Free and Open to the Public during Hillman Library Hours

The term Silk Road, coined by 19th century German explorer Ferdinand von Richthofen, refers to a loose network of overland trade routes stretching from the Mediterranean to East Asia. Textiles, gems, spices, animals and even religions were all exchanged along this vast expanse, starting around 1,000 B.C. and continuing for millennia. For much of this time, most Silk Road traders coming from western Eurasia were Muslim, and they brought their beliefs and rich culture to millions of people.

A Crossroads of Ideas

While the Silk Road was a two-way route, most of its movement was eastward, carrying Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and later, Islam.

By the 8th century, Muslims stopped thinking of religion geographically and began seeking converts along the Silk Road. The benefits of conversion to such a widespread religion were many, as Muslims preferred trading with other Muslims.

Islamic scientific and medical advancements also had significant impact on Silk Road travelers. Chinese Buddhist traders adopted Islamic medical knowledge in wound healing and urinalysis. Muslims brought India their insights on astronomy, including a skepticism of the geocentric universe.

Cultural Exchange Along the Route

Influences from Buddhist China and other regions also affected radical changes in Islam. In the 12th century, abstract Islamic art suddenly started depicting human figures, long considered forbidden in Islam. Murals showing Buddhist statues and Indian narrative artwork started appearing in mosques, and Islamic art exploded with new techniques and figures. Chinese technologies, such as paper production and gunpowder, were transmitted to the West. Iran’s art in the Mongol period (13th and 14th centuries) is dramatically influenced by Chinese artistic traditions.

The Exhibit Design

The ground floor cases in Hillman Library feature a map of the Silk Road from its Eastern terminus in the Chinese city of Xian to its western terminus in Constantinople. They also display the late-14th century Catalan Atlas, the most detailed world map of its time, showing key places along and major figures who traveled the overland route of the Silk Road. The exhibit continues on the second floor of Hillman Library in five thematic display cases:

*Horses and Dynasties: Cartography and Painting in China, 10th-14th Centuries,
*Alexander the Great, Kublai Khan, and Marco Polo: Confluences of Power and Exchange in Assia,
*Musical Encounters in the Deserts and Mountains of Central Asia,
*Explorations in Turkestan: Aurel Stein and Bamiyan, and
*New World Exploitation and the China Trade with Europe.

Join us for this information session to learn about Fulbright program grants for students and faculty in Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Bulgaria.

An expert in municipal finance and bankruptcy, Jókay taught municipal finance, public budgeting and public management in the Department of Public Policy at Central European University between 2005 and 2017. Jókay has extensive experience in Central and Eastern European countries, including Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia, completing projects on municipal bond disclosure standards, public utility transformation and regulation in the municipal services sector, as well as municipal debt regulation. He was born in Chicago to Hungarian parents, earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan and has an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Illinois. Jókay moved to Hungary in 1994, became active in several civil society organizations, and established a family foundation to support the education of poor, rural children in the High School of the Reformed Church in Pápa.

Come to 201D Hillman and have an informal conversation in Russian with other Russian program students and the facilitator, Katya Kovaleva.

The "neglected tropical diseases" (NTDs) are a cluster of infectious diseases categorized by their impact on an estimated one billion people in 149 countries worldwide. These diseases are generally characterized by their high morbidity and low mortality and are strongly associated with poverty. NTD-focused campaigns have accelerated rapidly in the past two decades, with U.S. funding alone topping $887 million since 2006. Regional elimination or global eradication are often the end goal of these initiatives, coordinated by local and global NGOs, development organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and national ministries of health. The stakes of success or failure are high - in the twenty-first century, the NTDs have become a powerful operative and imaginative category in global public health.

This workshop seeks to catalyze new conversations on the history, present, and future of the (NTDs) in an innovative, multi-disciplinary gathering. The multi-sectorial nature of NTD work provides a unique opportunity for dialogue between scholars and practitioners in the humanities, social sciences, public health, law, and medicine around the complex challenges these diseases present. Pre-circulated papers will be discussed on a series of panels on Monday, April 1. On Tuesday, April 2, participants will gather for 1) a roundtable discussion on key areas of research on the NTDs in wider perspective and 2) an open plenary conversation on futures of research and collaboration. Registration, a complete schedule, and more information can be found at https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/global/NTD-Conference.

Model African Union 2019 Conference is here! More that 200 High School students converged at the University of Pittsburgh to hold conference and simulation of the African Union, debating and discussing issues facing African States while proposing resolutions.

The program gives students in grades 9-12 an opportunity to learn about Africa through studying the African Union and assigned topics and countries. The students who assume the roles of delegates for respective assigned countries simulate the proceedings of the African Union in one of the committees with pre-set topics to debate. Students research the background of their assigned country, their country's position on the topics at hand, and prepare notes on possible solutions to the problems faced. Students then convene at Pitt on the day of the conference to debate their assigned topics. Much like the real African Union convening in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. The goal is to identify solutions, by negotiation and consensus, on which many countries can agree. Students write and pass a resolution describing the actions that they propose to take collectively in response to the issues. This activity requires countries with very different points of view to discuss their differences and find common ground.

It is with great pleasure that the African Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh is hosting the 9th Annual High School Model African Union (MAU) Conference. The simulation of the African Union, brings together high school students to take on the roles of African leaders working to tackle issues affecting or influencing the continent. The Model African Union Conference is a wonderful educational opportunity for students to gain firsthand knowledge about African issues while assuming the role of delegates responsible for debating and resolving issues of African and global significance.

Jared McBride, University of California, Los Angeles

Following the Maidan Revolution, the Ukrainian government opened the former KGB archives after years of ambiguous policies. The impetus was mostly political: to show the Ukrainian nation as a victim of Russian/Soviet aggression and to valorize controversial Ukrainian nationalist movements. Former police archives, however, make for poor political props. This live interview with Jared McBride will discuss these archives, the ways scholarly work has often been at odds with the archive as a tool to remake civil society, and place of police archives in the larger contexts of post-Soviet Eastern Europe.

Meet with our Russian tutor Katya Kovaleva in 201D Hillman Library if you need help with your homework or want to prepare for your tests and exams.

Prof. Inghilleri’s talk will consider the interaction between migrants and the physical environment as a space of translation. Landscapes offer evidence of the enduring signs of an earlier presence of migrants whose origins have been forgotten in the public consciousness. They, and the people who come to inhabit them, are forever shaped by this presence as well. In this sense, landscapes can be powerful spectral spaces and particularly vulnerable to multiple mappings of meaning.

The first Kenyan film to screen at Cannes & banned in its home country, RAFIKI bursts onto the screen with fresh energy. “Good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives,” but Kena and Ziki long for something more. A tender tale of forbidden first love told in an electric, colorful Afropop style, RAFIKI tells the story of the touching, but illegal romance between Kena, a skateboarding tomboy, and Ziki, the charismatic daughter of a conservative local politician. When rumors begin to swirl about the nature of their relationship, the young lovers find themselves in great jeopardy. Combined with the charming leads, Samantha Mugatsia and Sheila Munyiva, RAFIKI is another highlight in esteemed director Wanuri Kahiu’s filmography. More information and tickets can be found at https://www.cmu.edu/faces/2019/rafiki.html.

The future of the European Union (EU) is currently the subject of heated debate. Over the last decade,
the organization has struggled to contain the effects of a severe economic crisis and an ongoing migration
crisis. With elections to the European Parliament looming in May, the EU faces the threat of a rising tide of
nationalism and populism. Meanwhile, Brexit – the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union –
threatens to weaken the EU, even as it propels the UK towards potential disaster. These debates have
involved not only politicians, but also architects. A highly ‘Europeanised’ group of professionals, who are
especially concerned with issues of space, place, and program, architects have often demonstrated an
abiding interest in the EU – one that is mirrored in the organization’s own continual use of architectural
metaphors when describing its institutions and procedures. This paper will explore how architects have
intervened in, and contributed to, debates about the EU in recent years. Focusing above all on installations
at exhibitions, the paper will touch on the work of practices including OMA, Caruso St John, and Stefano
Boeri, among others. In so doing, it will consider the ways in which architects have participated in broader efforts to forge new national and European imaginaries.

Genre films possess the ability to address thorny political and social issues that otherwise remain unuttered; Jordan Peele’s horror film Get Out (2017) and Ryan Coogler’s Afro-futurist vision in Black Panther (2018) offer implicit commentaries on race relations in the United States. Likewise, Hideaki Anno and Higushi Shinji’s giant monster film Shin-Gojira (2016) took aim at the Japanese government and its failure to respond to the 3/11 Fukushima nuclear disaster. This latter film participated in an extensive socio-political commentary that characterizes the core of the Godzilla franchise. This talk centers on the first entry into Japanese monster cinema, Honda Ishirō’s Gojira (1954), exploring the ways the film, and specifically the soundtrack, critique militarism. The film and particularly its music offer a subtext that scrutinizes the relationship between science, nature, and war at a time when open critique about the war and Occupation years was still tacitly (if not officially) prohibited.

BROOKE H. McCORKLE joined the University of Vermont faculty in 2018 as an assistant professor of music history. She specializes in opera of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, film music, and the music of modern Japan. McCorkle has published articles in the Journal of Horror Studies and Journal of Fandom Studies and in 2018, she published a co-authored book with Sean Rhoads from Queen’s University called Japan’s Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaijū Cinema (McFarland Press). The book explores the many ways the genre known as kaijū, or giant monster, film portrayed and shaped contemporary Japanese attitudes regarding pollution, conservations, renewable energy, and biotechnology.

Historical epidemiology-the study of past disease control interventions and their impacts on the dynamics of disease transmission-holds the promise of creating a more robust and more nuanced foundation for global public health decision-making by developing an empirical record from which we can draw historical lessons. It can unearth past successes and failures in order to suggest alternative or hybrid approaches to the control of epidemic or endemic disease processes. What should be done to institutionalize its practice? This keynote lecture for the "Defining the Neglected Tropical Diseases: Research, Development, and Global Health Equity, 1970-present" conference will be delivered by Prof. James L.A. Webb, Jr., Emeritus Professor at Colby College and Fulbright Visiting Professor at the University of Botswana.

The film tells the story of the exodus of Jews from Poland in 1968-69 in the wake of the government's antisemitic campaign. Marian Maryznski will present his film.

MY FRIEND THE POLISH GIRL borrows from cinema verite and video bloggers to create a rare naturalism in style and performance. Katie, a young, rich American, decides to make a documentary film about Alicja, an impulsive Polish actress living in London. During the making of the film, the interference of Katie in the life of her character proves to have serious consequences, both in their relationship and the film’s narrative. Set in a post-Brexit-vote London, Katie’s colonizing, disruptive presence in Alicja’s life mirrors the treatment of migrants in the UK: Welcomed, used, then discarded. MY FRIEND THE POLISH GIRL is a raw, sexual, and visually brash film exploring the abusive power and control over someone’s intimacy. More information and tickets can be found at https://www.cmu.edu/faces/2019/myfriendthepolishgirl.html.

Our conference on the Iberian empires and their aftermath will bring a much-needed interdisciplinary focus on the realia and the imaginary of the Spanish and Portuguese colonial world. We will think about the construction and naturalization of an imperial regime that produced hierarchized and racialized ways of being, thinking, knowing, and belonging in society, and interrogate and excavate it, with a view to defamiliarizing and "delegitimizing" the regime and its aftereffects, particularly in light of the present-day iterations and manifestations of the latter. Taking the institutionality of colonial governance as our point of departure, as seen through the historical action of not only church and state, but also of labor and capital, we want to reveal how empire works in the creation of social relations and racialized identities, especially those relating to diasporan "blackness." The taxonomy of racial "types" of Latin America's colonial casta paintings, to take the paradigmatic example, not only reflects a vertical distribution of power in real terms. It constitutes a state-originated artifact whose referents and their racially determined places in society, are reinforced in the textuality of colonial laws and edicts, and reappear in literary discourse, visual culture, theater and the performing arts, and in other areas of material cultural production, while also having a determinative role in the emerging fields of ethnography and anthropology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In examining the longue durée of modern raciology and its effects on black diasporan subjectivity during and after the Iberian empires, we will take both a transhistoric and a translocal approach to critiquing and denaturalizing an inherited regime of truth in many of its discrete instances across the Renaissance, the Colonial, and the Contemporary periods.
Keynote Speakers: John Lipski, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Spanish and Linguistics, and director, Program in Linguistics, Penn State University, and Equatoguinean writer Juan Tomás Ávila

Emanuele Lobina, Department of International Business and Economics, University of Greenwich and Public Services International, provides a global look at the forces shaping today's heightened debate around access to water. How are pressures to privatize water utilities impacting cities around the world-including Pittsburgh? Representatives from Pittsburgh's Our Water Campaign will comment on local and transnational efforts to stop privatization.

Human Library

The Human Library is an event that encourages people from different backgrounds to talk with and learn from each other. Several “human books” have volunteered to share their experiences with participants in small group settings. Those who want to talk with a human book can sign up as a "reader" to “borrow” the human book and participate in one of these small group conversations.

The goal of the Human Library is to build understanding and challenge stereotypes and prejudices through a non-confrontational and friendly conversation. We feel these open and honest conversations can lead to greater acceptance, tolerance and social cohesion in the community.

Register to meet a book such as...

My LatinX Life:

As the daughter of the Cuban diaspora, I was born in Miami, FL and have spent my life straddling borders, negotiating identities, code-switching in daily conversations and learning to embrace the diversity of living as a Latinx in the United States.

I will discuss the heterogeneity of Latina/o/x community members across the U.S., identify some of the challenges and obstacles I confronted as a college student in the South and share some lessons learned from my professional experience in academia thus far.

For More Book Descriptions, visit https://pitt.libguides.com/humanlibrary/2019books

What does it mean for white women to perform Asian America through taiko in politically charged times? Taiko is an ensemble drum performance form that originated in 1950s Japan and which has grown rapidly in the U.S. since the late 1960s. While the North American taiko community writ large welcomes practitioners of any background, taiko has historical and social roots in Japanese American history and Asian American activism. A majority of taiko players in the United States identify as Asian American; thus, taiko is a rare site in which white performers are seen not as normal or “unmarked,” but rather as remarkable within Asian American contexts. Based on a chapter from my book, Drumming Asian America: Taiko, Performance, and Cultural Politics, this talk draws on ethnographic interviews and my own history as a white woman taiko performer to consider the ambivalence and other affective dimensions of white women performing Asian America. Rather than focus narrowly on the representational politics of taiko, I illuminate how white women taiko players describe their embodied, lived experiences of performing at the intersections of whiteness and womanhood. Finally, I ask whether taiko (and other culturally specific forms) can become sites in which to forge productive, cross-racial intimacies.

Intended as a workshop to foster critical thinking skills, this program will feature presentations by two scholars who work on similar issues in entirely different parts of the world. Dr. David Kenley (Elizabethtown College, PA) will speak on “Remembering and Forgetting: War Memorials in East Asia” with a particular focus on WWII memorials. Dr. Kirk Savage (University of Pittsburgh) will talk about “Curating History: Civil War Commemoration and Social Justice.” The program will include Q&A with the speakers. Attendees will receive Act 48 (if Pennsylvania teachers), dinner, free parking, and materials. Space is limited, and registration deadline is April 1, 2019. Register at https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/ncta/whose-narrative-re-examining-war-memorial....

Elpida has reached a critical juncture in her life: menopause. Unquenchable desires, the longing for love, her own body, even time itself all seem to conspire against the routine existence she had been enduring as wife and mother. As her tenuous hold on reality begins to crumble, Elpida finds herself uncertain as to what is real and what is her imagination, leading her to the brink of catastrophe. In its bleak tone, Pause provides a depressingly accurate account of the domestic abuse thousands of Cypriot women face each year. More information can be found at https://www.cmu.edu/faces/2019/pause.html.

This film presents the story of four generations of Hungarian women in the 20th century--“loonies” who are led by the character of a mother who lived 94 years and moved 27 times in her life. Moving seems to have been her only way of confronting troubles, dangers, and conflicts. In reality, it was major historical events that chased her throughout Hungary and made her go through a terrible century. At the incredible age of 94, Mom tells the story of these events to her daughter, nearly 100 years of often mischievous and heart-warming but also sometimes painful episodes.

Dr. János Kenyeres (University of Toronto) will introduce the film before the screening.

Bio: János Kenyeres graduated from Eötvös Loránd University in English and Hungarian literature in 1991 and earned his doctoral degree in literary studies from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2000. He is currently Visiting Professor of Hungarian at the University of Toronto, where his work focuses on Hungarian literature, cinema and culture. At his home institution, the Eötvös Loránd University, he is Director of the School of English and American Studies and teaches English and Canadian literature, Canadian cinema, and literary theory.

Keynote Address by János Kenyeres, (Eötvös Loránd University, Director of School of English and American Studies): Manifestations of Hungarian Identity in Literature.

This event is part of the American Hungarian Educators Association Conference April 4 - 6, 2019.

Director Lila Avilés's compelling debut follows Eve, who works long hours as a maid at a luxurious hotel in Mexico City. A young, single mother who travels far to get to her place of work, Eve has aspirations for the future and hopes that her diligence will get her a coveted spot as the cleaner on an executive floor. She enrolls in the hotel's adult education program in her quest for a better life, but quickly discovers that it's not necessarily the most hard-working who get noticed for advancement. Employing striking documentary-style cinematography, coupled with a meditative tone and intimate direction, THE CHAMBERMAID takes us through Eve's daily routine and path to self discovery, which humbly reflects the everyday struggles of laborers in Mexico City. More information and tickets can be found at https://www.cmu.edu/faces/2019/thechambermaid.html.

The Nationality Rooms Program will hold an orientation and awards presentation to its summer study abroad scholarship awardees.
Committees, friends and donors will be there to meet their recipients.

Our Short Film Competition buzzes and hums under the umbrella of the Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival. But we bring a lot of excitement to the Festival season on our own! Our annual competition event unites local and international filmmakers with professionals and with in-house audiences. All the eyes a filmmaker could ask for under one roof. We will shine the spotlight on those who present a unique vision and create poignant conversation through their films. Each year, the festival chooses a theme that focuses on a current social issue or idea. This year’s theme is WO/MEN. Selected submissions will be screened at the festival’s Short Film Competition night on Saturday, April 6 at 2:00 pm at Regent Square Theater. More information and tickets can be found at https://www.cmu.edu/faces/2019/shortfilmcompetition.html.

3 FACES is Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s fourth completed feature since he was officially banned from filmmaking. The film follows well-known actress Behnaz Jafari--playing herself--as she becomes distraught after watching a provincial girl’s video plea for help. Through tears, the girl laments she is oppressed by her family, who will not let her pursue her studies at the drama conservatory in Tehran. Behnaz, fearing for the young girls life, abandons her shoot and turns to filmmaker Jafar Panahi--playing himself--to help solve the mystery of the young girl’s troubles. They travel by car to the rural northwest where they have amusing encounters with the charmingS folk of the girl’s mountain village, but the city visitors soon discover that the protection of age-old traditions may make their impromptu quest more difficult than they thought. Jafar’s intimate portrait of Tehran life in the mountains provides an insightful, and surprisingly humorous, portrayal of village culture. 3 FACES is a road trip worth taking. More information and tickets can be found at https://www.cmu.edu/faces/2019/3_faces.html.

A cultural extravaganza that features fashion, entertainment, comedy and dance through African Perspectives. The group uses African culture as inspiration for creative and innovative designs. The goal is to educate, create more awareness and understanding of African cultures.

After the popularity of his online diary, “My Father,” filmmaker Lu Qingyi decided to turn a camera on his parents’ everyday life in a remote town in Guizhou. Over four springs, we see the flow of life: chores, singing, hikes, celebrations, funerals, reunions, and separation. After a family tragedy forces Qingyi from the role of participant to observer, he becomes more deeply moved by the open-minded, pristine life philosophy his parents reveal through their everyday interactions with people and nature. Using cinema as a tool, Lu crafts a profound visual diary of family in southwest China that will have the viewer calling their family to say “I love you” as soon as the screen goes dark. More information and tickets can be found at https://www.cmu.edu/faces/2019/foursprings.html.

After the popularity of his online diary, "My Father," filmmaker Lu Qingyi decided to turn a camera on his parents' everyday life in a remote town in Guizhou. Over four springs, we see the flow of life: chores, singing, hikes, celebrations, funerals, reunions, and separation. After a family tragedy forces Qingyi from the role of participant to observer, he becomes more deeply moved by the open-minded, pristine life philosophy his parents reveal through their everyday interactions with people and nature. Using cinema as a tool, Lu crafts a profound visual diary of family in Southwest China that will have the viewer calling their family to say "I love you" as soon as the screen goes dark.

Event includes an exclusive Q&A with Director Lu Qingyi moderated by Pitt Professor Jinjing Li.

Learn how to make beautiful palm and floral offerings in the traditional Balinese style with expert artisan Ida Ayu Kumalayoni. A brief lecture on offerings in Bali will be followed by a hands-on workshop.

Event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact asia@pitt.edu.

Coming at a moment of profound political and social crisis, WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? reflects on a word we often take for granted. This philosophical journey spans millennia and continents: from ancient Athens’ groundbreaking experiment in self-government, to modern-day Greece grappling with financial collapse, and a mounting refugee crisis to the United States reckoning with its racist past and the growing gap between rich and poor. This urgent film connects the past and the present, the emotional and the intellectual, the personal and the political, in order to provoke and inspire. If we want to live in democracy, we must first ask what the word even means. WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? asks the right questions. More information and tickets can be found at https://www.cmu.edu/faces/2019/whatisdemocracy.html.

The Colorado has been hailed as one of the most profound documentaries in recent memory. This beautiful film explores the complex relationship between the Colorado River and the people who have inhabited its basin across history. Three key figures from The Colorado will introduce the film, including Christa Sadler, field producer and author of the accompanying book, Murat Eyuboglu, director, cinematographer, and co-writer, and Paola Prestini, composer. More information please visit: pi.tt/thecolorado.

Christa Sadler, field producer and author of The Colorado, will discuss her role as a production manager and author of the accompanying book for the film. She will also discuss humans’ dominant influence on our environment and climate. This discussion will be a one hour workshop/ lecture and a Q & A session about her work.

Kat Frances discussed NeoLiberalism through her research on feminist discourse in modern urban South Asia.

Nitin Pachisia is an entrepreneur-turned-investor and recently featured in Forbes for his work with Unshackled Ventures, but prior to this he experienced the myths and misinformation that many immigrant entrepreneurs face when forming a startup.

Join us for a discussion with Nitin as he shares his own experience founding startups while on a visa and how immigrant entrepreneurs can find the right information on how to start their next venture. Are you an aspiring entrepreneur without U.S. citizenship? Do you want to stay in the U.S. to and start your own business but have questions on how to do it? Do you want to better understand the venture resources available for immigrant entrepreneurs?

On Monday, April 8, the Innovation Institute will be hosting a fireside style session with Unshackled Ventures founding partner, Nitin Pachisia. Unshackled Ventures is a Silicon Valley based pre-seed fund focused on immigrant founders and international students. RSVP Here.

For students: Work as a part of the Unshackled team during the school year. Learn more here.

LEARN ABOUT UNSHACKLED VENTURES

Unshackled Ventures was started in 2014 with a single mission: help immigrant founders succeed faster.

Come to 201D Hillman and have an informal conversation in Russian with other Russian program students and the facilitator, Katya Kovaleva.

Almodovar is in prison, Daniel is living in a van, and Xavier hasn't left the house is years.

David Machado's award-winning novel, The Shelf Life of Happiness, follows the story of three adult friends as they navigate and deteriorate under the stresses of Portugal's financial crisis of 2008. The novel won the EU Prize for Literature in 2019.

The ESC, in partnership with UNC Center for European Studies and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is delighted to present a reading from The Shelf Life of Happiness with David Machado.

This event is free and open to all. Join us to hear some award-winning writing and a brief talk from the author. A Q&A will follow.

On December 16, 2012 in New Delhi, India, a young woman and her male companion boarded a bus after seeing a film at a South Delhi theater. Instead of taking them home, the six men already on the bus brutally gang raped the woman and then dumped her and her male companion on the side of the road. Thirteen days later in a Singapore hospital, she died of the injuries she had received that night. By the time she died, the story of her rape was internationally infamous. It had sparked massive public protests and outrage throughout India. It had also shone a spotlight on the particular problem of public violence against women in urban India. Indian feminist performance artists were troubled by the way the discourse around this incident highlighted acts of extraordinary violence and effectively erased the ordinary violence all women experience on a daily basis. They argued that a focus on extraordinary violence made women afraid, made men (or at least a certain kind of man) seem inhuman, and made change appear impossible. Instead, artists such as Mallika Taneja, Jana Natya Manch, and Niranjani Iyer created performances that drew attention to what I call “slow sexual violence,” a violence so small and so stealthily normal that few think to label it violence in the first place. Through their embodied performances, these artists highlight the effects such violence has on the body and psyche of women in public space and, crucially, suggest modes for retraining the body to empower people to put an end to sexual violence no matter its scale. This talk will explore the concept of “slow sexual violence” and argue that live, embodied performance is a necessary medium for making such slow violence visible and comprehensible.

All University of Pittsburgh faculty, tenure stream and non-tenure stream, are invited to a special series of networking opportunities made possible by the Year of Pitt Global. This Global Salon series brings together faculty and researchers from across the University to build relationships and share proposed or ongoing research. The Salons are organized around the UN's Sustainable Development Goals in five themes: People, Prosperity, Planet, Peace, and Partnership.

Goals for the Global Salon:

1. Increase local networks, build new relationships, form working groups

2. Encourage open dialogue across disciplines and develop common research agendas

3. Highlight efforts Pitt faculty undertake to address global issues

Additionally, Global Salon participants may be eligible for seed grant funding to advance multi-disciplinary research projects.

The Global Salons are free of charge, and lunch is provided, but registration is required. Register here: https://pitt.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6hZGlhwSyLx5DM1

Each Global Salon allows faculty to enjoy lunch while discussing their research informally through conversation groups. All faculty, regardless of full-time, part-time, or tenure status, are welcome to register.

Faculty Luncheon Series: The Global Salon

February 19 and 28, March 5 and 19, and April 9

Noon – 1:30 p.m.
William Pitt Union, Lower Lounge

PEOPLE
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Salon focus: Research on strategies and technologies to end poverty and hunger, in all their forms and dimensions, to ensure that all human beings can fulfill their potential in dignity and equality and in healthy environments.

PROSPERITY
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Salon focus: Research on strategies and technologies to ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives and that economic, social and technological progress occurs in harmony with nature.

PLANET
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Salon focus: Research on strategies and technologies to protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change to support present and future generations.

PEACE
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Salon focus: Research on strategies to foster peaceful, just and inclusive societies that are free from fear and violence, and directed toward an understanding that no sustainable development can occur without peace and no peace can occur without sustainable development.

PARTNERSHIP
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Salon focus: Research on strategies to mobilize and implement global partnerships for sustainable development, based on a spirit of strengthened global solidarity, and focused on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable.

Meet with our Russian tutor Katya Kovaleva in 201D Hillman Library if you need help with your homework or want to prepare for your tests and exams.

Join us for our Global Studies Student Research Symposium featuring presentations from 5 of our BPhil Students. Each student will give a 10-15 minute presentation with time for Q&A led by Dr. Michael Goodhart. All are welcome to attend. Refreshments will be served.

This film is about a young man recalling his grandfather, who during the days of the revolution became the leading political speaker in Uzbekistan even though he retained all three of his wives.

Running Time: 81 minutes

Introduction by Olia Kim, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh

Representations of Afrolatinidad
University of Pittsburgh
April 11-13, 2019
Conference Convened by the Afro-Latin American and Afro-Latinx Studies Initiative

About the Conference:
The intersections of race, ethnicity, and representation have shaped historical and contemporary articulations of Afrolatinidad. As an expression of multivalent identity, both shared and unique, Afrolatinidad informs the experiences of over 150 million Afro-Latin Americans and millions more within diasporic communities in the United States, Canada, Europe, and beyond. The conference seeks to foster an international dialogue that addresses regional, national, and transnational links among the ways Afro-Latin Americans and Afro-Latinxs create, sustain, and transform meanings surrounding blackness in political, social, and cultural contexts.

This two-day symposium aims to engage multiple depictions of Afro-Latin Americans and Afro-Latinxs – whether self-fashioned or imposed. The varied portrayals in the past and present reflect the ongoing global realities, struggles, vibrancy, and resiliency of Afro-Latin diasporas throughout the Americas and elsewhere. The symposium will feature keynote addresses by Dr. Juliet Hooker, Professor of Political Science at Brown University, and Dr. Nancy Mirabal, Associate Professor of American Studies and Director of the U.S. Latina/o Studies Program at the University of Maryland-College Park. Their work on Afro-descendant politics in Latin America and Afro-Latinx discourses of race, gender, and territoriality, respectively, will spark broader exchanges around Afrolatinidad and representation among presenters and attendees.

Co-Sponsors: University of Pittsburgh Office of the Chancellor, Afro-Latin American and Afro-Latinx Studies Initiative, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, Year of Pitt Global, Humanities Center, Center for Latin American Studies, and the Department of Africana Studies

For questions or additional information, contact Dr. Michele Reid-Vazquez, University of Pittsburgh, mbr31@pitt.edu

The Undergraduate Research Symposium is an annual event since 2002 designed to provide undergraduate students, from the University of Pittsburgh and other colleges and universities, with advanced research experiences and opportunities to develop presentation skills. The event is open to undergraduates from all majors and institutions who have written a research paper from a social science, humanities, or business perspective focusing on the study of Eastern, Western, or Central Europe, the European Union, Russia, or Central Eurasia. The Symposium is held on the University of Pittsburgh-Oakland campus. After the initial submission of papers, selected participants are grouped into panels according to their research topics. The participants then give 10- to 15-minute presentations based on their research to a panel of faculty and graduate students. The presentations are open to the public.

The workshop will bring together a multidisciplinary group of scholars at the University of Pittsburgh and beyond to examine global health inequities in the distribution of infectious diseases. Highly infectious diseases reflect global inequities worldwide, making up five of the top ten leading causes of death in low-income countries while constituting only one of the top ten causes of death in high-income countries.
The workshop will be composed of keynotes, panel sessions and one plenary session. The sessions will consist of panelists invited to present a work-in progress that reflects the workshop theme. The workshop will conclude with a plenary session to discuss the potential for future collaboration and next steps. There is no fee to attend the conference, but registration is required and canbe found at https://www.law.pitt.edu/globalhealth, where a complete schedule and more information can also be found.

Emerging Latino Communities Reading and Publishing Group

1154 Public Health
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

April 12

The Center for Health Equity, with the support of the Center for Latin American Studies, invites you to explore 1) the problems Latinos in small yet rapidly growing populations face, and 2) how to solve those problems. We will read articles and offer feedback to those who are writing manuscripts. We hope to get new writing and research collaborations going!

Open to all interested: students, faculty, staff, and practitioners from Pitt and beyond. We will meet over coffee and light snacks in a relaxed atmosphere. If you want to get extra network time, we will be there 30 before and after the meeting time.

For more information, visit healthequity.pitt.edu or e-mail Chantel Durrant cjd13@pitt.edu

Christa Uehlinger, Ph. D., Rooney Scholar from Robert Morris University (RMU), will be hosting a workshop with University of Pittsburgh students on developing intercultural competence overseas. This can be a workshop for students who have studied abroad or who will study, live or work abroad, or just want to get some understanding of how to recognize that everyone is a product of their own culture and how to work inter-culturally!

Dr. Uehlinger is an experienced intercultural professional and a lecturer in intercultural communication in the department of Business Administration at FHS St. Gallen, Switzerland, RMU’s international partner. She received her Ph.D. and Master’s degree in law from the University of Zurich and holds further certificates in intercultural communication from ICI/Portland, OR, in PR from NYU and Psychosynthesis. Her primary research subject is developing intercultural competence, using a comprehensive approach. She has written books and several articles on this topic, as well as developed a game,“ Puzzling Intercultural Stories.” Dr. Uehlinger has lived, worked, and traveled in Europe, Canada, the US, Australia, and Asia.

Lunch will be served and spots are limited so your RSVP is required at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc-snwmlqKUWSoEDGdOhqtp-TmZ_KL4.... Please contact Jacob Garcia with any questions at jag292@pitt.edu.

The graduation presentation is an opportunity for students receiving the Certificate in African Studies to reflect on their experience studying about Africa. Students will showcase their African Studies learning experiences including study abroad in an African country, research, and internships. The presentations provides a great opportunity also for ASP to evaluate the certificate program to see if students demonstrate achievement of enhanced knowledge of the cultures, history, politics, economics, and/or literature and arts in African Studies from an interdisciplinary perspective.

This year, a total of 27 students will be receiving the certificate in African Studies. They will be presenting on their individual areas of academic and professional interests. We look forward to the opportunity to hear from graduating students as they present on their experiences.

Showcase featuring music, films, artwork, and literature created in collaboration with the Astrophysics and Cosmology Department at Pitt.
Elizabeth Brown will perform a new work by Devon Osumu Tippled for shakuhachi and fixed media

University of Pittsburgh Gamelan performs Sudanese Gamelan Degung and the PA premiere of Elizabeth Brown's "Cloudrest" for gamelan and shakuhachi. Shakuhachi will be performed by Devon Osamu Tipp.

PITTSBURGH—The Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) at the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for International Studies will be hosting the 39th Annual Latin American and Caribbean Festival from noon to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, 2019 in the Galleria, and Patio of Wesley W. Posvar Hall, 230 South Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213.

Beginning at noon, the festival will feature Latin American and Caribbean food, arts, crafts, and information on local and regional organizations. Latin American vendors also will offer handmade and authentic Latin American products. Music and dance performances from Latin America and the Caribbean will take place throughout the day.

Since its inception, the festival has showcased the diversity of Latin American and Caribbean cultures by combining the resources of CLAS with people of Latin American heritage. The growth of Pittsburgh's Latin American and Latino populations has made the festival one of the largest gatherings of these communities in Western Pennsylvania.

Gender Wayang Music performed by Meghan Hynson, Yang Shuo, Wangcaixuan Zhang and Annie Valdes

Pre-performance lecture by Dr. Meghan Hynson

Elizabeth Brown will give a repeat performance of Tipp's new work "Pale Blue Dot"; the concert will feature works by Pitt composers Jason Belcher, Laura Schwartz, Marco Guisto, Emerson Voss and Karen Brown.
The concert is free and open to the public
Where: Frick Fine Art Auditorium

Come to 201D Hillman and have an informal conversation in Russian with other Russian program students and the facilitator, Katya Kovaleva.

On May 23-26, 2019, voters across the European Union will head to the polls to elect 751 members of the European Parliament. In this conversation, our panel of experts will discuss the key players, parties and issues at stake (including the role of Brexit) in the upcoming elections. To participate remotely, contact irm24@pitt.edu

Meet with our Russian tutor Katya Kovaleva in 201D Hillman Library if you need help with your homework or want to prepare for your tests and exams.

Anna Krakus, University of Southern California

Police files tend to catalog a suspect’s crime. Police files in communist countries, however, go much further and document a suspect’s biography. This was the case in Polish police files where genres of biography and criminal surveillance blurred, turning the cop into a kind of literary author. Communist police files, therefore, told stories—not just about the factual and fictive biographical characteristics of a subject, but also intimate aspects of their personal lives and relationships. This live interview with Anna Krakus will delve into the police as author and the ways police files reflected literary elements that intersected with literary genres found in communist Poland.

Presented by Nicholas Sims-Williams, Emeritus Professor of Iranian and Central Asian Studies, SOAS University of London.

This event is part of the Guest Speaker Series of Silk Roads Rising: Globalization and Exchange from the 10th Century to the Present.

Beyond his fame as Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Tales of the South Pacific and Hawaii,James A. Michener was an enthusiastic collector of fine art. He managed to assemble the third largest collection of ukiyo-e in the United States, which he donated to the Honolulu Museum of Art. Join us at the Carnegie Museum of Art to learn about Michener's collecting journey with Stephen Salel, Curator of Japanese Art. Please register at japansocietypa.org/events.

Written by Mairead Ni Ghrada and Directed by Nic Barilar
A child is dead, a baby girl - and her mother is standing trial for infanticide. Gripping and theatrical, On Trial follows the tragic life of Maura Cassidy, an unmarried single mother. Set in 1960s Catholic Ireland, Maura must find a way to make a life for herself without the support of her family, her child’s father, or society - leading her to make some catastrophic decisions. Told through testimonies and flashbacks, this controversial courtroom drama questions where guilt and blame lie in a world of oppression, prejudice, and hypocrisy. Originally written in the Irish Gaelic language by Máiréad Ní Ghráda - one of Ireland’s preeminent female playwrights - this special addition to the University of Pittsburgh’s current season is the North American premiere of a modern Irish classic.

Come to 201D Hillman and have an informal conversation in Russian with other Russian program students and the facilitator, Katya Kovaleva.

The Year of Pitt Global has been a resounding success for the University of Pittsburgh, and the journey would not have been possible without a diverse local and global community. Join us on Wednesday, April 24, for a Showcase of the projects and events sponsored by the Year of Pitt Global on the first floor of Wesley W. Posvar Hall.

Remarks will be delivered by Provost Ann Cudd, Vice Provost for Global Affairs Ariel Armony, and Distinguished Professor Randall Halle, Co-Chair of the Year of Pitt Global.

Light refreshments will be provided and all are welcome to view the poster presentations.

Graceland by Chris Albani

This reading group for educators explores literary texts from a global perspective. Content specialists present the work and its context, and together we brainstorm innovative pedagogical practices for incorporating the text and its themes into the curriculum. Sessions usually take place in 4130 Posvar Hall (unless otherwise noted) from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Books, Act 48 credit, dinner, and parking are provided.

To register, visit https://goo.gl/forms/ZQV71iZMJBpZJ2Hv1

For more information, contact Maja Konitzer (majab@pitt.edu)

Lithuanian Writer Birute Putrius will speak about her historical novel, The Last Book Smuggler.
Part folktale, part thriller, THE LAST BOOK SMUGGLER tells the story of Ada and her grandfather Viktoras, an old book smuggler tired of his forty-year battle to keep his language alive despite the attempts of the Russian Empire to destroy it. Into their world steps Jonas, a young man in love with Ada and ready to join the underground book smugglers. But there is a traitor in their midst who must stop them or lose everything.

Students graduating in Spring and Summer 2019 from the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies and the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures are invited with their families to join this ceremony celebrating the completion of their various degrees and credentials.

The University Center for International Studies cordially invites students graduating in Spring and Summer 2019 to celebrate their academic achievements and receive their credentials at the University Center for International Studies’ Graduation Ceremony on Friday, April 26, 3-4 p.m., followed by a reception 4-5 p.m., in the O'Hara Student Center.

Graduating students please look for your personal email invitation from the University Center for International Studies. Contact your UCIS academic advisor with any questions.

We look forward to celebrating your accomplishments!

The African American Program section of the Heinz History Center and the AAHGS will be sponsoring a community-based workshop on DNA testing and African American genealogy. This workshop will highlight the significance of the global migration of Africans to the Americas, and the possibilities and challenges that DNA testing enables for understanding genealogy. With Samuel Black, Director of the African American Program at the Senator John Heinz History Center and Marlene Bransom, President of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, AAHGS.