Join Brazil Nuts for their weekly Portuguese language conversation table during Spring semester, every Monday from 4:30-5:30 pm in the Global Hub!

Learn Swahili from fellow students studying the language!

Join CLAS ambassadors to learn more about CLAS academic offerings and related programs.

During and before World War II the Nazis stole art from Jewish families and then from occupied countries during the war. After the war and continuing until now, there have been many efforts to recover the stolen art and return it to their rightful owners. In this panel, Lynn Nicholas, author of "The Rape of Europa", will provide a history of the looting and efforts to recover and return the art. Vivian Curran will discuss current cases in the United States.

The panel will be moderated by Vivian Curran of the Pitt Law School

Panelists are:

Vivian Curran, Distinguished Professor of Law

Lynn H. Nicholas, Author of "The Rape of Europe."

Monique Milia-Marie-Luce is Associate Professor of Contemporary History at the Université des Antilles(campus of Martinique). She is recipient of the Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence and is teaching for the 2022-2023 academic year at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). Her main research focus on Caribbean migration.

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

Hear first-hand accounts from journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous as he discusses his work in elevating the realities of those fighting for justice. His discussion will be followed by a screening of his documentary on the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, an Al Jazeera journalist based in the occupied West Bank, and a Q&A session with attendees. Sharif Abdel Kouddous is an independent journalist who has reported from across the Arab world, the United States, and internationally. He received a George Polk award for his investigation into the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, an Emmy award for his coverage of the Trump administration’s Muslim travel ban, and an Izzy Award for his coverage of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. His work has been published and featured in The Nation, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Policy, and Democracy Now. 

The discussion will be facilitated by Greg Victor, Founder of the International Free Expression Project.

Join the German Club for Spring 2023's weekly conversation hours, on Tuesdays from 6:30-7:30 pm!

For more than three decades, the European Union has been recognised as a world leader in the fight against global warming and climate change. Climate policy has become a dominant issue on the EU's environmental agenda and has gradually been integrated into other policy areas, most notably energy policy. In terms of climate and energy policy, the EU has developed the most advanced and comprehensive regulatory framework in the world, which includes both EU-wide policies and targets to be achieved by Member States. Taken together, these policies and targets serve to advance the energy transition – a process aimed at transforming Europe's energy sector from fossil fuel-based to zero-carbon, mainly through the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures. However, the process is uneven in the different Member States. This lecture will present the development of European climate and energy policy, in the context of global climate politics. It will also illustrate different trajectories for the development of renewable energy policies, comparing two different case studies: Poland and Germany. Finally, it will discuss the current challenges of further developing the energy transition in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The presentation explores the case of Arnaldo Ochoa, a top-ranking general in the Cuban military who once rivalled Fidel Castro in popularity and esteem across the island. News of Ochoa’s arrest, conviction and execution on grounds of corruption and drug-smuggling in 1989 shocked both Cuba and the globe. This talk explores what happened to Ochoa through the lens of his military leadership in Angola, the southern African nation whose independence Cuba had been supporting since 1975. Seemingly just the story of a drug-running general, el caso Ochoa provides an opportunity to examine race, military service, and what it meant to be a Cuban revolutionary 30 years after 1959.

The presentation explores the case of Arnaldo Ochoa, a top-ranking general in the Cuban military who once rivalled Fidel Castro in popularity and esteem across the island. News of Ochoa’s arrest, conviction and execution on grounds of corruption and drug-smuggling in 1989 shocked both Cuba and the globe. This talk explores what happened to Ochoa through the lens of his military leadership in Angola, the southern African nation whose independence Cuba had been supporting since 1975. Seemingly just the story of a drug-running general, el caso Ochoa provides an opportunity to examine race, military service, and what it meant to be a Cuban revolutionary 30 years after 1959.

Join the French Club for Spring 2023's weekly conversation hours, on both Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5-6:30 pm!

Learn Amharic from fellow students studying the language!

Join the Spanish Club for Spring 2023's weekly conversation hours, on Wednesdays from 7-8 pm!

Join the Arabic Language and Culture Club for this weekly get-together and safe space for Arabic speakers to have a conversation and work on their language skills!

Quechua is the most spoken Indigenous language in the Americas, with almost 8 million speakers throughout the Andes Mountains and around the world. Discover new ways to view the world while learning a new language!

This two-part masterclass offers an introduction to researching East and Southeast European history using arrival material German. Led by Dr. Tamara Scheer (University of Vienna), the meetings will include an introduction to German Kurrentschrift with practical exercises as well as resources and strategies as to how to approach different institutions and archival collections. The workshop is open to everyone interested in historical research in the region, including early-career scholars planning their research trips and those who wish to brush up on their archival skills.

The fundamental interconnectedness of all things: Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning

The interior of a building gives hints about what the building itself can be like. What form, construction period, architectural style determines the image it shows. This lecture seeks to find connections between the designing principles of three of the Nationality and Heritage Rooms of the Cathedral of Learning: the Yugoslav, the Hungarian, and the Austrian Rooms, and finds them in the interior design solutions. Three different rooms and three different nations, the connection between them is not apparent. It becomes more evident when we consider that from the 19th century until the early 20th century, some areas of the three countries were not part of a nation state, but of a multinational empire, Habsburg Central Europe. On the other hand, it’s also interesting to note that the design in two of the rooms (the Hungarian and the Yugoslav Rooms) is the imprint of the nation states that emerged after the First World War (Serbia, Hungary, Austria).

In this presentation we will look at:
- the distinction between nationality and ethnicity and how these two notions are represented or rather underrepresented in the Yugoslav architecture and the Yugoslav Nationality and Heritage Room, which was built in 1939 and designed based on the folk traditions in the then Yugoslav Monarchy
- the connections between folk and neo-baroque in Hungarian art, emphatically in architectural design and music. The close analysis of the designing principles of the folk-themed Hungarian Room (built in 1939) will show how the twenty-year period of becoming a nation state after being part of a multinational empire, brought an increased presence of neo-baroque and modern elements in Hungarian architecture and music. Palpable influences in the works of émigré art, music, and architecture. Béla Bartók’s work preserving and incorporating the Hungarian folk music tradition in his compositions.
3. Last but not least, the presentation show us the unique characteristics of the Austrian room (built in 1996 but designed in 1976). For instance, the way it imitates the architectural style of the period and the Esterházy Palace, where Haydnsaal, or Joseph Haydn's music hall is located. The location in and of itself deserves an elaborate examination: the other palace of the Hungarian prince, Prince Nicolas Esterhazy, the Esterházy Palace, the "Hungarian Versailles" is Hungary's grandest Rococo edifice, located in Eszterháza, today's Fertőd, Hungary.
In summary, the lecture examines the connections between nationality and ethnicity, neobaroque and rococo in architecture and interior design.

Dr. Éva Lovra holds a Ph.D. in Architectural Sciences and has conducted postdoctoral research at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, and at the University of Novi Sad. She is a senior lecturer/adjunct professor at the University of Debrecen's Department of Civil Engineering, teaches in the English-language Urban Systems Engineering M.Sc. program, and serves as a lecturer and doctoral supervisor at the Doctoral School of Earth Sciences.

Join the French Club for Spring 2023's weekly conversation hours, on both Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5-6:30 pm!

The University of Pittsburgh and the International Studies Consortium of Georgia (ISCOG) invite you to join the introductory session in an ongoing series focused on development, conservation, and sustainability contrasting dynamics and processes in different world regions. The sessions have been designed to help educators develop and enhance global content complementing their curricula. In addition to learning about thematic local/global intersections, educators will also explore Pitt’s Historical context, Ethics, Language proficiency, Media literacy, Social science methodologies (HELMS) framework for the area, and global studies. This series engages and promotes critical thinking about Amazonia’s current and future sustainability. We will work through approaches to the region’s role in water and food security, clean energy supplies, climate change, art, music, and cultural expressions. This collaborative series is funded through U.S. Department of Education National Resource Center grants.

Participants will be able to learn about issues related to Amazonia, particularly related to development, sustainability, and conservation. Improve understanding of diversely different and clearly interconnected dynamics that affect daily lives all over the planet. This will allow educators to have resources at hand to teach in their classroom as well as satisfy the requirement of teaching to the standards.

For questions, please email lavst12@pitt.edu

Are you looking to gain experience that will help prepare you for a globally-connected job market? Stop by Drop-In Hours to learn more about getting the Global Distinction added to your academic transcript, receiving special recognition at graduation, and standing out to prospective employers!

Are we as a species headed towards extinction? As our economic system renders our planet increasingly inhospitable to human life, powerful individuals fight over limited resources, and racist reaction to migration strains the social fabric of many countries. How can we retain our humanity in the midst of these life-and death struggles? What some scholars call the “Anthropocene” risks being the new normal – organizing to prevent our demise requires far more… a bottom-up “anthropolitics” grounded in solidarity, seeing and building on the connections between today’s vital movements.

In addition to fighting against white supremacy, xenophobia, and climate change, social movements are grappling toward articulate what we are fighting for: humanity. This intersectional approach respects specificity, not a ‘least common denominator’ that has historically marginalized all but the most privileged.

Join undergraduate Pitt students for a conversation hour to practice speaking in Hindi and Urdu and connect over shared cultural experiences.