Week of February 28, 2021 in UCIS

Monday, March 1

4:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Critical Research on Africa: The Persistence of Slavery: An Economic History of Child Trafficking in Nigeria
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies
See Details

How can a child’s value be understood in economic contexts where children are items of exchange? It is crucial that scholars and humanitarians recognize that slavery, in all its various forms, has evolved over time. The movement of bodies and the use of labor has always depended on immediate economic, social, and political circumstances, as well as the reiteration and application of force and control. It is only in this nuanced manner that we can truly understand the persistence of slavery as it relates to child trafficking in Southeastern Nigeria today.

Tuesday, March 2

12:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Europe's Green Recovery
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and European Union Center of Excellence
See Details

The European Green Deal is the EU's ambitious new growth strategy that aims to transform Europe into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where no person and no place is left behind. As Executive Vice-President, Frans Timmermans leads the European Commission's work on the European Green Deal and its first European Climate Law to enshrine a 2050 climate-neutrality target into EU law. Join us for this virtual event featuring remarks by Mr. Timmermans followed by discussion.

Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, is leading the European Commission's efforts on the European Green Deal. In this talk, Frans Timmermans will discuss what is happening with the European Green Deal and the path forward for a greener Europe.

This event is a part of Jean Monnet in the US event series and the European Studies Center's Year of Creating Europe.

5:00 pm Information Session
CLAS Ambassadors and Panoramas Interns Information Session
Location:
Online (Zoom)
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
See Details

This info session is open to all students wanting to hear more about the Ambassador and/or Panoramas Internships. Come to meet current Ambassadors and Panoramas Interns and find out about the application process and what the positions involve!

Zoom link: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/99657016259

Wednesday, March 3

11:00 am Information Session
African Studies Program Virtual Office Hours
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies and Global Hub
See Details

Meet with African Studies Program Student Ambassador Emmanuel Ampofo to ask questions about the African Studies Certificate, upcoming events, and more.

Meet via Zoom: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/97841843639

3:30 pm Presentation
UCIS International Career Toolkit Series Presents:LinkedIn Workshop with Alyson Kavalukas
Location:
Zoom Discussion
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies, Asian Studies Center, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center and Global Hub
See Details

Mastering LinkedIn for Future Global Affairs Careers
Wednesday, March 3rd, 3:30-4:15pm

Alyson Kavalukas joins us from Career Services to discuss successful generation of a LinkedIn account in seeking positions, learning from professionals and alumni, and increasing networking potential in global affairs. Question and Answer session to follow.

Register:
https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMldemprT4uGNGoE4BN_XfFP4nPb0mGEDi5

5:00 pm Cultural Event
La Parlotte: French Conversation Club
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of French & Italian
See Details

Chat with other French students, French faculty, and PhD students and practice your French language skills. Email PhD student Pat Nikiema at PAN32@pitt.edu for the Zoom link.

5:30 pm Presentation
Latin American & Caribbean Competency Virtual Series: Adventures in International Development
Location:
Online (Zoom)
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
See Details

The Latin America and the Caribbean Competency Virtual Series is an opportunity for students to learn more about different topics related to this area and connect with the guest speakers outside of the classroom environment. The students will also have the chance of discussing and asking questions regarding the topic of the presentation. The second presentation will be by Manuel Roman-Lacayo, Associate Director for the Center of Latin American Studies. He will be talking about leveraging experience and personal inclinations to find life paths and opportunities, despite your best intentions.

Registration is required: https://tinyurl.com/virtualseries2

You can earn myPittGlobal and OCC credit and a certificate of participation by attending!

6:00 pm Panel Discussion
UCIS International Career Toolkit Series Presents:Peace Corps 60th Anniversary Alumni Panel
Location:
Zoom Discussion
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies, Asian Studies Center, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center and Global Hub
See Details

UCIS International Career Toolkit Series Presents:Peace Corps 60th Anniversary Alumni Panel

Discover the benefits of Peace Corps service from generations of returned Volunteers. Join us during Peace Corps 60th Anniversary Week to learn about the challenging, rewarding and inspirational moments from a panel of returned Peace Corps Volunteers. Ask questions about service and gain tips to guide you through the application process. Narrated by Regional Recruiter, Ryan Stannard. Please note this event will be held online rather than in-person. Please register in order to gain access to the event.

Register:
https://www.peacecorps.gov/events/21_vrs_paneldiscussion_pittpcweek_2021...

7:00 pm Film
Malaysian Horror Series: Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam
Location:
Online via Zoom
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center and Global Studies Center along with Film and Media Studies Program
See Details

Join us for a virtual series of films based on the Malay folktales of a blood-sucking ghost born from a woman who dies in childbirth. The smash hit premiered in April 1957 and screened for nearly three months at the local Cathay cinemas. Its success spawned two other sequels in 2004 and 2019. It is also said to have launched the Pontianak genre in Singapore and Malaysia, with rival Shaw producing its own Pontianak trilogy.

Pontianak Scent of the Tuber Rose or Fragrant Night Vampire, is a 2004 Malaysian horror film. Starring Maya Karin, the film is about a restless spirit (pontianak) Meriam who seeks revenge upon those who killed her. The film was a major box office success in Malaysia.

Register

Thursday, March 4

9:00 am Workshop
Reading Safavid Occult-Scientific Miscellanies
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center and Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies along with Consortium for Educational Resources on Islamic Studies (CERIS) and Central Eurasian Studies Society
See Details

We will examine a representative Safavid Persian miscellany of the mid-seventeenth century, MS Majlis 12575. Significant for the history of science, it comprises occult-scientific works by Iranian philosophers of various periods, including Suhravardi, Fakhr al-Din Razi and Sadr al-Din Dashtaki, as well as a lettrist work by Mahmud Dihdar Shirazi, teacher to Shaykh Baha'i in the occult sciences. Our focus will be on 'Ali Safi Kashifi's (d. 1535) Gift for the Khan (Tuhfa-yi khani), an early Safavid simplification of a Timurid Persian grimoire dealing with illusionism and conjuring, both of which we now dismiss as stage magic. Its Safavid-era expansion to include other, more serious occult sciences? alchemy, talismanry, astral magic? and the magico-political feats of eminent
Safavid philosophers will also be discussed with examples, as a window onto how Safavid philosophical culture worked in political practice.

PLEASE NOTE that registrations are limited and will be confirmed on a first-come, first-serve basis for Ph.D. students and faculty who work on Eurasia and can meet the language prerequisites specific to each topic.

PREREQUISITE
Advanced Persian

INSTRUCTOR
Matthew Melvin-Koushki
Associate Professor of Islamic History
University of South Carolina

COLLABORATORS
Aziza Shanazarova
UCIS Postdoctoral Fellow of REEES
University of Pittsburgh

REGISTER HERE: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYofuyhrTwjEtS-vEx0Wu98a9kr5_SMb9ry

3:15 pm Cultural Event
Laber Rhabarber - German Conversation Hour
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of German
See Details

Laber Rhabarber - More than a German conversation hour!

"... the most human thing we have is language, and we have it in order to talk." German author Theodor Fontane wrote in 1892. So, here's chance! Be human with us for an hour every week, albeit in German ;D

Everyone and every level of German welcome!

Zoom Meeting link: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/99661883076
German Dept. website: http://www.german.pitt.edu/
Follow us on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter: @UPittGerman

4:00 pm Film
Film Screening and Discussion with the Director: Welcome to Chechnya
Location:
Vimeo
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
See Details

From Academy Award-nominated director David France ("How to Survive a Plague," "The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson") comes "Welcome to Chechnya," a powerful and eye-opening documentary about a group of activists risking their lives to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ persecution in the repressive and closed Russian republic of Chechnya. With unfettered access and a commitment to protecting anonymity, this documentary exposes Chechnya's underrepresented atrocities while highlighting a group of people who are confronting brutality head-on. The film follows these LGBTQ+ activists as they work undercover to rescue victims and provide them with safe houses and visa assistance to escape persecution. "Welcome to Chechnya" is a Public Square Films production, directed by David France and produced by Alice Henty, Joy A. Tomchin, Askold Kurov, and David France.

This documentary has received numerous international awards, including at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and the Berlinale.

Moderator: Nancy Condee, Director, Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Director of Graduate Studies, Slavic Languages and Literatures
Speakers: David France, Director, "Welcome to Chechnya"
Frank Karioris, Lecturer, Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program

https://www.welcometochechnya.com

REGISTER TO ATTEND HERE: https://tinyurl.com/y2la43za

6:00 pm Information Session
Global Studies: An Informal Conversation
Location:
Virtual - Register Online!
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center
See Details

For inquiring minds that want to make an impact in their communities and abroad! Join our information session to learn about our two undergraduate - Global Studies & Global Health - certificate programs! Global Studies offers academic credentials to students who desire a deeper understanding of social and economic inequality in a transnational context, with thematic concentrations that allow them to dig deeper into a particular topic of interest. Meet the director and meet students currently enrolled.

Friday, March 5

12:00 pm Lecture
Conflict in Transcaucasia: War over Nagorno-Karabakh
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies along with Consortium for Educational Resources on Islamic Studies (CERIS)
See Details

REGISTER HERE: https://pitt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_mC41a81tQVONz4oWoRt2Ig

In September 2020, Azerbaijan’s military advanced into the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and, by November, the Armenian side lost control not only of parts of the disputed territory but also of the security zone seized during the First Karabakh War in 1992-1994. Join us for a forum to explore the history and human cost of this war, the impact of Russian and Turkish rivalry in the region, and the prospects for long-term peace.

Moderator:
Vasili Rukhadze, Lecturer, Political Science, University of Pittsburgh

Speakers:
Gerard Libaridian, Professor Emeritus, History, University of Michigan
Zaur Shiriyev, Analyst for the South Caucasus, Crisis Group
Thomas de Waal, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe
Fatma Müge Göçek, Professor, Sociology, University of Michigan
Joshua Kucera, Turkey/Caucasus Editor, EurasiaNet

12:00 pm Lecture
Book launch: The Water Defenders: How Ordinary People Saved a Country from Corporate Greed by Robin Broad and John Cavanagh
Location:
Virtual - Register Online!
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center along with Department of Sociology, Graduate School of Public Health, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA), Human Rights City Alliance, Pittsburgh Collaboratory for Water Research, Education and Outreach
See Details

Water is life. Countless communities across the world, from Flint, Michigan to the Standing Rock Reservation to the Gualcarque River in Honduras, have used this phrase as a rallying cry against powerful corporations that value profits over the environment and the health of local communities. In 2002, a small group of citizens in El Salvador joined this global community of water defenders when representatives from multinational mining company Pac rim appeared in their home province of Cabañas. This ignited a people’s fight against corporate power that would last for over a decade. In this book, Broad and Cavanagh tell the harrowing, inspiring saga of El Salvador’s fight – and historical victory – to save their water, and their communities, from Big Gold. Their book generates lessons about how those concerned with environmental justice, public health, and democracy can work to transform the political structures that have impoverished and disenfranchised communities.

Registration link: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUkc-GuqT8rGdE8yQ8uORo6rGfNSOe9tFCG

1:00 pm Cultural Event
Russian Language Tutoring
Location:
Online
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
See Details

Russian tutoring available for students by appointment.

Book your appointment here: https://calendly.com/katya-kovaleva/russian-language-tutoring

1:00 pm Panel Discussion
Transnational Dialogues in Afrolatinidad: Education and Anti-Blackness
Location:
Virtual - Register Online!
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies and Global Studies Center
See Details

Join us for the third and final installment of the webinar series – Transnational Dialogues in Afrolatinidad – that seeks to expand transnational, transregional, and interdisciplinary exchange on contemporary and historical issues in Afro-Latin American and Afro-Latinx Studies. This webinar focuses on education and anti-blackness, particularly involving experiences in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the United States. Scholars working at the intersections of Education, History, Latinx, Latin American, and cultural studies will explore the ways that these issues overlap and impact Afro-Latin Americans and their diasporic communities in the U.S.

Co-moderated by Dr. Gina Garcia of Educational Foundations, Organizations, and Policy and Christian Alberto of the School of Education

Register here: https://pitt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kf3DarRdSvaIU2At5EucQw

3:00 pm Student Club Activity
German Club Meeting
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Pitt German Club
See Details

Join the Pitt German Club every Friday at 3PM to practice your German language skills and learn about different aspects of German culture!

Zoom ID: 950 0542 1812

4:15 pm Colloquium
Panoramas Round Table: Un Panorama de Cultura y Turismo en Yucatán
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies along with Panoramas
See Details

Debido a su belleza natural e historia y cultura ricas, el turismo es uno de los sectores más importantes para la economía de Yucatán. Las políticas del turismo se centran en maximizar los beneficios económicos y mejorar el nivel de vida de la gente local. La conservación sostenible de sitios turísticos en Yucatán de riqueza cultural es de suma importancia para garantizar el cuidado del medio ambiente y el bienestar de las comunidades, y a la vez, generar oportunidades para el desarrollo de la región. Para comprender la cosmovisión maya se debe captar fielmente la visión y modo de entender de los objetos y recursos que rodeaban a esta cultura, comprendiendo cómo convergen estos de forma cíclica, estaremos comprendiendo su panorama y con ello su cosmovisión sobre el mundo y el universo que los rodeaban. La religión forma parte fundamental de la historia de Yucatán, debido a que en él se dan a conocer las distintas formas de ver la vida de las personas e incluso hoy en día, se continúan manteniendo como las características más destacadas de la civilización: tal como sucede con las ceremonias religiosas, los sacrificios y las ofrendas que se brindaban.

Registration required: https://tinyurl.com/0305mx