longest time he had spent in Prague – he was here on on sabbatical in 2003 – but he felt like it was inevitable that he would come back.  When he retired from the University of Chicago in 2008, he decided to try to focus more on writing. Moving to Prague seemed to make sense. “I love getting away from the car culture – it’s so isolating.  In Prague, people sit in pubs and talk to one another.”

NYU Prague will host a reading of his work in the beginning of the fall semester.

The panel discussion will consider pressing questions, including:

• Why has migration theme become such a powerful instrument for today´s populists and nationalists?
• Does this represent a new trend or is it rather a revival of similar stereotypes from the 20th century?
• What should be an appropriate response of democratic societies?
• How does this situation vary in different European countries and in the United States?
• Why is there so much fear and hostility towards migrants and refugees in the Central European countries which are not typical targets of migration? 

Panelists:

Regina Polak, University of Vienna

Tomáš Lindner, Respekt

Martina Mašková, Czech Radio

Salim Murad, New York University Prague

Moderator: 

Jiří Pehe, Director of New York University Prague

NYU Prague Professor Dinah Spritzer with YouTuber Kovy.

Rosie Johnston is a high-energy PhD student who is spending this year in Prague researching 1950s Czechoslovak radio propaganda.   A few months ago, she and Czech TV journalist Tereza Willoughby were talking about how the world has changed in the age of new media.  But their conversation made both of them start to wonder just how much politics and the manipulation of media really have really changed since the early days of radio.  “People were worried about radio as a new technology in 30s and 40s.  I’m not sure if we are in a historically unique era,” explains Rosie.

Normally a conversation like this would be over once the bill was paid in the cafe.    But Rosie, who has organized several conferences at NYU Prague, shared it with Associate Director Thea Favaloro, and together they decided to keep it going with a 7-part talk series aimed at Czech and American students.

“We wanted to create a forum where academics would talk with people from outside the Ivory Tower – journalists, novelists, film makers, Youtubers,” explained Rosie.  “This is a project about dialogue, speaking across generations, across nationalities.”   Because all of the lectures are about one theme, the hope is that people will attend on a regular basis – sharing ideas, making contacts.  The series is designed to attract NYU Prague faculty – several of whom are on the panels – and their students, as well as young people from the Prague community.

NYU Prague Director and Professor Jiri Pehe speaking about the responsibility of the media in a democracy.

The first session featured seasoned academic and NYU Prague Director Jiri Pehe who met with Karel Kovar (“Kovy”), the most popular Czech vlogger who has become a political commentator for the youngest generation.  Dinah Spritzer, a journalist teaching international reporting at NYU Prague, moderated the event.

Academics from universities outside the Czech Republic are also participating.  Carolyn Birdsall from the University of Amsterdam will talk about soundscapes of Nazi Germany; she’ll be joined by David Vaughan, a journalist and author of a book about the failure of Czech Radio to counter Hitler’s propaganda in 1938.  Dean Vuletic – professor at the University of Vienna who spent a semester at NYU Prague as a graduate student in 2003 – will talk about pop music’s effect on the politics of postwar Europe.  Keynote speaker Kathryn Cramer Brownell from Purdue University will have the final lecture about the rise of the celebrity politician, outlined in her book Showbiz Politics: Hollywood in American Politics.

The series is also partnering with One World, Prague’s most popular film documentary festival.  Kim Longinotto, award-winning British film director well known for her advocacy of  women’s rights, will present her latest film, Dreamcatcher, about the trafficking of women in Chicago.  The film will be followed by a Q&A, in which Longinotto will speak about how documentary film can do activist work.

So far, the series has attracted wide interest from an audience of varied backgrounds.  “At the first discussion with Jiri Pehe and Kovy, the best question came from someone about 12 years old who asked whether Zeman or Babis is more of a threat to democracy…   Despite all discussions of generational divide, we are all worried about the same things”.  

New Media….Old Tricks Series

January 30, 17:00  Political Commentary Today –  Jiří Pehe & Kovy

February 6, 17:00 – The Migrant Crisis in the European Press – Salim Murad

February 27, 17:00 – Radio and Nazism – Carolyn Birdsall & David Vaughan

March 6, 19:45 – Documentary as Activism – Film Screening + Discussion (in partnership with One World Festival): Kim Longinotto

April 10, 17:00 – Media & Constitutional Democracy – Discussion: Jiří Přibáň

April 17, 17:00 – The Politics of Eurovision – Dean Vuletic

May 9, 17:00 – Showbiz Politics – Kathryn Cramer Brownell

On 26 February, NYU Prague will host a talk by Julia Mickenberg on the Russian Revolution in American Feminism, 1905 – 1945.

Many of us have heard about the vogue of Paris and France after the First World War, but few know about the exodus to Moscow and the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s, or the particular appeal of revolutionary Russia to American women in revolt. In fact, by the early 1930s, so many “American girls” had come “barging into the Red capital” in search of jobs, adventures, or husbands, that news articles were being published on the subject. This talk will provide an overview of American women’s love affair with Russia from 1905 to 1945: from their admiration and empathy for the female revolutionaries who challenged the Czar; to their attempts to re-envision domestic life, romantic relationships, and work using Soviet models; to their efforts to embody and perform revolutionary selves in a context supposedly free of racism and anti-Semitism. A century after the Russian Revolution, what does the forgotten story of “American Girls in Red Russia” tell us about where we’ve been and who we are now?

There are numerous study abroad programs run by American universities in Prague, and for years there has been informal networking among staff from the different organizations.

Two years ago, NYU Prague Associate Director Thea Favaloro joined forces with several other study abroad organizations to create a more formal network. They founded the Association of American University Programs in the Czech Republic (AAUPCZ), which currently is made up of 8 member organizations. In 2017, AAUPCZ joined the European Association of Study Abroad Programs.

“The association provides a forum where we talk about experiences, discuss issues that affect us all, and share resources,” explained Thea Favaloro.

The impetus for creating AAUPCZ was because of issues relating to visas – staff from many study abroad organizions were struggling with changing and unclear regulations about Czech student visas. “We realized that if we were to act collectively, it would give us a stronger voice with local authorities,” said Favaloro.

Since then, the organization has explored more ways to become stronger by working together.

This fall they launched a series of diversity training sessions for staff from all member organizations. In December, NYU Prague hosted a session on LGBTQ for staff from all organizations. A transgender American student from the CIEE study abroad program shared her experiences as a student in Prague. Thea Favaloro spoke about NYU Prague’s resources for LGBTQ students, and Kim Strozewski from CET gave a presentation about what administrators should be aware of when working LGBTQ students abroad. The next training session in the series will focus on issues of race and privilege.

Journalists, scholars, activists, politicians, librarians, students all came together from November 2-4 to debate how to combat fake news at the conference Media in the Post-Truth World: The New Marketplace of (Dis)information.

Speakers from sixteen countries – many from post-Communist countries seeing the rise of right-wing extremism in government– brought their different takes on how fake news is playing out in their countries.  The conference was organized as part of the Prague Media Point, an annual event dedicated to discussing the changing media.

Discussion topics included the role of traditional media and the spread of fake news. On this subject, Ute Schaeffer from the Deutsche Welle Academy said: “As journalists we have to stop finding excuses why not to react in the face of fake news! We have to offer inspirational stories to the public.”    Maranke Wieringa from Utrecht University added that it is often politicians themselves who spread false information to legitimize their policies: “The problem isn’t that politicians don’t read traditional news, but that they ignore it.”

Russia expert Mark Galeotti and leading sinologist Martin Hála discussed the spread of state propaganda.   Martin Hála argued that while Russians may attempt to delegitimize the Western narrative, they lack a competitive strategy or ideology. Chinese propaganda, on the other hand, is both better-funded and more strategic, offering a well-thought-out Chinese alternative to the ‘decaying’ Western model.

What are some ways journalists can try to regain credibility in the current climate and untangle the web of misinformation?  The conference focused on practical solutions, not only scholarly discussion, featuring presentations of successful projects that focus on enhancing media literacy and validating facts. IREX introduced a project that has sought to increase media literacy in Ukraine. “It does not matter what information we receive, but how we receive it,” said project director Mehri Karyadgyyeva. Matus Kostolny from Dennik N, a successful independent, readership-funded Slovak online newspaper,declared: “Should journalists become activists? Yes, if we are defending democracy!” “The conference took us out of our academic bubbles,” said NYU Prague Assistant Director for Academic Affairs Vanda Thorne.

Aurora Wallace, Director of Undergraduate Studies at NYU Steinhardt’s Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, spoke about fake news in a historical context, noting its origins with the HG Wells 1938 radio show War of the Worlds. Sarphan Uzunoglu from Kadir Has Universitesi in Istanbul noted that ‘Post-truth’ is nothing new, lying is a part of politics; in polarized communities it is a great industry.”

The masterminds of the conference are Jakub Klepal from Keynote and Jeremy Druker, NYU Prague faculty member and founder of Transitions, an NGO established to strengthen the news media in post-Communist countries.  „We live in an era of relativizing the truth and informational chaos,” notes Klepal.  “ Independent, quality and investigative journalism must survive because it is one of the pillars of liberal democracy. For our future, it is essential that we do not cease to seek the truth, even though we are often lost in misinformation and fake news; otherwise, we will end up in chaos and passivity.”

The conference was organized by Transitions and Keynote, with the support of NYU Prague, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Prague, the Representation of the European Commission in the Czech Republic, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Prague, Open Society Fund Prague and the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism at Charles University.  

It all started with a box of letters.

When Andrew Schapiro’s family cleared out his grandmother‘s attic after she died in 1990, they came upon the correspondence between his grandparents and relatives left behind in Prague during WWII. The letters tell the story of the Nazi occupation, written by Czech Jews confronted by increasing racism and ever-changing rules as they desperately tried to escape.

“The letters must have been too painful for my grandmother,” Andrew Schapiro told his audience when he came to NYU Prague to share stories and photos. His family published the correspondence in 1992 in a book entitled Letters from Prague 1939-1941. When Mr. Schapiro became the US Ambassador to Prague in 2014, interest in a Czech edition emerged. The letters were recently published in Czech and were edited by NYU Prague professor Katerina Capkova.

The correspondence begins in 1939, when Mr. Schapiro’s grandparents got three exit visas to the USA – for a family of five.  This left them with a heart-wrenching decision: whom to leave behind?  Two of their three children (including Andrew’s mother, aged 5) stayed in Prague in the care of their grandmother (Paula) and their Uncle Erwin. The first half of the book is about the complications in getting the girls visas so they could join their family in St. Louis. Finally, shortly after Germany Poland and the war began, the girls left for the USA.

“That would have been the happy end,” said Mr. Schapiro. “if it weren’t for the family left behind.” The second half of the book is an increasingly desperate first-hand account of  assimilated Czech Jews trapped. “Uncle Erwin was a successful doctor – one of the leading gastronetrologists in Europe.  It makes me sad that people who might have been able to help didn’t stick their necks out.” The last letter in the book is from 1942 – a postcard sent by his great-grandmother to her sister:

I must tell you that on Monday I [depart – crossed out] am boarding [the train] .  God bless us all, farewell.  Your Paula.  

Neither Paula nor Uncle Erwin survived.

As Ambassador in Prague, Andrew Schapiro lived only a few blocks away from where his mother had lived as a child, and when he moved to Prague, suddenly so many of the references in the letters came to life. His office in the Embassy also evoked memories. It was there that visas for his mother and aunt had been issued. But it was also there that Uncle Erwin’s request for a visa was delayed. One of the very few documents to survive the war was a letter from the US Embassy from 1939 saying it would take several years for them to process his request for a visa. “I had mixed feelings as the US Ambassador. I represented a country that had saved our lives but had also shut out so many people.”

Mr. Schapiro remarked on some of the parallels that refugees trying to escape war are confronting today. He reminded students of the inscription on the Statue of Liberty:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

This post comes to us from Leah Gaffen of NYU Prague.