On Thursday 27th February 2014, Charles University students stepped back in time at the Faculty of Art’s annual ball, which was held in celebration and commemoration of the First Republic of Czechoslovakia, covering the period of 1918-1938. Complete with a swing and jazz band and a dance floor ready to be filled, we headed out to the fancy dress shops and slipped on the suits and flapper dresses…

As the shortest month of the year was drawing to a close, I had the pleasure of attending the seminar “Your Successful International Career” in the Faculty of Law on February 26th, held by Stephen Denyer, Global Markets partner at the illustrious international law firm Allen and Overy and senior officer with the IBA and ABA. The Englishman, who joined the firm over 35 years ago, outlined that his talk would concern his own experience as well as how budding lawyers could establish and develop a career in legal services.

Over the weekend of March 22 and March 23, the Faculty of Arts at Charles University was host to the conference ‘English in business and commerce: Interactions and policies’. The conference was part of the English in Europe project, an academic project sponsored by The Leverhulme Trust and coordinated by the Centre for Linguistic Research at the University of Sheffield, which aims to investigate the role of the English language throughout Europe.

On the 23rd and 24th January this year I attended a conference focusing on migration issues in the Czech Republic, organised by the Multicultural Centre in Prague and hosted by the Faculty of Humanities at Charles University. With such an international community at our university, I believe that the event could not have had more of an attentive and keen audience, and it succeeded at raising some very relevant and fiery discussions through a series of talks, presentations and debates.

Saturnin, the 1942 novel by Zdeňek Jirotka, has proved to be enduringly popular with Czech readers, and it's not hard to see why. The novel tells the story of a well-to-do young man and his mischievous, quick-witted servant, as they encounter demanding family members, charming young women, escaped lions and troublesome plates of doughnuts. 

Meeting Rob Cameron, the BBC “stringer” correspondent for the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Prague was a mix-up of two different worlds for me: home and abroad. It was a unique opportunity to gain some insight in to the ambitious world of journalism, careers in mass media and a home away from home: “behind the scenes” at the biggest public broadcasting service of the UK.

At the end of October, the International CUNI Club offered students the opportunity to venture outside the city of Prague to rural South Bohemia and experience a different aspect of Czech culture on a three day excursion.

For the third year in a row, a literature sleepover was held in the Faculty of Education of Charles University, where students and academics could join in and discuss literature, socialise, play musical instruments and sleep in the faculty building itself.

I visited the Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures at Betlémské náměstí, Prague, with a charming group of Czech school children who were completing a interesting programme called Searching for Sophie, created and supported by the Faculty of Arts at Charles University in Prague.

Prior to the day trip I was attending to Theresienstadt ghetto and concentration camp, organised by Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University, I spent some time researching current public and political opinions on war remembrance, particularly in reference to the Holocaust. To my surprise, there was substantial negativity, even during conversations with my university friends on the topic of my visiting Theresienstadt, with some of their responses being along the lines of “why would anyone wish to visit such a place”.