Events in UCIS

Wednesday, April 3 until Thursday, April 3

12:00 pm Lecture
Yellow Peril in Vladivostok: The Chinese Diaspora in Russia and the Soviet Union
Location:
4217 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Union Center of Excellence and European Union Studies Association along with Department of German
See Details

Dr. Urbansky discusses the challenges faced by Chinese immigrants during the late Tsarist Empire and early Soviet Union, highlighting the racial and cultural prejudices that fueled hostilities in urban settings. His analysis explores how these early interactions shaped the experiences and perceptions of Chinese communities in a rapidly changing socio-political landscape.

Tuesday, October 29 until Tuesday, November 5

(All day) Student Club Activity
Día de los Muertos
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies and Global Hub along with Spanish Club
See Details

Join the Spanish Club for a celebration of Day of the Dead with crafts and a presentation, and gain an insight into Mexican culture!

Tuesday, October 29

4:00 am Information Session
Career Talk with ESC Alums: From Treasury to Liechtenstein, from FEMA to Nuclear Security
Location:
Wesley W. Posvar, Room 4130
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and European Union Center of Excellence
See Details

From personal stories to expert tips, this session with European Studies Center alumni will provide you with insight and strategies for successfully seeking government and policy-oriented jobs in the DC area.

Speakers:

Christopher Burdick, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury
Carrie Nilsson, Supervisory Program Analyst at FEMA, with previous experience at the Departments of State and Defense
Matthew Keller, Senior Advisor for the Embassy of Liechtenstein
Kathleen Brett, NNSA Graduate Fellow, NA-122.4 at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

10:00 am Language Table
BCMS Conversation Table
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and Global Hub
See Details

Come practice your conversational BCMS with fellow students at this conversation table!

12:00 pm Lecture
Asia Now Jessamyn Abel
Location:
David Lawrence Hall 211
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center along with Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA)
See Details

A symbol of the "new Japan" displayed at World's Fairs, depicted in travel posters, and celebrated as the product of a national spirit of innovation, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen—the first bullet train, dubbed the "dream super-express"—represents the bold aspirations of a nation rebranding itself after military defeat, but also the deep problems caused by the unbridled postwar drive for economic growth. At the dawn of the space age, how could a train become such an important symbol? In Dream Super-Express, Jessamyn Abel contends that understanding the various, often contradictory, images of the bullet train reveals how infrastructure operates beyond its intended use as a means of transportation to perform cultural and sociological functions. The multi-layered dreams surrounding this high-speed railway tell a history not only of nation-building but of resistance and disruption. Though it constituted neither a major technological leap nor a new infrastructural connection, the train enchanted, enthralled, and enraged government officials, media pundits, community activists, novelists, and filmmakers. This history of imaginations around the monumental rail system resists the commonplace story of progress to consider the tug-of-war over the significance of the new line. Is it a vision of the future or a reminder of the past, an object of international admiration or a formidable threat? Does it enable new relationships and identities or reify existing social hierarchies? Tracing the meanings assigned to high-speed rail shows how it prompted a reimagination of identity on the levels of individual, metropolis, and nation in a changing Japan.

12:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Career Talk and Lunch with Christopher Budick, Deputy Assistant Secretary Office of Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Location:
4217 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
European Union Center of Excellence and European Union Studies Association
See Details

Please come join us for this Career Talk with
Christopher Budick, Deputy Assistant of the Secretary Office of Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of the Treasury

This Career Talk session is for students interested in national security, economic sanctions, congressional affairs, illicit finance, or working at the Treasury Department.

Lunch will be provided. RSVP by 10/25/2024 to Steve Lund at slund@pitt.edu.

12:00 pm Information Session
Fall 2024 Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for Ethnic Studies Research, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center, Global Hub, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Office of International Services and Global Experiences Office
See Details

Attention: Undergraduate students! 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!

12:00 pm Information Session
Career Talk: Lunch with Christopher Burdick
Location:
Wesley W. Posvar, Room 4217
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and European Union Center of Excellence
See Details

Christopher Burdick is the Senior Advisor at the U.S. Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Come sit and have lunch with Christopher Burdick. Hear his expertise working as a senior advisor and ask questions in relation to government and policy.

2:30 pm Language Table
Slovak Conversation Table
Location:
Global Hub
Announced by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and Global Hub on behalf of
See Details

Come practice your conversational Slovak with your classmates.

2:30 pm Lecture
CESR Speaker Series: Professor Perla Guerrero
Location:
4303 Wesley W. Posvar Hall (CUE Commons Room)
Sponsored by:
Center for Ethnic Studies Research and Center for Latin American Studies
See Details

Title: A Southern Take on Deportation: How Anti-Immigrant and Anti-Education Policies Displaced Migrants to Mexico

Description: This talk seeks to understand how local, state, and national laws shape deportation and coerced return for Mexicans at the turn of the twenty-first century. Guerrero argues that two types of laws were particularly devastating to undocumented communities—education-related legislation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agreements. Her research shows that regional US differences in policing and immigration detention, paired with local policies and state laws, dramatically affect who is deported and who is coerced to return to their birth country. Thus, Latinx Southerners are disproportionately represented by the US deportation regime.

Bio: Perla M. Guerrero is an Associate Professor of American Studies and U.S. Latina/o Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research and teaching interests include relational race and ethnicity, space and place, immigration and illegality, labor, and U.S. history. She is the author of Nuevo South: Latinas/os, Asians, and Remaking of Place and is currently working on her second book, Deportation’s Aftermath: Displacement and Making a Life in Exile.

3:30 pm Lecture
Leo Lucassen: From the 1921 Quota Acts to the Trump Wall. ‘Replacement’ Thinking then and now, from a Global Perspective
Location:
3911 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center along with World History Center
See Details

The accusation that ‘elites’ deliberately stimulate immigration of ‘inferior’ people who aim to take over society arose in the far right but is now mainstream. In the Atlantic world of US and Europe, in Modi’s India, and in parts of Africa, migrants and minorities are portrayed as a mortal threat. Today’s dehumanizing rhetoric and fear of migrants preserve roots from 19th-century mob violence against Irish in the US, Indian migrants in Burma, migrant restrictions after World War I, and the murders of minorities in World War II. Linking these instances of xenophobia and exclusion, this lecture focuses on the globalization of nation state ideology and its promotion of ethnic homogeneity, which fosters fear of losing racial or cultural superiority to ‘others’.

RSVPs are appreciated but not required. RSVP here: forms.gle/AotLEkLfS3SRB32m7

5:00 pm Student Club Activity
Hungarian Conversation Table
Location:
Braun Room
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
See Details

Come practice your conversational Hungarian with fellow students!

5:00 pm Teacher Training
Global Migrations: Economic, Political, and Climatic Changes K-12 educator workshop
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center and UCIS Engagement
See Details

This free online K-12 educator workshop will explore the topic of migration today through the global lens of politics, economics, and climatic changes. Using modern-day migration case studies, the presenters will share content and pedagogical strategies to help introduce or extend current study of the topic of migration in the classroom. ACT 48 hours will be provided for PA educators as well as resources and materials for classroom use.
Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfuIxxUUHUwPIU_2ORCn_ER4fphIRUF...

5:30 pm Language Table
French Club at Pitt
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with French Club
See Details

Join the French Club on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during Fall semester for conversational meetings and to practice French speaking and listening skills and create a francophone community on campus!

French Club at Pitt will meet twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, during Fall 2024, EXCEPT on October 1, October 15, and November 6.

6:00 pm Lecture
Pop-Up Course
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
See Details

Register here: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/clas/pop-up_registration

Free and open to the public

6:30 pm Language Table
German Club at Pitt
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with German Club
See Details

Join the German Club on Tuesdays during Fall semester for conversational meetings and to practice German speaking and listening skills.