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.

Wednesday, April 2

1:30 pm Lecture
Inventing Racial Whiteness: Early Modern Playbooks of Racial Triangulation
Location:
William Pitt Union Ballroom
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and European Union Center of Excellence along with Early Modern Worlds, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Africana Studies, Jewish Studies, Literature Program, Theatre Arts, History of Art and Architecture, Spanish, Portuguese and Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences Department of French and Italian Department of History Department of German Department of Religious Studies Jewish Studies Program
See Details

Join us for an event featuring Noémie Ndiaye, Associate Professor of English Literature at the University of Chicago, whose research focuses on early modern English, French, and Spanish theater with an emphasis on race. Ndiaye will discuss her award-winning book, Scripts of Blackness: Early Modern Performance Culture and the Making of Race (2022), which explores how performance culture influenced the construction of race in early modern Europe. Her book has received multiple prestigious awards, including the 2023 Bevington Award and the 2023 Rose Mary Crawshay Prize. Ndiaye is also the co-editor of Seeing Race Before Race (2023), which won the 2024 PROSE Award for Art Exhibitions. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from a leading scholar in the field!

Refreshments after the lecture

2:00 pm Student Club Activity
Slovak Conversation Table
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and Global Hub
See Details

Join your classmates for Slovak conversation practice in a fun, relaxed environment!

4:30 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Speaker Series: In Search of  Ship Camargo: the quilombo of Bracui and the historical research about slavery in Brazil
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
4:30 pm Lecture
From Secularism to Public Order: Identity Politics and the Idea of Muslim Solidarity in France
Location:
4303 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and European Union Center of Excellence along with Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences Department of French and Italian Department of History Department of German Department of Religious Studies Jewish Studies Program, Center for Black European Studies and the Atlantic and Carnegie Mellon University
See Details

As part of the Unmasking Prejudice: Confronting Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Racism Across Europe
Spring Lecture Series

Lecture Summary: TBD

About the Speaker:
Kirsten Wesselhoeft is associate professor of religion at Vassar College. She is a scholar of contemporary Islam, drawing on ethnography and political analysis to study Muslim thought and culture in contexts shaped by colonial encounters and secular liberalism. Her first book, Fraternal Critique: The Politics of Muslim Community in France (Chicago, 2025), shows how young engaged Muslims use disagreement and dissent to cultivate community, a value that is in turn stigmatized by political elites. Her scholarly writing has
appeared in Political Theology, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, and Sociology of Islam, among other journals.

Please note a change in room

4:30 pm Student Club Activity
Bate-Papo Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies and Global Hub along with Brazil Nuts
See Details

Join us on Wednesdays in the Global Hub for casual Portuguese conversation!

5:00 pm Workshop
Quechua Mini Lessons
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
6:00 pm Student Club Activity
French Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and Global Hub along with French Club
See Details

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

6:00 pm Student Club Activity
German Club at Pitt
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and Global Hub along with German Club
See Details

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