A monthly book club hosted by the Center for Latin American Studies. Discussions are in Portuguese. All are welcome!

In this first lecture of the Asia Now 2022 fall lecture series, Dr. Keisuke Yamada and Dr. Andrew Niess discuss how early twentieth-century Japanese intellectuals, policymakers, and bureaucrats understood the nexus of sound, music, and labor in industrial management. Japanese authors considered how to contend with sō-on (noise) in factories, which, for managers, threatened productivity. We trace the development of kōjō ongaku (factory music) in response to sō-on in the context of the development of industrial management theory, such as Frederick Winslow Taylor’s “scientific management.” We demonstrate how such management strategies are aesthetic, in contrast with anaesthetic ones like soundproofing. Through this an/aesthetic framework, we analyze the global historical processes surrounding noise abatement and factory music as part of modern industrial management. To register to attend this event via Zoom, click here.

Bios:

Keisuke Yamada (Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, 2020) is a Japan Studies Postdoctoral Fellow at the Asian Studies Center, University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of Supercell Featuring Hatsune Miku (Bloomsbury Academic, 2017). His other peer-reviewed work has appeared or is forthcoming in Asian Music, the Asia-Pacific Journal, Ethnomusicology Forum, Japan Forum, Japanese Studies, the Journal of Japanese Studies, and the Oxford Handbook of Economic Ethnomusicology, among others.

Andrew Niess, PhD is an independent researcher, editor, and instrument maker. He received the 2020–21 Mellon Dissertation Fellowship at the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities. His publications are forthcoming in the Oxford Handbook of Protest Music, Ecopedagogies: Practical Approaches to Experiential Learning (Routledge, 2022), and the Journal of Japanese Studies.

The Overlooked Racism?
Xenophobia Against East Europeans in Anti-racist and Postcolonial Debates in Germany
Racism against East Europeans has a long history dating back to the eighteenth century. It was particularly pronounced in Germany with its long-standing entanglements and quasi-colonial relationship with Eastern Europe. Even beyond 1945, structural discrimination and everyday humiliation exist.
Still, East Europeans’ experiences with xenophobia are a blind spot in the current anti-racist and postcolonial debates. Petersen argues that the political and economic Eastern enlargement of the European Union must be followed by an eastward enlargement in the current dispute on racism.
Hans-Christian Petersen, historian and research fellow at the Federal Institute for Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe (BKGE) in Oldenburg (Germany). Advisor for two projects of the research network “Ambivalences of the Soviet: Diaspora Nationalities between Collective Experiences of Discrimination and Individual Normalization, 1953-2023.“ Main Research Interests: Urban history and social space, Russian German history and transnational history of migration, racism against East Europeans (Antislavism), German “Ostforschung”.

Pittsburgh and Rio de Janeiro share similar histories of Black communities’ cultural resistances and struggles for rights. Hosted by the Center for Latin American Studies and the World History Center, the goal of this event is to discuss the ways in which the urban landscapes of both cities are shaped by difficult cartographies, especially when related to racism and slavery. We also aim to discuss how scholars and community activists can collaborate in building strategies to make the topic accessible to the public.

For this workshop CLAS has partnered with the Global Studies Center to introduce topics associated with the sustainability, development and conservation of the Amazon region. This course introduces significant topics associated with the sustainability of the Amazon region, where more than 30 million people live, inside an area comprising part of nine countries in South America. Almost 80% of the Amazon’s population is settled in urban areas.

Join Screenshot: ASIA for a Video Party and DJ Night celebrating Asian music and music videos. Videos are by Warren Fu, director (Doja Cat, Daft Punk, Maggie Rogers) and mamesjao, director (Trippie Red, Amber Liu, August 08). Live Q&A with: no_4mat, director and musician; Kwan Au, director and CGI artist; mui zyu, director and musician. Music by: DJ Formosa (from Jellyfish, a queer DJ collective). Snacks, pizza, and refreshments will be provided! This event is geared toward undergraduate students.

This event gathers all of the best tacos in one place for a fun, family-friendly event featuring live entertainment and 25+ food trucks, street vendors, and restaurants, as well specialty drinks, beer, and liquor vendors, an art market from Redfishbowl, and family fun activities. The event celebrates community and is produced with the support of the Pittsburgh Hispanic Development Corporation and Latin American Cultural Union and a portion of proceeds directly benefit these organizations. https://www.pghtacofest.com
Brief Description of presenters (name, affiliation, specialty): Entertainment & Live Music with Salsa Dancing lessons
Registration link: Tickets on sale now at: bit.ly/pghtacofest2022
Gen Admin: $10 | Festival Fan: $25 | Taco Lovers Package: $50
*Early admission available with Taco Lovers Ticket purchase!

Pitt Daehwa Club's Chuseok Festival

“Remember September”

"HRIPSIME'S AGONY, ATHENA'S MOURNING, AND RACHEL'S HEARTBREAK"

A Centennial Memorial of the Martyrs of the Christian Genocide in Asia Minor, the Pontus, Anatolia (1915-1922),
and the Jewish martyrs of the Holocaust

September 11 – 25, 2022

For Details: Pahellenicfoundation.org/RememberSeptember and https://www.rememberseptemberpa.com/

7 PM, Sunday September 11, 2022: Genocide in Asia Minor, the Pontus, and Anatolia (1915-1923) as the "Final Solution's" Inspiration. Formal Opening of the Program and Greetings by Distinguished Guests.

7 PM, Monday September 12, 2022 : "Tetraodeon Tribute to the Neomartyrs of Asia Minor". A musical/hymnologic commemoration of the Greeks in Anatolia, The Pontus, and Asia Minor who were slaughtered in the Christian Genocide.

7 PM, Tuesday September 13, 2022: “Etty: Writing as Resistance”. Adapted from the diaries of Etty Hillesum and performed by Susan Stein. Directed by Austin Pendleton. In-Person Event. Details at: Pahellenicfoundation.org/RememberSeptember.

7 PM, Wednesday September 14, 2022 : "A Prisoner of War’s Story" by Stratis Doukas. For the first time ever, the story will be presented in its English translation.

3 PM, Thursday September 15, 2022 : "The Students of Umberto Primo” - a post-film discussion with Alessandra Maioletti (director ), Diane Boulanger (Executive Producer) & Avi Ben Hur. Details at Pahellenicfoundation.org/RememberSeptember

7 PM, Friday September 16, 2022 : "Experience and Creations: Vaggelis Anetopoulos".

3 PM, Saturday September 17, 2022: Commemorating the Armenian Genocide Through Testimony: An Interactive Discussion with the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education.

7 PM, Sunday September 18, 2022 : "HRIPSIME'S AGONY, ATHENA'S MOURNING, AND RACHEL'S HEARTBREAK". A Musical and poetic Centennial commemoration of, and tribute to the martyrs of the Christian Genocide in Anatolia, the Pontus, and Asia Minor, and the Jews in the Holocaust.

5 PM, Sunday September 25, 2022: "Mapping Migration, Learning from Oral History: Ottoman Greek Immigration to Western Pennsylvania", A Lecture-Presentation by Dr. Yiorgo Topalidis, Ph.D., Samuel Proctor Oral History Project, University of Florida.

The purpose of the Student Club Coalition is to give clubs related to Latin America, the Caribbean, and the diasporas, an opportunity to be officially related to and involved with CLAS, providing mutual support for student engagement. The Student Club Coalition is designed to help students develop a voice for what's important to them, to assist them in that endeavor, and to help them acquire funding for those projects and goals. The member clubs work together to support each other and their goals, and to build friendships and community along the way. Lunch provided!

Join the Asian Studies Center for a Mid-Autumn Festival! Come enjoy mooncakes, candy, tea, a lantern-making activity, and the chance to win prizes!

Jonathon Ned Katz will discuss his 2021 biography, The Darling Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams, followed by a Q&A session. Born Chawa Zloczewer into a Jewish family in Poland, Eve Adams emigrated to the United States in 192, took a new name, sold radical publications, and ran lesbian-and-gay-friendly speakeasies in Chicago and New York. In 1925, she wrote and published a book titled Lesbian Love.
Adam's blood activism caught the attention of the young J. Edgar Hoover and the US Bureau of Investigation, leading to her surveillance and arrest. She was convicted of publishing an obscene book and of attempted sex with a policewoman sent to entrap her. Adams was jailed, deported back to Europe, and ultimately murdered by Nazis in Auschwitz.
Katz's 2021 biography of Eve Adams inspired an undergraduate creative research residency hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Research in partnership with the Center for Creativity. The work of the arise-scholars will be displayed on the Pittsburgh campus in the 2022-2023 Academic Year.
Co-sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program; the Office of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, & Creative Activity (OUR); The Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies (GSWS) Program; and the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (REES).

Come and practice your Hungarian and meet others interested in the language! All levels welcome.

Join CLAS for a general, open discussion on the 2022 Brazilian elections! All are welcome.

Yoga, a form of embodied self-development with historical roots in the philosophy of southern Asia has become a global phenomenon. As such, the practice of yoga reflects the way in which Asia and Asian Studies in the contemporary moment must be understood in terms of the modernity of globalization. This lecture provides a critical perspective on the twists and turns of tradition that reflects the dislocation of area studies and the value of an inter-disciplinary perspective on cultural history.

Speaker Bio:
Joseph S. Alter is the Director of the Asian Studies Center and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh. He also serves as the editor of The Journal of Asian Studies which is the official publication of the Association for Asian Studies and the flagship journal in its field. His research focuses on modern yoga and he is currently studying the way in which yoga and Nature Cure establish an “ecology of the body” within the rubric of Public Health. He is also the academic director of the Pitt in the Himalayas Program.

To attend this lecture remotely via Zoom, please register here.

Join the CLAS community to celebrate the beginning of a new academic year! Registration required.

Paint your own alebrijes on Thursday, September 15 from 1-3PM in Posvar 4130. Pizza provided!

Alebrijes are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical (fantasy/mythical) creatures

The recent wave of populism has focused attention on ‘left behind’ places as hotspots of discontent. Seeking to remedy their neglect in urban and regional studies, the aim of this paper is to engage with the problems of ‘left behind’ places and to stimulate fresh thinking about alternative approaches. Reflecting the complex and inter-connected issues facing such places, it argues that a new conception is required to address issues of belonging and attachment. The paper outlines the basis of an expanded neo-endogenous development approach, identifying the foundational economy, income and livelihoods, social infrastructures and social innovation as key policy concerns.

Consul General Gerebtzoff was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He started his career in the private sector as a bioengineer specializing in earth observation before joining the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2005. His roles in foreign affairs have included postings in Switzerland and China, and a role as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Brussels. Michel took office as Consul General of Belgium in Atlanta on August 1, 2020. He is married and is the father of two daughters.

JOIN US THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 – 2:00 – 3:30 P. M. (EASTERN TIME)

JOINTLY SPOSORED BY University of Pittsburgh European Studies Center, Reinhardt University, and the International Studies Consortium of Georgia (ISCOG)

Join the University of Pittsburgh Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and Pitt's Asian Studies Center for a workshop focusing on new learning techniques in K-12 Japanese Language Education. This course is geared towards enhancing the teaching of K-12 Japanese Language Educators.

Dr. Stephen Luft, co-author of Nihongo Now!: Performing Japanese Culture, will discuss three types of comprehension activities that appear in Nihongo Now!: Pronunciation, accent, and intonation activities; aural scanning activities; and structured input activities. He will also identify specific activities that are well suited to use as supplementary activities in other curricula, and he will discuss how the activities can be used in K-12 Japanese language instruction.

Registration is Limited

After you register, we will send you a confirmation email. Japanese Language Educators who register and attend the full workshop will receive a Certificate of Completion. Additionally, the first 20 K-12 Japanese Language Educators who register (depending on your response below) and fully attend the workshop will also receive a complimentary copy of the Nihongo Now! Activity Book.

Pennsylvania teachers will also receive Act 48 hours.

You will also receive information on accessing the Zoom meeting for the workshop in a follow-up email.

The LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION is proud to present the new LATIN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER housed in its new international headquarters in Pittsburgh. The mission of the Latin American Cultural Center is to celebrate Latin America through compelling programs dedicated to fostering a heightened understanding and appreciation for Latin American arts, history, and culture. LACC will offer dynamic programming that includes permanent and temporary exhibits; lectures, programs, and performances in its 700-seat auditorium; and meeting spaces to host small conferences and gatherings. Through school tours, in-person visitation, and on line presentations, LACC will be a significant new
resource for assisting in helping the greater public understand the cultural background and origins of the nearly20% of the US population whose origins are from Latin America. LACC will formally open to the public on September 75, the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month. Proceeds from the event will benefit future programming at the Latin American Cultural Center.Brief Description of presenters (name, affiliation, specialty): Latin American Studies Association
Registration link: https://lacc.lasaweb.org/rsvp/

As part of the Celebrate Africa event, join the Center for African Studies to hear from Dr. Juan Carlos Puyana, MD, Pitt Professor of Surgery, and Dr. Bopaya Bidanda, the Ernest Roth Professor of Industrial Engineering in the Swanson School, as they discuss their cutting-edge work in Kenya building better blood banking systems to save lives.

Dr. Sharon Ross, PhD, from the School of Education, will tell us about her study to support health lifestyles among with families and children in the Pittsburgh area:https://pitt.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/UCIS-CLAS/EX2ahPnevklLtCVBkps3yo8BDrF6...

Taverno Ross, S.E., Barone Gibbs, B., Documet, P.I. et al. ANDALE Pittsburgh: results of a promotora-led, home-based intervention to promote a healthy weight in Latino preschool children. BMC Public Health 18, 360 (2018).

[Zoom passcode: hola]

Celebrate Africa with the Center for African Studies on September 16th and 17th! Join us on Friday the 16th for a keynote speaker, drumming and dance performances, lectures and roundtables, and Saturday the 17th for an African market with crafts and food and performance by an African band.

As part of the Celebrate Africa event, join the Center for African Studies to hear from Professor of Nursing Karin Warner as she discusses her experience working in the Niger Delta. Dr. Warner will speak to the importance of history to the current security issues in Niger.

As part of the Celebrate Africa conference, join the Center for African Studies to hear from Professor of Law Ronald Brand and Pitt Law Alum John Paul Putney about the Vis Arbitration Moot. For over a decade, Professor Brand has worked with the U.S. Department of Commerce to develop law school curricula in international commercial law and arbitration, training students and faculty from schools throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

As part of the Celebrate Africa conference, join Professors of Social Work Dr. Tonya Slawinksi, Dr. Toya Jones, and Dr. Yodit Betru as they discuss their experiences abroad in Kenya and Uganda with the Center for African Studies during the summer 2022. The Center and School of Social Work are working together to increase partnerships with Schools of Social Work in Africa and create more opportunities for social work students to study and work in Africa.

As part of the Celebrate Africa conference series, hear from Pitt alumni speak about their experiences in African Studies, studying abroad, and how they have used their education to pursue meaningful, rewarding careers. Panelists include:

Dr. Nosakhere Griffin-El, Creator, Dreamocracy Learning Lab in Pittsburgh
Dr. Fatimah Waziri-Azi, Director General in Nigeria, National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking
Dr. Mamothena Mothupi, Project Director, Maternal & Newborn Health, International Rescue Committee

As part of the Celebrate Africa conference, Dr. Abimbola Fapohunda will discuss her research and work on cancer in Nigeria.

This seminar is part of the Celebrate Africa conference series and features Professors Mohammed Bamyeh of Sociology and Ronald Judy of English.

During the Celebrate Africa Event, the Global Experiences and Nationality Rooms Staff will discuss opportunities for study abroad and internships across the African continent for undergraduate and graduate students. They will also explain how Pitt students can fund their trips to Africa and make these incredible experiences affordable!

As part of the Celebrate Africa Series, please join Dr. Amani Attia for this discussion of African women in northern and eastern Africa.

Dr. Abdesalam Soudi of the Department of Linguistics and Dr. Catherine Koverola of the Center for African Studies will discuss community engagement in the African context.

Aunel Arneth Kimbembe Makaya is a pro-democracy activist, reporter, director and documentary film producer from the Republic of Congo. He directed "Keep Quiet or Die," a documentary advocating against the crimes committed by Congolese armed forces on civilians during a 2015 referendum vote. The documentary, broadcast by the French NGO Agir Ensemble pour les Droits Humains (AEDH) and the television channel My Media Prime TV, received financial support from the National Endowment for Democracy. Following the release of this film, Aunel was sued in the Republic of Congo and Senegal. As a result, he went into exile in the United States, where he is currently a visiting scholar at the University of Pittsburgh. Aunel will present his film and answer questions from the audience.

Dr. Thuy Bui and Dr. Martina Anto-Ocrah, both from the School of Medicine, will share their experiences conducting gender equity programming throughout Africa, what has worked for them, and why.

As part of Celebrate Africa, Dr. Filipo Lubua, Dr. Meshesha Make, and Dr. Amani Attia, all from the LInguistics Department at Pitt, will hold an interactive, fun roundtable conversation hour teaching some phrases in these three African languages. Come expand your language skills!

Join the Center for African Studies for this Celebrate Africa seminar with History Professor Dr. John Stoner! Dr. Stoner's research has focused on politics and history in Africa, particularly in South Africa.

Join the Center for African Studies for this conversation with Professor of Education Dr. Maureen K. Porter.

Join the Center for African Studies to hear from representatives from various Africa diaspora communities in Pittsburgh as they discuss what it means to be an African immigrant in Southwestern Pennsylvania. This panel will speak to the challenges, opportunities, and surprises they have encoutered living in the Pittsburgh area and what they want the greater community to know.

September 16, 2022 - 4:00pm to 5:30pm
The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures; Film and Media Studies Program; and Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies will hold a memorial service in honor of Professor Vladimir Padunov (1947-2022) on Friday, September 16, 2022 from 4:00PM to 5:30 PM in the Kurtzman Room of the William Pitt Union at 3959 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Join the Center for African Studies for an incredible evening!
Our Reception will begin at 5PM.
Ceremonial drumming will begin at 5:30PM.
A keynote address by renowned historian Dr. Paul Zeleza at 6:00PM.

The Center for African Studies (CAS) is hosting its inaugural Celebrate Africa Festival from Friday, September 16 to Saturday, September 17, 2022 and you are invited to attend!

On Friday, join scholars and leaders from the African continent and Pitt faculty for a seminar, round table, alumni webinar, documentary screening, reception, and keynote address by renowned pan-African historian Dr. Paul Tiyambe Zeleza.

On Saturday join us for the festival that will bring students, faculty, and staff together with the vibrant diaspora community of Pittsburgh. We’ll gather outside the Posvar Patio to celebrate the many cultures of Africa through music & dance, food, and artisans and children's activities. It will also be a day for networking with African organizations and businesses.

Celebrate Africa with the Center for African Studies on September 16th and 17th! Join us on Friday the 16th for a keynote speaker, drumming and dance performances, lectures and roundtables, and Saturday the 17th for an African market with crafts and food and performance by an African band.

Celebrate Africa culminates in a day-long festival that features a live band, a DJ, a marketplace of African food and craft vendors, and dancing and drum workshops by Camara Drum and Dance. This event has something for everyone. Come try some new food, check out our craft market, listen to African music, and check out colorful African fashions!

Henry Koerner's transformative years as a poster artist in WWII. Join Dr. Florian Traussnig for an illuminating lecture on the Vienna-born, Jewish refugee Heinrich Sieghart Korner, later Henry Koerner, who created some of the most iconic posters for the US Office of War Information and later became known as a Pittsburgh-based "master of magical realism." Learn how the artist fused the kulturellen Rucksackhe brought from Austria to American art and culture.

REGISTER:

https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJctduqoqj0rGtbDhe99CTdiCnu0I65-jkRm

Sponsors:

Austrian Nationality Room Committee

European Studies Center

The OrJames Lab

University of Graz, Austria

Join PanteraCartonera@Pitt and create your own cartonera! The Cartonera Publishing trend began in Buenos Aires in 2003 and was organized by writers and artists producing hand-made books at low-cost using recycled cardboard, (thus the name "cartonera"). The books are produced in a collective-circular way, in which authors become – designers become – publishers become – authors. The Cartonera phenomenon has expanded across the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Many have “recycled” the model, adapting it to their local contexts, communities, and social needs. Pantera Cartonera is a joint initiative between the Center for Latin American Studies and the University Library System

Panelist: Tim Bale, Queen Mary University of London, Jane Green, University of Oxford, Robert Ford, University of Manchester and Robert Johns, University of Essex
Moderator: Jae-Jae Spoon, University of Pittsburgh

Come and practice your Hungarian and meet others interested in the language! All levels welcome.

This intensive, two-part program incorporates a cross-cultural homestay with individualized field study. The program is open to undergraduates of any major at the University of Pittsburgh with sufficient Spanish language proficiency and an interest in Latin American culture. The 15-20 students selected for the program will enroll in a preparatory seminar on campus during the spring of 2023, and then travel to the host country where they will study, live with a host family, and carry out an independent field project during the summer.

Hybrid Event in 4217 Posvar and Zoom. Lunch provided for in-person attendees!

David Blackmore presents “Censorship of Queer Books under the Brazilian Military Regime,” Watufani Poe presents “Adé-Dúdú: Lessons From Brazil's First Black Gay Organization.” Moderated by Daniel Balderston.

Professor Charles Kotuby Jr., Professor John C. Camillus, Professor Kish Parella, Benjamin Longlet, Wendy Miles QC, Professor Matthew Murray, Jo Anne Schendingen, Professor Bopaya Bidanda, Kristi Gedid, Professor John Lipinski, Mukesh Rustagi will present on the Environmental, Social, and Governance factors that increasingly drive corporate decision-making and foreign investment. This has become especially true this past year, with the onset of geopolitical crises in Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Myanmar. Foreign investment decisions are not only driven by the binary distinction of profit on the one hand or sanctions on the other. Ethical concerns and the reputational risk of investing in spe- cific jurisdictions and industry sectors are readjusting global business priorities. The complexity and interaction of these considerations with other areas of stakeholder engagement are one of the main challenges to multinational corporations and their inside and outside counsel. This conference will provide a forum for discussing these considerations, especially as they relate to the complex legal and operational issues raised by conflict situations.

Join Gene Anderson, Dean of the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration, and co-hosts in welcoming Director Ebong for a discussion about her career in international affairs. Learn about USTDA’s unique role within the U.S. government and on the global stage.

Nominated by President Biden and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Director Enoh T. Ebong leads USTDA in its efforts to develop sustainable infrastructure in emerging economies, while also supporting U.S. jobs through exports.

Each ticket purchased will include a special Pirates Hispanic Heritage Night themed hat. All tickets purchased through this offer include $5 in Loaded Value. (Loaded Value can be used for merchandise or at select concession stands and is loaded onto the ticket barcode for use on the day of your game). For questions or for groups of 10 or more, please contact Maggie Koroly at maggie.koroly@pirates.com at (412)325-4766 or Savannah McVoy at savannah.mcvoy@pirates.com at (412)325-4902.
Registration link: https://www.mlb.com/pirates/tickets/specials/hispanic-heritage

Author Daiva Markelis was raised during the 1960s and 1970s in a Chicago immigrant household where Lithuanian was her first language. Her book "White Field, Black Sheep" explores this collision of old world and new. Come listen to the author speak of recreating the emotional world of adolescence and the hard-won understanding of adulthood with the poignancy of Lithuanian-American life. A $10 donation is suggested.

This lecture by Dr. Jeffrey Robinson will center around his co-authored book, Black Faces in High Places: 10 Strategic Actions for Black Professionals to Reach the Top and Stay There. Attendees will leave with tips and strategies on how to navigate being a Black leader.
There will be a reception at 3pm on the 7th floor of Alumni Hall. The lecture begins at 4pm in room 323.

Learn more about all that is planned for the 2022-23 academic year by the Asian Studies Center, the Center for African Studies, the Center for Ethnic Studies Research, the Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, the European Studies Center, and the Global Studies Center. Celebrate with us the recent award of 12 new federal grants and learn how that money will support faculty and students interested in the world. Find new opportunities to study, research, or teach about the world. This event is open to all faculty and students and is an opportunity to meet others who share similar interests. Representatives from Pitt's Global Experiences Office and Office of International Studies, as well as the Nationality Rooms, will also be on hand.

Until now, little was known about Greeks in the Ottoman Empire who migrated to America surrounding the Christian Genocide. For the first time ever, Dr. Topalidis will shone a spotlight on those who settled in Western Pennsylvania through a lecture-presentation on his groundbreaking research.

This event is part of the month-long commemoration "Agape and Hope Resurrected in Hripsime's Agony, Athena's Mourning, and Rachel's Heartbreak." The Greek, Armenian, and Jewish Communities of Western Pennsylvania are coming together in September 2022 to mark 100 years since 1922, a point between 1915 and 1923 when Christians and Jews were systematically exterminated for their faith and culture. We will commemorate those who perished and use this milestone in our histories to show that in the face of despair and death, creation and inspiration can be fostered and nurtures for a better and more tolerant world.

Join the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs center, for a student open house for CONNECT, the Congress of Neighboring Communities.

Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger is a German journalist who previously served as the Foreign Editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. His writing has focused on the United States, European, transatlantic, and international politics. Mr. Frankenberger holds a master’s degree in Political Science, Economics, and American Studies from Frankfurt University. In 1980, he participated in an exchange program with the University of Mississippi. From 1982 to 1985 he was a research associate at the Center for North-American Studies at Frankfurt University. Mr. Frankenberger was a Congressional Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1985 to 1986 and a Marshall Fellow at Harvard University in 1990. He has lectured at several American universities. In 2011, he was a Bosch Fellow at the Transatlantic Academy in Washington, D.C. Since he joined the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany’s leading national daily, in 1986, he served in various capacities, as European, International, and Editorial Page Editor. Mr. Frankenberger was a Member of the Trilateral Commission and of the Scientific Council of the Institute for European Politics in Berlin. He also served on the Advisory Board of the Federal Academy for Security Policy in Berlin and is associated with several organizations that deal with the transatlantic relationship.

Come and practice your Hungarian and meet others interested in the language! All levels welcome.

Discussion on Nara Pavão's "Corruption as the Only Option: The Limits to Electoral Accountability" (The Journal of Politics 80, 3, July 2018), and Stephan Haggard and Robert Kaufman's Backsliding: Democratic Regress in the Contemporary World (Cambridge Elements, 2021)

What is Donald Trump's personality like? What was his family like? What is his ideology? What have been the highlights of his performance as a businessman, candidate, and head of the government of the most powerful country in the world? These questions require multi-causal answers that go beyond the clichés that have been spread by his defenders, his detractors, and Trump himself. The 45th president of the United States has been both praised and reviled. His personality, his professional career, and his emergence in American and world politics have been the subject of biased and didactic analyses. This book attempts to offer a more nuanced explanation, underpinned by hundreds of articles, books, and interviews on the character and his historical context.

To understand the “Trump phenomenon” it is necessary to analyze its origins, as well as the political, social and economic dynamics of the United States. For better or worse, Trump is not a historical anomaly, but rather a product of his time. However, some of the most controversial actions of his mandate, which put democratic coexistence on the ropes, were largely his responsibility. His style of doing politics is still alive, as are the circumstances that made for his rise to power in 2016. Will he return to the White House in 2024?

When an assistant professor of medicine witnesses a student storming out of a respected older colleague’s office in tears, she finds herself drawn into an all-consuming quest for justice that is further aggravated by domestic pressures and her daughter’s troubles at school. Painting a portrait of the systemic sexism and abuses of power that push one of the few dissenters into a spiral of obsession, Rehana Maryam Noor hinges on a fearless performance by newcomer Azmeri Haque Badhon, who lends the heroine a complex mix of egotism, moral fervor, and repressed anger. The film took home two awards at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, winning Best Performance by an Actress for Badhon and the Jury Grand Prize for director Abdullah Mohammed Saad.

For more information on the festival, click here.

For more information about this film and for tickets, click here.

A LIVE INTERVIEW WITH Polly Jones, Oxford University AND Zuzanna Bogumil, Polish Academy of Sciences

REEES Fall 2022 series, The Specter in the Present: Trauma and its Legacies in Eurasia, will explore the place of trauma in Eurasia society in four interviews that pair scholars to discuss social and clinical trauma, victimhood, historical memory, and the politics of history in the region.

This event is part of a larger series

On September 29th, the Center for Latin American Studies and the Latinx Student Association will screen Selena (1997) at 6:00PM in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium (Room 125). Pizza will be provided! There will be a post-screening discussion following the film.

Synopsis: The true story of Selena, a Texas-born Tejano singer who rose from cult status to performing at the Astrodome, as well as having chart-topping albums on the Latin music charts. Watch the trailer here.

The Japan Council of the University of Pittsburgh and SCREENSHOT: ASIA are pleased to announce the winner of the third biennial University of Pittsburgh Japan Documentary Film Award: Maelstrom, directed by Mizuko Yamaoka. The film will be screened with the filmmaker in attendance as part of the second SCREENSHOT: Asia Film Festival. The award ceremony will take place on September 29 at 7pm in the Seventh Floor Auditorium of Alumni Hall, immediately followed by the screening of the film. General information about the award and the schedule for events and screenings can be found at www.jdfa.pitt.edu.

This year’s committee was led by Pitt film professors Robert Clift and Hillary Demmond, known for their acclaimed documentary Making Montgomery Clift (2018), and documentary filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda, recipient of the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival for Zero (2020). They and our other judges selected Maelstrom, which is Ms. Yamaoka’s story of “loss and return” due to a drastic life change from a car accident that damaged her cervical vertebrae. A profoundly humanist tale of tragedy and rebirth, Ms. Yamaoka's intimate documentary is both a telling of her own losses and a portrait of human experience.

Established by Pitt’s Japan Council to recognize exemplary documentary films promoting the understanding of Japan and Japanese culture, the University of Pittsburgh Japan Documentary Film Award is supported by generous endowments from Japanese donors to promote Japan Studies and deepen cross-cultural understanding at the University of Pittsburgh and across the region. The 2020 Grand Prize was presented to Tokachi Tsuchiya for An Ant Strikes Back, which showcases an employee’s fight to keep his job in the face of routine abuse and cruel working conditions at a large-scale moving company, and an Honorable Mention was awarded to Nanako Hirose for book-paper-scissors, a contemplative look at book publication through the craftsmanship of veteran book designer Nobuyoshi Kikuchi.

For more information on the festival, click here or please email committee chairperson Charles Exley (exley@pitt.edu).

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A teenage delinquent befriends a surly magician who helps her navigate her inner demons and dysfunctional family with sleight of hand magic.

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This inaugural Race & . . . Conference will elevate the work of the race-related centers, the health sciences, Africana Studies - promoting center & department collaboration.

Director Shô Miyake adapts a boxing memoir from Keiko Ogasawara— who turned professional despite the difficulties of lifelong deafness. “A highlight of the Encounters program at this year’s Berlinale,” (Variety), the film fictionalizes it’s subject as Keiko Ogawa, played with stern intensity by actor Yukino Kishii. The film from the structural trappings of the biopic, as it adopts a focused, in-the-moment approach to Keiko’s life and career: we see her struggles inside and outside of the ring. Keiko’s story is the base from which we learn about the larger struggles between the independent boxing community and the pressures of corporatization and conglomeration as COVID 19 sunk so many small community locations. The film’s sound particularly resonates: without any music, we are free listen to the small punches and rhythms that pierce this boxer's story.

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Winner of three Golden Horse awards including Best Leading Actor for Mo Tzu-Yi, the film tells the story of Mr. Lin, an apartment tenant who tends to the daily needs of the elderly apartment owner and helps look after her orphaned nine-year-old grandson, whom he has legally adopted. When the boy’s uncle returns from overseas and charges him with using the adoption as pretext to secure the deeds to the apartment, a troubled past is brought to light. Suffused with melancholy, tenderness, and a sense of the daily rhythms of metropolitan Taiwan, Dear Tenant dramatizes the continued challenges faced by queer couples despite the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2019 and serves as a showcase for Mo’s subtle, heartbreaking performance.

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