The Guardian first revealed the NSA's comprehensive surveillance program in early June of last year, working from information from the now-infamous Edward Snowden. Two weeks later, a series of articles exposed NSA and British spying on European and South American officials at a G20 meeting and by the end of the month, Der Spiegel had published details of America’s electronic surveillance and bugging of European Union offices and the embassies of France, Italy, Greece, and others. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was particularly upset over revelations that her personal cellphone had been compromised. European, particularly German, outrage over what has been characterized as U.S. spying on its allies has exposed a number of differences in the European and American approaches to data privacy and protection, national security and surveillance. But have the revelations significantly damaged the transatlantic relationship? At a time when U.S.-European cooperation is becoming more formalized in talks to create a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), have the NSA spy scandals dampened European enthusiasm to work closely with American allies? More generally, how have new technologies changed intelligence gathering practices? And to what extent can comprehensive surveillance programs like PRISM be subject to legal limitations on a national or global scale? The discussion will be moderated by EUCE Director and Professor of Political Science, Ronald Linden. Audience participation is encouraged.

Professor O’Callaghan explores the role of collective memory in the Eurozone crisis from a lawyer's perspective. The idea of collective memory features prominently in several disciplines but rarely in legal scholarship. He argues that the idea of collective memory can help us to better understand fundamental aspects of the EU Treaty framework and secondary legislation, and may also provide instructive insights about the policy responses to the Eurozone crisis.

This will be an information session for those interested in teaching English abroad on. Pitt Alumni will present on their experiences teaching in France, Chile, and China.

This is an information session for those interested in a career with the U.S. State department. It will cover how to apply, information on their internship program and various career opportunities.

After the arrival of MTV in the 1990s, Eurovision also influenced trends in Russian popular music. A performance by the Russian band, t.A.T.u., in the song contest in 2003 triggered international controversy and, at the same time, set the model for emerging patterns and trends in the popular music community. Russian popular music and music video aesthetics are still influenced by the performance at Eurovision ten years ago. It is worth examining, therefore, the ways in which the politics of Eurovision still influence Russian popular music and music video aesthetics.

To read a good book is like going to a great party. You are aesthetically
entertained, meet new and interesting people and, in an ideal world, witness some
real human drama fueled by the side effects of euphoria and excess. When transformed
into literature, parties are one of the most challenging topics of writing. In the
autonomous zone of celebration, world apart from daily life and routines, a writer,
just like any other guest, has to survey multitudes of synchronized social action to
stay on top of things. His task: to enjoy himself and please the reader at the same
time while being ahead of the crowd. Therefore the feast in literature can be read
as a playground to show narrative skills at work. The lecture will discuss the
stylistic and strategic approach towards parties in a few central texts of 20th
century literature from Thomas Mann to F. Scott Fitzgerald.

This is an information session for those interested in community service opportunities after graduation in the United States and abroad. There will be representatives and alumni from organizations including PULSE, the Peace Corps, City Year, and Omprakash who will share their experiences and present on how to apply and what to expect.

The European Union Center of Excellence & European Studies Center is pleased to present the first Spring 2014 Conversations on Europe Videoconference.
Panelists will discuss the 2004 enlargement, which witnessed the growth of the EU from 15 member states to 25, and assess the impact of that expansion on the entering member states and the institutions of the European Union.
Participants will include Geoffrey Harris (European Parliament Liaison Office), Zoltan Barany (University of Texas), Jacques Rupnik (Sciences Po), Carolyn Ban (GSPIA), and Andrew Konitzer (REES, Political Science). Ron Linden, Director of the EUCE/ESC, will moderate.
Video recordings of previous Conversations on Europe, as well as a copy of the full Spring semester schedule can be found on the EUCE/ESC Website. To learn how to become involved, please email Dr. Allyson Delnore, Associate Director of the Center.

Professor Cabot reflects on how asylum, humanitarian aid and radical migrant politics reconfigure the relationship between rights and political recognition, amid rapidly changing conceptions of citizenship in Greece. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2005 and 2011, Dr. Cabot shows how humanitarian aid encounters provide venues for dialogical forms of negotiation, miscommunication, recognition, and misrecognition between aid workers and clients, as well as for potentially transformative social ties. She is visiting the University of Pittsburgh as a candidate for a position in the Department of Anthropology.

Ambassador Pavilionis visits the Center to reflect on the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union—the first time the Presidency has been held by a state that emerged from the USSR--and to share his ideas about the future of the EU and Lithuania’s relationship with its fellow EU member states. Refreshments will be served.

Mental Illness is one of the top public health challenges in Europe as measured by prevalence, burden of disease and disability. It is estimated that mental disorders affect more than a third of the population every year, the most common being depression and anxiety. Featuring experts from Scotland, this presentation aims to describe how the Scottish government is tackling mental health and related issues, as understanding grows and the stigma of mental illness is decreasing.

Annunziata (Ann) Ugas, a visiting MA-level student from the University of Cagliari in Italy (Sardegna) and Center Associate within the European Union Center of Excellence, has been working on her translation studies while at the University of Pittsburgh. She will offer a talk based on her research. She will discuss the challenges of translating a parodic text (Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody), and Professor Dennis Looney (French & Italian) and Professor Carol Bové (English) will respond to Ann’s presentation.

This conference features keynote speaker Ambassador Peter Tomsen (GSPIA ’64), Former U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Author of "The Wars of Afghanistan". An R.S.V.P. is required. To attend, please email Beverly Brizzi by Monday, December 2nd, to confirm your registration.

Join the Center as we enjoy pizza and politics during the lunch hour for a discussion offered by Center Library Research Advisor, Evgeny Postnikov. His talk will focus on the bilateral preferential trade agreements (PTAs) of the European Union (EU) and the United States, which are increasingly being used as vehicles for exporting social regulation, such as labor and environmental standards. Despite the similarity in terms of the inclusion of such provisions, design varies greatly between U.S. and EU agreements. Postnikov examines the disparity between both parties’ execution of these PTAs with paired cases of EU-Chile, U.S.-Chile, EU-South Korea, and U.S.-South Korea PTAs, relying on data from interviews with interest groups and policy-makers in Brussels, Washington, Santiago, and Seoul. PIZZA WILL BE SERVED.

February 19, 2013, Newsweek published an article that was provocatively titled “France: Leader of the Free World.” Even more provocatively, the subtitle taunted U.S. leaders with “The French are a decisive, manly superpower. Unlike America.” Gendered rhetoric aside, French foreign policy in recent years has led other powers to take note. Rather than waiting for collective decisions from NATO or the EU and citing historical interests in the region, the French intervened in Libya and the Ivory Coast under President Sarkozy and Mali under President Hollande. As a result, the French have reaffirmed claims to a special role in Africa. Is this a new assertion of Gaullism? Or are claims of French world leadership exaggerated or even undermined by domestic concerns over rising unemployment, growing right-wing nationalism in response to immigration from North and West Africa, and increasing market instability? In the next Conversation on Europe, a panel of experts will be asked to comment on recent developments in French foreign policy and how they relate to domestic and regional concerns. Joining the conversation will be Professor Laird Boswell (History, University of Wisconsin-Madison), Professor Jean-Philippe Mathy (French, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), and David Pettersen (French & Italian, University of Pittsburgh). The Conversation will be conducted entirely in French and audience participation will be encouraged. Venez nous joindre pour une discussion qui sera certainement informative et très animée!

Mircea Geoana served as President of the Romanian Senate from 2008 to 2011 and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 2005 to 2011. In 2009 he was a candidate for President of the country. He has served as Ambassador to the United States and as Chair in Office of the OSCE. Goeana’s views on foreign policy, transitional economies and globalization have been featured in the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, The Atlantic, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, CNN, BBC, PBS, Bloomberg, TV5 and Fox Business.

Stay tuned for fun events all week!

Stay tuned for fun events all week!

Stay tuned for fun events all week!

Stay tuned for fun events all week!

Stay tuned for fun events all week!

College-bound minority students from Brashear High School learned about international studies and career opportunities through a panel session with Pitt study abroad returnees and breakout sessions with UCIS international studies advisors.

Dr. Martens is Chief Executive of The European Policy Centre, a Brussels-based think tank set up to promote European integration. He is the founder of Martens International Consulting, specializing in international consultancy and customized training for a number of major companies, and the author of a number of books and articles on European integration, monetary affairs, and business strategies for the European market. Questioning whether Europe finally has the Euro crises under control, Martens will also present his analysis of the future direction of European integration.

Irepoglu discusses her dissertation which combines the literatures of 'fiscal decentralization' and 'governance' in searching for determinants of income inequality. It argues that fiscal decentralization makes inequality more likely while the interactive nature of governance offsets this effect. Building on the author's earlier quantitative work, it compares findings from field work conducted in Spain –a country with low interactive governance-and in Sweden–a country with high interactive governance.

Professor Vassallo’s research focuses on political behavior, French and European Union politics, and EU identity. In her lecture, she will highlight the possible solutions to declining EU support levels in other EU member states, addressing how European integration can still retain a mostly positive image in the eyes of elites and citizens in the EU when there is a clear commitment to the original integration project.

The second of the EUCE's 2013-2014 interactive Conversations on Europe Virtual Roundtable Series. Turkey’s likely future and its relation to Europe can be seen in several dimensions. Probably best known and easiest to track is its long-running pursuit of membership in the European Union. But Turkey’s geographic and historic position has also drawn it into—and pushed it away from--the rapidly changing dynamics of the Middle East. It is one of NATO’s oldest members but has signed onto virtually all of Russia’s energy initiatives in the region. It is an enthusiastic diplomatic and economic entrepreneur in the Balkans but carries with it an Ottoman legacy that not everyone there welcomes. In addition, if Europe represents a mode of governance and norms of regime-society relations, where does Turkey lie along these dimensions of democracy and human rights protection? The unveiling of democratic reform packages must be seen against a background of widespread protests and fierce government response this past spring. Is the decade-long rule of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Law and Justice Party leading to a “European” future or something else? Panelists in this videoconference Conversation will be invited to address whichever aspect of this question they see as most compelling and attendees will be encouraged to participate.

Learn more about DAAD programs for both undergraduates and graduates, and for German speaking and non-German speaking students. Dr. Wezel will discuss a variety of research, study, and internship DAAD scholarships that can fund up to 2 years of research or graduate study. For scholarship requirements and deadlines, please reference the DAAD’s website, which also includes information for the summer internship program with RISE (Research Internships in Science and Engineering). To R.S.V.P., please email Judy Zang at jaz36@pitt.edu.

A pre-cursor to the dramatic story-telling of Carlo Collodi's "The Adventure of Pinocchio", Professor Sherberg’s offers a deeper narrative to what is often singularly considered to be a children's tale.

Nuala Mole is a human rights lawyer and advocate who has led two pro bono legal advice and advocacy organizations: Interrights and the AIRE Centre, which she founded. Mole initially specialized in immigration and asylum but now her work encompasses all aspects of international human rights law. Mole has conducted training for the Council of Europe, the European Commission and the AIRE Centre for judges, public officials, lawyers, and NGOs in over 40 of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe. In addition to training in Europe, Mole has worked extensively with judicial training in the Balkans.

Professor Pahl will offer an additional colloquium that focuses on the emotionality of paragraphs 166 through 196 of Hegel’s "Phenomenology of Spirit". For more information or scans of these passages, please send an email requesting copies to grmndept@pitt.edu. Cookies and drinks will be provided.

Professor Pahl approaches the German literary and philosophical canon from a queer-feminist perspective, with the arc of her research situated in affect and emotion studies. She edited the Modern Language Notes 2009 issue on Emotionality, and she was awarded the Best Article in Feminist Scholarship Prize from the Coalition of Women in German for “Transformative Translations: Cyrillizing and Queering.” In this lecture, Pahl will explore Heinrich von Kleist's “Anekdote aus dem letzten Kriege” (“Anecdote from the Recent War”). The lecture is in English. Copies of the anecdote in German and English will be provided.

Enlargement posed a serious challenge for the European Commission, which set as a goal bringing on board thousands of new staff. How successful was the Commission in meeting this challenge? And how successful were the newcomers in integrating in to the organization? Now, after several years, can we see that the staff from Central and East European countries have had an impact on the organization? Answering these questions sheds new light on the evolution of the Commission’s organizational culture which Ban, author of the new book analyzing these questions, will discuss. LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED. RSVPs to euce@pitt.edu appreciated.

The first of the EUCE/ESC's Pizza and Politics discussions of the year, GSPIA's EU and the World Organization's executive members talk about their experience interviewing policy-makers, EU civil servants, and visiting major institutions in Brussels and Luxembourg as participants in the EU in Brussels Program, co-sponsored by Pitt's EUCE/ESC and GSPIA. Also learn about getting involved in the EU and the World Organization and about other upcoming EU Studies opportunities at Pitt! PIZZA WILL BE SERVED.

After a decade of experiments with different techniques, in 1930s Soviet animation began a transformation to celluloid and aesthetics of social realism. However, interpretation of socialist realist aesthetic in animation turned out to be rather problematic, especially considering the influence of American animation, Disney in particular. The paper will look at the question of realism in animation, and will consider the attempts of Soviet critics and animation directors in 1930s to delineate socialist realism in animation, and to develop a type of image that could be considered consistent with the requirements of socialist realist aesthetics.

Toker led excavations of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy from 1970-1974 and again in 1980, which led to discoveries about the tombs of the great Italian artists Giotto and Filippo Brunelleschi, as well as facts about Saint Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan. In light of his more recent discoveries, his lecture will focus on a horseshoe-shaped pool uncovered during the 1912 excavations under the Baptistery of St. John, which Toker has realized could be the archaeological remains of a place in which to hold a baptism, and therefore suggesting the archaeological evidence for the origin of Christianity in Florence. He is documenting his findings in a four-volume "Florence Duomo Project" being published by Brepols Publishers.

Ms. Malin Olofsson is a Transatlantic Media Fellow (at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in D.C.) and a reporter for Sveriges Radio, Sweden’s national radio network. Malin's interests lie within the environment, climate change, and sustainability, and she plans to use her experience as an investigative reporter to talk about food production from a human rights and environmental perspective. She has won numerous national awards, most recently “The Great Journalism Prize of Sweden – 2011," and was listed in 2011 as one of the 100 most important people in Sweden in the discussion of environmental issues and the food debate. While in the United States, Malin plans to research how moves toward a more sustainable society will affect American transportation, with a particular focus on the oil debate.

Week-long professional development workshop on global human rights and cultural diversity for faculty from various Midwestern community colleges and small four-year colleges.

In 1973, the European Community introduced the concept of European identity in order to define and strengthen its position vis-à-vis other countries, and in world politics more broadly. Over time, it has become clear that European identity has to do much more with the presence of European otherness and ‘Others’, such as Muslims in Western Europe. In his talk, Professor Radeljic will address the (ir)relevance of the European identity discourse for European national identities and members of European otherness. Moreover, he will outline a number of possible challenges to a European identity, posed by some recent policy choices as well as future of the European Union. Professor Radeljic visits Pitt as a recipient of the Summer Research Scholars Grant and is the author of Europe and the Collapse of Yugoslavia: The Role of Non-State Actors and European Diplomacy (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2012), and the editor of Europe and the Post-Yugoslav Space (Farnham: Ashgate, 2013) and Debating European Identity: Bright Ideas, Dim Prospects (Oxford: Peter Lang, forthcoming 2014). LUNCH will be provided.

Organized in collaboration with Wulf Reiners of the Jean Monnet Chair for Political Science of the University of Cologne, the workshop will serve to bring together practitioners and academic scholars to discuss the collaboration of state and non-state actors, such as the European Union, as well as those from civil society, within the system of global health governance. Participants will include Bernard Merkel, European External Action Service, who works on Food Safety, Health and Consumer Affairs at the EU Delegation of the EU to the USA in Washington; Donald Burke, Dean, Graduate School of Public Health; Guy Peters, Department of Political Science; and Nidhi Bouri and Amesh Adalja, of UPMC Health Security.

As a part of Europe Day celebrations, EUCE connected with Sunnyside Elementary. We presented information on the EU to two 6th grade classes.

Presentation to a Montessori mixed age classroom of 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, and kindergarteners about the European Union - an introduction. The students were given individual "passports" and then pretended to visit Europe. They learned that they would only get one stamp when they got to Europe, no matter how many different countries they visited. The students are given regular instruction in the continents and could all name countries in Europe. They learned that some of those countries were member states, some were not. And then they learned about the euro and the different designs that appear on euro coins were compared to the different state's designs on U.S. quarters. They were able to hold and play with euro notes and coins.

A continuation of the conversation begun by PICT Theatre's production of Tadeusz Slobodzianek's play Our Class,/i>, and featuring noted Princeton historian Dr. Jan T. Gross, whose book Neighbors inspired the play. Join us for a compelling discussion.

Haven't seen the play? Our Class runs through May 4th. Use code PANEL55 for Buy-One-Get-One-Free tickets at picttheatre.org or call 412-561-6000.

RSVP requested: https://picttheatre.secure.force.com/ticket/

Science, Culture, and the Human after World War II

The definition of the human is always in flux. Science offers no absolute account of “human nature”; even the species definition can be contested. The idea of human rights has faltered not only on what counts as rights and who can enforce them, but also on who is entitled to them: on who counts as “human.” Despite the instability of its definition, the human has long been a foundational term for theories of social justice. What happens, then, when scientific innovations and geopolitical transformations conspicuously challenge the definition of the human? These seminars will focus on the scientific and technological innovations and the geopolitical transformations in the decades following the World War II.

Political theorists as diverse as Hannah Arendt and Frantz Fanon decried the failure of the concept of human rights and called for new formulations of the human. At the same time, the biologist Rachel Carson cautioned of the contamination and exhaustion of natural resources endangering life on a planetary scale. The genre of science fiction proliferated in this period as it engaged with the scientific innovations and geopolitical transformations that placed the idea of the human in question. The narratives emerging from these works, philosophical and fictional, offer insight into a politics and poetics of life that continue to structure twenty-first debates about science and politics; they will be the subject of this seminar.

In these seminars, we will consider a broad range of works, across genres, media, and cultures. We will explore connections among concepts such as “human rights” and the changing idea of “human being” as it emerged through scientific research especially in fields renovated (or generated) by the war, such as genetics, cybernetics, and psychoanalysis. We will consider how the effort to come to terms with the unthinkable in a variety of arenas gave rise not only to new anxieties about the future (and accompanying recasting of the past), but also to new ways of thinking about the connections among artistic expression, cultural criticism, freedom, and human possibility.
Readings may include works by such authors as Paul Celan, Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Hannah Arendt, Antonin Artaud, Erwin Schrödinger, Norbert Wiener, John Hersey, Rachel Carson, Johan Galtung, Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther King, Octavia Butler and such films as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Manchurian Candidate, and Blade Runner.

*Please register by e-mailing: Ms. Tory Konecny vad16@pitt.edu.*
**followed by lunch for participants**

Science, Culture, and the Human after World War II

The definition of the human is always in flux. Science offers no absolute account of “human nature”; even the species definition can be contested. The idea of human rights has faltered not only on what counts as rights and who can enforce them, but also on who is entitled to them: on who counts as “human.” Despite the instability of its definition, the human has long been a foundational term for theories of social justice. What happens, then, when scientific innovations and geopolitical transformations conspicuously challenge the definition of the human? These seminars will focus on the scientific and technological innovations and the geopolitical transformations in the decades following the World War II.

Political theorists as diverse as Hannah Arendt and Frantz Fanon decried the failure of the concept of human rights and called for new formulations of the human. At the same time, the biologist Rachel Carson cautioned of the contamination and exhaustion of natural resources endangering life on a planetary scale. The genre of science fiction proliferated in this period as it engaged with the scientific innovations and geopolitical transformations that placed the idea of the human in question. The narratives emerging from these works, philosophical and fictional, offer insight into a politics and poetics of life that continue to structure twenty-first debates about science and politics; they will be the subject of this seminar.

In these seminars, we will consider a broad range of works, across genres, media, and cultures. We will explore connections among concepts such as “human rights” and the changing idea of “human being” as it emerged through scientific research especially in fields renovated (or generated) by the war, such as genetics, cybernetics, and psychoanalysis. We will consider how the effort to come to terms with the unthinkable in a variety of arenas gave rise not only to new anxieties about the future (and accompanying recasting of the past), but also to new ways of thinking about the connections among artistic expression, cultural criticism, freedom, and human possibility.
Readings may include works by such authors as Paul Celan, Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Hannah Arendt, Antonin Artaud, Erwin Schrödinger, Norbert Wiener, John Hersey, Rachel Carson, Johan Galtung, Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther King, Octavia Butler and such films as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Manchurian Candidate, and Blade Runner.

*Please register by e-mailing: Ms. Tory Konecny vad16@pitt.edu.*
**followed by lunch for participants**

In recent years, the area of the Black Sea region has seen several momentous changes, including: the emergence of several new states—some as a result of violent conflict; the appearance of a variety of governing systems, nominally based on democratic models but varying widely in terms of the practices of democracy; the end of the long-standing status quo of the Cold War with a resulting change of alliance patterns; and increasing prominence of a European, and Russian, energy highway. This conference will draw together experts from the United States and Europe to assess both the nature and impact of global changes on the Black Sea region and the responses of powerful international actors. A series of workshops sessions will cover, among other topics, the military, economic, ethnic-religious and energy dynamics of the Black Sea region and the strategic responses of the United States, European Union, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. For more information, please email the EUCE/ESC at euce@pitt.edu or call 412-648-7405. More information, including a draft of the program, can be found on the EUCE/ESC website.

Science, Culture, and the Human after World War II

The definition of the human is always in flux. Science offers no absolute account of “human nature”; even the species definition can be contested. The idea of human rights has faltered not only on what counts as rights and who can enforce them, but also on who is entitled to them: on who counts as “human.” Despite the instability of its definition, the human has long been a foundational term for theories of social justice. What happens, then, when scientific innovations and geopolitical transformations conspicuously challenge the definition of the human? These seminars will focus on the scientific and technological innovations and the geopolitical transformations in the decades following the World War II.

Political theorists as diverse as Hannah Arendt and Frantz Fanon decried the failure of the concept of human rights and called for new formulations of the human. At the same time, the biologist Rachel Carson cautioned of the contamination and exhaustion of natural resources endangering life on a planetary scale. The genre of science fiction proliferated in this period as it engaged with the scientific innovations and geopolitical transformations that placed the idea of the human in question. The narratives emerging from these works, philosophical and fictional, offer insight into a politics and poetics of life that continue to structure twenty-first debates about science and politics; they will be the subject of this seminar.

In these seminars, we will consider a broad range of works, across genres, media, and cultures. We will explore connections among concepts such as “human rights” and the changing idea of “human being” as it emerged through scientific research especially in fields renovated (or generated) by the war, such as genetics, cybernetics, and psychoanalysis. We will consider how the effort to come to terms with the unthinkable in a variety of arenas gave rise not only to new anxieties about the future (and accompanying recasting of the past), but also to new ways of thinking about the connections among artistic expression, cultural criticism, freedom, and human possibility.
Readings may include works by such authors as Paul Celan, Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Hannah Arendt, Antonin Artaud, Erwin Schrödinger, Norbert Wiener, John Hersey, Rachel Carson, Johan Galtung, Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther King, Octavia Butler and such films as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Manchurian Candidate, and Blade Runner.

*Please register by e-mailing: Ms. Tory Konecny vad16@pitt.edu.*
**followed by lunch for participants**

Science, Culture, and the Human after World War II

The definition of the human is always in flux. Science offers no absolute account of “human nature”; even the species definition can be contested. The idea of human rights has faltered not only on what counts as rights and who can enforce them, but also on who is entitled to them: on who counts as “human.” Despite the instability of its definition, the human has long been a foundational term for theories of social justice. What happens, then, when scientific innovations and geopolitical transformations conspicuously challenge the definition of the human? These seminars will focus on the scientific and technological innovations and the geopolitical transformations in the decades following the World War II.

Political theorists as diverse as Hannah Arendt and Frantz Fanon decried the failure of the concept of human rights and called for new formulations of the human. At the same time, the biologist Rachel Carson cautioned of the contamination and exhaustion of natural resources endangering life on a planetary scale. The genre of science fiction proliferated in this period as it engaged with the scientific innovations and geopolitical transformations that placed the idea of the human in question. The narratives emerging from these works, philosophical and fictional, offer insight into a politics and poetics of life that continue to structure twenty-first debates about science and politics; they will be the subject of this seminar.

In these seminars, we will consider a broad range of works, across genres, media, and cultures. We will explore connections among concepts such as “human rights” and the changing idea of “human being” as it emerged through scientific research especially in fields renovated (or generated) by the war, such as genetics, cybernetics, and psychoanalysis. We will consider how the effort to come to terms with the unthinkable in a variety of arenas gave rise not only to new anxieties about the future (and accompanying recasting of the past), but also to new ways of thinking about the connections among artistic expression, cultural criticism, freedom, and human possibility.
Readings may include works by such authors as Paul Celan, Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Hannah Arendt, Antonin Artaud, Erwin Schrödinger, Norbert Wiener, John Hersey, Rachel Carson, Johan Galtung, Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther King, Octavia Butler and such films as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Manchurian Candidate, and Blade Runner.

*Please register by e-mailing: Ms. Tory Konecny vad16@pitt.edu.*
**followed by lunch for participants**

Science, Culture, and the Human after World War II

The definition of the human is always in flux. Science offers no absolute account of “human nature”; even the species definition can be contested. The idea of human rights has faltered not only on what counts as rights and who can enforce them, but also on who is entitled to them: on who counts as “human.” Despite the instability of its definition, the human has long been a foundational term for theories of social justice. What happens, then, when scientific innovations and geopolitical transformations conspicuously challenge the definition of the human? These seminars will focus on the scientific and technological innovations and the geopolitical transformations in the decades following the World War II.

Political theorists as diverse as Hannah Arendt and Frantz Fanon decried the failure of the concept of human rights and called for new formulations of the human. At the same time, the biologist Rachel Carson cautioned of the contamination and exhaustion of natural resources endangering life on a planetary scale. The genre of science fiction proliferated in this period as it engaged with the scientific innovations and geopolitical transformations that placed the idea of the human in question. The narratives emerging from these works, philosophical and fictional, offer insight into a politics and poetics of life that continue to structure twenty-first debates about science and politics; they will be the subject of this seminar.

In these seminars, we will consider a broad range of works, across genres, media, and cultures. We will explore connections among concepts such as “human rights” and the changing idea of “human being” as it emerged through scientific research especially in fields renovated (or generated) by the war, such as genetics, cybernetics, and psychoanalysis. We will consider how the effort to come to terms with the unthinkable in a variety of arenas gave rise not only to new anxieties about the future (and accompanying recasting of the past), but also to new ways of thinking about the connections among artistic expression, cultural criticism, freedom, and human possibility.
Readings may include works by such authors as Paul Celan, Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Hannah Arendt, Antonin Artaud, Erwin Schrödinger, Norbert Wiener, John Hersey, Rachel Carson, Johan Galtung, Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther King, Octavia Butler and such films as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Manchurian Candidate, and Blade Runner.

*Please register by e-mailing: Ms. Tory Konecny vad16@pitt.edu.*
**followed by lunch for participants**