Texas Czech Heritage Month

The month of October typically brings many festivals throughout the State of Texas to celebrate and honor the heritage of this state’s Czech descendants.  October 28 also marks the date when the first independent Czechoslovak state was founded after World War I from territories that were previously part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  President Tomáš G. Masaryk became the leader of a state that was based on President Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points, especially the principle of self-determination.  Czechoslovakia became one of Europe’s first successful multi-party parliamentary democracies, and it was stable enough to withstand the international depression of the 1930s.  Although Czechoslovakia no longer exists today, Czechs and Slovaks continue to view October 28 as the day of their national founding.

There are over one million people living in all areas of Texas and all walks of life who can claim Czech heritage.  They take great pride in sharing with the rest of the state their contributions in the areas of art, music, literature, food, folklore, and many other fine customs that are part of Texas’ rich diverse culture.  These Czech as well as descendants of Slovak and Silesian people who today make up the present Czech and Slovak Republics are renowned for their exemplary work ethics and love of democracy and have established standards of excellence as both private and public citizens to whom all can aspire recognition.  

This program will address the lives of students in the Czech Republic, primarily at Masaryk University, one of the Czech Republic’s premiere universities named after the late, first President of a free Czechoslovakia.  Students in the Czech Republic have so much to share with students in the United State and students in the United States have so much to share with students in the Czech Republic.  We hope this panel will be a model for other universities to use to bring students together from both countries.  Participants will be Cultural Attaché Jan Woska, Adam Weschsler, Daniel Jirku, and Hiroko Martin.  Moderating the panel will be Dr. Joseph Baar Topinka.

Jan Woska is a Cultural Attaché at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, DC. In his role, he is responsible for the Embassy´s cultural programming, outreach to Czech compatriots, and social media.

Previously, he has worked as a Translatlantic Diplomatic Fellow in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the Department of State and as a Legal Expert at the Czech Foreign Ministry.

Before joining the diplomatic corps, Jan worked in a law office specializing in sports law. He participated in sports for development exchanges, interacting and uniting with participants from all over the world. He is a co-founder of Footballin, an NGO promoting mutual understanding and respect through sports.

DANIEL JIRKU is the President of the Student Chamber of the Masaryk University Academic Senate, the university’s highest democratically elected body.  He represents more than 34,000 students. Daniel has been serving in the representative bodies of the university since 2017; first as a senator, then as Student Body President of the Faculty of Social Studies.  Since 2021, he has been part of the university's Crisis Committee, which is responsible for strategic management of the COVID-19 response.  He also currently serves as a member of the Security Emergency Board, which manages the University's security policy in response to the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis.  Daniel is a MA student in International Relations.  He holds a Master's degree in Political Science and a Bachelor's degree with a double major in Political Science and International Relations.  On the side, he happily studies geography trivia and routes up the rock wall.  Between the two biggest cities of the Czech Republic, Brno and Prague, Daniel now tries to maintain his university and working life.  In Prague, he works as a parliamentary assistant in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. He would like to pursue a future career in diplomatic service.

Adam Weschler is a 5th year medical student at Masaryk University in Brno.  He is a member of the Academic Senate’s Student Chamber of the university and a former president of the Academic Senate’s Student Chamber of the Faculty of Medicine.  To gain more experience in the field of surgery – which is his desired career path – he works in the Trauma Hospital of Brno as a healthcare assistant.  During the COVID-19, Adam and his colleagues established a med students volunteer platform coordinating students who were willing to help medical entities cope with the onslaught of the pandemic.  For this, he later received an honorary bronze medal of the Masaryk University.  His connection to American culture runs deep, as part of his family lives in Philadelphia.  That's one of the reasons he started playing baseball.  It soon became his passion and allowed him to travel the world with Czech youth national teams and play at the highest level, such as the 2014 World Cup in Mexico and the 2015 Colt World Series in Lafayette, Indiana.  Although he no longer plays and is pursuing his medical studies, his love for the sport remains as he still a huge Phillies fan.

Pavel Kraus is a Junior at McNeese State University located in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Before coming to the United States, he studied at Brno University of Technology for three semesters. He is majoring in Civil Engineering with a minor in Business Administration. He is a member of the Honors College at McNeese. After being the Social Media Director, Pavel was elected to be the Vice President and Student Government Association Representative for the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Being active within this student organization allows him to be the captain of the Concrete Canoe team. Because of certain restrictions for international students, he chose to work as a teacher’s assistant for the Department of Engineering and Computer Science at McNeese while working on research focusing on using agricultural waste in concrete. His journey to the US was only possible because of being a student-athlete (track and field, cross country). 

Hiroko Martin is a final year medical student at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. A native of El Paso, Texas, she received her bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Texas at El Paso before crossing the Atlantic Ocean and settling in central Europe. In 2017, she took part in a humanitarian relief mission providing medical care in underserved areas throughout Ghana. A lifelong learner, Hiroko is passionate about research and academia. At Masaryk University, she has been a member of the Masaryk International Medical Students' Association, focusing on pre-clinical education through the development of multimedia learning materials and interactive medical algorithms, tutoring, and serving as a student representative for her year. She has also contributed to an assortment of English-language instructional materials intended for official use within the curriculum for international students of general medicine at the university. Her specialty of interest is radiology, and she has been involved in research at the Department of Radiology at the Bohunice Faculty Hospital in Brno since 2018. After graduation, she intends to pursue her love for academia through postgraduate studies while undergoing residency. Outside of education, Hiroko is a "foodie" and enjoys traveling. She has wholly appreciated the opportunity to absorb Czech culture and language while living in Czechia, and hopes to add "fluent Czech" as the fifth language to her linguistic library.