Events in UCIS

Monday, April 1

3:30 pm Student Club Activity
Talk Time – English Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for Ethnic Studies Research, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center, Global Hub, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Office of International Services and Global Experiences Office
See Details

Come meet international students, make friends, practice conversational English, and have fun together, during these weekly discussion groups coordinated by the English Language Institute. Feel free to bring your lunch :)

5:00 pm Student Club Activity
French Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with French Club
See Details

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.

6:00 pm Student Club Activity
Quechua Mini Lessons
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub

Tuesday, April 2

12:00 pm Panel Discussion
The Roma in Europe: Development and Inclusion
Location:
Zoom Webinar
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and European Studies Center along with Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities
See Details

The aim of this panel is to bring together academic and non-academic perspectives to reflect on two issues:

1) The challenges Europe/the EU faces in terms of programs that target Roma inclusion, equality, and community development.
2) Roma-driven social justice initiatives at the local, national, or transnational level that seek to address the gap between policy and community needs.

Moderated by:
Angéla Kóczé, Director of the Romani Studies Program (Central European University)
Zsuzsánna Magdó, Associate Director of the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (University of Pittsburgh)

Panelists:
Adriana Helbig, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies (DSAS) and Associate Professor of Music
László Fosztó, Senior Researcher (Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities)
Silas Kropf, Independent Consultant and former Member of the Independent Commission on Anti-gypsyism in Germany

12:30 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
The Next Rising Country: The Social Worlds of Expansionism in Argentina, 1860s-1900s
Location:
4130 Posvar and Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
2:30 pm Panel Discussion
Providing Health Services in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies
Location:
105 David Lawrence Hall
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and Global Studies Center along with School of Public Health's Center for Global Health
See Details

Natural disasters, civil unrest, open conflict, and other unstable situations create challenges for healthcare providers. Clinicians and support personnel face potentially dangerous conditions as they provide physical and mental health care services to communities where authority and infrastructure have broken down. A diverse panel of speakers will describe their experiences addressing healthcare provision during complex humanitarian emergencies in Ukraine, Haiti, and Gaza.

Guest speakers include: Dr. Thaer Ahmad who just returned from volunteering in Khan Younis Gaza, Dr. Yvetot Joseph calling in from Haiti, and Dr. Sahloul, executive director Medglobal and Dr. Andreescu , Human Rights in Mental Health-FGIP

3:30 pm Student Club Activity
Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for Ethnic Studies Research, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center, Global Hub, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Office of International Services and Global Experiences Office
See Details

Are you looking to gain experience that will help prepare you for a
globally-connected job market? Stop by Drop-In Hours to learn more
about getting the Global Distinction added to your academic transcript,
receiving special recognition at graduation, and standing out to
prospective employers!

4:00 pm Information Session
Global Experiences Peer Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for Ethnic Studies Research, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center, Global Hub, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Office of International Services and Global Experiences Office
See Details

Join Global Experiences Office Peer Advisors for this weekly roundtable in the Global Hub! Bring your questions about study abroad programs!

6:00 pm Student Club Activity
German Club at Pitt
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with German Club
See Details

Join German Club at Pitt’s weekly meetings, on Tuesdays at 6-7 pm during Spring 2024, to converse in German and learn German culture!

Wednesday, April 3

12:30 pm Student Club Activity
Tavolina
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of Italian
See Details

Join weekly Tavolina (a separate gathering from Tavola Italiana) to
practice Italian. This is an Italian conversation table aimed for beginner
and intermediate speakers.

3:30 pm Student Club Activity
Beginner Swahili Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies and Global Hub along with Less-Commonly-Taught-Languages Center
See Details

Join weekly Swahili Class 2 students for weekly conversation hours this
Spring semester, to practice Swahili outside of the classroom.

4:00 pm Student Club Activity
Hungarian Table
Location:
Braun Room
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
See Details

Come practice your conversational Hungarian with students of all levels!

5:30 pm Student Club Activity
Bate-Papo Portuguese Conversation Table
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Brazil Nuts Portuguese Club
See Details

Join weekly Bate-Papo Portuguese conversation practice for all levels,
from brand-new beginners to advanced or heritage speakers!

6:00 pm Lecture
An Evening with Yunte Huang, Author of "Daughter of the Dragon"
Location:
Alcoa Room, Barco Law Library 3rd Floor
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center along with Screenshot: Asia
See Details

A Guggenheim Fellow, Yunte Huang has taught at Harvard and the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he is a professor of English. The author of “Inseparable” and the Edgar Award-winning biography “Charlie Chan”-both National Book Critics Circle Award finalists-Huang speaks frequently about American popular culture.

At once a reclamation of Wong’s life and a trenchant social commentary, “Daughter of the Dragon”, with its lyrical writing and period illustrations, becomes a truly resonant work of history that reflects the raging anti-Chinese xenophobia, unabashed sexism, and ageism toward women that defined both Hollywood and America in Wong’s too-brief time on earth.

6:30 pm Panel Discussion
Ask Me Anything: Pitt Study Abroad Young Alumni Council
Location:
Virtual
Sponsored by:
Global Experiences Office
See Details

Join a panel of Pitt Study Abroad Young Alumni Council members for a virtual Ask Me Anything event on April 3, 2024, at 6:30 PM ET. Our panel will be available to answer questions to help you feel more prepared for your study abroad experience. We look forward to seeing you there! Learn more and sign up here: https://forms.gle/zmLyCGSoKxbUYBHf8

7:00 pm Student Club Activity
Kya Baat Hai!
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Kya Baat Hai!
See Details

Join Spring 2024 Kya Baat Hai weekly conversation hours, on
Wednesdays from 7-8 pm, for students to practice speaking in Hindi and Urdu and connect over shared cultural experiences!

Thursday, April 4

12:00 pm Student Club Activity
Tavola Italiana
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of Italian
See Details

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

3:00 pm Symposium
A Conversation with Carl Ware (GSPIA '77): Using Personal Conviction and the Power of a Global Brand to Affect Economic and Societal Change
Location:
Hillman Library, Third Floor, Archives and Special Collections
Announced by:
Center for African Studies on behalf of Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA)
See Details

Join GSPIA Dean Carissa Slotterback and Carl Ware (GSPIA '77) as they explore how Ware's Pitt education powered his career and pivotal role in helping to end apartheid.

4:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Narratives of the Exiled:
Location:
4130 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center and Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs along with City of Asylum
4:00 pm Cultural Event
What is Ethnic Studies, Anyway?
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for Ethnic Studies Research and Global Hub
See Details

You've probably heard about ethnic studies, but what impact does it really have on our understanding of the world and each other? Dive into this vital discussion with students, faculty, and staff as we talk about what is Ethnic Studies.

5:00 pm Student Club Activity
French Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with French Club
See Details

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.

5:30 pm Reception
CLAS Grad Student Social
Location:
4130 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
6:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Global Literary Encounters
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center
See Details

Global Literary Encounters book discussions are pre-lecture discussions that align with the Pittsburgh Arts & Lecture's Ten Evenings series. Global Literary Encounters put prominent world authors and their work in a global perspective in order to provide additional insight on writers and engaging issues.

These pre-lecture discussions, hosted by the Global Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh, will take place via Zoom at 6pm EST. Please note that the "Global Literary Encounters" pre-lecture discussions are held on the Thursday before the Author Lectures, which are held on the following Monday and hosted by Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures.

6:00 pm Student Club Activity
Persian Language Table
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Less-Commonly-Taught-Languages Center
See Details

Join the Persian Language Table every other Thursday during Spring 2024 to practice language, celebrate culture, and meet new people!

6:00 pm Cultural Event/Lecture
Mini Swahili Language Lessons
Location:
Posvar Hall 3415
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies along with Less-Commonly Taught Languages Center
See Details

Karibuni! Are you interested in learning some conversational Swahili? Join us for a three part mini-series taught by our advanced Swahili students! Topics include introductions, bargaining, food, and more. We hope to see you there!

7:00 pm Information Session
Referral: Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Info Session
Location:
Webinar
Announced by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies on behalf of David C. Frederick Honors College
See Details

Register via Handshake to learn more about the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award, which allows English speakers to help teach the English language abroad! Hear from a current winner of the Fulbright ETA.

Friday, April 5

12:00 pm Information Session
Referral: British/Irish Awards Info Session
Location:
Webinar
Announced by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies on behalf of David C. Frederick Honors College
See Details

Want to study abroad for graduate school?

Register via Handshake for this info session, which will discuss scholarship opportunities for graduate students wanting to study abroad in the UK or Ireland!

3:00 pm Lecture
Modern China Lecture Series: Neil Diamant
Location:
4130 Posvar
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center
See Details

In Useful Bullshit Neil J. Diamant pulls back the curtain on early constitutional conversations between citizens and officials in the PRC. Scholars have argued that China, like the former USSR, promulgated constitutions to enhance its domestic and international legitimacy by opening up the constitution-making process to ordinary people, and by granting its citizens political and socioeconomic rights. But what did ordinary officials and people say about their constitutions and rights? Did constitutions contribute to state legitimacy?
Over the course of four decades, the PRC government encouraged millions of citizens to pose questions about, and suggest revisions to, the draft of a new constitution.

3:00 pm Lecture
The End of Motherhood: On Jain Voluntary Death in a Mode of Rift and Repair, with Dr. Miki Chase
Location:
3415 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center along with Department of Religious Studies
See Details

Since 2015, Jain communities have defended the practice of santhārā, a voluntary ritual fast until death practiced mostly by elderly laywomen, against claims formalized in Public Interest Litigation that the fast amounts to illegal suicide and its abetment through communal and familial coercion. Laywomen's santhārās employ a religious idiom to shift the strain of aging and death within the household, where norms of elderly, ascetic, and maternal self-effacement run together. This talk traces the stories of two women, Jethiben and Manishaben, to ethnographically explore the entanglements of these norms in household relations and configurations of kinship in which families--especially elder sons--allow or encourage their mothers to undertake the fast until death. Jethiben’s accrual of agency over years in small acts oriented toward santhārā culminated in her decision to renounce household life and depart from her son’s home despite her family’s reluctance, whereas the decline of Manishaben’s physical health and cognitive capacities resulted in her children deciding in desperation to “give” her the vow of santhārā, acting as proxies on her behalf. In these contrasting situations, I reconsider the possibilities for what kind of ethical act santhārā can be, recognizing how the fast until death may exceed its religious implication to become a gesture of ethical repair concerned with the archetype, role, and relation of and to the mother. Santhārā in this mode endures and reconciles rifts within the intersubjective vulnerability of the family. The talk reflects on how the abandonment of self, filial care that assures a mother’s death, and the renunciation of relatedness may be recognized as carrying reparative potential in the face of death, despite the state’s corrosive suspicion of compulsion and family neglect.

Dr. Miki Chase is Assistant Professor and Śrī Anantnāth Chair in Jain Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was previously the inaugural Bhagwan Munisuvrata Swami Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Religion at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign after receiving her PhD in Anthropology from the Johns Hopkins University in 2022. Her research explores the intersections of anthropology of law and religion with the ethics of death and dying. Dr. Chase’s book project in progress is an ethnographic examination of social negotiations of the ascetic ethical disposition in the Jain voluntary fast unto death. Based on fieldwork in Delhi, Jaipur, and Mumbai, her work traces the gendered norms through which Jain laywomen reshape ideals and concepts of death outlined in scripture, attending to the complexities of urban domestic life, the medicalization of death, and the shifting political and legal terrain following public interest litigation contesting the legality of the fast. Her research has been funded by the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) (2019-20) and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (2018-19).

4:00 pm Lecture
Leo Tolstoy as a Literary Frontline of The Russian Revolution
Location:
Porter Hall 246A
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies along with Carnegie Mellon Department of History
5:30 pm Student Club Activity
Addverse Poesia Meetings
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Addverse Poesia
See Details

Join Addverse Poesia, an international and multilingual poetry group
that discusses, reads and translates poems in at least 4 languages, for
their weekly meetings!

Saturday, April 6

(All day) Cultural Event
Olympiada of Spoken Russian 2024
Location:
Frick Fine Arts
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies along with Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, ACTR Western Pennsylvania and Department of Modern Languages - Carnegie Mellon University
See Details

This annual national competition provides US school and college students the opportunity to demonstrate their Russian language knowledge while meeting with other students of Russian and conversing with native Russian speakers. Students will receive recognition for their demonstrated language proficiency, improve their chances of getting international and study abroad scholarships, and enhance their professional resume.
For more information and to register: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/creees/events/olympiada

Register by March 1, 2024

Competition (in-person and online): Saturday, April 6, 2024.

(All day) Deadline
Olympiada 2024
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies along with Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and Department of Modern Languages - Carnegie Mellon University
See Details

This annual national competition provides US school and college students the opportunity to demonstrate their Russian language knowledge while meeting with other students of Russian and conversing with native Russian speakers. Students will receive recognition for their demonstrated language proficiency, improve their chances of getting international and study abroad scholarships, and enhance their professional resume.
For more information and to register: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/creees/events/olympiada

Registration deadline: March 1, 2024.

Competition (in-person and online): Saturday, March 2, 2024.

Monday, April 8

2:00 pm Lecture
GEORG SPARBER-Ambassador of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the United States of America
Location:
William Pitt Union, Lower Level Lounge
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center, European Union Center of Excellence and Global Experiences Office along with Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA)
See Details

Georg Sparber is Ambassador of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the United States of America since 2021. He also serves as Liechtenstein’s Permanent Observer to the Organization of American States.
Before assuming his current duties, he held the position of Deputy Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein to the United Nations in New York since January 2017. His portfolio included disarmament, peace and security and political issues.

Light refreshements will be proivded

3:30 pm Student Club Activity
Talk Time – English Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for Ethnic Studies Research, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center, Global Hub, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Office of International Services and Global Experiences Office along with English Language Institute
See Details

Come meet international students, make friends, practice conversational English, and have fun together, during these weekly discussion groups coordinated by the English Language Institute. Feel free to bring your lunch :)

5:00 pm Student Club Activity
French Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with French Club
See Details

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.

Tuesday, April 9

12:30 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Conversations on Europe: Elections 2024:  European Parliament Elections across the 27 Member States” 
Location:
Zoom Webinar
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and European Union Center of Excellence along with Miami-Florida Jean Monnet European Center of Excellence at Florida International University, EU Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, Center for European Studies at the University of Florida, Center for European Studies at the University of Texas – Austin and Center for European and Transatlantic Studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology
See Details

During this session of our Conversations on Europe, we will focus our discussion on the ongoing election campaign to the European Parliament, as the elections will take place between June 6th and 9th. With a looming economic slowdown, increasing migration both on the southern and eastern border of the EU, and growing support for populist and nationalist parties, what are the prospects for EU integration? What are the main topics of the campaign, and how will they impact the elections? Which parties will gain a majority in the upcoming five-year term and shape the future of the EU?

Moderators:
Jae-Jae Spoon, University of Pittsburgh
Zeynep Somer-Topcu, The University of Texas at Austin

Panelists:
Kai Arzheimer, University of Mainz
Catherine DeVries, Bocconi University
Jan Rovny, Sciences Po-Paris

2:00 pm Colloquium
Translators in Conversation
Location:
McConomy Auditorium Cohon Student Center CMU
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center along with Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, Japan Foundation, Carnegie Mellon Department of Modern Languages and MONKEY New Writing from Japan
See Details

TED GOOSSEN is a literary translator, professor emeritus of Japanese literature at York University in Toronto, and a founding editor of MONKEY New Writing from Japan. His recent work includes Dragon Palace (MONKEY imprint, 2023) and The Third Love (Granta, 2024), both by Hiromi Kawakami.

SAM MALISSA holds a PhD in Japanese literature from Yale University. His translations of stories by Kyōhei Sakaguchi appear in every volume of MONKEY.

MOTOYUKI SHIBATA is a literary translator and professor emeritus of American literature at the University of Tokyo. He is the founder of the Japanese literary journal MONKEY and MONKEY New Writing from Japan. He has translated Paul Auster, Stuart Dybek, Brian Evenson, Laird Hunt, and Kelly Link, among others.

MEG TAYLOR edits Japanese literature in translation. She is the managing editor for MONKEY New Writing from Japan. She studied Japanese literature with Howard Hibbett at Harvard University and has spent most of her career in trade publishing.

DAVID BOYD teaches literary translation at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is known for his award-winning translations of Hiroko Oyamada and Mieko Kawakami,
among others. His translation of Takaoka’s Travels by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa will be published in May 2024 under the MONKEY imprint withStone Bridge Press.

3:00 pm Award Ceremony
Sheth International Achievement Awards
Location:
WPU Lower Lounge
Sponsored by:
Director's Office
See Details

Please join PittGlobal for a celebration of the Sheth International Achievement Awards as we honor our 2023 recipients:

Dr. Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, 2023 Sheth Distinguished Faculty Award for International Achievement recipient
Dr. Peace A. Medie, 2023 Sheth International Young Alumni Achievement Award recipient
Join us in celebrating the accomplishments of these prestigious global leaders at an in-person awards ceremony.

3:30 pm Information Session
Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for Ethnic Studies Research, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center, Global Hub, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Office of International Services and Global Experiences Office
See Details

Are you looking to gain experience that will help prepare you for a
globally-connected job market? Stop by Drop-In Hours to learn more
about getting the Global Distinction added to your academic transcript,
receiving special recognition at graduation, and standing out to
prospective employers!

4:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Amazonian Planetarities Workshop
Location:
4130 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies along with The World History Center
4:00 pm Information Session
Global Experiences Peer Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for Ethnic Studies Research, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center, Global Hub, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Office of International Services and Global Experiences Office
See Details

Join Global Experiences Office Peer Advisors for this weekly roundtable in the Global Hub! Bring your questions about study abroad programs!

6:00 pm Student Club Activity
German Club at Pitt
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with German Club
See Details

Join German Club at Pitt’s weekly meetings, on Tuesdays at 6-7 pm during Spring 2024, to converse in German and learn German culture!

Wednesday, April 10

12:30 pm Student Club Activity
Tavolina
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of Italian
See Details

Join weekly Tavolina (a separate gathering from Tavola Italiana) to
practice Italian. This is an Italian conversation table aimed for beginner
and intermediate speakers.

3:00 pm Colloquium
Hiromi Kawakami & Adam Ehrlich Sachs Writers Speak Across Cultures
Location:
G4 Cathedral of Learning
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center along with Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, Carnegie Mellon University Modern Languages, Japan Foundation and MONKEY New Writing from Japan
See Details

Join us for a conversation between Hiromi Kawakami, in town from Tokyo for only two days, and the Pittsburgh-based author Adam Ehrlich Sachs.

HIROMI KAWAKAMI is one of Japan’s most popular novelists. Many of her books have been published in English, including Manazuru, The Nakano Thrift Shop, Parade, Record of a Night Too Brief, Strange Weather in Tokyo (shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2013), and The Ten Loves of Nishino. She has won numerous Japanese literary awards, including the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, the Yomiuri Prize, and the Izumi Kyoka Prize for Literature. People from My Neighborhood, translated by Ted Goossen, was published in 2021. Dragon Palace, also translated by Ted Goossen, was published under the MONKEY imprint in 2023. Her work appears in every issue of MONKEY New Writing from Japan.

ADAM EHRLICH SACHS is the author of three books: Gretel and the Great War, The Organs of Sense, and Inherited Disorders. His fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, n+1, and Harper’s, and he was a finalist for the Believer Book Award and the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. Aoko Matsuda translated five of his stories from Inherited Disorders for the Japanese MONKEY (Spring 2018); for the same issue, she wrote a story in response to his work, which was translated into English by Polly Barton as “A Father and His Back” and published in MONKEY New Writing from Japan (2022).

3:30 pm Student Club Activity
Beginner Swahili Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies and Global Hub along with Less-Commonly-Taught-Languages Center
See Details

Join weekly Swahili Class 2 students for weekly conversation hours this
Spring semester, to practice Swahili outside of the classroom.

4:00 pm Student Club Activity
Hungarian Table
Location:
Braun Room
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
See Details

Come practice your conversational Hungarian with students of all levels!

5:00 pm Lecture
Referral- Cinema On The Edge: Parajanov's Collage and Tableau Aesthetics As Forms Of History
Location:
Room 1502, Wesley W. Posvar Hall
Announced by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies on behalf of Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures
See Details

Hear from Pitt Slavic Alumni Dr. Olga Kim, in the 2024 Pitt Slavic Alumni Lecture!

5:30 pm Student Club Activity
Bate-Papo Portuguese Conversation Table
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Brazil Nuts Portuguese Club
See Details

Join weekly Bate-Papo Portuguese conversation practice for all levels,
from brand-new beginners to advanced or heritage speakers!

6:00 pm Workshop
Bringing Global Studies and World History into Your Classroom
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center along with Pitt World History Center
See Details

Join the University of Pittsburgh’s Alliance for Learning in
World History & the Global Studies Center for a series of
workshops about using History for the 21st Century (H21)
modules in the classroom. The H21 project offers complete
modules for introductory world history classrooms that include
student readings and primary sources, lesson plans, instructor
guides, and discussion, activity, and assessments suggestions.

6:00 pm Lecture
Asia Pop Lecture Series: Xin Wang
Location:
202 Frick Fine Arts
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center
See Details

Xin Wang is a curator and art historian based in New York. A PhD candidate in Art History at New York University, writing a dissertation on Soviet Hauntology, she held curatorial and educational positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, and received the Warhol Foundation's Arts Writers Grant in 2021. Publications such as "Asian Futurism and the Non-Other" have been widely translated and taught in university curriculums. She has served on jury panels for The Shed, the Creative Capital Grant, and Anonymous Was a Woman, as well as a regular visiting critic at Yale University's MFA program in Photography. She served as the Chief curator of the 4th art and technology-themed biennial program - titled "To Your Eternity" - at Beijing's Today Art Museum in Fall 2023.

7:00 pm Student Club Activity
Kya Baat Hai!
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Kya Baat Hai!
See Details

Join Spring 2024 Kya Baat Hai weekly conversation hours, on
Wednesdays from 7-8 pm, for students to practice speaking in Hindi and Urdu and connect over shared cultural experiences!

Thursday, April 11

12:00 pm Student Club Activity
Tavola Italiana
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of Italian
See Details

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

5:00 pm Student Club Activity
French Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with French Club
See Details

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.

6:00 pm Cultural Event/Lecture
Mini Swahili Language Lessons
Location:
Posvar Hall 3415
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies along with Less-Commonly Taught Languages Center
See Details

Karibuni! Are you interested in learning some conversational Swahili? Join us for a three part mini-series taught by our advanced Swahili students! Topics include introductions, bargaining, food, and more. We hope to see you there!

Friday, April 12

12:00 pm Information Session
Referral: International Development Awards Info Session
Location:
Webinar
Announced by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies on behalf of David C. Frederick Honors College
See Details

Register via Handshake for this info session to learn more about the different scholarship programs that can jumpstart your career in the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Service.

1:00 pm Seminar
Telling the Stories of Threatened Scholars in Pittsburgh: Audio Narrative Master Class
Location:
4130 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, Global Studies Center and UCIS Engagement along with Department of English
See Details

David Greene, award-winning journalist and former co-host of NPR’s Morning Edition, Shannon Reed, author and frequent contributor for The New Yorker, and Sean Guillory, host of The Eurasian Knot weekly podcast and producer of the award nominated Teddy Goes to the USSR podcast, will co-teach this hands-on course where students will work as a team to research, write, and produce a broadcast-quality audio narrative telling the stories of people around the world who have come to the University of Pittsburgh with the support of the Pittsburgh Network for Threatened Scholars. The focus of the course will be production of an audio narrative, but along the way, students will gain meaningful experience in collaboration and communication, archival research, interviewing and oral histories, script writing, sound editing, and other skills. Course enrollment is limited. No previous experience with interviewing or podcasting required, but students with demonstrated interest in the topic (Threatened scholars/human rights) or who participated in the Fall 2023 Art of the Interview Masterclass are particularly encouraged to sign up for the course.

4:30 pm Film
Navalny
Location:
1500 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
See Details

A political activist and opposition figure for two decades, Aleksei Naval’nyi has espoused controversial, even at times (2007-08) xenophobic views, but became a beacon of social and political change both within the Russian Federation and internationally. In the Russian Federation, he was recognized as Politician of the Year by the Russian business daily newspaper Vedemosti in 2017 and again in 2019. In October 2021, he received the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for human rights and was nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize by members of the Norwegian members of parliament, with an Internet petition to the Nobel Committee signed by over 38,000 people.

Join us for a streaming of the 2022 documentary, Navalny, followed by a moderated discussion with Dmitry Bykov, a critic and journalist who was poisoned under similar circumstances to Naval'nyi.

5:30 pm Student Club Activity
Addverse Poesia Meetings
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Addverse Poesia
See Details

Join Addverse Poesia, an international and multilingual poetry group
that discusses, reads and translates poems in at least 4 languages, for
their weekly meetings!

Saturday, April 13

2:00 pm Seminar
Telling the Stories of Threatened Scholars in Pittsburgh: Audio Narrative Master Class
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, Global Studies Center and UCIS Engagement along with Department of English
See Details

David Greene, award-winning journalist and former co-host of NPR’s Morning Edition, Shannon Reed, author and frequent contributor for The New Yorker, and Sean Guillory, host of The Eurasian Knot weekly podcast and producer of the award nominated Teddy Goes to the USSR podcast, will co-teach this hands-on course where students will work as a team to research, write, and produce a broadcast-quality audio narrative telling the stories of people around the world who have come to the University of Pittsburgh with the support of the Pittsburgh Network for Threatened Scholars. The focus of the course will be production of an audio narrative, but along the way, students will gain meaningful experience in collaboration and communication, archival research, interviewing and oral histories, script writing, sound editing, and other skills. Course enrollment is limited. No previous experience with interviewing or podcasting required, but students with demonstrated interest in the topic (Threatened scholars/human rights) or who participated in the Fall 2023 Art of the Interview Masterclass are particularly encouraged to sign up for the course.

Tuesday, April 16

12:00 pm Lecture
Referral: Transforming Landscapes of Aid: How Gulf Business, the War in Ukraine, and Equestrian Sports Change Small-Town Kyrgyzstan.
Location:
Posvar Hall, Room 4130
Announced by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies on behalf of Center for Governance and Markets
See Details

Join Till Mostowlansky, Research Professor and Eccellenza Professorial Fellow in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at The Graduate Institute Geneva, present his latest work: Transforming Landscapes of Aid: How Gulf Business, the War in Ukraine, and Equestrian Sports Change Small-Town Kyrgyzstan.

Over the last decade, international development in Kyrgyzstan has undergone significant transformations. Despite the ongoing presence of diverse foreign organizations, notable shifts have occurred with the emergence of new contributors to aid, such as entities from the Gulf states, alongside increased trade revenues from China. This talk centers on a small town in southern Kyrgyzstan, delving into the concrete materialization of these influences within its social and political landscape. Drawing upon continuous ethnographic research conducted since 2022, the talk explores the intersection of Islamic charity with the state, the influence of excess on ideas of the good, and how equestrian sports serve as a catalyst for redistribution.

Till Mostowlansky is a Research Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the Geneva Graduate Institute. He is the author of Azan on the Moon: Entangling Modernity along Tajikistan’s Pamir Highway (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017) as well as co-editor of Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia (University of Hawai’i Press, 2023) and Humanitarianism from Below: The Alternative Politics of Universalism (UCL Press, under contract).

The talk is part of the Future of Development Assistance project at the Center for Governance and Markets.

3:30 pm Information Session
Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for Ethnic Studies Research, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center, Global Hub, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Office of International Services and Global Experiences Office
See Details

Are you looking to gain experience that will help prepare you for a
globally-connected job market? Stop by Drop-In Hours to learn more
about getting the Global Distinction added to your academic transcript,
receiving special recognition at graduation, and standing out to
prospective employers!

4:00 pm Information Session
Global Experiences Peer Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for Ethnic Studies Research, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center, Global Hub, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Office of International Services and Global Experiences Office
See Details

Join Global Experiences Office Peer Advisors for this weekly roundtable in the Global Hub! Bring your questions about study abroad programs!

6:00 pm Student Club Activity
German Club at Pitt
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with German Club
See Details

Join German Club at Pitt’s weekly meetings, on Tuesdays at 6-7 pm during Spring 2024, to converse in German and learn German culture!

6:30 pm Film
Silent Asia, Piccadilly (1929) accompanied by Appalasia and Tom Roberts
Location:
125 Frick Fine Arts
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center along with Film and Media Studies Program; SCREENSHOT: ASIA
See Details

A screening of E.A. Dupont's 1929 silent film Piccadilly, starring Asian American icon Anna May Wong. The screening will be musically accompanied by local musicians, Appalasia and Tom Roberts. Come immerse yourself in their original score and experience one of early Hollywood's finest stars at her finest.

Wednesday, April 17

11:30 am Festival
Eid Celebration
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Muslim Affinity Group
See Details

Celebrate Eid with your colleagues and neighbors at the Global Hub! Eid is the holiday held at the end of Ramadan and celebrated by by more than 1 billion people worldwide.

Registration closes April 15.

12:30 pm Student Club Activity
Tavolina
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of Italian
See Details

Join weekly Tavolina (a separate gathering from Tavola Italiana) to practice Italian. This is an Italian conversation table aimed for beginner and intermediate speakers.

3:30 pm Student Club Activity
Beginner Swahili Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies and Global Hub along with Less-Commonly-Taught-Languages Center
See Details

Join weekly Swahili Class 2 students for weekly conversation hours this
Spring semester, to practice Swahili outside of the classroom.

4:00 pm Student Club Activity
Hungarian Table
Location:
Braun Room
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
See Details

Come practice your conversational Hungarian with students of all levels!

7:00 pm Student Club Activity
Kya Baat Hai!
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Kya Baat Hai!
See Details

Join Spring 2024 Kya Baat Hai weekly conversation hours, on
Wednesdays from 7-8 pm, for students to practice speaking in Hindi and Urdu and connect over shared cultural experiences!

Thursday, April 18

12:00 pm Student Club Activity
Tavola Italiana
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Italian Club
See Details

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

12:30 pm Lecture
European Moments in the Making of Islam's "Image Problem"
Location:
602 Humanities Center, Cathedral of Learning
Announced by:
European Studies Center on behalf of Humanities Center
See Details

Hosted by the Humanities Center and visiting fellow, Finbarr Barry Flood. This event will be hybrid, so you can attend it either in person in 602 CL or via Zoom as you prefer.

The image of Islam in the West has been consistently informed by the idea that the religion fosters distinctive attitudes towards the image. Recent controversies about Islam, aniconism and iconoclasm are typical in this respect, often taking the idea of an Islamic Bilderverbot (image prohibition) as a given. Seen from the perspective of the longue durée, however, the idea of an image problem is only partly informed by knowledge or understanding of beliefs and practices that are internal to Islam. Representations of Islam produced by non-Muslims over more than a millennium have been no less important to the perception, perhaps even creation, of an Islamic Bilderverbot. This persistent idea should, therefore, be analyzed not only in relation to the tenets of Islam, but also as an aspect of European intellectual history. Doing so sheds light upon the current reinvestment of the image as a site for the construction of difference in debates about Islam, secularism and European identity.

2:00 pm Workshop
International Studies Digital Portfolio Workshops
Location:
A522 Public Health - Crabtree
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, Director's Office, European Studies Center and Global Studies Center
See Details

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!

5:00 pm Teacher Training
Go: A Coming of Age Novel (GILS)
Location:
Zoom and 4217/4130 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center along with National Consortium for Teaching about Asia
See Details

In the sixth installment of the Global Issues Through Literature Series (GILS), educators will convene to discuss Go: A Coming of Age Novel by author Kazuki Kaneshiro. This discussion will be facilitated by David Kenley, PhD, Dean of Arts and Sciences at Dakota State University.

This year's theme is: Marginalized Voices in Global Context: Centering Overlooked Narratives in Literature

This reading group for K-16 educators explores literary texts from a global perspective. Content specialists present the work and its context, and participants brainstorm innovative pedagogical practices for incorporating the text and its themes into the curriculum. Sessions this year will take place in a hybrid format, with virtual and in-person discussions taking place on Thursday evenings from 5-8 PM (EST). A copy of the book and 3 Act 48 credit hours are provided for each session.

6:00 pm Student Club Activity
Persian Language Table
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Less-Commonly-Taught-Languages Center
See Details

Join the Persian Language Table every other Thursday during Spring 2024 to practice language, celebrate culture, and meet new people!

Friday, April 19

9:00 am Presentation
GSPIA Policy and Social Impact Fellows Closing Retreat
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA)
See Details

This event is the closing retreat for GSPIA's Policy and Social Impact Fellows Program's 2023-2024 cohort. As part of the program, undergraduate students from across many disciplines worked in groups to collaborate with local Pittsburgh organizations on a community-engaged project throughout the course of the academic school year. During this event, the student groups will have a poster session to present the work that that they did with each organization on their community-engaged project. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come by to hear about the wonderful work the Fellows did with their partnering organizations!

2:00 pm Exhibit
Pitt-CMU Russian Program's Kapustnik Even
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and Global Hub
See Details

To celebrate the end-of-the-year, join the Pitt and CMU Russian programs for a talent show!

5:30 pm Student Club Activity
Addverse Poesia Meetings
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Addverse Poesia
See Details

Join Addverse Poesia, an international and multilingual poetry group
that discusses, reads and translates poems in at least 4 languages, for
their weekly meetings!

Tuesday, April 23

6:00 pm Student Club Activity
German Club at Pitt
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with German Club
See Details

Join German Club at Pitt’s weekly meetings, on Tuesdays at 6-7 pm during Spring 2024, to converse in German and learn German culture!

Wednesday, April 24

4:00 pm Student Club Activity
Hungarian Table
Location:
Braun Room
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
See Details

Come practice your conversational Hungarian with students of all levels!

Thursday, April 25

2:00 pm Award Ceremony
UCIS Graduation Ceremony & Reception
Location:
Charity Randall Theater
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, Director's Office, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center and Global Hub
See Details

The University Center for International Studies cordially invites students graduating in Spring and Summer 2024 to celebrate their academic achievements and receive their credentials at the University Center for International Studies’ Graduation Ceremony in the Charity Randall Theater followed by a reception in the Cathedral Commons Room.

Graduating students should look for their personal email invitations from the University Center for International Studies to RSVP and contact their UCIS academic advisor with any questions about the event. For additional details, please contact Laura Daversa at Laura.Daversa@pitt.edu

Reception to follow the ceremony in the Cathedral Commons Room.

2:00 pm Cultural Event
National Poetry Day THIS IS EVENT IS POSTPONED AND WILL BE RESCHEDULED
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center, Global Hub and Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs along with the Office of the Provost; the University Center for International Studies (UCIS); Irish Nationality Room Committee
See Details

THIS IS EVENT IS POSTPONED AND WILL BE RESCHEDULED

Celebrate with us for a Listen and Read event!

Happening in Ireland on Thursday, April 25: "National Poetry Day".

Happening in the Irish Room on Thursday, April 25, 2pm to 4 pm

This event is at no charge and open to the public. Readers are welcome.

SPONSORS:
Irish Nationality Room Committee
Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs
University Center for International Studies