Pittsburgh is a city with deep cultural and historical ties to Europe, and those connections have contributed to the dynamic city culture and style that residents enjoy today. The European Union Center of Excellence/European Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh is sponsoring a photo contest, “Finding Europe in Pittsburgh,” that showcases the many European influences in our city.

Join the EUCE/ESC for a live/virtual viewing party as candidates Jean-Claude Juncker (European People's Party), Martin Schulz (Party of European Socialists), Guy Verhofstadt (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party), and Ska Keller (European Green Party) debate key issues for the presidency of the European Commission. Topics will include unemployment, education, and youth engagement in politics. The event will be held in front of an audience of 700 young people from across Europe and broadcasted live worldwide in 13 languages.

This lecture will close the Cultural Studies Common Seminar Colloquium on “Cultural Dis/Union” and will be presented by Maria Todorova, Professor of History at the University of Illinois. An introduction will be provided by Professor Rajani Sudan, Associate Professor of English, Southern Methodist University; responses will be offered by Professor B. Venkat Mani, Associate Professor of German, University of Wisconsin and Professor Robert Hayden, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Russian and East European Studies.

Mr. Carliner, an American economist working for the EU Delegation in Washington, D.C., will join the Pitt community via videoconference from the EU Delegation in Washington to offer a talk focused on the E.U. and the future of economic regionalism. He will also answer questions about the nature of the Eurozone crisis, its resolution and its implications for the future of the EU.

Christopher Clark will talk about his most recent, prize-winning book The Sleepwalkers and explain the fascinating story of how political mismanagement in Europe led to the outbreak of World War I. A reception with light refreshments will follow the talk. Please RSVP to Kathy Gibson at kag36@pitt.edu if you are planning to attend the lecture.

Food may be a marker of identity, metaphor for social change, and means of resistance. Gezi Park events started after brutal interventions were made by police against Gezi Park occupiers on May 29, 2013, quickly escalating into one of the greatest civil protests in Turkish history, and spreading to other parts of the country. During the events, protesters responded to misinformation from mass media and accusations of the government in a variety of creative ways.

The History Department Work-in-Progress Seminar presents Peter Karsten, University of Pittsburgh. Lead discussants Van Beck Hall and Bernie Hagerty.

NOTE: Text will be circulated three weeks before event. All attending are urged to prepare to take full part in discussion.

University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University Graduate Student Symposium
Presents:

Victoria Harms
University of Pittsburgh

Triumphs and Frustrations: Hungarian dissidents & their Western friends, 1973-2004

Over twenty years of political transformation, Italian populism reflects the full European panorama, moving from a local-xenophobic movement (Lega Nord) to one-man party (Berlusconi), and even to an anti-politics grass-root movement (5 Stars Movement). Professor Esu will analyze the issues, mobilization, leadership, and popular discourse characterizing these movements in order to highlight some of the key questions related to what appears to be fertile ground in Europe for popular mobilization. A reception with light refreshments will follow.

Join the Department of French and Italian and Italian Film Festival USA for the closing night of the Italian Film Festival. Then join us for a complimentary Closing Night reception afterwards in the FFA cloisters! Free and open to the public!

Long Live Freedom (Viva la Libertà), 7 p.m. April 12, Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, 650 Schenley Drive. The leader of the most notorious political opposition party mysteriously disappears. His wife and assistant turn to his identical twin brother, who has recently been released from a psychiatric hospital. Will anyone notice the switch?