Science and research

Research Profile

The Department of Czech Literature has a longstanding tradition of linking the study of literature with didactic perspectives.
Our staff actively participate in research projects as well as practical initiatives whose results directly influence teaching and the preparation of future teachers of Czech language and literature.
The department collaborates with major institutions such as the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MŠMT), the National Pedagogical Institute of the Czech Republic (NPI ČR), the Institute of Czech Literature of the Czech Academy of Sciences (ÚČL AV ČR), the Moravian Library, international universities, and cultural institutions.
We contribute to the development of educational materials, the creation of interactive textbooks and digital tools, and organize academic conferences and workshops for teachers.

Collaboration with Institutions

The Department of Czech Literature works with numerous significant institutions, including the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (research on Czech Naturalism), the Department of New Media at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, and the Goethe-Institut (project Playing Kafka), the Moravian Library (educational materials for Milan Kundera’s novel Žert, among others), as well as the Institute of Czech Literature of the Czech Academy of Sciences (projects Generating Czech Poetry in Educational and Multimedia Environments, Česká knižnice) and the Czech Library Association (project Bookstart).

Publications and Academic Activities

Members of the department publish in peer-reviewed journals in the Czech Republic and abroad, including Česká literatura, Slovo a smysl, Svět literatury, Slovo a obraz, Didaktické studie, Komenský, O dieťati, jazyku, literatúre, Bohemistyka, and Wiener Slavistisches Jahrbuch.
They also serve on editorial boards and as reviewers (e.g. Česká literatura; Gramotnost, pregramotnost a vzdělávání; Orbis Scholae; Literární archiv; Český jazyk a literatura).

The Department of Czech Literature regularly organizes academic conferences and actively presents its research at national and international meetings. Every two years it hosts the conference Čtu a stávám se čtenářem. Its staff also contribute to conferences both in the Czech Republic and abroad (e.g. Palacký University in Olomouc, Comenius University in Bratislava, the University of Prešov, and various interdisciplinary symposia).

The department also systematically supports student research activities – students regularly participate in the Student Literary Conference organized by the Institute of Czech Literature of the Czech Academy of Sciences, where they have repeatedly received awards, and engage in other academic events such as Škola, jazyk a literatura (UJEP, 2025).

Staff members of the department have been involved in numerous faculty projects funded by the European Social Fund, such as Support for Undergraduate Education of Future Teachers at Charles University (including the creation of a discipline-specific competence framework for Czech language and literature), Improving the Quality of Education, Development of Key Competencies and Literacy, Implementation of Formative Assessment in Primary Schools, and EDUBO – Educational Platform for Safe Online Teaching.

The results of research activities, projects, and international cooperation are systematically incorporated into teaching. Students thus engage with current trends in literary studies and didactics of literature and have opportunities to participate directly in the department’s research activities.

Contact and Further Information

Individual research interests, publications, and project involvement of department members are available on the page Department staff.

If your university is interested in establishing collaboration (e.g. through a bilateral Erasmus+ agreement), please contact our international cooperation coordinator, Mgr. et MgA. Eva Navrátilová, Ph.D., at eva.navratilova@pedf.cuni.cz.