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.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
20th Czech and Slovak Studies Workshop
March 18-21, 2021

TRANSATLANTIC COOPERATION IN PANDEMIC TIMES
9:00 am (EDT) | 1:00 pm (GMT) | 2:00 pm (CET)

REGISTER: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMkdu2hpj4uGdG3ZbUonmX4tSawD61rDL...

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

DESCRIPTION:
The COVID-19 pandemic affected Europe and America in a particularly 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.

BIO:
Pavol Demeš is a well-known Slovak expert on international relations and civil society, an author, and a photographer. Prior to the Velvet Revolution, Demeš was a bio-medical researcher at Comenius University in Bratislava. He is a graduate of Charles University in Prague. After democratic changes in 1989, he served in the Slovak government and was the co-founder of the Slovak Academic Information Agency-Service Center for the Third Sector, a leading NGO in the country. Appointed first to the Ministry of Education, he was later named Minister of International Relations (1991-2) and served subsequently as the Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the Slovak Republic Michal Kovac (1993-1997). In 1999, he was awarded a six-month public policy research fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C. From 2000-2010, he was the Director for Central and Eastern Europe for the German Marshall Fund of the US-based in Bratislava. Currently, he is a non-resident senior fellow with GMFUS and an external advisor to the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has his own program on international relations and diplomacy on an Internet TV of the Slovak Press Agency. He published several books and numerous articles. Demeš has served on boards of domestic and international non-profit organizations, among others: the European Foundation Center, the European Cultural Foundation, the European Council on Foreign Relations, and the European Endowment for Democracy. He played important role in the EU's civil society development program in Slovakia and democratization efforts in the Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries.

Selected Awards:
The EU-US Democracy and Civil Society Award (1998), the USAID Democracy and Governance Award (1999), a six-month public policy research fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C. (1999), Royal Dutch decoration Knight of the Order of Orange
Nassau (2005), Yugoslav Star of First Class (2005), South-East Europe Media Organization Human Rights Award (2009), and the Medal of Honor from the Friends of Slovakia (2011).

The full conference program will be available here: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/creees/visitors/czech-slovak-workshop.

First Principles: What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and how that Shaped our Country

A conversation with bestselling author Thomas E. Ricks

Celebrating the bicentennial of the Greek Revolution in Western Pennsylvania.

Saturday, March 20th, 6PM

Register: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMoceGpqjsjG9XRVA0DIOh7TmBNux8HyQQT

The Czech Center New York is delighted to introduce a multi-media exhibition project, which aims to present Adolf Loos’ unique interior design work as a result of the architect’s long-term activity in Pilsen, Czech Republic. The project was initiated in 2020, marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Adolf Loos (1870–1933), a world-renowned epitome of modern interwar architecture of Moravian descent, whose ideas and implementations influenced contemporary architecture and inspired later events and trends in contemporary architecture on an international scale.

After an introduction by Miroslav Konvalina, Director of the Czech Center New York, participants will be invited to explore the online exhibit while listening to a concert by Pilsner Jazz Band from Loos’ interior in Pilsen.

REGISTRATION LINK: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwodOmrqjkuH90C8T3Y3Jtlfg-QcdxlNb0p