Jan Záhořík

Odborné zaměření

  • moderní a soudobé dějiny Etiopie a Afrického rohu
  • vztahy mezi Československem a Afrikou
  • konflikty v Africe
 

 

Education and qualification

  • 2014    Associate professor of modern history at the Faculty of social sciences, Charles University, Prague
  • 2004 – 2008 Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Ph.D. in History and Cultures of Asia and Africa, program: Historical sciences
  • 2001 – 2004 Faculty of Humanities, University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Mgr. in Cultural anthropology of the Near East, program: International territorial studies
  • 1998 – 2001 Faculty of Humanities, University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Bc. in social and cultural anthropology, program: Anthropology 

Research focus

Modern and contemporary history and politics of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa; relations between former Czechoslovakia and Africa; European-African relations; Cold War in Africa; conflicts in Africa; causes and consequences of migration; socio-economic development in Africa (with particular focus on Ethiopia and East Africa); terrorism and security

Since 2006 I have conducted research during multiple stays (25 in total) in Ethiopia ranging from 2 weeks to 6 months; minor research or academic stays include Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Morocco

 

Pedagogical and work experience

  • Since 2017       Vice-dean for external relations, Faculty of Arts, University of West Bohemia
  • 2015-2017       Vice-chair of the Academic Senate, Faculty of Arts, University of West Bohemia
  • Since 2006       teacher/lecturer at the University of West Bohemia and the University of New York in Prague: Colonial History, Post-colonial history, Conflicts in Africa, History of Ethiopia, Modern History of Africa, Islam in Subsaharan Africa, Pre-colonial history of Africa, Development and Globalization; Third World; Cultural Anthropology; Indian Ocean

Lecturing worldwide

  • Since 2006       invited speaker, keynote speaker at universities in Pavia (Italy), Falun (Sweden), Jimma (Ethiopia), Nairobi (Kenya), High Point University (USA), Cologne (Germany), Krakow (Poland), Banska Bystrica (Slovakia), Oulu (Finland), Marrakech (Morocco), Khartoum (Sudan), Lukenya (Kenya)

 

Consultancy, media

  • Since 2006 – occasional consultancy, interviews, and programs related to African security, politics, society for various Czech newspapers, radio stations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NGOs, and other institutions

 

Grants and Awards

  • University of New York in Prague Award in Recognition for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Service to the Institution (2018)
  • Research Grant of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (2016) Politics and Ethnicity in Ethiopia
  • Research Grant of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (2015) Former Czechoslovakia and Ethiopia during the Cold War: Ideological or Pragmatic cooperation?
  • Research Grant of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (2014) External Factors and their impact on political dynamics in Ethiopia
  • Best Conference Paper Award at the 6th Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (2013, Washington, D.C.)
  • Czech Science Foundation (2009-2011), 409/09/P061 Separatism, conflicts and seeds of tensions in Africa: theories, causes and case studies
  • Grant of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (2008)  New geopolitical scramble for Africa
  • Grant of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (2009) Oil deposits in Africa and their influence on global politics
  • Specific research of the Faculty of Arts UWB in Pilsen (2008) Viva Africa 2008. 3rd International Conference on African Studies
  • Specific research of the Faculty of Arts UWB in Pilsen (2009) Viva Africa 2007. 2nd International Conference on African Studies
  • Scholarship of the Jan Hus Education Foundation (2006)

 

Organizer, member

  • Organizer of the 4th Biennial CRG AEGIS African History Conference, Pilsen, 2018
  • Organizer of the 1st Central European African Studies Conference in Pilsen, 2014
  • Organizer of Africa Days 2013 and 2015 conferences, Pilsne, Czech Republic
  • Co-organizer and patron of the 1st Ethio-Czech International Conference on Africa at Jimma University, Ethiopia
  • Co-organizer of scientific conferences of Viva Africa 2006, 2007, 2008, Pilsen, Czech Republic
  • Member of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa
  • Member of the International Advisory Board, Ethnologia Actualis
  • Member of the International Advisory Board, Ethiopian Journal of Social Sciences and Languages
  • Member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of African Interdisciplinary Studies

Other activities

  • Since 2017      Contributor to a project called “Encyclopedia of Migration” organized by students from Charles University, Prague
  • Since 2015      Member of the Academic Board of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, University of West Bohemia in Pilsen
  • Since 2014      Member of the International Advisory Board of the Ethiopian Journal of Social Sciences and Languages
  • 2015                Organizer of the Exhibition titled “20th Century Revisited: Relations between former Czechoslovakia and Ethiopia” (inaugurated in Addis Ababa, October 2015) in cooperation with the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Addis Ababa

 

Bibliography

  • Záhořík, J. (2019): Shifting between Pragmatism and Ideology: Czechoslovak-Ethiopian Relations in the Cold War, 1955-1978. Journal of Cold War Studies (under review).
  • Záhořík, J. (2018): Inequalities and Conflicts in Modern and Contemporary African History: A Comparative Perspective. Lanham: Lexington Books.
  • Záhořík, J. – Piknerová, L. (eds.): Colonialism on the Margins of Africa. New York: Routledge.
  • Ylönen, A. – Záhořík, J. (eds., 2017): The Horn of Africa since the 1960s: International and Local Politics Intertwined. New York: Routledge.
  • Křížek, D. – Záhořík, J. (eds., 2017): Beyond the Arab Spring in North Africa. Lanham: Lexington Books.
  • Záhořík, J. (2017): Czechoslovakia and Congo/Zaire under Mobutu, 1965-1980. Canadian Journal of History 65/2.
  • Záhořík, J. (2017): Reconsidering Ethiopia’s ethnic politics in the light of the Addis Ababa Master Plan and Anti-governmental Protests. Journal of the Middle East and Africa 8/3.
  • Záhořík, J. (2014): Ethiopia’s Hegemony in the Horn of Africa: Internal Tensions and External Challenges Before and After Meles Zenawi. Journal of the Middle East and Africa 5/1.
  • Záhořík, J.; Dvořáček, J. (2014): Czech Travelers, Entrepreneurs and Advisors in Ethiopia, 1918-1937: A Preliminary Survey. Journal of Ethiopian Studies
  • Záhořík, J. (2012): Ethnicity and Regime Change in Ethiopia. In: Amutabi, M., Nasong’o, S. (eds.): Succession Politics and Regime Change in Africa. London and New York: Routledge.