Past Events
COVID-19 Response
COVID-19 Response: Learn how the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies is working under the current operational posture at ucis.pitt.edu/creees/covid.

- Elmira Muratova, Michael Kemper, Sean Guillory
- Zoom
Soviet ideology treated religion as an enemy, a tool of oppression and an expression of backwardness. Militant atheism, the prohibition of religious rituals, and the repression of religious communities aimed to create a secular, rational, and scientific society. Yet, religion mattered in Soviet people’s lives. And with institutional religion restricted, many people expressed their spirituality through “lived religion” - the practice of religion and spirituality in everyday lives. What were the practices of lived religion in the context of state socialism? And how did it converge and diverge with the return of institutionalised religion and spiritual lift after the collapse of communism? REEES Spring 2023 Series, Religion in (Post-Socialism) Societies, will explore the role of religion in socialist and post-socialist societies in eight online discussions on religion and its relations to repression, nation-building, indigenous cultures, and memory. This is a part of REEES’s Spring 2023 lecture series.

- Marjorie Madelstan Balzer, Sean Guillory
- Zoom
Soviet ideology treated religion as an enemy, a tool of oppression and an expression of backwardness. Militant atheism, the prohibition of religious rituals, and the repression of religious communities aimed to create a secular, rational, and scientific society. Yet, religion mattered in Soviet people’s lives. And with institutional religion restricted, many people expressed their spirituality through “lived religion” - the practice of religion and spirituality in everyday lives. What were the practices of lived religion in the context of state socialism? And how did it converge and diverge with the return of institutionalised religion and spiritual lift after the collapse of communism? REEES Spring 2023 Series, Religion in (Post-Socialism) Societies, will explore the role of religion in socialist and post-socialist societies in eight online discussions on religion and its relations to repression, nation-building, indigenous cultures, and memory. This is a part of REEES’s Spring 2023 lecture series.

- Various
- Zoom
Tonia Lechtman was a Jew, a loving mother and wife, a Polish patriot, a committed communist, and a Holocaust survivor. Throughout her life, these identities brought her to multiple countries – Poland, Palestine, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Israel – where she lived on the margins of society during some of the most pivotal and cataclysmic decades of the twentieth century.
This roundtable will discuss Anna Müller’s book, which is not a mere biography of a remarkable woman, but also offers a view of the troubled history of twentieth-century Europe.
The roundtable features Karolina May Chu, moderator (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Marci Shore (Yale University), Joanna Sliwa (Jewish Claims Conference), Anna Hájková (University of Warwick), Jadwiga Biskupska (Sam Houston State University), Małgorzata Fidelis (University of Illinois Chicago), John Bukowczyk (Wayne State University, editor of the Polish and Polish-American Studies Series from Ohio University Press), and Anna Müller.
Anna Müller holds an MA from the University of Gdańsk, Poland, and a Ph.D. from Indiana University. She is an Associate Professor and the Frank and Mary Padzieski Endowed Professor in Polish, Polish American, and Eastern European Studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Previously, she was a curator for the Museum of the Second War in Gdańsk, preparing exhibitions on the Holocaust, the concentration camps, forced labor, and eugenics. She is the author of If the Walls Could Speak. Inside a Women’s Prison in Communist Poland (Oxford University Press, 2018) and An Ordinary Life? The Journeys of Tonia Lechtman, 1918-1996 (Ohio University Press, 2022).
The talk is co-sponsored by the Polish Studies Association, the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, and the University of Pittsburgh’s History Department.
Through May 23, 2023, discounted books are available at www.ohioswallow.com, using the promo code TONIA.

- Katya Tolstoj, Sean Guillory
- Zoom
Soviet ideology treated religion as an enemy, a tool of oppression and an expression of backwardness. Militant atheism, the prohibition of religious rituals, and the repression of religious communities aimed to create a secular, rational, and scientific society. Yet, religion mattered in Soviet people’s lives. And with institutional religion restricted, many people expressed their spirituality through “lived religion” - the practice of religion and spirituality in everyday lives. What were the practices of lived religion in the context of state socialism? And how did it converge and diverge with the return of institutionalised religion and spiritual lift after the collapse of communism? REEES Spring 2023 Series, Religion in (Post-Socialism) Societies, will explore the role of religion in socialist and post-socialist societies in eight online discussions on religion and its relations to repression, nation-building, indigenous cultures, and memory. This is a part of REEES’s Spring 2023 lecture series.

- Fenggang Yang, Sean Guillory
- Zoom
Soviet ideology treated religion as an enemy, a tool of oppression and an expression of backwardness. Militant atheism, the prohibition of religious rituals, and the repression of religious communities aimed to create a secular, rational, and scientific society. Yet, religion mattered in Soviet people’s lives. And with institutional religion restricted, many people expressed their spirituality through “lived religion” - the practice of religion and spirituality in everyday lives. What were the practices of lived religion in the context of state socialism? And how did it converge and diverge with the return of institutionalised religion and spiritual lift after the collapse of communism? REEES Spring 2023 Series, Religion in (Post-Socialism) Societies, will explore the role of religion in socialist and post-socialist societies in eight online discussions on religion and its relations to repression, nation-building, indigenous cultures, and memory. This is a part of REEES’s Spring 2023 lecture series.

- Charity Randall Theatre
The University Center for International Studies cordially invites students graduating in Spring and Summer 2023 to celebrate their academic achievements and receive their credentials at the University Center for International Studies’ Graduation Ceremony on Friday, April 28, 2-3pm 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. Reception to follow the ceremony.

- Jolanta Lion
- 1219 Cathedral of Learning

- Marianne Kamp, Guidana Salimjan, James Pickett
- Zoom
The first hour of the workshop will be dedicated to properly archiving and analysing the results of an oral interview, with a particular focus on the opportunities and challenges that researchers face when doing oral history work in Central Asia. The second half of the workshop will be spent grappling with topics of accessibility, safety, complex insider-outsider positionally, multilingual note-taking, and translation, with a focus on the instructor's experience taking oral histories in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region.

- Tamara Scheer, Ana Sekulic
- Zoom
This two-part masterclass offers an introduction to researching East and Southeast European history using arrival material German. Led by Dr. Tamara Scheer (University of Vienna), the meetings will include an introduction to German Kurrentschrift with practical exercises as well as resources and strategies as to how to approach different institutions and archival collections. The workshop is open to everyone interested in historical research in the region, including early-career scholars planning their research trips and those who wish to brush up on their archival skills.

- Ana Sekulic and Ulzhan Tuleshova
- 4130 Posvar Hall

- Viktoria Batista
- Cathedral of Learning 329

- Dr. Taras Filenko
- Frick Fine Arts Building
Join the Ukrainian community at the University of Pittsburgh for a special evening celebrating Ukrainian culture. It will feature renowned concert pianist and Ukrainian music historian, Dr. Taras Filenko (Pitt Music Ph.D.). Dr. Filenko and Jennifer Orchard (Pittsburgh Symphony) will perform Michael Minard’s "Ukraine Triptych for Piano and Violin." Completed in March of last year, this is possibly the first American piece honoring Ukraine to be written after the February 24, 2022 invasion. Ukrainian students currently studying at the University of Pittsburgh will sing folks songs, which have inspired Ukrainian composers with their harmonies and motifs and provide vital historical memory during challenging times. This concert presents a unique opportunity to experience Ukrainian music and poetry. It will feature classical, romantic, and modern music by Ukrainian composers. The event will begin with refreshments and an opportunity to learn about Ukraine-focused academic, cultural, and humanitarian projects at Pitt and in Pittsburgh.

- Molly McSweeney
- Global Hub
Join us and celebrate Hungarian culture through local history and food. Representatives of Hungary related organizations and resources, both on and off campus, will provide remarks on the Hungarian Nationality Room, Hungary related material in the Pitt archives, and the vibrant history of Pittsburgh's Hungarian community.
Remarks:
Kati Csoman, Director, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs
Jonathan Naser, Chair, Hungarian Nationality Room Committee
Viktoria Batista, Associate Professor of Hungarian, LCTL
Éva Lovra, Hungarian Fulbright Visiting Professor
Clare Withers, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Dan Pennell, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Katherine Novak, Chair, Board of National Directors, William Penn Association
Judy Torma, Owner, Huszar Restaurant

- various
- Global Hub
Join us and celebrate Hungarian culture through local history and food. Representatives of Hungary-related organizations and resources, both on and off campus, will provide remarks on the Hungarian Nationality Room, Hungary-related material in the Pitt archives, and the vibrant history of Pittsburgh’s Hungarian community.
Remarks:
Kati Csoman, Director, Nationality Rooms
and Intercultural Exchange Programs
Jonathan Naser, Chair, Hungarian
Nationality Room Committee
Viktoria Batista, Associate Professor of
Hungarian, LCTL
Éva Lovra, Hungarian Fulbright Visiting
Professor
Clare Withers, University of Pittsburgh
Library System
Dan Pennell, University of Pittsburgh
Library System
Katherine Novak, Chair, Board of National
Directors, William Penn Association
Judy Torma, Owner, Huszar Restaurant

- Emily Couch, Elisabeth Zentos, Gabriela Iveliz Rosa-Hernandez
- Zoom
Join us to learn more about the REEES Think Tank Program, its accomplishments and insights from the past year, hear student feedback, and help us brainstorm future possibilities. Our mission is to advance Inclusion, Diversity, Accessibility, and Scholarship (IDEAS) in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (REEES). The IDEAS REEES Think Tank is co-sponsored by REEES centres from Stanford University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Kansas, The University of Texas at Austin, Ohio State University, Harvard University, the University of California Berkeley, Arizona State University, Indiana University Bloomington, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and by the US Russia foundation.
- 1 of 22
- next ›