UCIS     University Center for International Studies
  • Contact:

    Gina Peirce
    REES Assistant Director/Outreach Coordinator
    University of Pittsburgh
    4414 Posvar Hall
    Pittsburgh, PA 15260

    Phone: 412-648-2290
    E-Mail: gbpeirce@pitt.edu

    • Outreach Resources
    Instructional Resource Library

    REES offers a variety of educational resources to promote international awareness for various age groups. These materials are available for free lending to educators by mail or in person. View the list of resources in the REES collection.

    Curriculum Guides to New EU Member States

    REES has developed a series of high school/introductory college level curriculum guides to Central European countries that have joined or may join the European Union. The completed guides may be downloaded from the Outreach World Website.

    Russian Grammar and Literature Collection

    Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh has donated to REES a collection of Russian grammar and literature books (including many in the original Russian) that were previously used in the school's Russian language program. These books are available for free lending to educators and Russian language learners. The list of titles may be downloaded in PDF or MS Excel format.

    Understanding 20th Century Russian History Through Literature

    This resource section is based on a workshop for high school teachers led by REES Assistant Director Gina Peirce on October 9, 2006 at Gateway Senior High School in Monroeville, PA. The workshop was part of a countywide professional development day organized by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit for K-12 teachers throughout Allegheny County, PA.

    Participants were introduced to several works of Russian literature that can be used in the high school classroom to illustrate the effects exerted on the lives of ordinary Russians by major historical events of the 20th century, from the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution to the Stalinist terror and the extensive “gulag” (prison camp) system. Excerpts of works by Boris Pasternak, Mikhail Zoshchenko, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn were discussed. The Power Point presentation used at this workshop, including complete bibliographical information, may be downloaded here.

    Links to other web resources on Russian historical literature will be added to this site on an ongoing basis. If you are a high school teacher and would like to submit a lesson plan, class lecture notes, or other educational resource that you have developed on this topic for posting on this site, please submit your materials to Gina Peirce.

    1989-2009: The 20th Anniversary of the Fall of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe

    The year 2009 marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Communist governments in Hungary, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania. The following links may be of interest to secondary school teachers wishing to familiarize their students with these watershed events and their continuing significance in today’s world. To suggest additional links or resources for posting, please contact Gina Peirce.