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.

The first of the EUCE/ESC’s 2013-2014 interactive Conversations on Europe Virtual Roundtable Series will explore the outcomes and impact of the German Elections (which will take place the Sunday before). Experts on contemporary Germany will give their assessment of the results. Audience participation is encouraged.

Professor Manalansan will discuss his book, Global Divas:

To dwell is to think and to reflect. To dwell is to build material, social and emotional architectures. To dwell is to confront and engage. To dwell is to live - however ordinary - a life upon which one ultimately establishes a way of being in the world. Echoing Martin Heidegger's ideas on dwelling in the early 20th century, this paper offers a way of critically engaging with the present-day violence and banality of survival by undocumented queer immigrants in the U.S. This presentation builds and evokes the nuances of dwelling during these precarious times.

October 2, Mahatma Gandhi's birthday, is the International Day of Nonviolence, per a United Nations declaration in 2007. Join us for an afternoon of activities celebrating the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi and his teachings! Enjoy tea, snacks, and conversations with Pittsburgh organizations at the 2 p.m. reception, followed at 3 by cultural performances, inter-faith presentations, and a talk by Dr. Ed Brantmeier, Assistant Director for the Center for Faculty Innovation and Assistant Professor, College of Education, Gandhi Center, James Madison University.

The goal of this conference is to bring together a set of individuals whose scholarly contributions to Colonial and Postcolonial Studies, Race and Queer Studies, and Visual and Performance Studies in the last decade have changed the states of these fields. Drawing from these vastly different academic areas, Mimicry and Decolonial Performance: A Transdisciplinary Symposium bridges the gaps between them to set forth a new and transdisciplinary agenda for the study of coloniality and performance across the Americas.

Costa Rica has been a major immigrant-receiving society within Central America, all the more as tighter US borders and violence against migrants in Mexico have made travel northwards even riskier. But immigrants in Costa Rica--especially Nicaraguans--have faced discrimination in employment, education, health care, and more. Dr Carlos Sandoval and his colleagues have worked through multiple means, from community organizing to arts activism to a legal case before the Costa Rican Supreme Court, to build undocumented workers' access to basic rights in Costa Rica.

Paradigms and universal meta-discourses are in a state of crisis. In particular, theorists frequently question the efficacy that these discourses have on representation, specifically on the theoretical, symbolic and geopolitical levels. On a global scale, critics destabilize the Eurocentric theoretical-critical space as the center of culture, politics and history.

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.