Upcoming Events

Part two of series on innovations in contemporary architecture featuring professor Jonathan Reynolds
The 17th Century imperial villa at Katsura has loomed large in the modern imagination. It has by turns been praised as a masterpiece of Japan’s rich artistic heritage and been embraced as a precocious expression of modernist aesthetics ideals. Photography has played an especially important role in making this at times remote architecture and garden complex accessible to a world audience. This talk will discuss some of the most influential photographic interpretations of Katsura, paying special attention to the two remarkable and distinctive portfolios produced by the Japanese photographer Ishimoto Yasuhiro.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is receiving increased focus in schools due to the pandemic. Participants in this free film screening and workshop for K-12 educators will learn about lessons based in the humanities that encourage reflection, empathy, and an understanding of others. Participants will be given access to Linda Hoaglund’s film, Things Left Behind, to view prior to the program. Things Left Behind confronts the tragedy of Hiroshima through the photographs of renowned Japanese photographer Ishiuchi Miyako. Viewers travel with Ishiuchi to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial archive as she selects artifacts to photograph for her exhibit at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, Canada. Notably, this was the first major international art exhibition devoted to the atomic bomb. Ishiuchi’s large-scale images of clothing and objects left by those who perished in the explosion take the historical event and distill it to human proportions, enabling viewers to focus on a single person and the impact of their loss. Viewers experience the exhibition through the creation of the photos, the installation, display in Vancouver, and the attendee's reaction to the photographs.  
We welcome K-12 educators of all disciplines to join Dean David Kenley of Dakota State University and author of Teaching About Asia in a Time of Pandemic and educators Kachina Leigh and Michele Weaver who have co-taught at Muhlenberg High School in Laureldale, PA and currently teach art and psychology, respectively, to discuss how to bring this film into the classroom. Filmmaker Linda Hoaglund will also be joining us to discuss the making of Things Left Behind and answer questions. All participants will be given a copy of the film as well as have access to a series of lessons appropriate to teachers of art, history, and literature as well as ideas on how to bring this film into other courses of study.  
Links to the film online will also be sent to registered participants two weeks in advance, and you will be asked to watch the film prior to the workshop. Participants in the January 29 workshop will receive a complimentary DVD of the film after the workshop.

Join the Asian Studies Center and Global Hub for a Lunar New Year celebration in honor of the Year of the Tiger! Come for some light refreshments, crafts, a photobooth, performances, and more.

“Lee” Lenora Dingus, employed at Pearson Education, an international education conglomerate, shares her thoughts on inclusivity, diversity, and being Haudenosaunee in Pittsburgh. She has served in federal positions within Veteran’s Affairs, the IRS, and the Social Security Administration. Her people, who have always been located around the greater Tri-State area, believe that culture stems from women, and have had many women leaders, as Clan Mothers, Faith Keepers, Medicine Women, and politicians. Lee shares with us her work as a Diversity and Inclusion Advocate and employee in international education.
To Register:https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIoce6hqzkjHd1I2T3el8PlmtObSSJSKAV_

Dr. Abdesalam Soudi serves as Professor, Cultural Competence Consultant, and Cultural and Linguistic Competence Master’s Course Co-Director, Family Medicine Department at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and University of Pittsburgh. He is a Sociolinguist recognized for several scholarly accomplishments in Conversation Analysis, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity, Arabic Linguistics, Electronic Health Records, Cultural Competency in medical practice. He leads a cross-disciplinary Humanities in Health initiative (HinH). With a passion for discovering new findings and sharing knowledge, he will discuss the importance of cultural competency across all disciplines, from humanities to healthcare, in global initiatives around the world.