Though Masaryk University was founded in 1919, only the Faculties of Law and Medicine began operating that year. The Faculties of Science and Arts came into existence a year later, in 1920. But it was only in 1921 that actual teaching began. To mark this centenary, the Faculty of Arts and its departments organized a wide range of activities in the course of 2021.
The Department of English and American Studies took part in the celebration through two online events held on 20 November.
Morning:
Symposium to mark the centennial of the birth of Prof. Jan Firbas
(Moderator: Jana Chamonikolasová)
- Eva Golková: Jan Firbas – a close friend, an excellent teacher, and a distinguished scholar (12:27)
- Jana Chamonikolasová: Collected Works of Jan Firbas (12:49)
- Libuše Dušková (presented by Jiří Lukl): Some thoughts on FSP: What would Jan Firbas think of it? (11:45)
- Eva Hajičová: Firbas, Mathesious, and TFA – similarities and differences (14:06)
- Renata Pípalová: Inspired by Jan Firbas’ theory of Functional Sentence Perspective (14:50)
- Martin Adam – Irena Headlandová Kalischová: The best of Jan Firbas: Legendary texts in the context of FSP (23:47)
- Vladislav Smolka: Remembering Jan Firbas (followed by the conclusion of the Symposium) (14:48)
Afternoon
Virtual “Reunion”
(Moderator: Tomáš Pospíšil)
Opening (duration: 10:34)
— Welcoming address (Jana Chamonikolasová)
— Current state of the Department (Tomáš Pospíšil)
Reflections on the “spirit” of the English Department and English in Brno
— Don Sparling
(Duration 21:20)
Announcing new books
Volumes 4 and 5 of Collected Works of Jan Firbas
— Jana Chamonikolasová
(Duration 5:41)
Book launch of Collected Works of Jan Firbas
— Eva Golková. Ludmila Urbanová, Jana Chamonikolasová, Jiří Lukl
(Duration 2:47)
English or Czenglish: Avoiding Czechisms in English – a completely revised new edition
— Simona Kalová, Chris Rance, Don Sparling
(Duration 21:23)
Outside In: A Personal History of the Brno Department of English – a new book based on Don Sparling’s research and personal reminiscences
(Duration 13:02)
Further Programme
An update on Gypsywood
— Jeff Smith and Tomáš Kačer
(Duration 10:02)
“Professor Chudoba's tree” – something interesting in the works
— Nora Hodečková and Don Sparling
(Duration 20:44)
New website on the history of the English Department
— Jiří Rambousek
(Duration 4:33)
“Friends of the English Department” – a surprise! – and conclusion
— Don Sparling
(Duration 5:32)
