Pittsburgh's renowned conductor and violinist, Pablo Ardiles, to lead the Pittsburgh Youth Chamber Orchestra in collaboration with our city's leading Latin American musicians and groups-Lilly Abreu, Marco Sartor, AquiTango, and Cello Fury-for the Fifth Annual "2012 The Americas-In Concert."

Ragtime (1981, 155 min., in English) Directed by Milos Forman.
Will be shown at the Melwood Screening Room, 477 Melwood Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, Thursday, October 18, 2012.
Reception and introduction: 6:30 pm; film screening 7:00 pm.
Sponsored by the Mutual Inspirations program of the Czech Embassy in honor of the 80th birthday of Milos Forman.
Admission is free.

All films will have subtitles accessible to non-German speaking audiences. All film screenings are open to the public. All films will be DVD projection. Many of these films are rare and hard to find. I would encourage you to bring friends so they can take advantage of the experience.

Tuesday September 11
Nerven [Nerves] (Robert Reiner 1919)
Die Austernprinzessin [The Oyster Princess] (Ernst Lubitsch 1919)

Tuesday September 18
Schloß Vogeloed [Castle Vogeloed] (F.W. Murnau 1921)
Nosferatu (F,W. Murnau 1922)

Over the past two decades, China’s economy has enjoyed remarkable economic growth, and the Chinese economy is currently the second largest in the world — behind that of the United States. Some observers believe that China’s economy will overtake the United States by 2030, if not before. Yet recent reports indicate that China’s growth rate is slowing, with market analysts and economists predicting an annual growth rate as low as 7.5 percent — China’s lowest since 1990.

Despite the overthrow of corrupt governments in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen, the future of the Arab world remains unclear. With the Middle East being a high U.S. foreign policy priority, many speculate on the U.S. reaction to the sweeping changes in the region's political landscape. What do these developments mean for U.S. foreign policy? Join the Council and the American Middle East Institute for a discussion on the current state of U.S. policy vis-a-vis the Arab Awakening.

Friday, September 28 at 8 PM and Saturday, September 29 at 8 PM. Hot Pepper captures the malaise of young low-level office workers in three quirky scenes set in an office break room. In the sharp and visually vibrant world of write-director Toshiki Okada, twenty-something co-workers wrestle with issues as mundane as selecting a restaurant for lunch or the temperature of the office. Okada mixes dark humor, absurdity, and a disctint musical backdrop by John Coltrane, Stereolab and John Cage to capture the empty and ungrounded nature of Generation Y.

5pm Friday November 16 to 12:15 pm Sunday, November 18, 2012 (2400 Sennot Square University of Pittsburgh)

To meet student interests and time constraints, the University Center for International Studies at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University collaborate to offer intensive courses on topics of interest taught by expert faculty, with lectures from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon, followed by a research paper. The courses are 1 credit hour with about 14 hours of lectures and an expected 30 hours of work for the paper. The courses focus on countries with emerging economies: Brazil, India, China, Russia, and South Africa (BRICS).