Visit a popular historical site this summer and it’s likely you’ll encounter someone in historical dress from centuries past, re-living an older period, whether it’ll be Roman times or World War II, and undertaking activities such as giving guided tours, and making 18th century cakes amongst other things. Such people are historical re-enactors, and being one myself I can say that we may be a group of people who might bemuse many, but who are just like you… in period dress that is… possibly carrying a sword.

On the first of May, 2004, having been transformed in less than 15 years from a one party communist state into a democratic market economy, the Czech Republic was formally admitted as a member to the EU. 10 years on, academics, politicians, diplomats, students and others all gathered in the Collegium Maximum of the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague to attend a conference discussing the Czech Republic’s relationship with the EU.

I was confused when I left the Municipal Library in Prague at 12 o clock on Tuesday the 3rd of June, after working all morning (well, sort of) to go and get lunch. Surely this crowd gathered outside could not be here for the lecture, which was to start in an hour and a half? They must be here for some other thing, I thought to myself. 45 minutes later and they were still there, their numbers in the meantime having doubled. In a somewhat surreal situation it seemed that people were queuing for almost two hours, not to see a politician, a celebrity or a sports personality, but to see a scholar. And for good reason too it seems, since within minutes of opening the doors the lecture theatre was filled to the brim, exasperated staff having to stop eager punters from perching on the stairs and other inconvenient places.

On 14 May, priest of the academic parish and professor of the CU Faculty of Arts Tomáš Halík received the prestigious Templeton Prize, which is awarded for exceptional contributions to the development of the spiritual dimension of life. The ceremony, held in the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square, was also attended by the Rector of Charles University, Professor Tomáš Zima, Czech Minister for Culture Daniel Herman and Cardinals Dominik Duka and Miloslav Vlk.

“Playing cowboys and Indians may have been one of our childhood games”, said Professor György Tóth, and that’s absolutely true. What we have to ask ourselves is what we know about the Native American traditions and which part of this personal knowledge is based on veritable facts.

The Day of Societies which took place last week of February at the Faculty of Law allowed student associations to present themselves in an informal manner. At the same time, it was a great opportunity for students to get to know more about them and decide if they would like to become members and collaborate actively with these organisations in their quest to achieve their objectives.

In a ceremony held at Prague Castle on 21 January, the new Rector of Charles University, Professor Tomáš Zima received, together with other newly elected rectors of public universities, his decrees of appointment from the President of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman. Also attending the ceremony on behalf of the university were the incumbent Rector, Professor Václav Hampl, and the Chairman of the Academic Senate, Professor Jan Hála.

Last week week, students at Charles University in Prague have gathered to commemorate Jan Palach Week. Many Erasmus students studying at Charles University in Prague may already be familiar with the name of Jan Palach: the square in front of the main building of the Faculty of Arts is named after him, and the building is also the site of a commemorative plaque for him.

Up until now, the investigation into alleged plagiarism has utilised, amongst other means, the Urkund tool, which compared the thesis with the contents of websites, electronic sources, archives and book databases, scientific and other tests in digital form and with no regional or language restrictions.

The educational programmes presented in the exhibition were created between 2011-13 for exhibition projects of the Museum of Applied Arts in Prague and Galerie Rudolfinum in cooperation with the Art Education Department of the CU Faculty of Pedagogy through the NAKI joint research grant, awarded by the Czech Ministry of Culture. The exhibition will run until 18 March.