Mai Khôi is an award-winning singer, composer, and activist. She rose to stardom in 2010 after winning the Vietnam Television Song and Album of the Year awards as one of the first female songwriters in Vietnam. As a pop star, Khôi released seven albums in genres of Vietnamese pop and dance, and made regular nationally televised performances. Several years later she became increasingly uncomfortable having to submit her work to government censors and, thinking she could reform the system from within, nominated herself to run in the National Assembly elections on a pro-democracy platform.

A panel discussion on 'belonging' for AAPI members of the University of Pittsburgh, and the general Pittsburgh community.

Moderated by Katelan Hudson, this panel will discuss the effects a lack of sense of belonging has had on their mental health and experiences with a goal of moving forward with proposed solutions. From this panel, participants will develop an understanding of the AAPI experience in higher education, the importance of targeted efforts towards cultivating belonging for AAPI students, and how to be an ally to these efforts.

Yun-Oh Whang's opening Keynote for the Identity, Inclusion, and Information: The AANHPI Experience Conference.

The University of Pittsburgh observes AAPI month during January (instead of May), this conference seeks to celebrate and acknowledge what it means to be a person of AANHPI heritage at Pitt. An examination at the challenges people of AAPI descent face in Pittsburgh and a recognition of their 'belonging'.

Come join the Pitt Chinese Program and the Chinese Language and Culture Club to celebrate the Spring Festival with calligraphy (spring couplets), games, paper cutting, snacks, milk tea, and prizes.

Join us for an informal panel discussion on decolonizing global education as we collectively examine the question, "Is the world yours to explore?" During this discussion, we will highlight the crucial role of students in the University Center for International Studies’ mission to embrace the word and prepare global-ready graduates. Refreshments will be provided.

Moderator:
César Briones, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Manager, University Center for International Studies (UCIS)

Hin Ming Frankie Chick is currently a Visiting Lecturer of Pre-modern Chinese Literature at the University of Pittsburgh. He studies primarily Chinese thought and history, and also works in related areas such as the religious history of China and the reception history of pre-modern Chinese literature. He is now working on his monograph, in which he examines how "approaching correctness" was used as a principle to promote the idea of Confucian cultural assimilation in ancient China.

In Useful Bullshit Neil J. Diamant pulls back the curtain on early constitutional conversations between citizens and officials in the PRC. Scholars have argued that China, like the former USSR, promulgated constitutions to enhance its domestic and international legitimacy by opening up the constitution-making process to ordinary people, and by granting its citizens political and socioeconomic rights. But what did ordinary officials and people say about their constitutions and rights? Did constitutions contribute to state legitimacy?

Forging Leninism in China is a re-examination of the events of the Chinese revolution and the transformation of the Chinese Communist Party from the years 1927 to 1934. Describing the transformation of the party as “the forging of Leninism”, Joseph Fewsmith offers a clear analysis of the development of the party. Drawing on supporting statements of party leaders and a wealth of historical material, he demonstrates how the Chinese Communist Party reshaped itself to become far more violent, more hierarchical, and more militarized during this time.

The Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship program is a prestigious and competitive federal award from the U.S. Department of Education that allows select Pitt undergraduate and graduate students to devote full time attention to their chosen modern foreign language and area studies specialty. There are separate competitions for the Academic Year FLAS Fellowship and the Summer FLAS Fellowship. Advanced doctoral students conducting field or archival research in a supported world language may also be eligible.

Peter Thilly is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Mississippi and author of The Opium Business: A History of Crime and Capitalism in Maritime China. He is currently working on a transnational history of the 1853 Small Sword Uprising, tentatively entitled "Small Sword, Big Trouble."