Upcoming Events
COVID-19 Response
COVID-19 Response: Learn how the European Studies Center is working under the current operational posture at ucis.pitt.edu/esc/covid.
- Jan Musekamp, Department of German
- 12:12 pm
- Zoom
When thinking of German businesses, we usually mean West German ones. To add nuance to this perspective, this event will focus on two successful East German companies that had to restart after 1989 when Communism fell and the German government privatized thousands of companies. While some did not succeed, the numerous stories of those that thrived are often overlooked. Moderator: Jan Musenkamp, University of Pittsburgh Panelist: Wendy Carlin, University College of London. Florian Mezger from Carl Zeiss Günter Steinmetz from Bauerfeind AG Students will have to opportunity to question the companies about internship opportunities.
- (All day)
Join University of Pittsburgh, Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, and colleagues from across the globe for a virtual collaborative conference on 19 - 20 October. Building on last year’s conference we will explore and share best practices on how Universities advance place-based approaches through community and student engagement and importantly how we measure our impact and demonstrate accountability to our communities and stakeholders. The conference will include a program of concurrent sessions focused on the themes of sustainability, health, culture and cities and places. Plenary sessions will draw upon the role universities play in their place, looking at a range of international contexts and approaches to impact and evaluation. Register for the event at https://newcastle-pittsburgh.online-event.co/registration/universities-h...
- (All day)
Join University of Pittsburgh, Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, and colleagues from across the globe for a virtual collaborative conference on 19 - 20 October. Building on last year’s conference we will explore and share best practices on how Universities advance place-based approaches through community and student engagement and importantly how we measure our impact and demonstrate accountability to our communities and stakeholders. The conference will include a program of concurrent sessions focused on the themes of sustainability, health, culture and cities and places. Plenary sessions will draw upon the role universities play in their place, looking at a range of international contexts and approaches to impact and evaluation. Register for the event at https://newcastle-pittsburgh.online-event.co/registration/universities-h...
- Dr. Sheri Berman, Professor of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University
- 4:00 pm
- 4130 Posvar Hall
Over the past decades Western democracies have experienced dramatic change. In Europe, the most obvious is the decline of the mainstream parties, particularly those on the center-left, that long anchored and defined politics in the region. This talk will examine the reasons for the decline of center-left or social democratic parties in Europe, stressing the role played by these parties changing ideas about the nature of the economy and society. These changing ideas, I will argue, created incentives and opportunities for new parties, particularly on the populist right, to change their own platforms and appeals in ways that helped reshape how citizens viewed themselves and their relationships with their fellow citizens. The talk will focus on Western Europe, but bring in the East European and American cases for comparison.
- Dr. Sheri Berman, Barnard College, Columbia University
- 4:00 pm
- 4130 Posvar
Over the past decades Western democracies have experienced dramatic change. In Europe, the most obvious is the decline of the mainstream parties, particularly those on the center-left, that long anchored and defined politics in the region. This talk will examine the reasons for the decline of center-left or social democratic parties changing ideas about the nature of the economy and society. These changing ideas, I will argue, created incentives and opportunities for new parties, particularly on the populist right, to change their own platforms and reshape how citizens viewed themselves and their relationships with fellow citizens.
- 7:30 am to 3:00 pm
- William Pitt Union, Pitt-Oakland Campus Model United Nations high school simulation
- Dr. Asli Igsiz, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, New York University
- 3:00 pm
- 4130 Posvar
Whether identified as ethnonationalist, pan-European, anti-colonial, or or pan-Islamic, "civilizationist" identification is in the foreground of many nationalist, racist, often white supremist narratives. Such approaches to identification extract concepts and mechanisms from earlier nationalist projects and feed them into the larger narratives of civilizationism taking hold today. While doing so, they tend to reproduce a radicalized approach to history, art, literature, material culture, and demography. This talk will address the broader implications of "civilizationism" with a historicist approach.
- Various
- 12:00 pm
- Zoom
- Michael Aklin
- 12:00 pm
- Zoom Webinar
Decarbonizing the economy requires a dramatic transformation of the global economy. Phasing out fossil fuels implies the reallocation of millions of workers who will need to find new jobs. Unions and other policymakers have therefore called for a “just transition”: a clean energy transition that takes into account the challenges faced by those whose jobs are at risk. The European Union has recognized the problem and is implementing a Just Transition Mechanism which is expected to raise 55 billion euros (about $58 billion). In the United States, states such as Colorado have designed bureaus to manage a just transition. In this rapidly changing landscape, several questions become critical: How can such a large labor market shock be absorbed? What can we learn from the managed decline in coal in countries like Germany? How should we design just transition institutions? Are they even needed? Moderator: Michael Aklin, University of Pittsburgh Panelist: TBD
- 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
- 4130 Posvar
The European Studies Center in cooperation with Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies and History Department is launching a new study certificate focused on history, culture, economy, and their entanglements of and in central Europe - historically, politically and culturally the most diverse and dynamic region of Europe since 1800s that can be placed between Russian, Ottoman, German, and Habsburg empires, between Rhine and Dnepr and Baltic and Adriatic Seas. It is a place where two world wars started and genocides took place, where Cold War started and ended and where European integration emerged with its new dynamic. What insights can we gain on Europe and the world by looking at this region? The Central European Studies Certificate is for those students who are interested in exploring specific experience of Central European societies. This includes formation of identities, migration, nationalism, and collective memory, racism, religious and ethnic diversity, economy development in variety of political, artistic, and social forms.
- Various
- 12:00 pm
- Zoom
- 12:00 pm
- Zoom Webinar
Professors Mohammed Bamyeh and John Markoff, Department of Sociology, Pitt, will moderate a panel discussion on "The State of Democracy in Europe." The panel members include: Timm Beichelt, Professor of Social and Cultural Sciences, Viadrina University, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany Donatella della Porta, Dean of the Faculty of Political and Social Science, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence, Italy Jae-Jae Spoon, Professor of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh Daniel Ziblatt, Eaton Professor of Government, Harvard University
- (All day)
- William Pitt Union simulation, European Union
The High School Model European Union is an annual event for area high school students. The goal of the Model EU is to give high school students a chance to learn about the workings of the European Union through a hands-on simulation. Playing the roles of presidents and prime ministers, students spend a day engaged in intense negotiations over conflicting issues about the EU. The objective is to simulate a specific European Council meeting that focuses on recent current events impacting the EU. Model EU enhances students’ understanding of classroom learning and gives them a real sense of the challenges involved in the decision-making process of the European Union.