Monday, October 16th, 2023
Pluto (with Director Q&A)
Location: 323 Alumni Hall
EU FILM FESTIVAL
In preparation for the upcoming 2024 EU Film Festival (January 19-26, 2024), the ESC and the French and Italian Departments will host a teaser film screening.
PLUTO
Writer and Director: Renzo Carbonera (with Andrea Pennacchi)
A man wanders through the woods of the Alps. He lives in a former World War I fort and is haunted by nightmares and visions. He seems to have a mission to accomplish: he is the last agent of a secret society that over the years has prevented humanity from being destroyed by the mad atomic race. Or at least that’s what he believes. Franco Carling has served in military missions all over the world, has been injured in an accident and has lost his dearest affections because of the work that has taken him to numerous American bases in Italy and Europe, always in the company of the Bomb. Since the end of the Cold War, his points of reference have been missing, the enemy is no longer so easy to identify and the atomic risk has lost its strongest controller, the deterrence that was generated by the world divided into blocks. Now the Bomb has become his obsession, his torment and his only reason of life.
FREE ADMISSION
Thursday, October 12th, 2023
Italian Heritage Month Film Series: Potentially Dangerous Pre-Screening
Location: Italian Nationality Room- CL 116
Please note:
The pre-screening presentation will be held at 6:30 PM in the Italian Nationality Room (CL 116) at the University of Pittsburg's Cathedral of Learning.
The film will be shown at 7:30 PM in the Frick Fine Arts Building at 7:30 PM.
Synopsis:
During World War II, the U.S Government restricted the actions and freedoms of 600,000 Italian residents of the United States. All were declared “Enemy Aliens,” and many were placed under curfew, banned from their workplaces, evacuated from their homes and communities, and even placed in internment camps.
Many of these people had been in the United States for decades, had children born in their adopted country, and had sons serving in the U.S. Military.
During that era, Italians made up the biggest foreign-born group in the country. As the Department of Justice would later say, “The impact of the wartime experience was devastating to the Italian-American communities in the United States, and its effects are still being felt.”
Interned Italians were not charged with a crime or allowed legal representation. They were subjected to “loyalty hearings” and held for the duration of the war. The United States government considered them “Potentially Dangerous,” not based on anything they had done, but on where they were born.
Most Italians refused to speak about what happened to them. Even 80 years later, many have remained silent. Until now. Hear their stories for the first time in Potentially Dangerous.
Director: Zach Baliva
All films are sponsored by the History Center's Italian American program, the University of Pittsburgh's European Studies Center, and Italian Nationality Room (part of the Nationality Rooms & Intercultural Exchange Programs). Film screenings are free to the public and will take place in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium on the University of Pittsburgh campus.
Tuesday, October 10th, 2023
Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Presenter: Molly McSweeney
Are you looking to gain experience that will help prepare you for a globally-connected job market? Stop by Drop-In Hours to learn more about getting the Global Distinction added to your academic transcript, receiving special recognition at graduation, and standing out to prospective employers!
Fall 2023 Global Distinction Drop-In Hours: Tuesdays at 3:30-4:30 pm, except on October 3 and November 21.
Thursday, October 5th, 2023
Italian Heritage Month Film Series: Il Messaggero (with Director Q&A)
Location: Frick Fine Arts Auditorium
il Messaggero (The Messenger) tells the story of an Italian man from a small village in Italy and his idea to bring messages of hope and joy to the United States as an immigrant in 1966. In doing so, he unknowingly immortalizes a generation of Italians through rare audio recordings and more than 50 years later we see its impact on the next generation living in the U.S. The film explores the amazing true history of one man's mission and his unique way of capturing the stories of those left behind in Italy. It revisits turbulent times in recent world history as well as local history, including the rise of the HJ Heinz company, a Pittsburgh area Italian DJ, and the migration of Italians to the Pittsburgh area.
Director Pete Ferrar will be present for Q&A
All films are sponsored by the History Center's Italian American program and the University of Pittsburgh's European Studies Center and Italian Nationality Room (part of the Nationality Rooms & Intercultural Exchange Programs). Film screenings are free to the public and will take place in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium on the University of Pittsburgh campus.
Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023
Maximize Your Pitt Experience! Suitable Info Session
Presenter: Molly McSweeney
Learn how to earn credit by taking part in classes, activities, clubs, study abroad, and more, to support you holistically and make you stand out to employers. To start, undergraduate students can earn OCC and myPittGlobal credits by attending this event!
At this event, you will hear from representatives from the following:
Outside the Classroom (OCC)
Honors OCC
Pitt Global Hub
To attend, register here: https://pitt.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0P7abijZZ5nxg22
Talk Time
Come meet international students, make friends, practice conversational English, and have fun together, during these weekly discussion groups coordinated by the English Language Institute. Feel free to bring your lunch :)
Talk Time
Time: 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
Come meet international students, make friends, practice conversational English, and have fun together, during these weekly discussion groups coordinated by the English Language Institute. Feel free to bring your lunch :)
Saturday, September 30th, 2023
Marie Curie in Pittsburgh
Time: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Presenter: Dr. Fatiha Benmokhtar, Associate Professor of Physics in Duquesne University’s School of Science and Engineering
Location: Cathedral of Learning French Nationality Room
Marie Curie, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize (twice!) visited the University of Pittsburgh in 1921, where Pitt Chancellor John Bowman awarded her an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Come to the French Nationality Room to learn more about Marie Curie’s connection to Pittsburgh.
Dr. Fatiha Benmokhtar, Associate Professor of Physics in Duquesne University’s School of Science and Engineering, will discuss Marie Curie’s life and work and her ongoing scientific legacy. The talk will be in English and accessible to a general audience.
The one-hour lecture and discussion will be followed by a light reception in the Cathedral of Learning’s Braun Room. This event is sponsored by the Centre Francophone de Pittsburgh as part of a cultural series on Femmes Françaises.
Seating is limited. Please RSVP to cfpittsburgh@gmail.com
Thursday, September 28th, 2023
Talk Time
Time: 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
Come meet international students, make friends, practice conversational English, and have fun together during these weekly discussion groups coordinated by the English Language Institute. Feel free to bring your lunch :)
EU Enlargement - Spotlight: Poland
EU ENLARGEMENT LECTURE SERIES: 20th Anniversary of the EU Enlargement
As part of our continued efforts to bring together experts with diverse perspectives to discuss contemporary issues facing Europe, the European Studies Center/European Union Center of Excellence (ESC/EUCE) along with the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (REEES) offers a new lecture series to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the EU Enlargement. This virtual lecture series will be held on the last Thursday of each month.
2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the biggest enlargement of the European Union in its history. Ten countries, mainly former socialist Eastern European states, almost doubled the EU from 15 to 25 member states. May 1, 2004, was the triumphal return to the European Family for many. But for some, it initiated a process of disenchantment with the EU and the West.
Each month, the ESC/EUCE, together with REEES at the University of Pittsburgh, will focus our attention on a specific country or a group of countries in the EU by inviting experts and eyewitnesses to discuss the hopes and realities of the EU integration before and after expansion to address what hopes were fulfilled and what new hopes exist for the Union in the present.
Each session is recorded and later posted on the internet with suggested additional readings and further resources. Please check out our webpage for more details and mark the last Thursday of the month to attend this event.
Moderator:
Pawel Lewicki, University of Pittsburgh
Speaker:
Anna Horolets, University of Warsaw
Janusz Reiter, Poland Ambassador of Germany
Wednesday, September 27th, 2023
Hungarians in Pittsburgh: Joe Magarac: Folklore or Fakelore?
As a part of the University of Pittsburgh Library System's Hungarians in Pittsburgh Exhibit, this panel explores the complex and contradictory tall tale figure of Joe Magarac, the Mon Valley's man of steel. After the panel, attendees will take a tour of Joe Magarac related items from the University Library System Archives in the Global Hub. Light refreshments will be available.
MODERATOR:
Kathy Haines, Head of the Center for Amercian Music
PANELISTS:
Clare Withers, Nesbitt Collection Curator
Dr. Andrew Lotz, Professor and Assistant Dean in Arts and Sciences
Dr. Kirsten Paine, Archivisit at Rivers of Steel
Tuesday, September 26th, 2023
Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Presenter: Molly McSweeney
Are you looking to gain experience that will help prepare you for a globally-connected job market? Stop by Drop-In Hours to learn more about getting the Global Distinction added to your academic transcript, receiving special recognition at graduation, and standing out to prospective employers!
Fall 2023 Global Distinction Drop-In Hours: Tuesdays at 3:30-4:30 pm, except on October 3 and November 21.
Talk Time
Come meet international students, make friends, practice conversational English, and have fun together, during these weekly discussion groups coordinated by the English Language Institute. Feel free to bring your lunch :)
Talk Time
Time: 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
Come meet international students, make friends, practice conversational English, and have fun together during these weekly discussion groups coordinated by the English Language Institute. Feel free to bring your lunch :)
Talk Time
Time: 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
Come meet international students, make friends, practice conversational English, and have fun together, during these weekly discussion groups coordinated by the English Language Institute. Feel free to bring your lunch :)
Tuesday, September 19th, 2023
Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Presenter: Molly McSweeney
Are you looking to gain experience that will help prepare you for a globally-connected job market? Stop by Drop-In Hours to learn more about getting the Global Distinction added to your academic transcript, receiving special recognition at graduation, and standing out to prospective employers!
Fall 2023 Global Distinction Drop-In Hours: Tuesdays at 3:30-4:30 pm, except on October 3 and November 21.
Thursday, September 14th, 2023
Community United in Compassion - Moroccan Tea
Time: 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Presenter: Molly McSweeney
In response to the devastating earthquake that struck the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, the Pitt community, as well as our neighbors affected by this event, will gather together in the Global Hub. Together, we will share stories about and connections with this beautiful country and unite in compassion. Moroccan tea, pastries, and dates will be offered.
Tuesday, September 12th, 2023
Germany on Campus 2023: Mack The Knife-Brecht's Threepenny Film
Join the German Department and its sponsors for a Night at the Movies on Pitt's Campus for the Oakland Premier of Mack The Knife. This critically acclaimed German film tells the story of the attempt to turn Bertolt Brecht's anti-capitalist play The Threepenny Opera into a commercially successful movie. While the Studio wants to censor the racy parts of Brecht's play and its socialist critique, the author does not bow down but takes the Studio to court. Using elements of Brecht's play with music by Kurt Weill, Lang's feature film thematizes the tension between art, politics, and commercial interests against the Nazi's rise to power.
Free Admission
Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Presenter: Molly McSweeney
Are you looking to gain experience that will help prepare you for a globally-connected job market? Stop by Drop-In Hours to learn more about getting the Global Distinction added to your academic transcript, receiving special recognition at graduation, and standing out to prospective employers!
Fall 2023 Global Distinction Drop-In Hours: Tuesdays at 3:30-4:30 pm, except on October 3 and November 21.
Conversations on Europe: European Year of Skills-What's the Future of Labor in Europe?
The EU declared 2023 the Year of Skills to bring attention to the challenges the contemporary workforce faces and to the European responses. It is indeed a period of transition in labor, with no little unrest. The Yellow Vest strikes are perhaps the best known of the strikes that have taken place recently in Europe. This Conversation on Europe considers the state of labor and the security of employment. In conversation with our panelists, we will consider labor struggles, the disruption of historical industries, the insecurity caused by inflation, energy scarcity, and AI. We will consider the future in Europe of the developing culturally diverse workforce? And we will hear about EU level initiatives to develop skilled workers for the 21st century.
Moderator:
Randall Halle, University of Pittsburgh
Panelists are:
Jane Gingrich, University of Oxford
Stefan Olsson, Deputy Director General, European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Jamie Woodcock, University of Essex
About the Panelist:
Dr. Jane Gingrich is a professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College). Dr. Gingrich research interests involve comparative political economy and comparative social policy. In particular, I am interested in contemporary restructuring of the welfare state and the politics of institutional change more broadly. Dr. Gingrich is currently working on a project examining how the introduction of market-oriented reforms in state services has altered citizen and group attitudes toward government.
Stefan Olsson is a Swedish lawyer with degrees in international and tax law. Having joined the European Commission in 1996, he dealt with fundamental rights issues as well as social dialogue. He was assistant to the Director General for Employment and Social Affairs (2000-2005) before leading units dealing with social and employment law and policy as well as administrative affairs. As from 1 November 2015, he took up the position of Director in DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. He was responsible for the management of the European Social Fund in Romania, Bulgaria, Malta, and Spain, for the implementation of the Employment Strategy through tools such as the Youth Guarantee, the Long-term Unemployment Recommendation, and the network of Public Employment Services, as well as legislative and policy issues relating to working conditions including health and safety at work. From 1 September 2022, he serves as Deputy Director-General responsible for policy issues in DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.
Dr. Jamie Woodcock is a researcher based in London and a senior lecturer at the University of Essex. He is the author of books including Troublemaking (Verso, 2023), Employment (Routledge, 2023), The Fight Against Platform Capitalism (University of Westminster Press, 2021), The Gig Economy (Polity, 2019), Marx at the Arcade (Haymarket, 2019), and Working the Phones (Pluto, 2017). He is on the editorial board of Notes from Below and Historical Materialism.
Friday, September 8th, 2023
Return to Seoul
Film Festival Teaser Screening and Screenshot Asian Film Festival
Location: 121 Lawrence Hall
EU FILM FESTIVAL
SCREENSHOT ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL
In preparation for the upcoming 2023 Screenshot Asia Film Festival (October 4-8, 2023) and the 2024 EU Film Festival (January 19-26, 2024), the ESC and the ASC will host a teaser film screening.
RETURN TO SEOUL
Director: Davy Chou
After an impulsive travel decision to visit friends, Freddie, 25, returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. Freddie suddenly finds herself embarking on an unexpected journey in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.
FREE ADMISSION
UCIS Open House
Presenter: Molly McSweeney
Location: Posvar Galleria
Stop by to learn more about international opportunities at Pitt! Discover study abroad/study away options, explore internships, learn languages, find funding, enroll in a graduate or undergraduate certificate program or the Global Distinction, and more!
Meet representatives from the following University Center for International Studies units:
- Asian Studies Center
- Center for African Studies
- Center for Ethnic Studies Research
- Center for Latin American Studies
- Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
- European Studies Center
- Global Experiences Office
- Global Hub
- Global Studies Center
- Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs
Graduate and undergraduate students welcome!
Light refreshments will be served.
Thursday, September 7th, 2023
Faculty Advisory Board Meeting
Location: 4217 Posvar Hall
September Faculty Advisory Board Meeting.
Wednesday, September 6th, 2023
Virtual Visiting Diplomat Program: Let's Talk France
Presenter: Anne-Laure Desjonqueres, Consul General of France in Atlanta
Anne-Laure Desjonquères is a career diplomat who joined the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEFA) in 2006.
A student of the French National School of Administration (ENA) and of the Ecole Normale Supérieure (Ulm), she graduated from Sciences Po in Paris and from the University of Paris-IV Sorbonne (Master’s Degree in History of International Relations).
Prior to her appointment as Consul General in Atlanta, she was the Head of the Division of European Union Law and International Economic Law in the Legal Affairs Department of the MEFA since 2018. Over the years, she also served at the French Embassies in New Delhi, India (as Head of the Press & Communication Office – 2015 - 2017) and Pretoria, South Africa (as Political Advisor on Domestic and African Policy Issues - 2012-2015). Anne-Laure was also a Desk Officer in the Departments of Strategic and Legal Affairs in charge of nuclear disarmament issues (2010 to 2012) and a Legal Consultant in European Union Law (2006 – 2009).
JOIN US ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 – 2:00 – 3:30 P. M. (EASTERN TIME) for a 90-minute interactive program in which diplomat Anne-Laure Desjonqueres will introduce the social, cultural, and economic footprint of France in the United States, with a focus on the Southeastern U.S. Students attending the program will gain global competency skills to help them succeed in a dynamic and interdependent global economy. The program will also offer opportunities for career exploration, including government internships, for students attending schools in the Consortium.
JOINTLY SPONSORED WITH
REINHARDT UNIVERSITY & THE INTERNATIONAL STUDIES CONSORTIUM OF GEORGIA
Tuesday, September 5th, 2023
Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Presenter: Molly McSweeney
Are you looking to gain experience that will help prepare you for a globally-connected job market? Stop by Drop-In Hours to learn more about getting the Global Distinction added to your academic transcript, receiving special recognition at graduation, and standing out to prospective employers!
Fall 2023 Global Distinction Drop-In Hours: Tuesdays at 3:30-4:30 pm, except on October 3 and November 21.
Monday, August 28th, 2023
EU Enlargement - Spotlight: Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia)
Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023
Artificial Intelligence for the Greater Good? Exploring the European Union’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Policies as Entangled Assemblages
Presenter: Dr. Stefan Fritsch, Associate Professor of International Relations, Department of Political Science
Location: 4217 Posvar Hall
The project examines the EU’s efforts to create a trans-European, innovation-friendly environment through science, technology, and innovation policies that provide a model for responsible socio-technical development strategies in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI). An interdisciplinary framework, which borrows concepts and insights from European integration theories as well as from work in Science and Technology Studies (STS), is developed to explore the impact of actors’ norms and values, identities, and material interests on the EU’s AI-related policies. While mainstream perspectives perceive the European politics of STI as the result of rational actors’ attempts to maximize material interests, this project puts equal emphasis on the normative and ideational aspects as well as the reciprocal impact of technological artifacts themselves on the formulation and implementation of EU-policies. Simultaneously, the project highlights the messiness of technological innovation as well as its deep embeddedness within the European integration process. The EU’s recent struggles to formulate and implement ambitious AI-related STI-policies effectively highlight the complexity and multidimensionality of technological innovation.
Dr. Stefan Fritsch
Associate Professor of International Relations
Department of Political Science
Bowling Green State University
Web: https://www.bgsu.edu/arts-and-sciences/political-science/faculty-and-sta...
Thursday, June 29th, 2023
Third Time's the Charm? The European Communities and the UK's Application to Membership 1968-1973
Presenter: Dr. Chris Bannister
Location: 4217 Posvar Hall
Dr. Chris Bannister is visiting Pitt as a Summer Research Scholar to conduct research using the Barbara Sloan European Union Document Collection on the UK's application for membership in the EC over the period 1968 to 1973. He received a master’s and doctorate in History and Civilization from the European University Institute. He also has a BA and a Master of Letters in History from Newcastle University. He served as a Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Manchester from 2017 to 2019. Since 2019 he has been the EU Research Coordinator in the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) of the government of the United Kingdom, where he oversees numerous projects looking at the contemporary European Union and its relationship with the UK.
“Third Time’s the Charm? The European Communities and the UK’s Application to Membership 1968-1973.”
Presenter: Dr. Chris Bannister EU Research Coordinator, FCDO, UK
Location: 4217 Posvar Hall
Dr. Chris Bannister is visiting Pitt as a Summer Research Scholar to conduct research using the Barbara Sloan European Union Document Collection on the UK's application for membership in the EC over the period 1968 to 1973. He received a master’s and doctorate in History and Civilization from the European University Institute. He also has a BA and a Master of Letters in History from Newcastle University. He served as a Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Manchester from 2017 to 2019. Since 2019 he has been the EU Research Coordinator in the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) of the government of the United Kingdom, where he oversees numerous projects looking at the contemporary European Union and its relationship with the UK.
Sunday, June 18th, 2023 to Saturday, June 24th, 2023
Brussels-Lux Summer Study Tour for Educators 2023
Location: Brussels, Belgium
The annual Brussels-Lux Study Tour is a week-long opportunity for educators across the U.S. to learn more about the European Union. With funding from the EU Delegation and the U.S. Department of Education, K-12 educators and faculty teaching at community colleges and minority-serving institutions (Title III- or Title V-eligible) are able to gain first-hand knowledge and experiences to further their understanding of Europe and the European Union. Visits to EU institutions and other organizations provide an inside look at the issues facing Europe and the EU. Educators also participate in a day-trip to Luxembourg to visit the European Court of Justice.
Friday, April 28th, 2023
2023 UCIS Graduation Ceremony and Reception
Location: 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.
Monday, April 24th, 2023
BrExit, Voice and Loaylty: Post-Brexit Governance Challenges for Ireland, the UK and the EU
Presenter: Muiris MacCarthaigh
Abstract: Brexit has had enormous implications for political relationships within and between Ireland, the UK and the EU respectively. In this presentation, Prof Muiris MacCarthaigh of Queen’s University Belfast examines developments in these relationships since the 2016 referendum that resulted in the UK’s departure from the European Union, the current impasse over the 'Protocol', and the future of governance arrangements across these jurisdictions.
Bio: Prof Muiris MacCarthaigh is Professor of Politics and Public Policy and Fellow of the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queens University Belfast. His research engages with a variety of debates within and between political science, public sector governance and public policy, and with a particular focus on the Irish case. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the European Group for Public Administration, visiting Full Professor at the Geary Institute for Public Policy at University College Dublin, and Northern Ireland lead for the International Public Policy Observatory (www.theippo.co.uk)
Tuesday, April 18th, 2023
Hungary in Pittsburgh: A Celebration of Hungarian Culture through Food and History
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
Friday, April 14th, 2023
Global Sustainability Part 1: Regional and Global Governance Pertaining to the Preservation of the Amazon Region
The University of Pittsburgh and the International Studies Consortium of Georgia (ISCOG) invite you to join the introductory session in an ongoing series focused on development, conservation, and sustainability contrasting dynamics and processes in different world regions. The sessions have been designed to help educators develop and enhance global content complementing their curricula. In addition to learning about thematic local/global intersections, educators will also explore Pitt’s Historical context, Ethics, Language proficiency, Media literacy, Social science methodologies (HELMS) framework for the area, and global studies. This series engages and promotes critical thinking about Amazonia’s current and future sustainability. We will work through approaches to the region’s role in water and food security, clean energy supplies, climate change, art, music, and cultural expressions. This collaborative series is funded through U.S. Department of Education National Resource Center grants.
Participants will be able to learn about issues related to Amazonia, particularly related to development, sustainability, and conservation. Improve understanding of diversely different and clearly interconnected dynamics that affect daily lives all over the planet. This will allow educators to have resources at hand to teach in their classroom as well as satisfy the requirement of teaching to the standards.
For questions, please email lavst12@pitt.edu
Wednesday, April 12th, 2023
Europe Today Lecture Series: European Energy Transition - Development Pathways, Challenges, and Opportunities
Presenter: Andrzej Ceglarz
For more than three decades, the European Union has been recognised as a world leader in the fight against global warming and climate change. Climate policy has become a dominant issue on the EU's environmental agenda and has gradually been integrated into other policy areas, most notably energy policy. In terms of climate and energy policy, the EU has developed the most advanced and comprehensive regulatory framework in the world, which includes both EU-wide policies and targets to be achieved by Member States. Taken together, these policies and targets serve to advance the energy transition – a process aimed at transforming Europe's energy sector from fossil fuel-based to zero-carbon, mainly through the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures. However, the process is uneven in the different Member States. This lecture will present the development of European climate and energy policy, in the context of global climate politics. It will also illustrate different trajectories for the development of renewable energy policies, comparing two different case studies: Poland and Germany. Finally, it will discuss the current challenges of further developing the energy transition in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Tuesday, April 11th, 2023
Conversations on Europe: The Ongoing Struggle to Recover Nazi-Looted Art
Presenter: Professor Vivian Curran
During and before World War II the Nazis stole art from Jewish families and then from occupied countries during the war. After the war and continuing until now, there have been many efforts to recover the stolen art and return it to their rightful owners. In this panel, Lynn Nicholas, author of "The Rape of Europa", will provide a history of the looting and efforts to recover and return the art. Vivian Curran will discuss current cases in the United States.
The panel will be moderated by Vivian Curran of the Pitt Law School
Panelists are:
Vivian Curran, Distinguished Professor of Law
Lynn H. Nicholas, Author of "The Rape of Europe."
Wednesday, April 5th, 2023
Europe Today Lecture Series: Norway's Version of the American Dream
The Finnish Prime Minister, Sanna Marin, recently stated that “the American dream can be achieved best in the Nordic countries.” For many who consider the economic and social mobility of the American Dream to belong uniquely to the United States, it can be surprising and illustrative to learn that other countries may have found better strategies for helping their citizens realize them. Focusing on Norway as a representative example of the Nordic Model of economic development and welfare, this lecture will consider what opinion surveys reveal about American and Norwegian citizens’ attitudes towards their respective systems, and how “freedom and mobility” may be particularly defined in each country as a result.
IRB Information Session
Location: 4130 Posvar Hall
This IRB information session is helpful to determine if you are conducting human subject research under the jurisdiction of the University of Pittsburgh IRB as well as stey-by-step instructions on how to apply for approval.
Sunday, April 2nd, 2023
BALCONY Movie Screening
Location: CMU, McConomy Auditorium
Winner of the Eagle for Best Documentary at the Polish Film Awards, The Balcony Movie is a provocative experiment that tests the form of documentary and the cinematic power of the passerby. The film limits its scope, capturing only what can be seen from the director’s own balcony, yet Łoźinski is able to capture insights about the world both banal and profound. Following a cast of characters which changes each hour and each day, we hear stories from personalities that easily remind us of ourselves, from those who are in a rush to their next appointment to those of us who wouldn’t mind being in the spotlight for a moment. Above all, the film reminds us of our own place in the world and asks us what we would say when we came across the balcony, if anything at all.
Born in 1965 in Warsaw, Paweł Łoziński is a director, cameraman, and producer of distinct and emotionally charged films. Before film, he worked as a carpenter, as a warehouseman, and as a fence painter, yet film won out overall. He is a graduate of the Directing Department at the Film School in Łódź, and found international recognition for his work with his debut documentary Birthplace in 1992. His latest film, The Balcony Movie, is considered innovative as it explores the mundane, a theme often untouched by the documentary form.
Kukucka Lecture
Presenter: Roman Krakovsky
Friday, March 31st, 2023
European and Eurasian Undergraduate Research Symposium - 2023
The Undergraduate Research Symposium is an annual event since 2002 designed to provide undergraduate students, from the University of Pittsburgh and other colleges and universities, with advanced research experiences and opportunities to develop presentation skills. The event is open to undergraduates from all majors and institutions who have written a research paper from a social science, humanities, or business perspective focusing on the study of Eastern, Western, or Central Europe, the European Union, Russia, or Central Eurasia.
After the initial submission of papers, selected participants are grouped into panels according to their research topics. The participants then give 10- to 15-minute presentations based on their research to a panel of faculty and graduate students. The presentations are open to the public.
For more information and to apply, please visit: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/creees/urs.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: January 8, 2023
Limited travel grants are available to help defray travel expenses for accepted participants located outside of the Pittsburgh region.
SYMPOSIUM: March 31, 2023
Thursday, March 30th, 2023 to Saturday, April 1st, 2023
SUNY MEU 2023
SUNYMEU is a simulation of the end of the six-month presidency of the Council. SUNYMEU simulates the agreement of Council Conclusions, which in the EU serves to guide the EU institutions (the Commission, the Council, and the European Parliament) over the next several months. SUNYMEU 2023 simulates the Swedish Presidency (January-June 2023). SUNYMEU is open to all undergraduate and graduate students from anywhere in the world.
The University of Pittsburgh will send a team of students to this simulation.
Wednesday, March 29th, 2023
Europe Today Lecture Series: What is populism and what to do with it? (CANCELED)
"We and “the Unloved Others”: Stories of Distinction
Presenter: Daniela Fargione, Fulbright Fellow from Italy and Associate Professor of American Literature, University of Turin, Italy
Location: 501 Cathedral of Learning
Daniela Fargione, Fulbright Fellow from Italy and Associate Professor of American Literature, University of Turin, Italy.
We are living at the cusp of extinction, an impending event marked by a baffling paradox: while it has mass-death proportions, it prodigiously escapes our gaze. In the backdrop of this dramatic (and seemingly invisible) contraction of bio- and cultural diversity, a whole repertoire of well-intended, even passionate narratives resort to the conventions of elegy and tragedy to foster a restoration ecology (Heise 2010). Not only do these narratives amplify the urgency to tell stories that imagine human rebirth, but they also imply potential escapes from loss and death. This complacent anthropocentric standpoint urgently calls for a reconfiguration of the ontological “exceptionality” of the human and solicits alternative, more inclusive perspectives. As a consequence, the traditional approaches to the humanities need to be reconsidered as well, including the questions that we ask about ourselves and the ways in which we explore the world to find adequate answers. What emerges is the need to rely on a novel interdisciplinarity, where scientific disciplines are in dialogue with the humanities in new and exciting ways.
Reception to Follow.
High School Euro Challenge Competition
Time: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Location: Global Hub, Posvar 4217
As the European Studies Center welcomes high school students for this event, the Global Hub will serve as a space to welcome these students to the University of Pittsburgh, and to allow them to learn more about international and global opportunities at Pitt and interact with Pitt students. The award announcements will take place in the Global Hub starting at 11:30 am.
Welcome, high schoolers, and Pitt students, please stop by to say hello!
The Euro Challenge is a competition for high school students on European economic and monetary policy. It gives participants the opportunity to learn about the Euro, the single market, and other important concepts central to the European Union and macro/microeconomics.
Tuesday, March 28th, 2023
The Journey from Pitt to the World: A Student-Moderated Discussion with Alumnae Changemakers
Presenter: Molly McSweeney
Join two Pitt alumnae for a student-moderated discussion about their journeys from undergraduates to their work in Pittsburgh and Kenya. During this gathering in the Global Hub, you will hear from Founder and CEO of Kakenya's Dream, and 2023 Exemplary Leader award recipient Kakenya Ntaiya, and from Pitt alumna and Executive Director of Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education (ARYSE) Jenna Baron, about how these women's time at Pitt shaped their professional journeys. As we share a lite bite together, you will learn more about important skills for inspiring the next generation of changemakers and how Pitt can help you get there.
Register here: https://pitt.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_71FZ2nySjZoVzVk
Monday, March 27th, 2023
Crisis Resilient Public Administration in the EU Member States
The Case of Latvia and Comparative Perspectives
Presenter: Dr. Ivo Rollis
Dr. Ivo Rollis is a Visiting Scholar from Latvia in Political Science. He is funded by the Baltic-American Freedom Foundation Fellowship Program.
Dr. Ivo Rollis worked in a senior management position at the European Integration Bureau during the peak of Latvia’s accession to the European Union (1999–2004). After Latvia’s accession to the European Union, as a public sector consultant he supported the governments in the Western Balkans and European Neighborhood Policy countries on European integration and public administration reform issues in the European Union, World Bank, United Nations Development Program and the European Union member states bilaterally funded technical assistance support projects. Currently, he is a Council Member of the lead Center for Public Policy “PROVIDUS” in Latvia where he supports the dialogue with the government on public administration efficiency, modernization and crisis resilience issues.
Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023
Europe Today Lecture Series: European Security and NATO Policy after the Outbreak of the War in Ukraine
Presenter: Stephanie Hoffmann
This event has been canceled.
Tuesday, March 21st, 2023
Conversations on Europe: Climate Change and Migration--What can the U.S. learn from Europe?
As North and Central America increasingly experience climate change and disasters (fires, hurricanes, drought, rising waters from the Great Lakes and Atlantic Ocean), the US has come to realize what our European colleagues have been experiencing as they have been at the forefront of the accelerating trend of global displacement related to climate change. The pre-covid years of 2015-2016 saw the highest peak of immigration into Europe. Last year President Biden signed an executive order 14013 “Rebuilding and Enhancing programs to resettle refugees and planning for the impact of climate change on migration”. With the release of the report, it was the first time the U.S. Government officially reported on the link between climate change and migration. While no nation offers asylum to climate migrants, the UN High Commission on Human Rights has published legal guidelines for offering protection to people displaced by the effects of global warming. Additionally, several of the 169 targets established by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) lay out general goals that could be used to protect climate migrants. The panel will be an informal discuss of how Europe’s experience with climate change and migrants can inform the United States.
The organizer and moderator of the Panel is Mary Rauktis, School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh
The Panel members are:
Carla Malafaia, University of Porto, Portugal,
Cosmin Nada, University of Porto, Portugal,
Sheila Velez Martinez, School of Law, University of Pittsburgh
Thursday, March 16th, 2023
Languages Across the Curriculum Online Info Session
The University Center for International Studies (UCIS), with funding from Pitt's Title VI National Resource Centers, has embarked on a four-year initiative to increase the number of LAC courses offered on campus. Join us to learn more about LAC and how you can combine your personal world language proficiency with your non-language teaching/research expertise and provide students with exciting opportunities to enhance their learning. Any faculty, administrators, and students who are interested in LAC courses are welcome.
Wednesday, March 15th, 2023
Europe Today Lecture Series: Forging Consensus in Crisis: Changing Macroeconomic Regimes and European Integration
Presenter: Matthias Matthijs
Tuesday, March 14th, 2023
National Scholarship Alumni Panel
UCIS presents a national scholarship alumni panel to offer unique perspectives on international scholarship experiences such as the Fulbright and Boren programs. Students will gain information on these global opportunities, receive application tips, and more!
Friday, March 3rd, 2023 to Saturday, March 4th, 2023
West Coast Model EU
The West Coast Model European Union is an annual simulation of a European Council summit, bringing together undergraduate students from across the United States and Canada. Students, in teams of two, play the roles of representatives of European Union Member State delegations. Participants negotiate two issues of concern for the country holding the Presidency, Sweden (holding the presidency from January-June).
The University of Pittsburgh will send a team of students to this simulation.
Wednesday, March 1st, 2023
Europe Today Lecture Series: Identity, Nation Building, and the War in Ukraine
Oxana Shevel
Associate Professor, Political Science
Tufts University
Discussion:
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine’s spirited and effective resistance caught many observers by surprise amidst expectations of Russia’s quick victory. This talk will focus on the profound identity transformation within the Ukrainian society that began following the Euromaidan revolution and the start of Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014. Examining sources and consequences of these identity shifts sheds light on the sources of Ukrainian resistance, the nature of Putin’s miscalculations about Ukraine, and the likely future of post-war Ukraine, Russia, and their relations with each other and with Europe.
Education
PhD in Political Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States, 2003
MPhil in International Relations, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1994
BA in English and French Philology, Kyiv State University, Kyiv, Ukraine, 1992
Tuesday, February 28th, 2023
WHAT MAKES AN ATMOSPHERE: The Visual Preparation for a Film Through Mood Boards and Storyboards Series
2022-23- MEET EU EMERGING FILMMAKER:
VIDA SHERK,
Director, Night Ride (Noćna vožnja)
This is a three-part seminar that focuses on what makes a film visually distinctive, and
how mood boards and storyboards can be used in the pre-production process to
help the director, the cinematographer, the costume designer, the art director, and
the rest of the crew envision the right atmosphere for the film - and choose the
right tools to do so.
The goal of this seminar is also to encourage even Screenwriting students to
develop mood boards for their stories, as they can be a useful tool during the
screenwriting process as well.
FEB 14, 2023 @ 10:00-11:30 AM EST- Required
PART I: MOOD BOARDS - What are mood boards, and why are they important? Can
they be useful for screenwriters (during the development phase) as well, and how?
FEB 21, 2023 @ 10:00-11:30 AM EST (2nd Half-Optional)
PART II: STORYBOARDS – How do mood boards influence storyboards? How do we
make a storyboard?
FEB 28, 2023 @ 10:00-11:30 AM EST (Optional)
PART III: THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG? WHICH COMES FIRST? Are mood boards
useful only in the later stages of pre-production? Is there even a right way to
approach the development and pre-production process, or can we shake things up
and start with the parts of pre-production which are usually reserved for the later
stages in the process of making a movie, only after a story (or script) is already set
in stone?
REQUIRED WORK: Participants will be asked to produce mood boards and
storyboards for their own projects. We will discuss their own exercises and work
during the seminar. They will also be asked to watch Vida Skerk's short film “Night
Ride” beforehand, as this film and the material made during the preparation for
this project will be used as examples during the seminar.
Monday, February 27th, 2023
International Career Toolkit: Careers in Publishing and Translation
Presenter: Anna Powers, Editor, Yen Press, LLC
In this session of the UCIS Career Toolkit, our guest is an editor for Yen Press with experience working with some of the biggest names in tech. Join us for this discussion of how you can find your own career in publishing and/or translation. Co-hosted by the Asian Studies Center.
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023
Europe Today Lecture Series: A Tale of Two Borders: Lessons from the Differential Enforcement of the Polish-Belarussian and the Polish-Ukrainian Frontiers
Presenter: Karolina Follis
This talk discusses the responses of Polish authorities and wider society to two phenomena of human mobility: the
arrival of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa on Poland's border with Belarus in 2021-22, and the
arrival of Ukrainians fleeing the war on the Polish-Ukrainian border in and after February 2022. The first of these
groups encountered hostility, while the latter received a compassionate welcome. I analyze these seemingly
disparate responses with reference to the shifting politics of border enforcement in the European Union, arguing
that the technocratic model of border control that dominated EU discourse and practices in the early 21st century
has now been exhausted.
"Radical Populism and its Challenge to European Democracy: Insights from Austria"
Presenter: Reinhard Heinisch
Reinhard Heinisch, University of Salzburg
Radical populism represents the greatest challenge to liberal democracy across Europe. The emergence of this phenomenon has impacted both established democracies, such as the United Kingdom, when we think of Brexit, and new democracies, such as Hungary and Poland. Populist actors have also played a role in the COVID pandemic and in the context of Russia's war on Ukraine, as they mobilize people against mainstream policies that attempt to manage these crises. Despite the general importance of populism as a political phenomenon, including at the EU level, its history and impact vary widely across Europe. It is important to understand the specific causes and effects of the success of populism because not all forms of political radicalism or authoritarianism are populist. The talk will address these questions and show that populism is closely related to the decline in legitimacy of established institutions and traditional elites in times of social and economic change. Drawing especially on the case of Austria, where radical populism has been long established, the lecture and discussion will provide an overview of this phenomenon and the state of political science research
Tuesday, February 21st, 2023
WHAT MAKES AN ATMOSPHERE: The Visual Preparation for a Film Through Mood Boards and Storyboards Series
2022-23- MEET EU EMERGING FILMMAKER:
VIDA SHERK,
Director, Night Ride (Noćna vožnja)
This is a three-part seminar that focuses on what makes a film visually distinctive, and
how mood boards and storyboards can be used in the pre-production process to
help the director, the cinematographer, the costume designer, the art director, and
the rest of the crew envision the right atmosphere for the film - and choose the
right tools to do so.
The goal of this seminar is also to encourage even Screenwriting students to
develop mood boards for their stories, as they can be a useful tool during the
screenwriting process as well.
FEB 14, 2023 @ 10:00-11:30 AM EST- Required
PART I: MOOD BOARDS - What are mood boards, and why are they important? Can
they be useful for screenwriters (during the development phase) as well, and how?
FEB 21, 2023 @ 10:00-11:30 AM EST (2nd Half-Optional)
PART II: STORYBOARDS – How do mood boards influence storyboards? How do we
make a storyboard?
FEB 28, 2023 @ 10:00-11:30 AM EST (Optional)
PART III: THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG? WHICH COMES FIRST? Are mood boards
useful only in the later stages of pre-production? Is there even a right way to
approach the development and pre-production process, or can we shake things up
and start with the parts of pre-production which are usually reserved for the later
stages in the process of making a movie, only after a story (or script) is already set
in stone?
REQUIRED WORK: Participants will be asked to produce mood boards and
storyboards for their own projects. We will discuss their own exercises and work
during the seminar. They will also be asked to watch Vida Skerk's short film “Night
Ride” beforehand, as this film and the material made during the preparation for
this project will be used as examples during the seminar.
Friday, February 17th, 2023
LCTL Language Coffee House
Time: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Location: William Pitt Union Assembly Room
Take a break from studying and enjoy free drinks and snacks from around the world! Instructors and students from the Less-Commonly-Taught Languages Center (LCTL) and Pitt's many language departments will teach you how to order in Swahili, German, Modern & Ancient Greek, Quechua, Hebrew, Irish, Chinese, Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Ukrainian, English, and many more of the nearly 30 languages offered at Pitt. Then, you can place your order at the Language Coffeehouse and enjoy free drinks and snacks from around the world.
Wednesday, February 15th, 2023
Europe Today Lecture Series: The EU as a Threat-Responsive Security State (Updated Title)
Presenter: Kaija E. Schilde
Kaija E. Schilde
Jean Monnet Chair of European Security
Associate Professor, Pardee School of Global Studies
Director, Center for the Study of Europe
Project on the Political Economy of Security
Pardee School Initiative on Forced Migration and Human Trafficking
The EU is a non-unitary security state of international significance and is threat responsive to challenges to its interests. It has become a security state through a combination of incremental institutional layering and shifts in international threat, primarily the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and intervention in Eastern Ukraine, and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The security studies debate on European strategic autonomy has so far ignored and dismissed the infrastructural power of the EU. The EU’s infrastructural power comes from regulatory, monetary and market instruments, and a nascent but increasing direct procurement of military materiel. EU infrastructural power complicates EU-related state formation theory debates. Traditional security states extract resources from their society, directly tax their populations, and have formal authority to generate military capability. Historically, the EU has done none of these things. Scholars using the conventional lens of state security authority have concluded that the EU is not yet a security state, because it does not tax and spend to generate military capacity on its own (Kelemen & McNamara, 2022). However, this misdiagnoses the sources of infrastructural security power in the 21st century, and only compares the political development of the EU to the generation of military power in earlier centuries. Moreover, this position fails to consider the comparative: how do contemporary non-EU states generate military capacity? To what are we comparing EU state formation? I theorize a broader definition of security state to align with 21st Century generation of military power and evaluates the shifts in EU infrastructural power in light of changes.
Prior Title: EU Defense Cooperation and the War in Ukraine
Tuesday, February 14th, 2023
Conversation on Europe: Climate Change: Perspectives and Initiatives from France and Italy
Presenter: Giuseppina Mecchia
In the last few years, we have seen an increasing international awareness of the challenges facing the interaction between human populations and a changing environment. In France and Italy, these issues have in fact occupied a really important role in philosophical, social and political debates and initiatives for at least five decades. Our panelists will offer a diverse and far-reaching presentation of their own involvement with the research and initiatives presently occurring in Italy and France.
Moderator:
• Giuseppina Mecchia, University of Pittsburgh
Panelists:
• Yves Citton, Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint Denis, France
• Daniela Fargione, University of Turin, Italy
• Giuseppina Mecchia, University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Yves Citton, Professor of Literature and Media at the Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint Denis, France, will discuss a new-web-based platform that he has founded with international collaborators, the Terraforma Project, which aims at providing a more-than-human position on current ecological challenges. A report on Terraforma can be downloaded from this calendar.
Dr. Daniela Fargione, Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Turin, Italy and a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh this spring, is currently engaged in a transnational reflection on literary and media interventions on new climate challenges, and she will address the history and current engagements of Italian Green movements.
Dr. Mecchia, Associate Professor of French and Italian at Pitt, will talk about the living legacy in France but also internationally ot the insights of two of the most important French philosophers dealing with the presence of humanity on Earth, Bruno Latour and Michel Serres. Their work, since the 1980s, has inspired a multitude of researchers and activists.
WHAT MAKES AN ATMOSPHERE: The Visual Preparation for a Film Through Mood Boards and Storyboards Series
2022-23- MEET EU EMERGING FILMMAKER:
VIDA SHERK,
Director, Night Ride (Noćna vožnja)
This is a three-part seminar that focuses on what makes a film visually distinctive, and
how mood boards and storyboards can be used in the pre-production process to
help the director, the cinematographer, the costume designer, the art director, and
the rest of the crew envision the right atmosphere for the film - and choose the
right tools to do so.
The goal of this seminar is also to encourage even Screenwriting students to
develop mood boards for their stories, as they can be a useful tool during the
screenwriting process as well.
FEB 14, 2023 @ 10:00-11:30 AM EST- Required
PART I: MOOD BOARDS - What are mood boards, and why are they important? Can
they be useful for screenwriters (during the development phase) as well, and how?
FEB 21, 2023 @ 10:00-11:30 AM EST (2nd Half-Optional)
PART II: STORYBOARDS – How do mood boards influence storyboards? How do we
make a storyboard?
FEB 28, 2023 @ 10:00-11:30 AM EST (Optional)
PART III: THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG? WHICH COMES FIRST? Are mood boards
useful only in the later stages of pre-production? Is there even a right way to
approach the development and pre-production process, or can we shake things up
and start with the parts of pre-production which are usually reserved for the later
stages in the process of making a movie, only after a story (or script) is already set
in stone?
REQUIRED WORK: Participants will be asked to produce mood boards and
storyboards for their own projects. We will discuss their own exercises and work
during the seminar. They will also be asked to watch Vida Skerk's short film “Night
Ride” beforehand, as this film and the material made during the preparation for
this project will be used as examples during the seminar.
Friday, February 10th, 2023 to Sunday, February 12th, 2023
Queer Under Socialism: A Global Perspective
Location: Croghan-Schenley Room
The revolutionary prospect of socialism inspired homosexual emancipation and the growth of toleration toward same-sex relations in the first quarter of the twentieth century in many countries, including the UK, US, Hungary, and USSR. However, the development of LGBTQ+ rights within socialism was never linear and even.
The conference seeks to address those discrepancies and the reasoning behind them. It aims to discuss the LGBTQ+ experience and its political, social, and cultural implications under state socialism from a global perspective. What was the place of queerness under socialism? Was socialist ideology generally more responsive to queer people’s agenda and empathic towards them? How did legislation relate to same-sex activity change over time in socialist countries? How did the Cold War and geopolitical tensions between socialist and capitalist counties influence and inform sexual politics toward queer people and their perception? Why did some socialist countries, such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, and the GDR decriminalize homosexuality as early as the 1960s and the Polish People’s Republic never criminalize it? What strategies of networking and concealment did sexual and gender non-conformists adopt in the socialist countries where homosexuality was still illegal, such as Soviet Republics, China, and Cuba? What was the attitude towards gender and sexual dissidents among the left-leaning movements in capitalist countries? Why decriminalization of homosexuality and homosexual emancipation that followed it was subsequently cut off in some post-socialist countries such as Russia?
The main goal of the symposium is to reflect on the broad spectrum of topics related to the conjunction of queer and socialist ideology from a global and comparative perspective. The symposium aims at the broader public, including students, scholars, and activists.
Friday, February 10th, 2023 to Saturday, February 11th, 2023
23rd Annual Undergraduate Model EU
The Undergraduate Model European Union is an annual event that gives students a chance to learn about the workings of the European Union through preparation for and participation in a hands-on two-day simulation of a meeting of the European Council. Model EU enhances students’ understanding of the issues and challenges facing the 27 member nations of the EU. Awards will be given to the most effective delegations and best individual position papers.
Wednesday, February 8th, 2023
Europe Today Lecture Series: Ethnopopulism and Authoritarian Rule in the European Union
Presenter: Milada Anna Vachudova
SPEAKER:
Milada Anna Vachudova
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Professor Vachudova will explore how the rise in support for populist parties has shaped party systems in Europe over the last decade, focusing on ethnopopulist parties -- parties that make strong anti-pluralist appeals, vilifying individuals, groups and institutions labeled as culturally harmful. When in power, ethnopopulist parties use these appeals to justify the concentration of power -- and this playbook has helped bring authoritarian rule to Hungary while Poland stands on the brink. She unpacks why ethnopopulism has become a challenge to liberal democracy in Europe, how oppositions have responded -- and why EU member governments have shown such complacency and cynicism in countering it. This has led to the risk of a decoupling of the EU from the regime type of liberal democracy. Yet Russia's war against Ukraine is changing political contestation related to liberal democracy and to relations with Russia in key states including Poland and Germany. Professor Vachudova will close by reflecting on Ukraine's challenge to the European Union -- and whether and how the EU enlargement process can be revived as a tool of EU foreign policy.
Is a Desecuritization of Migration Strategies Possible? Insights From the Flexicuritization of Migration Approach
Presenter: Georgia Dimari, Ph.D. University of Crete
Location: 4217 Posvar Hall
European Security: A European Studies Seminar
Discussions of “crisis at the border” fill the news on both sides of the Atlantic. Focusing on one of the primary European receiving countries in the current migration waves, this seminar will put forward a consideration of flexicuritization as a departure from the securitization of migration. As preparation for the discussion with Prof. Dimari, participants in the seminar will read three brief articles of hers available upon registration.
Moderator:
Randall Halle, Director of the European Studies Center, University of Pittsburgh
Panelist:
Georgia Dimari, Ph.D. University of Crete
About the Speaker: Dr. Georgia Dimari is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Department of Political Science of the University of Crete where she has taught security and securitization issues. Currently, she is exploring the transformation of the Greek Migration Policy the post-2015 period. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Crete, an MA in American Studies from the University of Turin, and a BA in International and European Studies from the University of Piraeus. She researches security, securitization of migration, de-securitization and migration policy, and the securitization of Covid- 19 in Greece. She participated in the research program (CA 10076) “Impact and categorization of the prospects of integration of refugees into the Greek productive system.” co-funded by the European Social Fund and national funds, and currently in the program “Management of Migration in Greece: Construction of a Pilot Model (Start-up) for Forecasting Migration Flows and Development of Policy Scenarios for Greek Immigration Policy” funded by the Research & Management Committee of the University of Crete.
Wednesday, February 1st, 2023
Europe Today Lecture Series: EU Migration Governance: Coordination, Collaboration, Subcontracting, and Going Alone
Presenter: Nicholas R. Micinski
Presenter: Nicholas R. Micinski
Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the University of Maine
Moderator: Paweł Lewicki, Associate Director
European Studies Center
Migration has become an important area of cooperation within the European Union and has faced several recent refugee crises, including people seeking protection from Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Ukraine. This lecture will discuss the ways in which cooperation within the EU has evolved over the last 20 years, focused on the starkly different responses in 2015-17 and 2022. The lecture will build on the findings in Micinski's book, Delegating Responsibility: International Cooperation on Migration in the European Union (2022).
Monday, January 30th, 2023
Successful Job Application Workshop
Presenter: Lucinda Morgan and Rachael Ochoa
Location: 5108 Posvar Hall
Are you looking to take your job application to the next level? We will teach you how to make your resume and cover letter stand out, ace your interview, and showcase your skills and experience in the best way.
Friday, January 27th, 2023
Roundtable: Democratic Histories, Democratic Futures
Presenter: John Markoff and other Pitt faculty members
Location: Sociology colloquium Room, 2432 Posvar Hall
This in-person, one and a half-hour roundtable includes the following Pitt faculty members and concludes the conference.
--John Markoff, Department of Sociology
--Diego Holstein, Department of History
--Michael Goodhart, Department of Political Science
--Mohammed Bamyeh, Department of Sociology
This roundtable will be moderated by Randall Halle, Department of German and the European Studies Center.
Panel on Democratic Alternatives II
Presenter: Jackie Smith, University of Pittsburgh, and Ben Manski, George Mason University
Location: Sociology Colloquium Room, 2432 Posvar Hall
In this one and a half hour, in-person panel, Jackie Smith, University of Pittsburgh, will discuss "Globalization and the Future of Democracy Today?"
Ben Manski, George Mason University, will discuss "The Other World That Is Necessary: The Imperative of Next System Studies." The discussion will be moderated by Nathan Katz, Department of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh.
Panel on Histories of Democracy
Democracy and Executive Might in 19th Century Europe and the Americas
Presenter: Mark Philp, University of Warwick, UK, is moderator
This one and half hour virtual panel on Histories of Democracy will be moderated by Mark Philp of the University of Warwick, UK
The speakers and their topics are:
--Eduardo Posada-Carbo, University of Oxford, UK "Simon Bolivar"
--Guy Thomson, University of Warwick, UK, "Benito Juarez"
--Stephen Sawyer, American University in Paris, France, "Napoleon II and the Third Republic"
Joanna Inness, University of Oxford, UK, will be the Commentator.
Lunch will be served for those watching the session in the Colloquium Room.
The Politics of Nostalgia: South Africa and Beyond
Presenter: Amber Reed, Spelman College
Location: Sociology Colloquium Room, 2432 Posvar Hall
This one and a half hour, in-person lecture is part of the conference on Democracy in Europe, Democracy Beyond Europe. The speaker is Amber Reed, Spelman College. This session will be moderated by Joshua Bloom, Department of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh
Thursday, January 26th, 2023
An Uncertain Border (Un Confine Incerto)
Richi (Moisé Curia) is on the road with a little girl (Anna Malfatti) in a camper van through southern Germany. They have a good time with each other, dress up, dance and laugh a lot. He is a seed salesman, she his little doll. An unusual couple, but happy? When the two stop off at a restaurant, the landlord (Heio von Stetten) becomes skeptical. Something is not right here! What's more, the girl speaks a very rare language: Ladin. Meanwhile, in Rome, police inspector Milia Demetz (Cosmina Stratan) is investigating cyberspace and is hot on the heels of a pedophile network. When she discovers a girl in one of the anonymous videos, she is soon certain: the lasciviously photographed child is Magdalena Senoner, who disappeared in Tyrol at the age of five. But who is behind the camera? When the landlord forwards the footage from his surveillance camera to the police, all the threads come together. Can Milia save little Magdalena?
Harris Theater (Pittsburgh Cultural Trust)
809 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Get Tickets Here: https://trustarts.org/production/84748
PROMO CODE for discounted tickets: EUPITT (* Pitt Students, Staff and Faculty Only)
***Total Attendance in showing from 1/22***
Schoolgirls (Las Niñas)
A story of Celia, an 11-year-old girl who studies at a nuns' school in 1992. Celia is a good girl; she is a responsible student and a considerate daughter. The arrival of a new classmate will open a little window through which Celia will discover a whole new world. Together with her new friend and some older girls, Celia will enter a new stage of her life: adolescence, the stage of first-times. Her body needs to experiment, try new things, and stop being a little girl, even if that entails confronting her mother and everything that meant comfort and security.
COUNTRY: Spain (2020)
DIRECTOR: Pilar Palomero
Harris Theater (Pittsburgh Cultural Trust)
809 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Get Tickets Here: https://trustarts.org/production/84780
PROMO CODE for discounted tickets: EUPITT (* Pitt Students, Staff and Faculty Only)
***Total Attendance in showing from 1/22***