Hugh Agnew is a historian. His major 
area of expertise is Czech history. Hugh currently teaches at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and in his research, he focuses on symbols and rituals of Czech nationalism. He published two books on the foundation of the Czech nationalist movement and on the history of Czech lands in the European context. During the past Fall semester, Hugh taught two courses at the Faculty of Arts of Palacký University in Olomouc as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar. His two courses for Czech history students were National Identities in Europe and Global History since 1500. In his free time, Hugh and his wife, Nancy, visited numerous sites of historical importance in various parts of the country, and they traveled (mostly by train) to four small Czech towns "off the beaten track" that currently host Fulbright English Teaching Assistants. These day-long excursions to underexplored regions, where foreigners are rare to spot, unexpectedly became the highlights of their stay. Today, reflecting on his time in the Czech Republic, Hugh encourages new Fulbright scholars and students in the Czech Republic to explore the country and visit the ETAs.
Hugh Agnew specializes in Central and Eastern Europe, with a focus on modern Czech history. His first book examines a group of intellectuals in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Bohemia whose linguistic, literary and historical studies laid the foundations for the subsequent Czech nationalist movement. His most recent book surveys Czech history in its European setting, from the arrival of the Czechs in Bohemia to the present. Professor Agnew's current research explores the use of symbol and ritual in the Czech nationalist movement, topics on which he has published several preparatory studies, and which will be the theme of his next book. He has appeared on international and local media including CNN, C-SPAN, Czech Television, Voice of America's Czech service, and Radio Prague. Between 2002 and 2016 Professor Agnew served as an associate dean, senior associate dean, and interim dean in the Elliott School of International Affairs.
Photo: The building (originally an elementary school) housing the Katedra Historie, UP, September 25, 2023, Olomouc.
We tried to see as much as we could of the sights in the Olomouc area, finding the local transportation networks easy to navigate and extensive compared to the US. Besides the nearby towns, many with their own castles or manor houses, we visited as many of the remnants of the Austro-Hungarian fortifications around Olomouc as we could—something that interested me, since as a university student I worked for three summers as a living history performer in a restored nineteenth-century fortification outside Kingston, Ontario.
Photo: Fort XVII of the old Austro-Hungarian fortifications that made Olomouc a "fortress city" - at Křelov, October 7, 2023.
Photo: Vyssi Brod monastery, where we got to sing for the 2.5 hour long service of monastic vows on a cold November day.
Photo: After the talk in Šumperk, December 13, 2023. Kimberly is second from the left in the front row, I am standing next to the young woman holding the Fulbright banner.
Our second foray into the world of ETAs was to northern Bohemia and the town of Trutnov. The ETA there was Ben Levin, placed in the Gymnázium Trutnov (https://www.gymnaziumtu.cz/) , though we also met up with two of his colleagues Julia Garaffa who worked at another school in Trutnov, and Leah March who had come over from Hostinné to visit. Trutnov has about 30,000 inhabitants and is nestled in the foothills of the Krkonoše (Giant) Mountains on the northeastern border of Bohemia, and, like so many other places in the Czech Republic, has a well-preserved historic core with a neo-Gothic town hall from 1861 which is now the tourist center. I revamped my presentation to deal more with the US and how it views the world, especially the Czech Republic, using the concept of “cultural lenses.”
Photo: The Gymnazium in Trutnov, January 9, 2024.
In the last slide of my presentation, I asked the students if they thought there was a Czech “cultural lens,” and that provoked some interesting discussion. The students were willing to ask questions and it was very enjoyable to talk with them, and with some of their teachers afterwards.
Photo: Lecture in full spate in the spacious and sunny loft hall of the Trutnov gymnázium, January 9, 2024.
Photo: After the talk at Trutnov: l-r Nancy MacLachlan (Hugh’s spouse), Julia Garaffa, Ben Levin, Hugh, and Ben's mentor Jana Nosková, January 9, 2024.
Photo: Students at the Hranice gymnázium listening to the presentation. January 10, 2024.
Photo: Speaking to the students at the Hranice gymnázium, January 10, 2024.
On our final ETA visit we went to Havlíčkův Brod, where Catie Kopp was the ETA assigned to two institutions there, the Obchodní akademie a Hotelová škola (https://www.oahshb.cz/) and the Střední průmyslová škola stavební ak. St. Bechyně (https://www.stavskola.cz/). The presentation took place in the Gymnázium Havlíčkův Brod (http://www.ghb.cz/), but students from the SPŠ also attended. I had tweaked the presentation a little bit again, and I thought the response from the audience suggested that they were attentive and thoughtful listeners and that the tweaks had made the material more accessible. Havlíčkův Brod is another modest town of 23,000 inhabitants, located in the Czech-Moravian Highlands (Vysočina) region. Named after one of the famous students at its gymnasium, Karel Havlíček-Borovský, since 1945 (it was formerly called Německý Brod), several important cultural and political figures studied there. The town boasts a spacious central square and many preserved buildings and parts of the original city walls. Once again, everything about our experience there was rewarding.
Photo: Students and teachers from the Stredni prumyslova skola stavebni with Catie Kopp (third from right) and Hugh and Nancy, January 19, 2024.
So, what’s the bottom line here? For Fulbright scholars and researchers, the message I would stress, based on my experience, is that visiting the ETAs and speaking with groups of normal, everyday Czech high school students is a very enriching thing to add to your Fulbright activities. Not only do you get off the beaten track a bit, and get a break from your own daily routine—whether it is teaching or research—but you get to meet bright and inquisitive Czech students, and the really fantastically talented and engaging young people who are the ETAs! These four visits were a very significant part of our overall Fulbright experience, and they are a part of what we loved about our Fulbright semester. We miss it very much and were privileged to be a part of it!
Photo: Farewell to Olomouc, January 29, 2024.
Any Fulbright grantee returning home is almost certain to be asked, “So, how was it?” I sincerely hope that every participant can reply enthusiastically, “It was terrific!” But there are so many experiences and challenges packed into a Fulbright grant, whether for a year or a semester, that it is difficult to explain what was terrific about it—or at least, to explain it concisely enough that you don’t completely lose your audience’s attention before you have finished!
Yes, my Fulbright semester, teaching at the Palacký University in Olomouc, was terrific. My wife and I enjoyed living in Olomouc, a very walkable city (at least in its central part) and with many beautiful historic buildings and landmarks. Mine was a teaching award, and I had two classes in the History Department, one on global history and one on national identities in Europe. After some anxiety about accommodation, we eventually found an apartment that was very well located for our needs, only a short walk through the Upper Square to the building that houses the history programs. My colleagues were congenial and friendly and I mean to stay in touch with them for the future, perhaps even bringing about formal cooperation between my home school and Palacký U.
Yes, my Fulbright semester, teaching at the Palacký University in Olomouc, was terrific. My wife and I enjoyed living in Olomouc, a very walkable city (at least in its central part) and with many beautiful historic buildings and landmarks. Mine was a teaching award, and I had two classes in the History Department, one on global history and one on national identities in Europe. After some anxiety about accommodation, we eventually found an apartment that was very well located for our needs, only a short walk through the Upper Square to the building that houses the history programs. My colleagues were congenial and friendly and I mean to stay in touch with them for the future, perhaps even bringing about formal cooperation between my home school and Palacký U.
We tried to see as much as we could of the sights in the Olomouc area, finding the local transportation networks easy to navigate and extensive compared to the US. Besides the nearby towns, many with their own castles or manor houses, we visited as many of the remnants of the Austro-Hungarian fortifications around Olomouc as we could—something that interested me, since as a university student I worked for three summers as a living history performer in a restored nineteenth-century fortification outside Kingston, Ontario.
With help from the Czech Fulbright Commission in Prague, we contacted a couple of choirs in Olomouc that were kind enough to welcome two foreigner-singers into their midst, even for only a short time. As a result, we got to sing the service music for the brother of one of our tenors who took his monastic vows in the Vyšší Brod monastery in southern Bohemia. We also sang in a Christmas/Epiphany concert in Olomouc and in Senice na Hané, a nearby village, during the holiday season. Add to that a lively cultural scene, with the Moravian Theater and Philharmonic building on the Upper Square, the various festivals either on the squares or in the exhibition hall in Smetana Park, the many student-oriented coffee shops and pubs, and there was never a lack of things to do.
BUT!...
Of all the wonderful experiences we had—and of course I would urge all Fulbright scholars and researchers to take full advantage of the similar opportunities they will have at their postings—the activities that were, for both my spouse and for me, among the most rewarding and enjoyable were the visits to schools where Fulbright English Teaching Assistants were posted. These young people are sent out to secondary schools chosen in a competitive application process, to enrich the learning experiences of the Czech students who are studying English. By visiting with them you get to see some incredibly bright, outgoing, creative, and engaging young Americans representing the best aspects of our society and culture to some incredibly intelligent, interested, and promising young people in the Czech Republic. And since the postings the ETAs are sent to are “off the beaten track” you get to see some places you would probably not go to as simple tourist.
We visited four locations and met with six ETAs on the way, since ETAs also visited and cooperated with each other. The first meeting was with Kimberly Dawn Stuart and her students and colleagues at the Střední škola řemesel (Secondary School of Applied Arts and Crafts) in Šumperk (https://www.skolasumperk.cz/). Šumperk is an industrial town of about 25,000 inhabitants not quite 30 miles north of Olomouc. Known as the “Gateway to the Jeseníky” for its location at the edge of that mountain range, it was also a center for the seventeenth century witch trials in Moravia, the subject of Otakar Vávra’s 1970 film “Kladivo na čarodějnice” (Hammer for witches), which some see as an allegory on the political repressions of the 1950s and after 1968. Two classes of 16-18-year-old youngsters listened politely to me talking about the symbolic meaning of the Crown of St. Václav in Czech politics. Perhaps that will not have much impact on their future careers in metalworking, carpentry, hairdressing, and culinary trades, but they were a great audience and Kimberley and her mentor were gracious hosts. And the examples we saw of the students’ work were most impressive!
BUT!...
Of all the wonderful experiences we had—and of course I would urge all Fulbright scholars and researchers to take full advantage of the similar opportunities they will have at their postings—the activities that were, for both my spouse and for me, among the most rewarding and enjoyable were the visits to schools where Fulbright English Teaching Assistants were posted. These young people are sent out to secondary schools chosen in a competitive application process, to enrich the learning experiences of the Czech students who are studying English. By visiting with them you get to see some incredibly bright, outgoing, creative, and engaging young Americans representing the best aspects of our society and culture to some incredibly intelligent, interested, and promising young people in the Czech Republic. And since the postings the ETAs are sent to are “off the beaten track” you get to see some places you would probably not go to as simple tourist.
We visited four locations and met with six ETAs on the way, since ETAs also visited and cooperated with each other. The first meeting was with Kimberly Dawn Stuart and her students and colleagues at the Střední škola řemesel (Secondary School of Applied Arts and Crafts) in Šumperk (https://www.skolasumperk.cz/). Šumperk is an industrial town of about 25,000 inhabitants not quite 30 miles north of Olomouc. Known as the “Gateway to the Jeseníky” for its location at the edge of that mountain range, it was also a center for the seventeenth century witch trials in Moravia, the subject of Otakar Vávra’s 1970 film “Kladivo na čarodějnice” (Hammer for witches), which some see as an allegory on the political repressions of the 1950s and after 1968. Two classes of 16-18-year-old youngsters listened politely to me talking about the symbolic meaning of the Crown of St. Václav in Czech politics. Perhaps that will not have much impact on their future careers in metalworking, carpentry, hairdressing, and culinary trades, but they were a great audience and Kimberley and her mentor were gracious hosts. And the examples we saw of the students’ work were most impressive!
Our second foray into the world of ETAs was to northern Bohemia and the town of Trutnov. The ETA there was Ben Levin, placed in the Gymnázium Trutnov (https://www.gymnaziumtu.cz/) , though we also met up with two of his colleagues Julia Garaffa who worked at another school in Trutnov, and Leah March who had come over from Hostinné to visit. Trutnov has about 30,000 inhabitants and is nestled in the foothills of the Krkonoše (Giant) Mountains on the northeastern border of Bohemia, and, like so many other places in the Czech Republic, has a well-preserved historic core with a neo-Gothic town hall from 1861 which is now the tourist center. I revamped my presentation to deal more with the US and how it views the world, especially the Czech Republic, using the concept of “cultural lenses.”
In the last slide of my presentation, I asked the students if they thought there was a Czech “cultural lens,” and that provoked some interesting discussion. The students were willing to ask questions and it was very enjoyable to talk with them, and with some of their teachers afterwards.
Photo: Trutnov's main square, with the old city hall, January 9, 2024.
The next day found us at Hranice na Moravě, to speak to students at the Gymnázium there, where Rachel Posner was the ETA. Hranice is only about 20 miles east of Olomouc in the Přerov district, and like every other place we visited had an interesting historical quarter with many preserved monuments, perhaps the most somber of which was the old Jewish cemetery. Of course, the Jewish community was destroyed in the Holocaust and the German inhabitants forcibly removed after the war. Hranice’s literary claim to fame is that Robert Musil’s first published work, Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törleß (The Confusions of Young Törless, 1906) was set at the military academy that existed there during Habsburg, First Republic, and communist times. I revamped my presentation a little bit to focus more on how a kid from Oklahoma became interested in Czech history, and what happened after, but I still worked in a little bit about how I thought the US viewed the world, and what lenses the Czech people might be seeing through. Again, the reception was very welcoming, and the students asked some very good questions.
The next day found us at Hranice na Moravě, to speak to students at the Gymnázium there, where Rachel Posner was the ETA. Hranice is only about 20 miles east of Olomouc in the Přerov district, and like every other place we visited had an interesting historical quarter with many preserved monuments, perhaps the most somber of which was the old Jewish cemetery. Of course, the Jewish community was destroyed in the Holocaust and the German inhabitants forcibly removed after the war. Hranice’s literary claim to fame is that Robert Musil’s first published work, Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törleß (The Confusions of Young Törless, 1906) was set at the military academy that existed there during Habsburg, First Republic, and communist times. I revamped my presentation a little bit to focus more on how a kid from Oklahoma became interested in Czech history, and what happened after, but I still worked in a little bit about how I thought the US viewed the world, and what lenses the Czech people might be seeing through. Again, the reception was very welcoming, and the students asked some very good questions.
On our final ETA visit we went to Havlíčkův Brod, where Catie Kopp was the ETA assigned to two institutions there, the Obchodní akademie a Hotelová škola (https://www.oahshb.cz/) and the Střední průmyslová škola stavební ak. St. Bechyně (https://www.stavskola.cz/). The presentation took place in the Gymnázium Havlíčkův Brod (http://www.ghb.cz/), but students from the SPŠ also attended. I had tweaked the presentation a little bit again, and I thought the response from the audience suggested that they were attentive and thoughtful listeners and that the tweaks had made the material more accessible. Havlíčkův Brod is another modest town of 23,000 inhabitants, located in the Czech-Moravian Highlands (Vysočina) region. Named after one of the famous students at its gymnasium, Karel Havlíček-Borovský, since 1945 (it was formerly called Německý Brod), several important cultural and political figures studied there. The town boasts a spacious central square and many preserved buildings and parts of the original city walls. Once again, everything about our experience there was rewarding.
So, what’s the bottom line here? For Fulbright scholars and researchers, the message I would stress, based on my experience, is that visiting the ETAs and speaking with groups of normal, everyday Czech high school students is a very enriching thing to add to your Fulbright activities. Not only do you get off the beaten track a bit, and get a break from your own daily routine—whether it is teaching or research—but you get to meet bright and inquisitive Czech students, and the really fantastically talented and engaging young people who are the ETAs! These four visits were a very significant part of our overall Fulbright experience, and they are a part of what we loved about our Fulbright semester. We miss it very much and were privileged to be a part of it!
