Panelists will include:

Aya Okada (PhD Student, GSPIA), Muge Finkel (Assistant Professor, GSPIA), Larry Foulke (Adjunct Professor, School of Engineering), Paul Scheinert (Advisory Engineer, Bettis Laboratory), Atsunori Nakao (Tokusyukai Medical Assistance Team, School of Medicine), and Louise Comfort (Director, Center for Disaster Management).

Through this interactive presentation, I will describe my experiences with English language education in two of the largest countries on earth: China and Indonesia. My research as a graduate student has taken me to Indonesia to co-author a book on English for young learners and to China to work with volunteer teachers in migrant schools. Both nations are currently dealing with similar issues in English education, such as how to improve teacher quality and the evolving status of English in elementary schools.

Celebrate the coming of spring at this year's Cherry Blossom Festival, hosted by Pitt's JSS (Japanese Speaking Society)! There will be performances by a chorus group, kendo, and taiko drummers, as well as various activities such video games, origami, calligraphy, and anime drawing. There will also be FREE food!

Part of the Travelling Film South Asia: A Documentary Film Series from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka

The Battle for Pakistan

Do extremism and madrassas converge?

Come to My Country: Journeys with Kabir and Friends

Unlikely bonds in quest for Kabir's 'country.'

Based on a close reading of a group of diary-like documents penned by a peasant and his family in late Qing Huizhou, central China, Professor Liu Yonghua will interpret three episodes drawn from the life of the peasant and illustrate how the family's life evolved during the sixty odd years from 1838, two years before the Opium war, to 1901, the year the Boxer Uprising was suppressed.

By J. Marshall Unger, Professor, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University.

Presentation by Deann Borshay Liem with a response by Lucy Fischer

This lecture is being presented by Dr. Martin Holland from the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ, who holds the Jean Monnet Chair ad personam designation from the European Commission.

China Today is a one credit (Pitt)/three unit (CMU) mini course, consisting of 14 hours of classes over a weekend, with a final paper assignment to be handed in for credit. The course will explore:

* How does China's multi-ethnic composition affect educational opportunity and career advancement?

* Education in China past and present: How does the history of education in China affect educational opportunity today?

* What is in store as China moves from technological supplier to technological innovator?

Part of the Korean Film Festival. Pizza and refreshments provided!