Clash of Civilizations 4035-H-CC-OG

1. World history (I) – introduction to the course – This class provides an overview of key periods and turning points in world history, introducing the main concepts and problems that will be explored throughout the course.
2. World history (II) – the notion of civilization – This class examines different definitions of civilization, major civilizational traditions, and debates about how civilizations emerge, develop, and interact.
3. Human geography (I) – geopolitical problems – This class analyses how human geography shapes geopolitical rivalries, focusing on territory, resources, borders, and strategic locations in global politics.
4. Ideological rivalry – This class discusses historical and contemporary ideological rivalries (such as liberalism, communism, nationalism, religious fundamentalisms) and their impact on conflicts between states and societies.
5. Technological rivalry – This class explores technological competition between states and corporations, including arms races, innovation races, and the strategic consequences of breakthroughs in military and dual use technologies.
6. Human geography (II) – religious conflicts – This class investigates how religion and geographical context interact in the emergence of religious conflicts, including sacred spaces, demographic change, and transnational religious movements.
7. Anthropological espionage – positive and negative socio cultural flows – This class introduces the idea of anthropological espionage, showing how knowledge of cultures can be used for intelligence, influence, and manipulation, and discussing both beneficial and harmful forms of cross cultural information flows.
8. State organisation – state law – human rights – This class analyses state organisation and legal systems in relation to human rights, focusing on how constitutional frameworks, institutions, and international norms regulate the use of power.
9. Right to culture – ethnic minorities in the state – This class discusses the right to culture and the status of ethnic minorities, examining legal protections, cultural policies, and tensions between majority and minority identities.
10. Strategic cultures of ethnic groups – This class explores how ethnic groups develop distinct strategic cultures, shaped by historical experiences, collective memory, and patterns of conflict and cooperation with other communities.
11. Positive aspects of the clash of civilizations – This class considers potential positive outcomes of civilizational encounters, such as cultural exchange, innovation, hybrid identities, and new forms of dialogue and cooperation.
12. Negative aspects of the clash of civilizations – This class examines negative consequences of civilizational clashes, including stereotyping, radicalisation, large scale violence, and the use of cultural difference to justify domination.
13. Anthropological conflict – socio cultural change – hybrid strikes – This class analyses anthropological conflict as struggles over meanings, values, and ways of life, linking socio cultural change with hybrid attacks targeting identities, norms, and everyday practices.
14. Anthropological aggression – anthropological defence – the art of warfare – the socio cultural environment as a battlefield – This class introduces concepts of anthropological aggression and defence, showing how modern warfare increasingly uses the socio cultural environment as a key battlespace and how societies can build resilience against such strategies.
15. Evaluation and students’ presentations – In this session, students’ knowledge and skills are assessed on the basis of presentations, research projects, and participation in discussions on selected cases.