PREREQUISITES

The Seminar is open to students in any major at Carleton. Students must complete Psychology 110 prior to the start of the program. Ideally, students will have taken Psychology 254 (Psychopathology), although this is not required. There is no special language requirement.

COURSE OF STUDY: 18 CREDITS

Students will enroll in three required courses (totaling 14 credits) and one elective course (for 4 additional credits).

REQUIRED COURSES

PSYC 358: CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY (6 credits)

In the West, mental illness has traditionally been approached with a bio-medical model that views it as independent of culture. By contrast the “relativist” position assumes that to a large extent human behaviors are culturally determined and that the etiology and manifestation of mental disorders are affected by society and culture. This course will address such issues as well as their implications for assessment and treatment through an examination of several Western and non-Western societies, with a special emphasis on Czech society. There will be several guest lectures by Czech psychology professors as well as excursions within Prague to psychiatric hospitals and clinics, where students will meet with Czech clinicians and patients.  Instructor: Ken Abrams

EUST 278: POLITICS AND CULTURE IN CENTRAL EUROPE IN THE 20TH CENTURY (6 credits)

This course covers important political, social, and cultural developments in Central Europe during the 20th century. Studies will explore the establishment of independent nations during the interwar period, Nazi occupation, resistance and collaboration, the Holocaust and the expulsion of the Germans, the nature of the communist system, its final collapse, and the post-communist transformation.  Instructor: Oldrich Tuma (local faculty)

PSYC 290: DIRECTED READING (2 credits, S/CR/NC)

For this course students will be provided with readings on cross-cultural psychology to be read prior to the term in Prague as well as with questions and problems to serve as study guides. Students will be tested on the material at the beginning of the term in Prague. Instructor: Ken Abrams

ELECTIVE COURSES

LCST 101: ELEMENTARY CZECH (4 credits, S/CR/NC)

This highly-recommended language course will meet twice per week and emphasize basic listening and speaking skills. Students will be challenged to utilize their new language skills in everyday situations. Instructor: Jiri Rejzek (local faculty)

ARTH 215: MODERN ART IN THE CZECH LANDS: 19TH-21ST CENTURIES (4 credits, S/CR/NC)

This course provides an introduction to various aspects of contemporary arts and architecture in Czech culture. Students will examine the relationship between the construction of memory and the construction of contemporary art, architecture, and writings through lectures, discussions, and visits to galleries and architectural sites within the city of Prague.  Instructor: Otto Urban (local faculty)

HOUSING

Students will stay in carefully-selected, four- to six-person, furnished apartments in Prague. Commute times from apartments to classrooms (and to the Old Town) will typically be 10-15 minutes.

EXCURSIONS

Group excursions will include a five-day trip to Krakow (Poland), a three-day trip to Poprad and the High Tatra mountains (Slovakia), an overnight trip to Cesky Krumlov (Czech Republic), and day trips to Konopiste castle, Kutna Hora, and Auschwitz concentration camp. Students may, of course, travel on their own before or after the program and during weekends when group travel is not planned.