“You’re the first person from Iceland I’ve met.” This is a comment Björn Reynir Halldórsson, a young historian from the University Haskoli Islands in Reykjavík heard a lot when making new friends during his time as an Erasmus student at Charles University in Prague, in the academic year 2011/12.

One thing that most foreign students do when they begin their studies at Charles University is immerse themselves in the local culture - from the arts and live events to seeing historic sites and getting to know the pub scene and more. But another way to learn about local culture, not suprisingly, is through literature.

Unfortunately, we don’t know if Egyptians in love exchanged presents on special occasions; on the other hand, we have a relatively good idea of how Ancient Egyptian marriages worked. PhDr. Hana Vymazalová, Ph.D., of the Czech Institute of Egyptology of the CU Faculty of Arts, told us more.

The anniversary and legacy of the historic events associated with the date 17 November were marked by Charles University in a formal meeting of the academic community on the premises of the Grand Aula of the Carolinum. Speakers focused mainly on the key, unique role played by the university in events in wider society, its contribution to the defence of civic and human independence and the democratic order.

On June 25th, I visited the charming Žižkovské divadlo Járy Cimrmana in Žižkov (Žižkov Theatre of Jára Cimrman), a hotspot for student nightlife, quirky bars, strong cocktails and chunky burgers. This teeny, tucked away theatre was hosting an amateur adaption of Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap through the independent student based company The Drama Queens.

“The Collegium Europaeum is an open community of researchers from Charles University and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,” says PhDr. Petr Hlaváček, Ph.D., founder and coordinator of the Collegium Europaeum research group. Last year the Collegium presented to the public a new book entitled Vytěsněná elita (‘The Displaced Elite’) and this year it plans to start publishing a specialist journal entitled Vertigo.

GeneSpector, a subsidiary company of Charles University making use of technology developed at the school, introduced new kits for more efficient, faster, and safer laboratory detection of Covid-19.

In the northeast corner of Hyde Park in London, is a compelling little place known as ‘Speaker’s Corner.’ It is tradition that in Speaker’s Corner, any person can decide to stand up and orate freely to a crowd - on any topic they wish. If we were to go there now, we would likely find someone doing just that.

It´s again the same time in the year and the date of the University marathon  is approaching  by leaps and bounds.  There is no time to procrastinate the preparation for a running contest which is becoming a prestige matter not only for university students from all over the republic.  This contest  has gained a renown also abroad.  The Oxford students´ interest in participating in this relay race has proven this. Now I´m going to proceed to the most important dates.

Professor Howard Hotson criticizes the British government reforms of higher education. He is a co-author of manifesto In Defence of Public Higher Education which was published by Charles University in czech translation. Professor Hotson visited Prague in November and now you can read an interview with him.

Computer games traditionally never crossed paths with education to any serious level as gaming had previously always been deemed a leisure activity with no place in the classroom. Modern game developers, such as those at Charles University in Prague, have challenged this status quo.

During November, Mezipatra’s Queer Film Festival came to 10 different cities across the Czech Republic to commemorate a hundred ranking films on lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and queer themes, to celebrate the LGBT community, investigate their representation in media, and to educate, debate and spread awareness of gender studies and topics.

The mission of the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague has recently made an unexpected discovery at Abusir South that once again highlights the importance of this cemetery of the Old Kingdom officials.

This month, the entrance hall of the main building of the Faculty of the Arts has been host to the exhibition "The Archaeology of Bohemia under the Reign of the Přemyslid Dynasty." The exhibition, running from October 10 to November 5, presents a research project organised by the Department of Achaeology of the Faculty of the Arts, and led by Professor Jan Klápště.

The Erasmus programme celebrates the 30th anniversary of its existence this year. Charles University approached several of its former Erasmus students to share their experience with the programme. Diana Rálišová spent her Erasmus semester in Limerick, Ireland.

At a ceremony at the CU Scientific Council, the Rector of Charles University, Professor Václav Hampl, today gave out awards to the best graduates of the University at the annual Rector’s Awards. Professor Hampl also bestowed a Rector’s Award for Distinction. The Rector’s Awards for the best graduates of Charles University are bestowed on exceptional students in both the bachelor’s and master’s study programmes who have achieved exceptional results in the scientific, research, sports or cultural sphere.

Professor Luďa Klusáková, whom died on 8 April 2020, worked at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University, for more than 40 years. She contributed in no small part to the founding of the Institute of Global History and its scientific and pedagogical success; she also helped enormously in building strong international ties.

Over two thirds of people in the Czech Republic do not know what the most frequent cause of death related to smoking. It has been shown by a survey, which was conducted in March by 5^th year students of the Charles University 1^st Faculty of Medicine. Around 18,000 Czechs die of smoking-related causes every year.

France’s Minister of State for European Affairs, Amélie de Montchalin, gave a lecture at the Carolinum on Thursday entitled “30 years after 1989 - Can Europe keep its promise of peace, prosperity and freedom?”. Rector Tomáš Zima, the Vice-Rector for Research, Jan Konvalinka, and the Vice-Rector for Education, Radka Wildová, were the top university representatives present.

How is Prague developing under the influence of the social and economic transformation that has been taking place in Czech society over the last twenty years? An answer to this question was sought by a team of social geographers from the Urban and Regional Laboratory of the Faculty of Science of Charles University in a study entitled Social Changes in the Districts of Prague. The study, published in the middle of this year, was edited by doc. RNDr. Martin Ouředníček, Ph.D., and RNDr. Jana Temelová, Ph.D.