American ambassador visited the University of South Bohemia

On Wednesday, May 11, 2016 the US Ambassador, His Excellency Andrew H. Schapiro, visited the University of South Bohemia.

The program of the US Ambassador at the university had several parts. At the beginning of the program, the Ambassador had a meeting with the representatives of the university, the Rector Tomáš Machula, the Vice-Rector for International Relations Radka Závodská, the Head of the Department of English studies of the Faculty of Education Lucie Betáková, the Head of the Department of English studies of the Faculty of Philosophy Ladislav Nagy and Dr. Salim Murad from the Department of Social Sciences of the Faculty of Education.

The visit continued at the Faculty of Education where the Ambassador spoke about "Czech-American relations and US foreign policy." In the introduction to the lecture he mentioned historical link between the USA and the Czech Republic since the period of the First Republic, and in this context he recalled his own personal life story and the relationship to the American Embassy. In the framework of international cooperation, the Ambassador emphasized the Czech Republic's membership in NATO and touched the current issues that need to be addressed not only within the Czech-American cooperation. In a discussion with students he recalled his friendship with the current US president and in relation to the future of the USA he highlighted the role of education and especially development of critical thinking of individuals.

The official part of the Ambassador´s visit ended with a concert of a famous pianist David Kalhous, which was held in the Concert Hall of Otakar Jeremiáš in the center of České Budějovice.

The Ambassador visited the University of South Bohemia in the frame of the music festival American spring, which is a series of concerts of classical music organized by the Institute for Czech-American relations. The festival is held annually at dozens of locations throughout the Czech Republic and this was the seventh edition here in České Budějovice.