The 28 member states of the European Union have faced considerable challenges of late as hundreds of thousands of migrants flood the land and sea borders to enter Europe. It is clear that the members do not all agree on how to handle the crisis. But the movement of people continues unabated. And with no end in sight to the conflicts that prompt many people to make their way to Europe at any cost, it is likely to continue for some time.

The Mitzvah Project is a combination of theater, history lesson and conversation in which actor and child of survivor, Roger Grunwald, explores one of the most shocking aspects of the Jewish experience during the Second World War. Through the story of Christoph Rosenberg, a German half-Jew, the one-person drama — created with director and co-author Annie McGreevey — reveals the surprising history of tens of thousands of German men known as "mischlinge" — the derogatory term the Nazis used to characterize those descended from one or two Jewish grandparents — who served in Hitler's army.

International Education Week is celebrated at Pitt and campuses across the country for one week, from November 17-21, 2014. The week is an opportunity for you to experience a new culture, open your mind to a new perspective of the world, or to simply savor a new taste. In short, this is the one week of the year that is jam-packed with activities to open your senses to the world.

Check out the activities planned for each day of the week at www.internationalweek.pitt.edu

Turkey has been more prominent in the news than at any time in the last five years. Conflict in the neighboring Middle East has spilled over in the form of more than one million refugees, a re-emergence of violence between Kurds and the government, and direct Turkish involvement in the fighting in Syria. At home, a seemingly inevitable move toward greater power for President Recip Erdoğan was short circuited by stunning elections in June to be followed new elections in November.

The UCIS-Nine University and College International Studies Consortium of Georgia Joint Faculty Development Workshop on “Mobilizing People, Students, and Ideas: Social Movements across the Globe and in the Undergraduate Curriculum” was held on March 6, 2015. The organizer of the program was the Director of the Consortium, Dr. Raj (Rajgopal) Sashti, of Middle Georgia State College. It was held on the campus of Clayton State University in Morrow, GA (metro Atlanta area) as part of an on-going collaboration.

Come join us for an informal discussion about current issues related to European Union politics. In this first session, Dr. Despina Alexiadou of the Department of Political Science will moderate and offer a perspective on the Greek debt and the European response. Light refreshments will be provided.

The Department of French & Italian Languages and Literatures will hold a conference on Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30, 2015: “History and its Discontents: Commemoration in Italy and the Francophone World.” On this occasion we will welcome an exciting slate of visitors to campus to reflect on the dates, places, discourses, and mechanisms of commemoration in the French, Francophone, and Italian cultures; distinguished scholars from a range of institutions and specializing in a stimulating array of topics and periods will be joined in conversation by our Pitt faculty colleague