The Romanian Room Committee invites you to celebrate Mărțișor. Mărțișor is an old Romanian tradition of giftinga red and white string attached to a small piece of jewelry or a flower. Learn the history of Mărțișor and join the members of the Romanian Room committee to make your own and for your friends. Learn more about this Romanian tradition which falls on March 1 of every year during which the gifting of a red and white string attached to a small piece of jewelry, or a flower is believed to bring health and luck to the wearer.
Come enjoy Romanian snacks!

Join five professionals from around the Globe to learn more about the exciting field of Global Health. They will chat about their individual career paths, give advice for getting into the field, and discuss the work happening in Global Health today. There will be a Q&A following the panel.

Panelists:

Evelyn Bigini: Clinical Research Coordinator, The University of California
Chris Hegadorn: CEO of Hegadorn Global Consulting & Professor of Global Food Politics, Sciences Po
Ruba Idris: Senior Associate Program Management, Chemonics International
Neha Mehta: Clinical Research Coordinator, Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Megan Swanson: Epidemiologist, Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Moderated by Elaine Linn, Global Studies Center Advisor at Pitt.

Join us for the first Charlemos of 2024! This event will be held over Zoom. Registration is required - use the link to register

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 :)

Join us for a presentation by Dr. Christine DeLucia of Williams College and Ms. Lorén Spears, Executive Director of the Tomaquag Indian Museum, Exeter, RI. All those who RSVP will receive a boxed lunch from Roux Orleans. Please RSVP using the link and to choose a lunch.

Are you an undergraduate Pitt student planning to embark on a summer global experience? Join the Spring 2024 3-part UCIS Digital Narrative Workshop Series and create a short video to document your experience, which will be displayed on the big screen in the Global Hub!

3-part Workshop Series:
Workshop #1: Monday, February 26 | 5-8 pm | Posvar 4217
Workshop #2: Tuesday, March 5 | 5-8 pm | Posvar 4217
Workshop #3: Tuesday, March 19 | 5-7 pm | Global Hub (1st floor, Posvar Hall)

Note: Students should attend all 3 workshops. If you have class or other pressing conflicts, special exceptions might be made, although you are strongly encouraged to join as much as you can to get the most out of the experience!

Registration deadline: February 23

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.

Ambassador Shear is a Senior Fellow at the Reischauer Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In 2022 the Government of Japan awarded him the The Order of the Rising Sun, the highest ordinarily given award for service to Japan. From 2017-2020 he was a Senior Advisor at McClarty Associates, a global strategic advisory firm. He performed the duties of Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from June 2016 to January 2017. He was the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs from September 2014 to June 2016.

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!

Stop by the Global Hub from 4:00-5:00pm to discuss study abroad, study away and other global experiences with our peer advisors from the Global Experiences Office. Hear about their experiences abroad and pick their brains with all of you abroad questions!

The history of Poland seems to be one of ancient glory and tolerance, lost uprisings, and an endless struggle for independence. Based on his scholarly work, Brian Porter-Szücs questions this very narrative, discussing new approaches, and how they have changed our idea of Polish history

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!

University of Pittsburgh and The Forum on Education Abroad are pleased to invite members of our international education community to a day of training with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Participants in this dual-format (in-person and online) workshop will:

• Familiarize themselves with the support resources available from NTSB and other federal agencies when a transportation accident or event involves their students, faculty or staff
• Understand where jurisdiction lies for U.S. agencies in traffic and transportation incidents happening abroad
• Learn best practices for supporting victims and their families in the immediate and long-term aftermath of transportation incidents
• Identify action steps for connecting with regional and local resources and preparing a crisis response plan so that they can be prepared in case a transportation or traffic accident or incident ever befalls a member of their community.

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

This is a panel discussion hosted by the Center for African Studies and the African Student Organization.

Join us for an informal dialogue centered on the experiences of individuals of African descent globally! Each panelist will have 5-10 minutes to introduce themselves, followed by a Q&A session moderated by the Center for African Studies. Enjoy connecting with and learning from diverse people who all share ties with Africa!

Panelists:

Dr. Dela Kuma, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology

Dr. Gabby Yearwood, Teaching Professor, Department of Anthropology

Dr. Toya Jones, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Dr. Eric Beeko, Assistant Professor, Department of Africana Studies

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

Come practice your conversational Hungarian with students of all levels!

In 1967, Sireen Sawalha's mother, with her young children walked back to Palestine against the traffic of exile. My Brother, My Land is the story of Sireen's family in the decades that followed and their lives in the Palestinian village of Kufr Ra'i.

Sami Hermez is an anthropologist who teaches at Northwestern University in Qatar. He is the author of War Is Coming: Between Past and Future Violence in. Lebanon (2017). His work in and out of the classroom reflects a strong commitment to freedom, justice, and equality. His family's history of migration spans the Levant, with roots in Al-Qosh, Aleppo, Beirut, and Jerusalem. Sami was a visiting professor of Contemporary and International Issues, at the University of Pittsburgh in 2012-2013.

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

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!

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.

This event is scheduled to occur on either Friday, March 1 on the fifth floor of the William Pitt Union!

Every Spring, the Center for African Studies at the University of Pittsburgh hosts the Africa in the Classroom Workshop to bring together K-12 educators in developing curriculum for teaching about Africa in schools. All teachers, administrators, students, librarians, and community members are welcome. Whether you are an expert on teaching Africa, or this is the first time you have considered it, the Africa in the Classroom Workshop is for you! Participating teachers can gain credit hours toward continuing professional education requirements (AP2).

The impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine can be felt far outside the actual battlefield. Modern war disproportionately affects gender and sexual minorities, something we are seeing in Ukraine even as Putin's anti-LGBTQ+ agenda seeks to relentlessly drive support for the war at home. How can a queer-studies focus advance conversations about decolonization in East European and Eurasian Studies? To address this question, Queer Focus will have six virtual panels featuring speakers from various disciplines and institutions. Panelists and participants will explore how gendered regimes were constitutive of Russo-centric relationships of power, defining the region and how we study it, as we collectively grapple with what it means to re-examine our current research, teaching, and institutional practices.

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