Professor of Politics James Richter in his office (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)<\/p><\/div>\n
He enjoys learning about Czech language, music, and history; he wrote his master\u2019s thesis in part on the 1968 Prague Spring, a period of liberal reforms in communist Czechoslovakia that were later violently suppressed.<\/p>\n
During his Fulbright-funded visit, which is part of his yearlong sabbatical, Richter will teach courses in international relations and foreign policy in an English-language program geared to study-abroad students from around Europe.<\/p>\n
He hopes to use some of his time in the Czech Republic to start an inquiry into how historical events and memories factor into Czech public life. (In the U.S., the politics of memory have played a big role in the debate over Confederate statues and symbols.)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about how politicians and states try to construct a symbolic environment which will support their regime in some way, or support a national identity,\u201d he says. \u201cThat often takes resources. It takes money to build a statue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be a great chance to talk to people and see what they\u2019re concerned about, what\u2019s important to them, and to use that as a place to go from.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Richter wants to look at how the politics of memory have played out in the Czech Republic and Germany, where World War II is \u201ca huge aspect of cultural introspection\u201d and the use of Nazi symbols is strictly limited. He\u2019s also interested in Poland and Hungary, where public memory of World War II and the communist regime is \u201cextremely fraught,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Teaching will be especially interesting, Richter says, because his students won\u2019t have lived through world war and communist rule and will have a different sense of the impact of those events on their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be dealing with students who were born 10 years after the communist regime ended, so for them, the communist regime is stories their parents and their relatives tell them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Richter says he is excited to meet his students, learn about the differences between Czech and American university education, and get a sense of direction for further research.<\/p>\n
The Fulbright experience will be \u201ca great chance to talk to people and see what they\u2019re concerned about, what\u2019s important to them, and to use that as a place to go from,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m going to teach, I\u2019m going to learn the language, hopefully much better, and prepare for the next project.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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![\"Professor](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/04\/190424_James_Richter_0056-900x600.jpg\")
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