Mangia con noi! Bring your lunch and chat with us! Pitt students only, all levels welcome!

Moderator/s:
Gabriella Lukacs, University of Pittsburgh
Erica Edwards, University of Pittsburgh

Panelists:
Zsuzsanna Szelényi, Founding Director, CEU Democracy Institute Leadership Academy
Ms. Szelényi is a former politician from Hungary, foreign policy specialist, author and Founding Director at the CEU Democracy Institute Leadership Academy. She is conducting research on how autocratic politics is influencing and shaping the future of the European Union. In the framework of the Democracy Institute Leadership Academy, her team develops a curriculum supporting pro-democracy activists in Central and Eastern Europe. Her book, Tainted Democracy, Viktor Orbán and the Subversion of Hungary, was listed among the best books in 2023 by Foreign Affairs.

Stefano Bottoni, Università degli Studi di Firenze (UNIFI)
Dr. Bottoni, PhD in Modern and Contemporary History (University of Bologna, 2005), is an Associate Professor at the SAGAS Department of the University of Florence. Between 2009 and 2019, he was a senior research fellow at the Research Center for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He was visiting fellow at the Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung (Potsdam, 2012), and Fellow of Imre Kertész Kolleg (Jena, 2015). His current research focuses on the historical legacies of illiberal rule in contemporary Hungary. He is the author of Orbán, Un despota in Europa (Roma, Salerno Editrice, 2019) and Obsessed with Power: Orbán's Hungary, published in Hungarian by Magyar Hang Könyvek in 2023.

Hosted by the Humanities Center and faculty fellow, Bridget Keown. Respondents include Alexander Tough (Hispanic Languages and Literatures) & Susan Grayzel (History, Utah State University). This event will be hybrid, so you can attend it either in person in 602 CL or via Zoom as you prefer.

The “shell-shocked soldier” remains one of the most enduring images of the First World War, and often serves as a symbol for the anguish of combatant soldiers across time and space. Even now, scholars and writers liken “shell shock” with “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)”, often describing them as the same condition with different names and political meaning (Vance & Howell, 2020). While there is value in noting that war has always harmed those it touches, this lack of specificity also deters analysis into the construction of “shell shock” during the First World War, and the biases that continue to inform trauma research and diagnoses to the present day. My paper argues that, in professional discourse around “shell shock”, both doctors and military officials focused on combatant men, and relied on pre-war theories of gendered behavior, emotions, and self-control to define their condition, only developing new tactics and theories where necessary for victory. As a result, many groups of people, including women, did not receive consideration as patients. I analyze medical journals, conference reports, and popular media of the First World War, showing how doctors justified their choices in constructing “shell shock,” and discussing the implications such choices would have on those who were excluded, specifically women. I argue that the limits of “shell shock,” as a diagnosis and as a symbol, continue to inhibit discussions of war trauma in the past and the present.

A Digital Portfolio (ePortfolio) is required for all students completing area or global studies certificates. The ePortfolio will help you synthesize your experiences inside and outside the classroom to demonstrate your understanding of world regions and global issues. You will also learn how to use the ePortfolio in future job and graduate school applications!

This series will include discussions and analyses of migration across the Americas, including the USA/Mexico Border, the border of Venezuela with neighboring countries, as well as other major migration routes in the Hemisphere.

Dr. Scott Morgenstern (Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh) will moderate a discussion with special guest and presenter, Federico Ríos, an award-winning photojournalist who has published numerous works on Latin America, armed conflict, the environment and its relationship with society. His work has appeared frequently in The New York Times, National Geographic, and other media. Mr. Ríos will specifically talk about his experience in the Darién Gap - an area around the border between Panama and Colombia considered one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes.

Please register using this link: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/clas/content/clas-event-registration

This presentation will be in English.

Photo by Federico Ríos, The New York Times

A Zoom link will be sent as we get closer to the event.

In this meeting we will consider whether and to what extent the rhetoric and practice of the European Union resembles the rhetoric and practices associated with the historical European
international society and its expansion that led to the creation of the contemporary global international society. To this end, two comparisons will be made: first, between the historical
standard of 'civilization’ and EU’s conditionality; and second, between how Russia and the Ottoman Empire were perceived and treated in previous centuries with the way that the EU has treated the cases of Russia and Turkey in recent years.

Yannis A. Stivachtis is Professor of Political Science and Jean Monnet Chair at Virginia Tech where he serves as Director of the Center for European Union, Transatlantic and Trans-European Space Studies (CEUTTSS) - A Jean Monnet Center of Excellence. He is the editor of Routledge’ Critical European Studies book series and co-editor of the Athens Journal of Mediterranean Studies. He currently serves as Senior Advisor of the Center for European and Mediterranean Affairs (CEMA) of the Athens Institute for
Education & Research (ATINER) (Greece) and Senior Advisor of the Research Institute for European & American Studies (RIEAS, Greece). His research and teaching interests include international relations theory (with particular emphasis on the English School of International Relations and the study of regional international system/society in
Europe, Eurasia, and the Middle East), European Studies (including EU’s strategy, CFSP/CSDP, Enlargement, and ENP), European Security (including arms control and disarmament), and international organizations in Europe (NATO, OSCE, CoE, CSTO and EAEU). He previously taught at The American College of Switzerland, the Geneva School of Diplomacy;
International Relations, the European Institute of the University of Geneva, and the Vienna Diplomatic Academy and served as Research Fellow at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), the Institute for Strategic Studies- of the Austrian Ministry of Defense, the Austrian Institute of European & Security Policy (AIES); and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). He has authored and edited several books and has published numerous journal articles and book chapters.

Moderator: Randall Halle--Director, European Studies Center

Seats are limited to allow for good conversation.

Join the French Club for conversation hours, on Mondays & Thursday at 5-6 pm during Spring 2024, for French speaking individuals of varying levels to practice the French language.

The International Night at Lincoln School was a lively gathering, with around 200-250 people attending, including 81 students who signed up via Google form. People from various countries, like Mexico, Japan, and Italy, brought delicious food to share. The event showed how diverse the community is. Also, we learned that 20.3% of Lincoln students qualify for free/reduced lunch, the highest in the district.

The International Night at Lincoln School was lively, with around 200-250 people attending, including 81 students who signed up via Google form. People from various countries, like Mexico, Japan, and Italy, brought delicious food to share. There was even a map where attendees could mark where they were from. It showed how diverse our community is. Also, we learned that 20.3% of Lincoln students qualify for free/reduced lunch, the highest in the district. Teachers at the Lincoln Elementary School thanked the University of Pittsburgh for its support. They hope to work together again in the future.