Syllabus
14. 2. Úvodní hodina 21. 2. Co je to příroda? 28. 2. Co jsou environmentální dějiny? 7. 3.
Alpy – předobraz středoevropských hor 14. 3. Turismus a nacionalizace hor 21. 3.
Hory jako hranice 28. 3. Host – Pavla Šimková (Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, LMU Mnichov) 4. 4.
Hory jako socialistická krajina 11. 4. Ochrana a tvorba hor pro člověka 18. 4.
Sametová revoluce a kolaps přírody 25. 4. Národní parky a ekologické hnutí 2. 5.
Imaginace hor v českém a československém filmu 9. 5. Závěrečná hodina: Hory a člověk mezi ochranou, tvorbou a partnerstvím
Annotation
Mountains play a crucial role in the history of Central Europe. They were and are a source of raw materials, offering a strategic position for defence against the enemy, enabling the formation of borders, the development of tourism and the rethinking of nature conservation. Areas of higher altitude have therefore had many meanings throughout history, and those of Central Europe have undergone a major transformation over the last two centuries. The Alps, the Tatras, the Bohemian Forest and the Giant Mountains have become major tourist, economic and nature conservation centres. Mountains are no longer peripheries, but places where various social and economic interests are intertwined with those of natural ecosystems and where we can observe many broader historical processes in a specific 'mountain' context.
The course Environmental History of the Central European Mountains aims to trace these processes from the late 19th century to the present day. By reading case studies or primary sources together, we will ask, among other things, the following questions: What are mountains and what is nature? How did previously unknown mountain regions become busy centres of the tourism industry? How are the mountains imagined in Czech films such as Krakonoš a lyžníci, Anděl na horách and Snowborďáci? Do the mountains belong to humans? How do we find new relationships and approaches to nature in times of environmental crisis?