Upcoming Events

Navigating Online Global Efforts During Covid Time September 23rd, 6pm-7pm, Virtual Format Jessica Baumgardner-Zuzik Senior Director -Learning & Evaluation, Alliance for Peacebuilding Jessica Baumgardner-Zuzik will discuss execution of global efforts in a post-covid workplace and moving to the PA countryside from Washington, DC, while adjusting to online work. Jessica works in the field of peacebuilding in conflict-affected settings, specifically economic development and humanitarian efforts with the World Bank and UN. Some of her research endeavors include economic empowerment, MenEngage, family planning, gender and macroeconomic planning, maternal and infant health, and cross-sector gender involvement in the industry. Jessica is fluent in French and holds a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies and Foreign Languages from Juniata College and an MA in Economics from the University of San Francisco. To Register: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0qduyvqD4uH9LdtI6bVecYsWVAPdKaIDhL Sponsored by: Asian Studies Center, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, and Global Studies Center

Valdis Dombrovskis is the Executive Vice President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People and European Commissioner for Trade. This discussion will grapple with the influence on technology on trade, the relationship of Europe and North American Nations, and the future of trade within Europe. This illuminating conversation will explore the important work that Dombrovskis does and his role as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People. What does that economy look like? How does trade fit into that vision? #JMintheUS

Research and International Reconstruction in Afghanistan October 12th, 6pm-7pm, Virtual Format Nikolai A. Condee-Padunov Research Associate, Lessons Learned Program, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) Nikolai Condee-Padunov is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a B.Phil and Global Studies Certificate in 2010. As Research Associate, Nikolai will share some of his experiences and insight into how his former studies, language, and research skills prepared him for his role in international reconstruction. He will also discuss his career selection, trajectory, and advice for future professionals. To Register:https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcvfuuuqzojHdHD_9N62QTpwS6Wzob-YICB Sponsored by: Asian Studies Center, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, and Global Studies Center

For the 2021-22 academic year, the European Studies Center has announced its annual programmatic theme: “Recovering Europe.” The October roundtable will address the ethical and pratical plausibility of digital vaccine passports for travel across state borders in Europe. The roundtable will be hosted by European Studies Center Director Jae-Jae Spoon.Full list of attendees will be announced soon. Registration and Location TBA. Audience participation will be encouraged. Panelists will be joining remotely. #CoE

Peace Corps Alumni Panel November 2nd, 6pm-7pm, Virtual Format Ryan Stannard Regional Recruiter, Returned Volunteer, Peace Corps Discover the benefits of Peace Corps service from returned volunteer and trainer Ryan Stannard and various recent alumni. Learn about the challenging, rewarding, and inspirational moments of Peace Corps service. Ask questions of recent and former Peace Corps volunteers. To Register:https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEsf-6grjwiHdAq9L98mK5p0QDNkOi1fofc Sponsored by: Asian Studies Center, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, and Global Studies Center

Join the European Studies Center at Pitt for a Virtual Book Club to explore recent works by European authors. We will be reading "Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman and discussing the book Thursday, November 11. Those who RSVP by 9/30 can receive a free copy of the book. This event is open to all.

Facilitated by Dr. Jean-Jacque Ngor Sène, Associate Professor of History and Cultural Studies, Chatham University “La République Française,” has been, for the last hundred years or so, a Muslim Global Power. The French, more particularly in Modern Times, have arguably stood in World History as the very top incubator-nation of theories, from that of the “Noble Savage” falsely attributed to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, to that of (Colonial Cultural) “Assimilation” formalized by, say, Arthur Girault, onto that of “Deconstruction” in post WWII times with Brother Jacques Derrida. One such new theory out of the Hexagon of Fading Glory is the controversial nébuleuse known as l’Islamo-Gauchisme (Islamo-Leftism???) fathered by Pierre-André Taguieff in 2002 from what we think we know. David Robinson’s Paths of Accommodation, Muslim Societies and French Colonial Authorities in Senegal and Mauritania, 1880 -1921 (Ohio University Press) straddles the tropes of Negotiation, Cooperation, Sabotage, Resistance, Jihad, and more importantly, for our chosen focus, Knowledge and Power Crystallized into (Symbolic) Sociopolitical Capital. Dr. Sène, will lead a discussion focused on the diversity of Arabic sources, archival sources from the colonial registries, oral ethnographic documents, and powerful folkloric testimonies from the early 1900s onwards. The book is a unique springboard for a re-evaluation of (Muslim) Civil Societies’ agency against neo-imperial forces of mass exploitation/oppression in our own times. This discussion is cosponsored by the African Studies Center and the European Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh and Chatham University. Act 48 Credits available for PA teachers. For more information:https://www.cerisnet.pitt.edu/event/ceris-fall-book-discussion-for-educa...