CLAS seeks submissions for our 2020 Photography Competition. The competition is open to all current Pitt students (undergraduate and graduate) enrolled in one of the credentials offered by CLAS. Photographs should be images taken by a student while traveling, studying, or living in Latin America, the Caribbean, or amongst diasporic communities. The First Prize photograph will be published on the cover of this year's issue of CLASicos and the owner will be awarded a $200 scholarship. Prizes will be announced no later than January 11, 2021.

To submit your photo and to see the full list of rules and applicable disclaimers please visit: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/clas/content/2020-clas-photography-competition

The Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship program is a prestigious and competitive award 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.

Attend this info session with representatives from the European Studies Center, the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, and the Asian Studies Center to learn more about the requirements and how to submit a strong application.

Register here: https://bit.ly/FLAS-info-session-2021

A webinar with Evgeny Dengub (University of Massachusetts Amherst) and Irina Dubinina (Brandeis University)

This series of the workshops targets Russian language teachers and instructors at the secondary and post-secondary levels and is designed to review language resources and to introduce the pedagogical strategies for the use of authentic materials in a Russian language classroom.

REGISTER HERE: https://actr.wildapricot.org/event-4113892/Registration

The webinars are free and open to anyone with the generous support of the co-sponsors:
Robert F. Byrnes Russian and East European Institute (Indiana University),
Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (University of Pittsburgh)​, and Slavic and Eurasian Language Resource Center (Duke University)

Join us for the other webinar in the series:
Using Authentic Materials to Introduce the Topics on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Russian Language Curriculum
Friday, January 15th, 4-5:30pm EST
Webinar presenters:
Olga Klimova (University of Pittsburgh) and Izolda Savenkova (Dickinson College)
Registration link: https://actr.wildapricot.org/event-4114899

A series of NCTA Master Teacher workshops on integrating East Asia into your classroom.
Join us for a teacher to teacher presentations that will cover content, strategies, implementation, and resources for bringing East Asia into your classroom this year.

This presentation shows how tangrams are much more than a simple Chinese puzzle. Participants will learn about the colorful history of tangrams including origin
legends, their somewhat mysterious inception, and use of the puzzle by famous enthusiasts, all while deepening their understanding of Chinese history. Opportunities for hands-on exploration of puzzles from basic forms through seemingly unsolvable paradoxes promise to be both fun and challenging to participants. While the math classroom might be the obvious place for tangrams in school, we will also explore creative applications across the K-12 curriculum. Information on resources applicable to all grade levels will be shared.

Webinar with Olga Klimova (University of Pittsburgh) and Izolda Savenkova (Dickinson College)

This series of the workshops targets Russian language teachers and instructors at the secondary and post-secondary levels and is designed to review language resources and to introduce the pedagogical strategies for the use of authentic materials in a Russian language classroom.

REGISTER HERE: https://actr.wildapricot.org/event-4114899/Registration

The webinars are free and open to anyone with the generous support of the co-sponsors:
Robert F. Byrnes Russian and East European Institute (Indiana University),
Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (University of Pittsburgh)​, and Slavic and Eurasian Language Resource Center (Duke University)

Join us for the other webinar in the series:
Authentic Texts in a Russian Language Classroom: Using Proficiency-based Approach for Selecting, Scaffolding, and Learning Activities
Wednesday, January 13th, 4-5:30pm EST
Presenters: Evgeny Dengub (University of Massachusetts Amherst) and Irina Dubinina (Brandeis University)
Registration Link: https://actr.wildapricot.org/event-4113892

Join the University of Pittsburgh and Newcastle University for a virtual conference: The Role of Universities in Sustainable, Just and Inclusive Cities on January 21st and January 22nd , 2021.

Post-industrial cities are crucibles of reinvention and innovation. Those that have successfully navigated the sunsetting of industrial production have creatively reoriented to intellectual technology, advanced manufacturing, business services, and life science innovations. And yet, the challenges that followed industrial decline—loss of population, unemployment, and destructive urban redevelopment strategies—continue to reverberate.

As the founding members of the International Place-Based University Network, Newcastle University and the University of Pittsburgh are hosting this conference. The goal is to share best practices for community and civic engagement as well as to explore potential international collaborations for academically based community engagement.

To view the full schedule of events and to register, visit: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/esc/events/international-place-based-universit...

Edo Avant-Garde reveals the untold story of the vital role Japanese artists of the Edo era (1603 – 1868) played in developing “modern art.” During the Edo era, Japan prospered in peaceful isolation from Western powers, while audacious artists innovated abstraction, minimalism, surrealism and the illusion of 3-D. Their originality is most striking in images of the natural world depicted with gold leaf on large-scale folding screens that anticipate 20th century installation art. In groundbreaking interviews with scholars and priests, the film traces the artists' original visions to their reverence for nature, inspired by Buddhism and Shinto animism.

Please register here, and then a link to the Vimeo livestream will be sent to the registrant's email account.

SCHEDULE: 7:00 Introduction by Linda Hoaglund, 7:15 Edo Avant Garde livestream begins, 8:45 Discussion with director Linda Hoaglund.

If you have any questions, please contact asia@pitt.edu

Russian tutoring available for students by appointment.

Book your appointment here: https://calendly.com/katya-kovaleva/russian-language-tutoring

China-Latin America and the Carribbean: Infrastructure, Connectivity, and Everyday Life [DAY 1]

The conference is sponsored by the Asian Studies Center, the Center for Latin American Studies (University of Pittsburgh), and the Red Académica de América Latina y el Caribe sobre China (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México).

Dr. Joseph Alter (Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh), Dr. James Cook (Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh), and Dr. Enrique Dussel Peters (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) have organized a remote conference scheduled for January 25-26, 2021, on the topic of "China-Latin America and the Caribbean: Infrastructure, Connectivity, and Everyday Life."

Register here

For the conference schedule and more information, please visit: https://www.clari.pitt.edu/research/china-latin-america-and-caribbean-in...

China-Latin America and the Carribbean: Infrastructure, Connectivity, and Everyday Life [DAY 2]

The conference is sponsored by the Asian Studies Center, the Center for Latin American Studies (University of Pittsburgh), and the Red Académica de América Latina y el Caribe sobre China (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México).

Dr. Joseph Alter (Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh), Dr. James Cook (Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh), and Dr. Enrique Dussel Peters (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) have organized a remote conference scheduled for January 25-26, 2021, on the topic of "China-Latin America and the Caribbean: Infrastructure, Connectivity, and Everyday Life."

Register here

For the conference schedule and more information, please visit: https://www.clari.pitt.edu/research/china-latin-america-and-caribbean-in...

The desiccation of the Aral Sea is one of the greatest environmental catastrophes of the late twentieth century. But efforts to harness and divert the Aral’s freshwater are rooted in efforts to use technology to terraform landscape in the modern era. Using water to irrigate a wasteland was a hallmark of modernity, progress, productivity, and prosperity. Water was also emblematic of the colonial infrastructure of Russia and the Soviet Union. This live interview with Maya Peterson (University of California, Santa Cruz) and Christopher Ward (Clayton State University) will discuss the role of water in its winder environmental history of the Soviet project.

Register via Zoom here: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMtcuqtrTMvG9BeDyxIAiHaudte7pJDYb6Q

The existential threat of climate change has inspired renewed intellectual engagement with the Anthropocene. Eurasian Studies are no exception to this trend. In the last decade, studies that grapple with the past, present, and potential future of the human-nature dialectic are on the uptick. These studies have forced us to reconsider intellectual and ideological paradigms, sources, mission, and role of scholar in society.

Nature’s Revenge: Ecology, Animals, and Waste in Eurasia seeks to bring some of this scholarship and activism to a wider public through a series of live-recorded interviews. The goal is to illuminate recent scholarship and complicate our understanding of the Eurasian Anthropocene and its place in our world.

As shown by earlier recessions, youth employment is more sensitive to the business cycle than adult employment and the economic recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to bring back dramatically high youth unemployment and NEET rates (young people who are not in education, employment or training). To further support an inclusive economic recovery, school to work transitions in the changing world of work, and ensure that young people make the most of the opportunities stemming from digital, resilient and green transitions, the European Union had developed programs and initiatives along with funding sources to address these needs.

For example, The Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) exclusively supports NEETs, including the long-term unemployed or those not registered as jobseekers. It ensures that in parts of Europe where the challenges are most acute, young people can receive targeted support. Typically, the YEI funds the provision of apprenticeships, traineeships, job placements and further education leading to a qualification.

Join us to hear Birgit Daiber discuss the various youth programs in Europe and how they are funded. The Zoom meeting link will be emailed to you prior to the event.

Are you interested in Russia, Eastern Europe, or Central Asia? Have you ever wanted to master a language from this region?Have you considered pursuing a career or degree that requires intimate knowledge of Eastern European and Eurasian politics, culture, history, or economics?There has never been a better time to specialize in this vast, diverse, and captivating region? and the Center for Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies (REEES) at the University of Pittsburgh is one of the best places in the world to do it. REEES offers interdisciplinary certificates, generous scholarships, professional development opportunities, unique courses and study abroad programs, and a variety of enriching academic and cultural events each year. If you would like to learn more about what you can achieve at REEES, join us for this information session to hear from the Center?s director, academic advisor, and a recent graduate of the REEES program.

Speakers:
Nancy Condee, Director, REEES
Trevor Erlacher, Academic Advisor, REEES
Frances Tish, American Bar Association, REEES alumna

Register here: https://pitt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bHET2kWnQe2o1kNrWbi_Rg

Meet with African Studies Program Student Ambassador Emmanuel Ampofo to ask questions about the African Studies Certificate, upcoming events, and more.

Meet via Zoom: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/97841843639

#JMintheUS

Meet with Global Studies Academic Advisor Elaine Linn to ask questions about the Global Studies Certificate, upcoming events, funding, and more.

Meet via Zoom: http://pitt.zoom.us/j/97393655966

Chat with other French students, French faculty, and PhD students and practice your French language skills. Email PhD student Pat Nikiema at PAN32@pitt.edu for the Zoom link.

Presented in collaboration with Hemispheric Conversations Urban Art Project (HCUAP) at the University of Pittsburgh, this month's program will focus on the collaborative mural project, Disrespecting the Border, that was created for the Latinx community of Pittsburgh in October 2019. We'll join a conversation about the role of mural art as a resource to think through migration and border politics between visiting artist Gil Rocha and local artists Leah Patgorski and Max Gonzales organized by Camilo Ruiz and Marisol Vilella Balderrama. The talk will be facilitated by Dr. Caitlin Bruce. Join us to hear about the dialogues, motifs, and collaborations that came out of the project and their salience today.

Register here: https://millvalemuralsofmaxovanka.salsalabs.org/vankamuralstabletalkjune...

The newly inaugurated U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to reinvent the transatlantic relationship early in his presidency, markedly shifting the relationship established by the previous administration. What will an invigorated alliance look like? What are the specific challenges and opportunities that Russia poses to this alliance? How can the United States navigate these shoals in a manner that can reinvigorate U.S.-EU partnership?

Join us for a program featuring Sam Nunn, James F. Collins, Federica Mogherini, and Alasdair Young on the future of transatlantic relations.
#JMintheUS

The ESC’s 2020-21 theme, Creating Europe, explores both the political, social, cultural, and geographical forces that have given shape to contemporary Europe and also individuals who create and are creative in their daily or artistic expressions of what it means to be European.

For this first installment, the ESC and the European Union Studies Association (EUSA) will collaborate to explore how several crises – including financial, Brexit, migration, democratic backsliding, and public
health – have shaped the European Union over
the past decade.

Audience participation is encouraged.

Panelists:
Catherine De Vries, Bocconi University, Milan
Sara Goodman, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
R. Daniel Keleman, Rutgets University
Matthias Matthijs, Johns Hopkins University

Laber Rhabarber - More than a German conversation hour!

"... the most human thing we have is language, and we have it in order to talk." German author Theodor Fontane wrote in 1892. So, here's chance! Be human with us for an hour every week, albeit in German ;D

Everyone and every level of German welcome!

Zoom Meeting link: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/99661883076
German Dept. website: http://www.german.pitt.edu/
Follow us on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter: @UPittGerman

Russian Studies Career Toolkit Series:

From Russian Studies to Careers in Non-Profit Organizations with
Heather Ficke, Care Manager at Jewish Social Service Agency
Melissa Shostak, Research Assistant at RAND Corporation

Register here: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJArcO6opzwtG9f_hzK2tW3edLBLeuqKy83j

A film screening of Maidan hosted by the Graduate Organization for the Study of Europe and Central Asia

Register here: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUpf-ygrz8rGNQvH2CmduQOt7M_TqZVLV0a

Inspired by the European Year of Rail, which shines a light on one of the most sustainable, innovative, and safest modes of transportation, and acknowledging the challenges we have all faced during the pandemic in traveling and forging new connections, the inaugural MEET EU Short Film Competition for U.S. Youth asks young people to create a short film (documentary or non-documentary) responding to the theme “Transatlantic Connections”. The theme is intentionally broad and entrants are encouraged to be creative in how they interpret it.

MEET EU: Making Encounters, Engaging Transatlanticists, is a grant generously funded by the European Union through the European Union Delegation to the US in Washington, DC. The goals of this grant are to shine a light on the EU and the importance of the transatlantic relationship through the eyes of young Americans. We encourage entrants to think creatively to give us your perspective on the European-American relationship, similarities and differences between countries, and why this relationship matters.

Russian tutoring available for students by appointment.

Book your appointment here: https://calendly.com/katya-kovaleva/russian-language-tutoring

Are you interested in doing independent research? Are you unsure about how to get a research project started? This workshop, led by Dr. Michael Goodhart, GSC Director, and Dr. K. Frances Lieder, UCIS Visiting Professor of Contemporary Global Issues, will walk you through the process of formulating and pursuing an independent academic research project in the social sciences or humanities. Students will get an overview of the research process, learn how to develop clear research questions, and take away practical tips for getting started and getting through. This workshop is for anyone curious about research, but we especially encourage students pursuing or considering a BPHIL/IAS to attend.

Link to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwiazxA8MznsI32Wt7txoBZ-tl4SBm...

Join the Pitt German Club every Friday at 3PM to practice your German language skills and learn about different aspects of German culture!

Zoom ID: 950 0542 1812