Study plan

The Final State Examination consists of three thematic realms, to which were dedicated special courses in the frame of a doctoral study curriculum.

1) The Metholodogy of the Sciences of Man (Humanities)
2) The History of Aesthetics and Culture
3) Concepts and Methods of Aesthetic Theory

The content is specified in the descriptions of the study courses, but it also takes in consideration the specialization of a candidate.
The doctoral examination covers the branches of Aesthetics and Study of Culture from the historical and the systematic points of view, Structuralism, Semiotics and Philosophy of Arts, and further fields and disciplines in accordance with individual specialization of a candidate and in relation to the character of his thesis. Examination and defense are carried out according to the prescriptions and norms of Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts.
The aim of the doctoral state exam is to prove students’ ability to present in an oral form selected topics from above-mentioned disciplines corresponding with the profile of the thesis and with an orientation of the Ph.D. group, in the activities of which the student actively participates. The aim of the exam is to check the ability of the Ph.D. student to interpret artistic and cultural phenomena, to reflect critically present-day sources, to participate in discussion and to resent their arguments in a way focused on facts.
The aim of the Ph.D. theses is to work independently on a specific topic in an innovative way. PhD. students in their theses reflect present-day state of knowledge of the particular issues, on this basis clearly formulate the topic of their thesis, suggesting adequate methods of research, collect the data, evaluate them and analyses them critically, in the conclusions summarize the obtained results, putting them into a wider context of the particular discipline and clearly formulate, in what respect the thesis enlarges, deepens, specifies or corrects the present-day knowledge.
Defence of the Ph.D. thesis consists of the following points: presentation of the Ph.D. student by the supervisor, presentation of main points of the thesis by the Ph.D. student, presentation of thesis reports, reaction to the reports, discussion. After the discussion, the board votes and gives a mark.

For the admission to the doctoral examination it is obligatory to fulfill all the necessary conditions of the Ph.D. study and to submit a thesis prepared under supervision. In addition, a candidate is expected to teach a thematic course for at least one semester; to accomplish a stay in abroad lasting 1 month (min.), and to publish the results his/her own research in two articles minimally.

Suggested themes:
Oleg Sus and his Theory of Absurd
The Poetic Function in the Works of Roman Jakobson
The Aesthetics of Comics and the Popular Culture
Analogical Cognition in the Frame of the Neuro-Sciences

Defended themes:
The Dimension of Privacy in Joseph Roth's Narrative Prose
The Aesthetic Categories in De Amore
Dandyism and Bohemia: Karásek, Marten, Breisky
Aesthetic Interpretation of Love and Death in Consideration of Hölderlin's and Rilke's Works
Anglo-American Reception Ingarden's Concept of the Literary Work
A Theory of Photography in the Context of Visual Culture: The Question of Aesthetic Evaluation
In Search of Meaning in the Narrative Picture-Making and Illustration
On Aesthetic Principles of the French Formal Gardening
A Significance of Wladislaw Tatarkiewicz for the History of Aesthetics