Tomáš Vrba, Chartist and editor of samizdat, former colleague of Václav Havel, studied philosophy and psychology at Charles University, Prague, where he was taught by the philosopher and co-founder of Charter 77 Jan Patočka. After signing Charter 77, he worked in various manual occupations, while editing and publishing samizdat texts. Following the revolution of 1989 he worked, for example, as chief editor of the Czech and Slovak edition of Lettre International and the monthly magazine Přítomnost. Later he was vice president of the Association of European Journalists (2002-2004), and chair of the Czech News Agency Council (2004-2007). He currently lectures in literature at the University of New York in Prague, and he also works as a translator and editor.

The seminar was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

Mr. Tomáš Vrba and Mrs. Jana Fischerova, Adjunct Assistant Professor