Events in UCIS

Thursday, March 18

8:30 am Conference
Asia Challenge 2021
Location:
online via Microsoft Teams
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center
See Details

Be part of the first annual high school Asia Challenge simulation virtually at the University of Pittsburgh. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), comprised of Australia, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Myanmar, Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand will meet in two sessions to address immediate and long-term crises affecting the partnership.

The morning session will center around a simulation of conflict in the Korean Peninsula and the broader threat of nuclear aggression in the region. The afternoon session will focus on unresolved issues that have arisen out of RCEP's inception--such as labor, the environment, and state-owned enterprises. To register for this event, please click here.
For more information or questions, please email asia@pitt.edu

12:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
CoE: Creating Europe Through Multilingualism
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center along with University of Wisconsin-Madison European Union Center of Excellence
See Details

This installment of Conversations on Europe is in collaboration with the Center for European Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

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.

This session will be highlighting different approaches to constructing a common European identity. Our interdisciplinary panel of experts will focus on EU language policies and multilingualism within European institutions. Join us for this virtual, interactive discussion.

Audience participation is encouraged.

Panelists:
Katerina Strani, Heriot-Watt University
Nils Ringe, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Michele Gazzola, Ulster University
Karen McAuliffe, University of Birmingham

Moderator:
Jae-Jae Spoon, University of Pittsburgh

3:15 pm Cultural Event
Laber Rhabarber - German Conversation Hour
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of German
See Details

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

4:00 pm Panel Discussion
Summoning Candyman: A Panel Discussion of the Cinematic Urban Legend
Location:
Virtual - Register Online!
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center along with The Horror Studies Working Group
See Details

Since its release in 1992, Candyman (directed by Bernard Rose) has become a pillar of Black horror through its representation of how the trauma of racism is carried down from one generation to the next. 2021 will see the release of a reimagined Candyman, or—as it has been described, a “spiritual sequel”—to the 1992 film, which itself spawned two sequels in the 1990s. With Jordan Peele producing and Nia DaCosta directing, the remake will belong to an emerging canon of Peele-helmed projects that explicitly reinscribe race and racist violence against Black Americans through the horror genre. Unlike the original films, the remake is helmed by two Black filmmakers, and will contribute to an ongoing cultural redefinition of horror as depicting the experience of racism from the perspective of minority creators at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.

To mark this timely and much-anticipated adaptation, this event will consist of a virtually-hosted panel discussion of the original Candyman franchise and the upcoming remake (the release of which is currently on hold due to COVID), moderated by one of the Horror SIG co-chairs. Attendees are invited to screen the film(s) independently ahead of the official event.

Our panel of experts includes Professor Robin R. Means Coleman (author of Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films From the 1890s to Present), Dani Bethea (editor, We Are Horror Zine; writer, Ghouls Magazine & Gayly Dreadful), Professor Dawn Keetley (project manager of Horror Homeroom), and Jon Towlson (author of Candyman, a monograph).

Sponsored by the Horror Studies Working Group at the University of Pittsburgh, the Department of Screen Cultures at Northwestern University, and the Department of Arts at Northumbria University. Hosted by the SCMS Horror Studies Scholarly Interest Group.

6:00 pm Reading Group
Four Evenings Discussion: Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (Discussion)
Location:
Virtual - Register Online!
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center along with University Library Systems
See Details

In Conjunction with the Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures program's "Ten Evenings" series, GSC is hosting "Four Evenings" pre-lecture discussions that put prominent world authors and their work in global perspectives. Open to series subscribers and the Pitt Community, these evening discussions, conducted by Pitt experts, provide additional insight on prominent writers and engaging issues.

The Global Studies Center, along with Pitt faculty will hold a virtual book discussion on Thursday, March 18, 2021, at 6 PM. Please register above by clicking on the date. Once your registration is received, a Zoom-Link will be sent to you via email.

Ocean Vuong is an award-winning poet and the author of the critically acclaimed bestselling novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, a brilliant, heartbreaking family portrait – a testament to the redemptive power of storytelling. Framed as a letter from a son to his mother who cannot read, this shattering portrait of a Vietnamese family and first love, asks how to survive, how to find joy in darkness, and the meaning of American identity. With stunning urgency and grace, Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are.

These virtual evening discussions, conducted by Pitt experts, provide additional insight on prominent writers and engaging issues in a virtual setting. A limited number of tickets to the author's lectures are available.

Registration link: http://tinyurl.com/yyy5ezcl

7:00 pm Cultural Event
Explore the University of Pittsburgh's Nationality Rooms
Location:
Online
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and European Studies Center along with Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures, Slovak Studies Program, Humanities Center and Czechoslovak Studies Association; Slovak Studies Association; National Slovak Society
See Details

Join Nationality Rooms Tour Coordinator Michael Walter for a brief tour of several Nationality Rooms, examine their decoration and interconnections, and gain insight into the origins of the Nationality Rooms Program at the University of Pittsburgh. This presentation will also share some perspectives on different Pittsburgh communities' association with their background vis-à-vis unique architectural expressions contained on Pitt's campus.

Pitt undergraduate students from Professor Jan Musekamp’s Nationalism class will continue the tour by presenting the Czechoslovak and the Austrian Nationality Rooms. They have worked in small groups, researched the history of those rooms, and analyzed how they fit into the broader concept of nationality rooms in the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning. As an additional step, they will present the rooms from the perspective of nationalism studies.

REGISTRATION LINK: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJckf-iqpjgiHNztxhjwHkif1--87n5gpmhJ

Thursday, March 18 until Sunday, March 21

1:00 pm Conference
20th Czech and Slovak Studies Workshop, March 18-21
Location:
Online
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and European Studies Center along with Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures; Humanities Center; Slovak Studies Program; Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security; Ph.D. Program in Critical European Culture Studies and Czechoslovak Studies Association; Slovak Studies Association; National Slovak Society
See Details

The Twentieth Annual Czech and Slovak Studies Workshop will be held virtually at the University of Pittsburgh on March 18-21, 2021. This year’s workshop will bring together an international community of researchers, faculty members, and advanced graduate students to exchange their experiences, research results, and ideas on a variety of areas ranging from literature, language, history, and the visual arts.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

MARCH 19
9:00 am (EDT) | 1:00 pm (GMT) | 2:00 pm (CET)
Transatlantic Cooperation in Pandemic Times

Surprisingly enough, the COVID-19 pandemic affected Europe and America in a dramatic manner. Health systems, economies, and social life in the most developed countries have been going through severe tests last year. This keynote lecture will focus on the comparative aspects of the COVID-19 crisis in Europe and the United States, look at its impact on transatlantic relations, and bring examples of cooperation in combating this global pandemic.

SPEAKER:
Pavol Demeš, Senior Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States

KEYNOTE ADDRESS AND ACADEMIC PROGRAM
Explore our CONFERENCE PROGRAM: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/creees/visitors/czech-slovak-workshop.
REGISTER to attend: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMkdu2hpj4uGdG3ZbUonmX4tSawD61rDLL0.

This registration is for the academic portion of the conference, including paper presentations, the keynote address, and networking events. Participation is restricted to faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and the organizers.