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Please join us for a virtual event created by the Welsh, Scottish and Irish Rooms as they showcase unique aspects of their culture. Enjoy a brief Powerpoint presentation of each room and pre-recorded videos exclusively made for this event on each culture's history, art, music, poetry, dance and more?

In 1928, a group of energized students at the University of Pittsburgh, answered the call of Mrs. Ruth Crawford Mitchell and stepped up to accept the challenge of creating the Greek Nationality Room. They enlisted regional immigrants of Greek descent, some in position of leadership of the then young – but so energetic – Greek community, to join them in this challenge. Over the next 15 years, the students, all who eventually graduated and began successful careers, were able to dedicate the Greek Nationality Room in 1941, 80 years ago.

This film symposium will contribute to a broader understanding of sexual normativity in Russia, whether our working understanding of that category operates with a notion of “queer” as endlessly fluid or whether it is identified with fixed boundaries across historical breakpoints. Join us for the screening of two films and follow-up discussions with filmmakers and scholars on three questions. We will explore how our understanding of queer theory is rooted in definitions within contemporary US culture, ask whether queerness lends itself to a transregional definition, and consider what Russian queer cinema can reveal about unacknowledged Anglo-American assumptions.

Saturday, 6 November, 1 PM EST

Come On, Scumbags (Kazakhstan, 2013, dir. Madina Mustafina)

Introducer:
Madina Mustafina, Director and Cinematographer

Discussants:
Frank G. Karioris, Faculty, The Branson School

Nick Davis, Associate Professor of English, Northwestern University