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Russia's Syria policy: geopolitical interests or defense of great power identity?
Hirling, Marcel ; Kazharski, Aliaksei (advisor) ; Ananyeva, Ekaterina (referee)
of Master thesis Russia's Syria policy: geopolitical interests or defense of great power identity? Marcel Hirling Abstract: Russia has been the dominating actor in Syria since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. Researchers disagree what Russia motivates to block UN resolutions, support Assad, and intervene militarily in 2015. Academics have mainly focused on neorealist explanations. Constructivist arguments have been shortcoming so far as they miss a detailed theoretical justification and empirical evidence. This thesis aims to fill this gap by arguing that the objective utility of Syria is marginal. Instead, Syria provided Russia the opportunity to present itself as a global power, able to shape world affairs on eye level with the US. Therefore, this paper conducts a congruence analysis, which evaluates each theory's explanatory power. The analytical section is split into three parts. The first shows that events before Syria did not make a Russian intervention in Syria necessary, but that recognition of Russia's global power identity has been denied. That Russia's actions in Syria are not entirely congruent with neorealist expectations is shown by the second part. Finally, by conducting a content-analysis, several Russian narratives are evaluated that support the argument that Russia seeks...
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Understanding NATO's Intervention in Non-Member States: The Case of Operation Kosovo Force
Bártová, Adéla ; Tesař, Jakub (advisor) ; Sedlecká, Adéla (referee)
The master's thesis deals with the issue of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) out-of-area interventions, specifically focusing on the case of NATO's intervention in Kosovo in 1999. The alliance's decision to intervene against severe violations of human rights in Kosovo despite the lack of a legal mandate to do so was criticized heavily by the international community. This thesis aims to examine the narratives NATO used to justify its involvement in Kosovo. By adopting a theoretical framework of social constructivism, the research aims to examine the role of two constructivist concepts, collective identity and international norms, in the alliance's decision to intervene. To do so, the thesis adopts a discourse-historical approach (DHA) to critical discourse analysis, as established by Reisigl and Wodak (2009). This approach emphasizes the significance of the social, political, and historical context of discourse practices. By adopting the DHA, the thesis seeks to uncover the discursive strategies employed by the alliance to justify and legitimize the intervention in Kosovo. The research is conceived as a case-specific qualitative analysis, which is divided into two sections. The first section deals with the correlation between changes in the official discourse in NATO and the...
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Application of Constructivist Elements in the Teaching of the Czech Language in the First Year
Sotonová, Jana ; Babušová, Gabriela (advisor) ; Doležalová, Eliška (referee)
This thesis is divided into theoretical and practical parts. The theoretical part discusses what communication means and its types. What constructivism means and what is the difference between transmissive and constructivist teaching. Furthermore, the issue of children's preconcepts and their use is discussed. The practical part focuses on the application of constructivist elements to the teaching of Czech language. In practice, we mean that pupils should deduce a lesson, rule or principle on the basis of their own efforts, previous experience, constructivist/exploratory approach. Furthermore, it is aimed at discovering preconcepts in pupils or their ideas. At the same time, the aim of the thesis is to create activities for Czech language classes that support constructivist teaching. Thus, pupils use constructivist elements to work. The research includes preparations that include activities focusing on the core curriculum of the second year, among which we include: writing i,í/y,ý hard and soft groups, writing ů, ú and meaning relationships of words. Worksheets, analysis and interview were used to identify the objectives.
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Centre for Prevention, Masaryk Oncology Institute in Brno
Buzová, Magdaléna ; Kraus, David (referee) ; Galeová, Nicol (advisor)
The objective of the diploma thesis is the new building of Cancer Prevention Centre, first of its kind in the Czech Republic. The site is located on steep terrain of the south hillside of Žlutý kopec in Brno, which is a part of Masaryk Oncological Hospital complex. The aim of the Cancer Prevention Centre is to attract the citizens’ attention and invite them to undergo a preventive medical check-up with the potential to save hundreds of lives every year. The project takes this fact in consideration and strives to find ways leading not only towards establishing new relationship between the building and the public, but also towards connecting the city centre and nearby by residential area with the hospital complex. The three volumes of the buildings create a dynamic composition and therefore complete the characteristic development of Masaryk Oncological Centre. The main concept however revolves around the motive of instability, balance and journey which are all linked to tumour diseases.
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Democratic Peace in Theory and Practice
Olejníková, Lenka Barbora ; Karlas, Jan (advisor) ; Rychnovská, Dagmar (referee)
The thesis "Democratic Peace in Theory and Practice" aims to present the Democratic Peace Theory as an international relations theory with a practical significance for the political practice. The Democratic Peace Theory will be first analysed as a part of a broad liberal tradition of International Relations Theory, and then particular ways of how the theory is empirically related to the practices of international politics will be examined. The main objective of the thesis is the analysis of the complex nature of the Democratic Peace Theory with the emphasis on the potentiality of the theory to have larger political impact.
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Complement - The Comparison of Academic and School Conception
Hančin, Marek ; Doležalová, Eliška (advisor) ; Hirschová, Milada (referee)
The master thesis "Complement - The Comparison of Academic and School Conception" examines the professional and school concepts of the often-discussed clause element - complement. The author compares selected linguistic approaches to the complement, focusing primarily on the similarities and differences in the different conceptions - what linguists (dis)consider to be a complement, how the complement is realized, what is the division of the complement. In the school conception, the author analyses the key educational documents (the Framework Educational Programmes, the requirements for the didactic test in Czech language, the requirements for the Unified Entrance Examination in Czech language and the textbooks used in teaching Czech) and the teachers' view of this clause element. The author aims to find out whether the complement is a compulsory part of education and whether textbooks provide appropriate support for functional work with the complement. In the conclusion of the paper, the author proposes three methodological lessons of his own, based on the above-mentioned analysis, which can be used in Czech language classes. The starting points for these lessons are the communicative goals of Czech language teaching, the constructivist model of teaching, and the integration of linguistic and...
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Journalistic Perspectives on Nordic Identity in Estonia
Niiler, James Viking ; Shavit, Anna (advisor) ; Turková, Kateřina (referee)
Since its restoration of independence in 1991, Estonia has sought to include itself in the Nordic region (Norden) to boost its international reputation and promote its geopolitical interests. However, Estonia's inclusion within Norden is questionable and controversial despite its historical and cultural links to the region. For this Thesis, I conduct a qualitative case study, performing semi-structured interviews with six leading Estonian journalists to ascertain the state of Estonia's national identity vis-à-vis the Nordic region. Contextualizing these interviews by drawing on contemporary history and theories of nation branding, agenda-setting, and constructionism, I conclude that, due to current social and economic factors, Estonia cannot be considered a "Nordic country" at this time. However, Estonia undoubtedly lies within the Nordic region's sphere of influence and is on track for further integration with Norden, due to both internally generated reforms and external geopolitical pressures. Keywords Estonia, national identity, Nordic, journalism, agenda-setting, constructionism, nation branding
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The Integrated Teaching of Czech Language in Lower Secondary Schools
Kronovetrová Fingerová, Markéta ; Doležalová, Eliška (advisor) ; Komberec, Filip (referee)
This thesis deals with the topic of integrated teaching of Czech language in lower secondary School. Its aim was to find out the possibilities and limits of the implementation of this teaching. The data were collected through action research at Na Rohu1 Primary School where the author of this thesis taught three eighth grades' classes for whole year. For more than a year she designed lessons for these classes based on the principles of integration of the components of the Czech language, constructivism, and the communicative principle. These are documented and reflected in this thesis. A secondary goal of this thesis was to observe the possibilities of conducting independent action research in mainstream settings and at a regular elementary school where it could become a means of professional development for teachers. The theoretical part of this thesis is based on the chapters dealing with the mapping of different conceptions of Czech language teaching and the current situation in the Czech Republic and abroad. These are followed by chapters dealing with the principles that were used to determine the principles for the development of individual lessons. Attention has also been paid to the description of the principles of action research. Czech and foreign sources were used. The bulk of the...
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Use of project method in forest kindergartens
Lyžbická, Olga ; Koťátková, Soňa (advisor) ; Stará, Jana (referee)
The topic of the thesis is the question of the project method. The aim of the thesis is to describe the potential of the project method and to research the use in pedagogical practise in forest kindergartens. The theoretical part defines the term project, presents the historical and theoretical contexts associated with the creation of the project method, and presents practical procedures for creating projects. The next part of the thesis describes the model of cooperative learning and provides information related to the application of cooperative teaching in pedagogical practice. The thesis describes the concept of forest kindergartens, where the research was carried out. A mixed approach was applied in the practical part. The results of the quantitative research, carried out by a questionnaire survey among teachers, showed that teachers in forest kindegartens include the project method in a targeted manner. They see the main benefits in the overall development of the child's personality. The barriers are time management, team cooperation, and lack of skills in cooperative teaching. The main focus of the research part of the work was devoted to qualitative research. Action research determined the degree of development of cooperative skills in children during four multi-day projects in a forest...
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Czech Architectural Photography in the 1920s to the 1950s
Kubištová, Mariana ; Lahoda, Vojtěch (advisor) ; Schlosser Trnková, Petra (referee) ; Pospěch, Tomáš (referee)
Mariana Kubištová CZECH ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE 1920s TO THE 1950s Abstract The thesis Czech Architectural Photography in the 1920s to the 1950s presents the theme of architecture photography, from the 1920's to the 1950's, focusing on Czech cultural setting, observing photography meeting contemporary acts in the field of architecture, thus the photography of modern architecture. It methodologically researches the theme from a visual study viewpoint; however it applies a little more traditional approaches, which try to define architecture photography depending on functions it carries out; to demarcate its various categories, describe its history and name some of its important representatives. Each of these approaches is able to capture a different aspect of the observed theme. The first part of the thesis attempts to answer what architecture photography is, what we can qualify as architecture photography and how we can approach and interpret it. It summarizes research and knowledge of this field up till now, not just within Czech cultural setting but also abroad. Last but not least, it tries to outline historical, social and artistic context of the researched era. The second part counts with the presumption that the core and the biggest volume of visual material lies in the field of professional...
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