Events in UCIS

Wednesday, August 27 until Wednesday, March 11

8:00 pm Student Club Activity
Arabic Club Conversation Table
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies, Global Studies Center and Global Hub along with Arabic Club
See Details

Join the Arabic Club for biweekly meetings in the Global Hub during Fall 2025 semester, and to practice Arabic language, structured by varying geographic dialects and level of speaker proficiency!

Tuesday, September 9 until Tuesday, March 10

3:00 pm Information Session
Fall 2025 Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Location:
Global Hub
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, Director's Office, 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!

Wednesday, September 10 until Wednesday, March 11

8:00 pm Student Club Activity
Arabic Club Conversation Table
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies, Global Studies Center and Global Hub along with Arabic Club
See Details

Join the Arabic Club for biweekly meetings in the Global Hub during Fall 2025 semester, and to practice Arabic language, structured by varying geographic dialects and level of speaker proficiency!

Tuesday, September 16 until Tuesday, March 10

3:00 pm Information Session
Fall 2025 Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Location:
Global Hub
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, Director's Office, 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!

Tuesday, September 23 until Tuesday, March 10

3:00 pm Information Session
Fall 2025 Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Location:
Global Hub
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, Director's Office, 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!

Wednesday, September 24 until Wednesday, March 11

8:00 pm Student Club Activity
Arabic Club Conversation Table
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies, Global Studies Center and Global Hub along with Arabic Club
See Details

Join the Arabic Club for biweekly meetings in the Global Hub during Fall 2025 semester, and to practice Arabic language, structured by varying geographic dialects and level of speaker proficiency!

Friday, September 26

1:00 pm Festival
SCREENSHOT: Asia Film Festival - The Botanist
Location:
Cathedral of Learning G24
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center
See Details

In a village in a remote valley on the northern border of Xinjiang, China, a lonely Kazakh boy named Arsin nurses fading memories of his family. He finds solace in the company of plants. The arrival of Meiyu, a Han Chinese girl, is like the discovery of a plant he has never seen before, bringing him comfort and a strange sense of wonder. Together, they grow like two distinct species, rooted in a shared corner of the world, imagining the valley as an endless ocean. But one day, Arsin learns that Meiyu will be moving to Shanghai, which is 4,792 kilometres away – a distance he struggles to comprehend. She is headed to a city where the ocean actually exists. Arsin is left alone to grapple with the quiet shifts in their small, fragile world.

2025 Berlin Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus Winner, Best Film

Two Shows: Friday, Sept 26 at 1:00 PM (Univ. of Pitt, G24) and Wednesday, Sept 24 at 7PM (Mt. Lebanon Library)

4:00 pm Presentation
Being LGBTQ+ Abroad
Location:
810 William Pitt Union
Sponsored by:
Global Experiences Office
See Details

Are you part of the LGBTQ+ community? Are you interested in studying abroad? Come by 810 William Pitt Union for a presentation and discussion with staff members and students about safe practices and expectations for LGBTQ+ students studying abroad. Bring all of your questions!

4:00 pm Seminar
Extractive Empire: Bricks, Cement, and Soviet Material Movements after WWII
Location:
Baker Hall 246A, Carnegie Mellon University
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
See Details

After World War II, the USSR's leaders relied heavily on construction materials mined and produced in recently liberated territories to rebuild the country's ruined cities. This paper traces the material networks linking Soviet cities to forests, quarries, and factories supplying the wood, marble, brick, and cement integral to Soviet rebuilding. Focusing on the Aseri Brickworks and Kunda Cement Factory, both located along Estonia's northern coast, the paper examines the interplay between Soviet occupation and materials extraction. Part of the Socialist Studies Seminar series.

7:00 pm Festival
SCREENSHOT: Asia Film Festival - A Useful Ghost
Location:
Harris Theater
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center
See Details

At the beginning of the Cannes Film Festival Critics’ Week winner A Useful Ghost (Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, 2025), we learn that March has lost his beloved wife Nat, whose work in the family factory has left her—and many other workers—poisoned. Their relationship gets a second chance, however, when she comes back to him, reincarnated as a vacuum cleaner. His family is less pleased by her reincarnation and finds their rather unconventional love disturbing. Anxious to be the good daughter-in-law again, Nat decides to become useful by setting herself against the other ghosts who have revenge on their minds. As she becomes involved in banishing other spirits, the question of a ghost’s usefulness clashes with Thailand’s recent authoritarian history. With its tonal shifts and fractious genre changes, A Useful Ghost should not work. But the fact that it does—and does so brilliantly—is a credit to the debut film director’s sense of humor and razor-sharp political vision.  

Toronto International Film Festival 2025, Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize 2025