academy management 2020-2022
DIRECTOR OF THE UNITARIAN ACADEMY
Elected for the years 2020–2022
prof. Ing. arch. Michal Kohout
(*1964) Architect, educator and theoretician, director of the Department of Building Science of the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague, where he also sponsors an educational cycle on housing and is in charge of a studio. He is the author and co-author of more than 30 constructed buildings, of which many received awards at competitions of Czech and international architecture. He is an authorized architect of the Czech Chamber of Architects, a co-founder of the architectural office UNIT Architects, the research organization Center for Quality Living and the publishing house Zlatý řez, where he also co-edits the magazine of the same name. He has also co-authored or co-edited various books and articles on modern Czech architecture and the theory of a developed environment (Forma sleduje smysl: na okraj architektury (Form Follows Purpose: At the Edge of Architecture), Sídliště, jak dál? (Housing Development, What Next?), Hromadné bydlení (Collective Housing), Můj dům, naše ulice (My Home, Our Street), Česká republika / Moderní architektura (Czech Republic / Modern Architecture), Praha / Architektura XX. století (Prague / Architecture of the 20th Century).
He is also the sponsor of a number of research projects and an expert on public professional and housing policy.
He is involved in the management of the Unitarian Church (chairman of the local board of directors of the Prague Unitarian congregation, member of the headquarters board of directors, chairman of the committee for real estate management) as well as in other activities (lectures and publications, expeditions abroad, sharing group).
At the beginning of the year 2016 he was appointed the director of the Unitarian Academy by the headquarters board of directors on the basis of a selection procedure.
COMMITTEE OF THE UNITARIAN ACADEMY
Members elected for the years 2020–2022
Mgr. Jiří Motl, Ph.D.
(* 1978) Jiří Motl is involved in the psychology of religion. He completed his doctoral studies at the Faculty of Philosophy of Charles University. The theme of his dissertation was the relationship between psychological illness and religion. During his studies he spent two semesters at the Islamic Theological Faculty in Istanbul and one semester at the Jagellon University in Krakow. He now teaches and does research at Charles University and the Technical University in Liberec. He is also involved in Gestalt psychotherapy. He has practiced Buddhist mediation for ten years and is a practicing Catholic.
Rev. Mgr. Vlastimil Krejčí
(* 1966) He completed his studies of Religion, Ethics and Philosophy Oriented at Education at the Hussite Theological Faculty, Charles University in Prague. Even before his studies, he has worked in adult education for six years. Personal development and growth is his long-term goal. He attended many seminars, aimed at personal development, as well as a coaching training program. Presently he serves as a lay minister of the Religious Society of Czech Unitarians and attends to the needs of the Unitarian congregation in Teplice. Both his professional and personal spiritual interests are also realized through his hobby, target archery.
PhDr. Jana Tichá, Ph.D.
(* 1964) Her research interests include modern and contemporary architecture and art in its broader cultural context. She wrote many books, including PRG 2021, a guidebook focusing on the contemporary architecture of Prague (2007, with Irena Fialova as co-author). She publishes scholarly articles on a regular basis, both in Czech and foreign journals. She worked as an editor on four anthologies of architectural theory. Architektura a globalizace (Architecture and globalization) (2012) is the latest addition to this series. In 2015 her book Prostor a místo: Architektonická tvorba na území České republiky 1989-2014 (Space and place: Architectural work in the Czech Republic in 1989 – 2014) was published. It presents a first attempt to give an overview of architectural changes, which took place in the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. She was a co-author of the exposition that Czech and Slovak Republic presented at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2010. She is director of Zlatý řez (Golden Ratio) publishing house since 1996. The publishing house specializes in books about history, theory and critical reflection of modern and contemporary architecture. At UMPRUM (Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague) she teaches the course Czech Architecture of the 20th Century in English. She also gives lectures about architectural theory and art history after the year 1960 at FA ČVUT (CTU in Prague, Faculty of Architecture). She started visiting unitarian programs in Prague in 2014, and in January 2017 she became a member of the unitarian congregation in Prague. She takes part mainly in unitarian activities that include communication with foreign countries, provides translations of texts and interpreting during the visits of guests from partner congregations. She is interested mainly in personal spirituality, questions of personal freedom and responsibility, human creativity and its manifestation both in the arts and in everyday material culture, and the relations between culture and nature.
Rev. M. Div. Petr Samojský, D. Min.
(* 1966) He is a minister of the Religious Society of Czech Unitarians. He received a Master of Divinity diploma from Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago and his Doctor of Ministry diploma from the Chicago Theological Seminary. For a long time he has been involved in the systematic Unitarian education of ministers and lay management and is active in international Unitarian activities. He is the author of numerous studies about N.F. Čapek and early Unitarianism in Czechoslovakia, in English among other languages, and of the books Spiritualita (nejen) pro skeptiky (Spirituality (not only) for skeptics), Dobrodružství zvané svatba (The Adventure Called Wedding), Krajina jako duchovní dědictví (Land as Spiritual Heritage), the co-author of the books Víme, že nejsme sami? (Do We Know We Are Not Alone?), Tři pilíře unitářské teologie (The Three Pillars of Unitarian Theology) and Na pobřeží Oceánu Pravdy (On the Shores of the Ocean of Truth) and the editor of the publication Krásně je žít (Life is Beautiful). He lives with his family near Prague, and his hobbies include literature, poetry and music, especially the tradition of the Indian sitar and Pagan chants.
PhDr. Kristýna Ledererová Kolajová
(* 1978) Graduated from the University of South Bohemia with an MA degree in cultural history and received her doctorate in Czech history. After completing her studies, she worked for eight years in heritage preservation, where she led the professional editorial office of the General Directorate of the Czech National Heritage Institute. Since 2009 she has been working in the Religious Society of Czech Unitarians, where she has helped to revive its publishing activities at the national level and was one of the founders of the Czech Unitarians’ magazine Tvůrčí život/Creative Life. Since the magazine’s foundation, she has been working in its editorial office. Her activities related to her congregation include preparing and coordinating long-term educational projects for both the congregation’s members and members of public (Landscape as a spiritual heritage, Importance of spirituality in human creativity, Home and landscape, Who is a stranger here? And yet it moves, I will not give up!), managing the related editorial activities and professional conferences. Since 2015 she has been the chair of the Central Administrative Board. Her hobbies include Unitarian history, botany, fine arts, reading, outdoor sports and family.
Mgr. Matyáš Müller, Ph.D.
(* 1985) Graduated from the Charles University with an MA degree in anthropology and received his Ph.D. degree in philosophy and history of natural sciences at the Faculty of Science of the same university. In addition, he studied psychological and psychiatric anthropology in London for two years. Currently, he works at the National Institute of Mental Health and lectures at the Hussite Theological Faculty, where he also teaches gestalt therapy courses. He also focuses on the issues of destigmatization of mental illnesses in the society. Since 2017, he has been undergoing psychotherapeutic training in the somatically oriented method of biosynthesis. He combines his knowledge of anthropology and psychology with his interest in religion, magic, shamanism and the healthy and unhealthy functioning of the human mind. He has been practising kung fu for a long time and is also interested in postmodern philosophy.