Learn more about DAAD programs for both undergraduates and graduates, and for German speaking and non-German speaking students. Dr. Wezel will discuss a variety of research, study, and internship DAAD scholarships that can fund up to 2 years of research or graduate study. For scholarship requirements and deadlines, please reference the DAAD’s website, which also includes information for the summer internship program with RISE (Research Internships in Science and Engineering). To R.S.V.P., please email Judy Zang at jaz36@pitt.edu.

Irepoglu discusses her dissertation which combines the literatures of 'fiscal decentralization' and 'governance' in searching for determinants of income inequality. It argues that fiscal decentralization makes inequality more likely while the interactive nature of governance offsets this effect. Building on the author's earlier quantitative work, it compares findings from field work conducted in Spain –a country with low interactive governance-and in Sweden–a country with high interactive governance.

Professor Vassallo’s research focuses on political behavior, French and European Union politics, and EU identity. In her lecture, she will highlight the possible solutions to declining EU support levels in other EU member states, addressing how European integration can still retain a mostly positive image in the eyes of elites and citizens in the EU when there is a clear commitment to the original integration project.

A specialist of political and economic issues in Europe and the Middle East, Dr. Woertz manages CIDOB’s partnership with the Moroccan OCP Foundation. Formerly he was a visiting fellow at Princeton University, and Director of Economic Studies of the Gulf Research Center (GRC) in Dubai. He also worked for banks in Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and is a contributor and commentator to international and regional media outlets like the Financial Times, The National, and Al Arabiya.

The first of the EUCE/ESC's Pizza and Politics discussions of the year, GSPIA's EU and the World Organization's executive members talk about their experience interviewing policy-makers, EU civil servants, and visiting major institutions in Brussels and Luxembourg as participants in the EU in Brussels Program, co-sponsored by Pitt's EUCE/ESC and GSPIA. Also learn about getting involved in the EU and the World Organization and about other upcoming EU Studies opportunities at Pitt! PIZZA WILL BE SERVED.

Are you considering a graduate degree related to international studies in the future? Please join us for an information session sponsored by the University Center for International Studies, as part of our International Career Toolkit Series. You’ll hear from current graduate students and professors, and discuss scholarship opportunities, how to make your application stand out, as well as the kind of research, skills, and experiences the most competitive schools are looking for in applicants.

Join the Center as we enjoy pizza and politics during the lunch hour for a discussion offered by Center Library Research Advisor, Evgeny Postnikov. His talk will focus on the bilateral preferential trade agreements (PTAs) of the European Union (EU) and the United States, which are increasingly being used as vehicles for exporting social regulation, such as labor and environmental standards. Despite the similarity in terms of the inclusion of such provisions, design varies greatly between U.S. and EU agreements.

Although Carlo Collodi’s ‘Le avventure di Pinocchio’ is generally considered a children’s tale, like many similarly classified works of fiction, it is actually much more: it is, among other things, a narrative about the memory of a nation that had only very recently attained political unity and independence. According to the Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce it is “a tale for adults, centred on the tragic figure of Geppetto, a story where the whole of humanity is inscribed in a piece of wood”, a story that tackles “the relationship between freedom and obedience, between father and son”.

Enlargement posed a serious challenge for the European Commission, which set as a goal bringing on board thousands of new staff. How successful was the Commission in meeting this challenge? And how successful were the newcomers in integrating in to the organization? Now, after several years, can we see that the staff from Central and East European countries have had an impact on the organization? Answering these questions sheds new light on the evolution of the Commission’s organizational culture which Ban, author of the new book analyzing these questions, will discuss.