A miracle in five steps

The windows of the FHS 2024 Advent Calendar will accompany us through the 24 days of December to give us a glimpse into the life of the faculty and university, their ideas, naratives and people. We would like the opening of the window to contribute to a brief pause in the hustle and bustle of the end of the year and to make our faculty family more aware. If you are pleasantly surprised by gifts for the soul, we will be glad.

We believe in the open hearts of everyone who came or will come to FHS as a student, teacher, employee or a passerby who wants to know how things work at our faculty. We wish a merry and peaceful Advent to everyone past, present and future at FHS.

Sincerely FHS UK

If you can't see some pictures in the gallery, please open full screen view.

Come and enjoy the Christmas atmosphere at the opening of paintings by FHS students. FHS relax zone (next to cafeteria)

Dear readers,

No one wants to be alone at Christmas, not even the books in our library. Some of them have never even left the library and are eager to experience the magic of Christmas!

Give books a chance to become a part of your holidays and enjoy the winter days, perhaps even in the company of those who have never experienced a world beyond their shelves.

We wish you peaceful holidays, full of rest and stories, your library.

Your library.

The Grinch Dr. Seuss

the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,

stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?

It came without ribbons.

It came without tags.

It came without packages,

boxes or bags.

And he puzzled and puzzled

'till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991), was a highly influential American author, poet, and illustrator. He is best known for his iconic children's books, which often feature whimsical characters, playful rhymes, and clever moral lessons. His most famous works include "The Cat in the Hat", "Green Eggs and Ham", "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!", and "Horton Hears a Who!", among many others.

Dr. Seuss's unique style combines imaginative storytelling with imaginative illustrations, and his books are beloved by children and adults alike. Many of his stories also convey important life lessons about kindness, acceptance, and responsibility.

In addition to his children's books, Dr. Seuss worked as a political cartoonist during World War II and created advertising campaigns for companies like Standard Oil and Flit insect repellent. His creativity and impact extended far beyond just the realm of children's literature, and his legacy continues to influence generations of readers. Dr. Seuss passed away in 1991, but his works remain a beloved part of children's literature and continue to inspire new adaptations in various forms, including movies, television specials, and stage productions.

We approached Melanie Terry from SHV-18 to choose a playful Christmas poem for us. Chat GPT offered commentary.

St. Nicholas, the devil (boo boo boo boo, I won't do anything for you) and the angel (we won't say who is who) from the PR Office wish you good relations and excellent, as little as possible muddled communication for the advent season and beyond. (You can read about the St. Nicholas and his company in Czechia here)

Halloween at the PR office - Baccara duo and king piece from chess. In this photo, you can see its (and many more from FHS) author Ondřej Trojan in the reflection.

We are done with the small introductions and misbehaviour. From the room 0.25, it sometimes sounds like during the baking of Christmas cookies. You might hear sentences like "That's cool!" when we're checking not the oven's temperature, but reading research projects, grants, or just gauging the professional and other interests of FHS academics or students. Sometimes we joyfully exclaim "You've got it nice" when we manage to place an element somewhere in the graphic designs or when we receive finished promotional materials from our collaborators. At other times, too, unfortunately, we have no choice but to panic and shout "Haven't we forgotten something?!"

We like to show off and be proud of the candy - the work of the Faculty of Humanities (and of course, we compare it with that from elsewhere). Yes, even yours, even if you feel that you have not succeeded this year... stars have also fascinated mankind for ages, yet they "only" rise night after night.

Merry Christmas!

You are all great teachers!

Or maybe you're not so sure?

You know what? You might be teaching stars, receiving excellent feedback, and yet, at the end of the day, discover that your students haven't learned as much as you hoped. The famous professor Eric Mazur from Harvard University discovered this himself.

Socrates himself claimed that teaching by questioning is much better than teaching by telling. And yet, we still repeat the same ineffective teaching methods we were once exposed to. Professor Mazur reflects on this fact as well.

We wish you a beautiful Advent season full of inspiration.

Yours,

The Teaching and Learning Center

Horizon

The horizon as a part of space physically and spiritually inhabited by man. It is a space of foot-anchored security of one's physical stability and balance. At the same time, it is also a space that allows, in its way, a safe detachment from the force of gravity, where the horizon, together with the structured horizon, can be understood as a vista into a landscape of cognition and knowledge, including a new experience blurred by one's imagination. The landscape of knowledge can thus also be entered with a sense of gratitude to the visible and the invisible, the explored, the learned and the known. And then a small miracle happens the possibility/ability to simultaneously and above all at the right moment see and know.

Obzor III (Horizon III), watercolor on paper, 60x42 cm, 2020

Jaroslav J. Alt 2024

Winter festivals activates reward pathways

Many festivals around the Winter Solstice are steeped in traditions involving family and friends who get together to celebrate the Yule, the “birth of the sun,” the beginning of the warming of the Earth. Even if they are meant to commemorate other events, rituals like Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and a host of smaller religious celebrations like Bodhi Day, Diwali, and Las Posadas, all involve family gatherings. The Yule has symbols like evergreens, the Yule log, Yule tree, mistletoe, holly, wreaths, bells, stars, ornaments, mulled wine, and the smells of sweet and savory things cooking. The ritual gatherings are often anticipated with longing and desire to be with family and friends, and in the global north, this also means a comforting warmth and resilience from the cold and darkness. The rituals also involve doing things together, like singing Christmas carols or playing African drums, playing games like Kalah or spinning the Dreidel, lighting candles, opening presents, being warm and cozy around a fireplace, and perhaps feeling a spiritual connection with the deeper meaning of the rituals themselves. Why does this happen?

From a neural perspective, common activities like singing, chanting, dancing, and drumming create synchrony, where mirror neurons in the brain, for example, in the cortex and hippocampus, along with regions of the cerebellum, are doing the same thing at the same time with others. This unites bodies and voices together. It also activates reward pathways in the brain, with dopamine increasing our attention and arousal, and opioids like β-endorphin creating pleasure as we anticipate and engage. It is likely that oxytocin systems are also activated to create feelings of closeness and bonding. The sights, sounds, and smells of the rituals themselves become conditioned when we are very young, so that thinking of them brings happiness and activates the same neurochemical pathways in anticipation. If this sounds circular, it is: The brain is wired exactly this way so that the anticipation of pleasure can sensitize over time, in this case giving us joyful memories, connectedness, and traditions passed on from generation to generation.

James G. Pfaus

Department of Psychology and Life Sciences

We are happy we can share last year's spontaneous activity of decorating the FHS Christmas tree with the small sheets of paper where people wrote their wishes. You will find more in this advent calendar. A small window to various thoughts and desires.

The Bells

Edgar Allan Poe

Hear the sledges with the bells—

Silver bells!

What a world of merriment their melody foretells!

How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,

In the icy air of night!

While the stars that oversprinkle

All the heavens, seem to twinkle

With a crystalline delight;

Keeping time, time, time,

In a sort of Runic rhyme,

To the tintinabulation that so musically wells

From the bells, bells, bells, bells,

Bells, bells, bells—

From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

Join us for the Christmas party organized by the FHS' students! The event is English friendly, as you can see below.

Snow

by Louise Glück

Snow is falling,

falling in the fields.

They are all covered up.

I would like to go out

and see it,

but the house is warm.

The window is clear

and the world outside

softer than it was

before.

Louise Glück was an American poet, widely regarded for her mastery of language and her exploration of themes such as loss, isolation, family dynamics, and the natural world. She was born on April 22, 1943, in New York City, and her work has garnered numerous prestigious awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1993 for her collection The Wild Iris. In addition to the Pulitzer, Glück has received the National Book Award for Poetry in 2014 for Faithful and Virtuous Night, among other honors.

Glück's poetry is known for its clarity, emotional depth, and psychological insight. She often writes in a personal and confessional style, examining the complexities of relationships, personal identity, and the human experience. Her work frequently reflects a strong connection to nature, mythology, and the Bible, which she uses as metaphors for emotional and psychological states.

"Silent Night" ( in German „Stille Nacht“) is one of the most beloved Christmas carols, with a history that dates back to the early 19th century. The song was written by Joseph Mohr, a young priest, and Franz Xaver Gruber, a school teacher and organist, in 1816 - 1818. It was first performed on Christmas Eve, 1818, at the church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf. The song quickly became popular in the local area, and word of its beauty spread. It was sung in churches and at Christmas celebrations across Austria and Germany. Silent Night eventually made its way to other countries and became a global Christmas anthem. In 1859, it was first published in English, helping it to spread to English-speaking countries. The carol was sung in various languages and versions, becoming one of the most translated and performed songs in the world, with over 300 different versions. Silent Night holds a place in the hearts of millions, and its enduring appeal is due to its simplicity, beauty, and spiritual message. In 2011, it was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO due to its importance in global cultural heritage.

Edited by Andrii Zaritskyi

During a student ethnomusicological research in the Moravian town of Hluk we became convinced that music - especially performing it together - is a reliable way to bring people together. And it can be folklore, the mayor's brass band, or "Slovakian psy-trance". In Hluk they devote a lot of time to music. Not only in Advent.

Video provided by Zuzana Jurková

Zuzana Jurková

Katedra sociální a kulturní antropologie

Another wish from the last year's Christmas tree reminds us that the holidays should also be about caring for each other - even in our global society.

International středa, mezinárodní Wednesday

Would you like to meet your international colleagues and Czech students from across Charles University and beyond? Then come along for a chat. This Wednesday is the end of the year party! Starting at 7pm at the Kampus Hybernská.

This is a part of a regular series of events for you and all students – Czech and international regardless of the university affiliation. Informal meetings are held every week throughout the semester at the Kampus Hybernská, always on Wednesdays late afternoons. You can find us in the building E.-1 (Sklep and Výstavní loď).

You'll meet your local and international classmates and together enjoy the accompanying programme, such as pub quizzes, language cafés, talks, karaoke and so much more. This initiative is led by our student ambassadors and associations in collaboration with the University and Studentská Hybernská. More information here.

A wish that AI wrote for the people at FHS

Follow the whole process, step by step:

Prompt: I need you to create a Christmas greeting. Provide me with a series of questions that will help you tailor it better. Ask the questions one at a time, and once you have all the answers, create the greeting based on the information provided.

OpenAI's GPT-4o:

Question 1: Who is the recipient of the Christmas greeting? (e.g., a friend, family member, colleague, or a group of people)

Prompt: My colleagues at the Charles University, Faculty of Humanities

OpenAI's GPT-4o:

Question 2: Would you like the greeting to reflect your academic focus (e.g., anthropology, ethnography) or your personal interests, or should it remain more formal and neutral?

Prompt: Be neutral but can add some hint of anthropology

OpenAI's GPT-4o:

Question 3: Would you like the greeting to be lighthearted and casual, or should it have a more formal and professional tone?

Prompt: lighthearted and casual

OpenAI's GPT-4o:

Question 4: Would you like the greeting to include any specific references to Czech traditions, winter activities, or something related to the academic environment of Charles University?

Prompt: add Czech traditions but do not stress religious aspect of Christmas, more a social one

OpenAI's GPT-4o:

Question 5: Would you like the greeting to be written in English, Czech, or a mix of both?

Prompt: English

Prompt: Create a warm and festive image of students and professors celebrating Christmas in the modern corridors of the Faculty of Humanities at Charles University (FHS UK). The scene shows: - A bright, modern university hallway with glass walls and contemporary architecture - Small groups of students and professors of diverse ages interacting warmly - Subtle Christmas decorations: wreaths, fairy lights, and a small decorated tree in the corner - Natural winter daylight streaming through the windows - People wearing winter casual attire appropriate for indoor academic setting - Some people holding books or laptops, suggesting an academic environment - Warm color palette with emphasis on whites, woods, and festive accents. Generated by Microsoft Copilot

OpenAI's GPT-4o:

Got it! I have all the information I need. Here's your tailored Christmas greeting:

Dear Colleagues,

As the year draws to a close and the winter frost settles over Prague, I want to take a moment to wish you all a wonderful holiday season. Just as anthropology teaches us to appreciate the diverse traditions that bring people together, let’s embrace this time to connect, reflect, and celebrate the unique community we’ve built here at the Faculty of Humanities.

May your holidays be as warm and inviting as a plate of freshly baked vánočka, as joyous as the sparkling lights of a Czech Christmas market, and as peaceful as the quiet snow-covered streets of Prague (when they’re not crowded with tourists!).

Here’s to a relaxing break, plenty of medovina (or your beverage of choice), and a New Year filled with exciting discoveries—both academic and personal.

Thank you all for making this year a memorable one. Wishing you and your loved ones a festive season full of cheer and a fantastic start to 2025!

Warmest wishes,

[Your Name]

Prepared by Martin Heřmanský

CZDEMOS4AI: Beneficent Multi-Agent AI Avatar in a Small Democratic Society

Have you tried turning it off and on?

Sometimes the solution is easier than it seems - like taking a moment to relax, reboot and re-energise during the hectic Advent season. OIT is always there for you when nothing seems to work in a world of ones and zeros. Let's take some time together for a short reboot.

IT Office

Lucky card

Advent, Christmas and New Year Eve are times of superstition, magic and trying to catch a glimpse of the future. We wait to see if the robins will bloom, we pour lead, we throw slippers. Even our potential future students at college fairs get into the divination business, thanks to the beautiful "tarot" cards of the humanities. These have been created for FHS CU by its staff and students and represent almost all the disciplines that can be pursued in the undergraduate field. Can you find yours?

Illustrations by Tereza Eisenreichová, Barbora Honsová, Alena Ivanova, Mia Lutovská, Viktoria Patová, Kylie Scalabroni, Natalia Semenova, Renata Wilfling

FHS Café

This year we have prepared a gift that will not only warm up your hands, but also your heart. The new FHS café wants to be a place where you can stop by between lectures, meet colleagues and friends, or just enjoy a moment of peace and quiet, which are rarer and rarer as we approach the end of the year. Come and join us for a cup of coffee that we hope will give you a little taste of what’s to come.

You've already had the chance to try the first creations of our new coffee machine, while we were getting to know it better now in December. We aspire to offer you an experience that starts with the cup itself: we serve coffee in porcelain, making each visit feel like a small celebration. And since the new year is a time of change, you can look forward to the café being fully run by a student team of your fellow classmates starting January.

The transformation of our familiar cafeteria into a full-fledged haven for café lovers won’t happen overnight. We plan to evolve the current menu month by month – for example, we will soon introduce plant-based milks, and changes to the food offer are also on the way. But we can't do it without your feedback. If you haven’t had a chance to taste the new beans yet, come by and let us know what you think.

See you around.

Café team

Mapping Piety The Moon for the Faculty

Following the tragic event at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, an initiative was launched by religious scholars and anthropologists to map expressions of piety in public space. Academics from the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Humanities, together with their students, visited and stayed at the sites where the lives that were lost were remembered and where the academic community came to terms with the evil act. Above all, it was the learners who took on the role of eyes, ears and hearts, and through field notes of participant observation, provided testimony of the actions, interactions and feelings that accompanied the series of commemorative events that took place during January, the Month for Faculty.

The journey of coming to terms with a tragic event during The Month for Faculty began on January 4, 2024, with a parade and hug for the injured building. The following day, January 5, 2024, memorials were taken down from the site in front of Carolina, where a memorial was created immediately after December 21, 2023. It was students, not only from the Faculty of Arts, who took on the daunting task of collecting candles, flowers and other items that people had placed there in memory of the fourteen victims.

Excerpt from the field notes of Natalia Matějková (student SHV-18) from 5 January 2024:

Fifteen minutes before the meeting I arrive at the place in front of the rector's office. Candles fill the area in front of the entrance to the building. They are not individually scattered in the place, people are always stacking them one by one, their own on the edge of the others. Together with melting flowers, flickering messages, glittering cellophane and other objects, the extinguished or burning candles form a red field on the stone pavement. A stone fountain with statues of lions rises out of the quivering field, several parts of which are also covered with candles or flowers. A red trickle spills out of the field further on, lining the brick building towards Železná Street. Candles also fill the sills of its large glass windows.

The red field catches the eye. Cameras are trained on it, inviting passers-by to stop, to hold another candle, providing a space for mourning. Everyone who passes, even if they don't stop, looks towards the candles as they walk. One woman stops and lights a candle, and a couple lighting the candles takes pictures of each other. Another woman stands by and cries, we are similar ages, we are wearing similar clothes, and she seems to seek my gaze, our eyes meet.

I observe a photographer looking for the right angle to capture the candles, a symbol of piety, kneeling on the pavement, putting the side of his head to the ground with the lens in front of his face and taking a close-up. A group of tourists stop next to him. A woman walks alongside the candles with a child, who in a foreign language asks the woman about the candles. She asks what the candles mean. The woman answers patiently and in a calm voice.

A Chihuahua in a red sweater runs up to the child and the child is startled, the woman laughs and the child is allowed to pet the Chihuahua.

A group of people form nearby to help clear away the candles. About ten learners wait for someone from the management to give instructions on how to start clearing away. ...They're also talking about who else is coming. Two girls wanted to come, but the rest of the students convinced them to take a break after organizing the parade. A journalist comes in and asks what we are going to do and how the whole event will be run. This creates an uncomfortable situation because even the learners themselves do not know what exactly will happen and the journalist keeps pressing them to describe the whole process of clearing away in more detail....

The beginning of the clearing was out. We proceeded from the inside of the gate to the outside. When the gate opened, about ten lenses were waiting impatiently for us. Watching closely, we very carefully carried away the flowers placed closest to the gate, and a few of us began quietly straightening the candles in the crates.

With deepest condolences

Hedvika Novotná

Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology

I can neither play nor sing, yet when I write verses, I sing and play after all. If I could produce the melodies, my songs would be more pleasing than they are now. But courage! perhaps there is a kindred spirit somewhere who will hear the tunes behind the words and give them back to me.

Wilhelm Müller wrote this in his diary in 1815, on his twenty-first birthday. When, in 1822, the composer Bernhard Josef Klein published settings of six of Müller’s poems, the latter thanked him in these words:

For indeed my songs lead but half a life, a paper existence of black-and-white, until music breathes life into them, or at least calls it forth and awakens it if it is already dormant in them.

Gute Nacht aus Schuberts Winterreise

However, Franz Schubert did not manage to return the melody to Müller, it remains here with us.

Filip Timingeriu

Department of Languages and Literature

Responsibility for the world around us

We want to create a world where we can all feel safe. This is why the faculty and the university strive to offer support and be there for all members of the academic community. However, a safe world can only be shaped in relationship with each other. It is not enough for one actor to strive for such an environment. Mutual cooperation is needed. Good relationships and understanding cannot be commanded; they can only be built by repeatedly showing trust and appreciation for each other. We are responsible for ourselves and for the world around us. We ourselves can influence the way our environment develops. So let us believe in our abilities, let us also believe in others, let us strive to do only the good and avoid the bad. Let us protect ourselves and others.

Finally, some folk wisdom for good communication:

You can’t please everyone.

What goes around comes around.

Wise men silent, fools talk.

A cheeky forehead is better than a huge yard.

Empty barrels make the most noise.

Love conquers all.

Homo homini lupus.

In time of need, every good friend will give you advice, but few a sack of flour.

If you're in a situation that you need support, don't be afraid to ask for it. Here are some helpful links:

Support at the Faculty

Support at the Charles University – Carolina Centre

Counselling services – Carolina Centre

Internal Relations Department

The deans of the Faculty of Humanities and Faculty of Arts crowned the Queen and King of the 2024 Majáles (student festival in May) together at the Hybernská Campus this year. Photo O. Trojan

Dear colleagues,

Dear students,

I approach with great humility the privilege of filling the last window of our Faculty Advent Calendar with my words and wishes for a beautiful and peaceful holiday season. Throughout December, our calendar has gradually been filled with interesting stories and examples of how diverse the Faculty of Humanities is and the amazing, charismatic, smart, empathetic and funny people who work and study together in it. It was lovely and joyful to open all the boxes day after day and read and enjoy the contributions. Except for one, of course, which we all certainly opened reluctantly and with pain in our hearts. This year has been unprecedentedly challenging for the entire university and faculty community, not only professionally but especially emotionally. I know very well how many students, faculty and staff of our faculty have been deeply, in many cases very personally, affected by the loss and pain of the tragic event at the Faculty of Arts. I know that some wounds will never heal and others will heal long and slowly. However, I sense that we have been able to transform the darkness and doom of the end of last year into the most positive thing possible within the faculty and university community, and I would like to express my sincere thanks to all of you who have not hesitated to get involved in this difficult process and continue to participate in various roles and various ways.

Fortunately, this year has also brought us good moments and pleasant events, which are helping our faculty to become a better educational institution. For example, the faculty has established the Teaching and Learning Center, whose aim is to support and develop the teaching competences of PhD students as well as beginning and current teachers. These efforts include the creation of a safe and inspiring environment, the promotion of active learning methods, and, most importantly, active work with assessment and feedback from learners. Our teachers are part of many innovative grant projects. We spent four Fridays in the fall having intense and fruitful faculty-wide discussions about the shape of our future undergraduate program accreditation. Under the competent leadership of an excellent new faculty secretary, the often very complicated operational and economic pitfalls of faculty functioning are being managed. The library has installed a new book box for distance borrowing and is tirelessly expanding its services, expertise, and support to the entire faculty community. The Center for Longevity and Long-Term Care Studies continues to engage admirably in national and international projects and quality scholarly production. At the end of the year, the first-ever recipient of the Cena manželů Coriových, awarded by Charles University since 2024, was Hana Havelková, PhD, FHS UK, in memoriam, for her lifelong contribution to the development of equal opportunities in the academy.

I could go on and on, but our greatest joy and the purpose of our faculty's existence are, of course, our students. I am very happy with how active our students are, and how many extra-curricular activities and projects, both long-term and one-off, they can invent, support, and implement, at how many places in the faculty are willing and able to contribute their presence, be it the academic senate, the library, the front desk, the ambassadorships, external and internal relations, student clubs, journals, festivals, and many more. It is great to have such active and inspiring partners in the student body, who develop and enrich the faculty every day with their enthusiasm, creativity, critical feedback and collaborative search for solutions. Our latest venture, which the faculty leadership and student management team have been working on together all autumn, is the development of a new concept for a faculty café, which we are gradually transforming into a future cozy heart of the faculty with cultural content and overlap, led by the students themselves and where we will all enjoy meeting.

I believe that we enter 2025 with hope and optimism in all respects. Thank you all for all the work you do at and for the faculty. I wish you all a peaceful, enjoyable and joyous holiday season. And for the New Year, good health, as much energy as possible, and most importantly, love, generosity, and faith that what we do is meaningful.

Věra Sokolová