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.

In this brief presentation, Willem Noe, European Commission Official and former EU Fellow at GSPIA, will give a brief overview of working at the European Commission as an international organization, and his own career path as an economist at the Commission dealing with globalization, European Union Enlargement (entry of new Member States into the EU), and the economies of several Member States.

The Spring Festival of the Egg is a FREE virtual family oriented event welcoming the coming of Spring in many ethnic traditions as featured by members and friends of the Nationality Room Committees at the University of Pittsburgh. Videos include: Egg Decorating, Palm Weaving Demonstrations, Ethnic Cooking Demonstrations, The Festival Of Colors, Ethic Recipes, Butter Lamb Carving, Cooking Baking, Springtime Story Telling, Spring &  Easter Customs, Special Children's Egg Decorating, Kid's Cookie Making, Easter & Springtime Printable Coloring Pages, Jelly Bean Guess, Egg Festival Marke

Learn from expert speakers about critical issues facing the Arctic region—such as climate change, Arctic security, and shifting cultural identities during the Anthropocene. Attendees will receive a resource book about future opportunities to explore Arctic topics.

What made Soviet people "soviet"? This question has dogged scholars for decades. But one innovative approach to digging into the "soviet" of Soviet life is through material objects and spaces during the late socialist era. Soviet things influenced Soviet people's gender roles, habitual choices, social trajectories, and imaginary aspirations. And, in turn, Soviet people used objects to shape their sense of self as part of a global experience of modernity that went beyond communist propaganda. How did objects make Soviet people and society "Soviet"?

Did you know that there were hippies in the USSR? There were. Faced with societal scorn and repression, Soviet hippies created a version of Western counterculture in and despite late Soviet realities that linked them youth cultures beyond the Iron Curtain. How did these Soviet long-hairs defy police harassment, survive psychiatric hospitals force feeding conformism, and social stigma? This live interview with Juliane Furst will delve into the story of Soviet hippies and how they ironically meshed with Soviet life.