The University of Pittsburgh's Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies is proud to sponsor the 9th edition of the RFF titled Homelands. This year's festival reflects on current events, while celebrating the power of film to map out new meanings into a world where people have been displaced by wars, economic crises, political instability, and natural disasters. Internationally acclaimed movies featured in a carefully curated selection, covering all forms and genres, as well as film-related events with special guests, will redefine the sense of homeland and belonging, in relation to our families, neighbors, countries of origin, and, by extension, to our planet itself.

Films will be screened online with free tickets provided to Pitt faculty and students. More information to be announced.

Join the Center for Civil Rights and Racial Justice, 1Hood Media for a conversation that brings together Black community leaders, advocates, and educators to discuss and understand how Professor Hansford views social movements and the law means of social transformation after Michael Brown's murder in Ferguson, Missouri.

Justin Hansford helped Brown family members bring their appeal for justice to the United Nations (Ferguson to Geneva: Using the Human Rights Framework to Push Forward a Vision for Racial Justice in the United States). He is a Professor of Law at Howard University, Executive Director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center, and representative to the new United Nations Permanent Forum of People of African Descent (UNPFPAD). Hansford is a co-author of the forthcoming Seventh Edition of Race, Racism and American Law, and his legal scholarship informs his work to win a posthumous pardon for Marcus Garvey ("Black History Matters: Why President Obama Should Pardon Marcus Garvey," The Root). Professor Hansford’s visit to Pittsburgh is part of a “listening tour” he is making in preparation for the inaugural meeting of the UNPFPAD in early December.

Professor Hansford will meet with Pitt faculty to discuss how we can lift up the work of the Permanent Forum and integrate it into the academy (curriculum, programming development). and the community (outreach and engagement). We hope to activate the network of scholars engaged last month by VP John Wallace as well as any interested faculty.

In addition, we will discuss with Hansford a Pittsburgh-focused report using the SDG framework as a lens to analyze racial disparities and injustices in Pittsburgh and southwestern PA. We’ll be seeking data and partners for this project, in support of Hansford’s visit to Geneva in December.

Join Addverse Poesia and Casa Brasil in celebrating Blackness in tandem with Brazil's Black Consciousness Day, a national holiday celebrated on November 20. It is a day to honor Zumbi dos Palmares, one of the great leaders of the Quilombo dos Palmares, and the legacy of all quilombo communities.