Week of November 28, 2021 in UCIS

Thursday, April 8 until Friday, April 8

8:00 am Conference
Georgia Consortium: Exploring the Complexities of Vietnam
Location:
Online via Zoom
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center
See Details

Register here.

Sunday, October 24 until Tuesday, November 30

12:00 pm Cultural Event
Celtic Culture Celebration
Sponsored by:
Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs
See Details

Please join us for a virtual event created by the Welsh, Scottish and Irish Rooms as they showcase unique aspects of their culture. Enjoy a brief Powerpoint presentation of each room and pre-recorded videos exclusively made for this event on each culture's history, art, music, poetry, dance and more?

Sunday, November 28

12:00 pm Deadline
2021-2022 MEET EU Short Film Competition for the U.S. Youth
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center along with University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill European Union Center of Excellence and Miami-Florida Jean Monnet European Union Center of Excellence
See Details

Inspired by the European Year of Rail, which shines a light on one of the most sustainable, innovative, and safest modes of transportation, and acknowledging the challenges we have all faced during the pandemic in traveling and forging new connections, the inaugural MEET EU Short Film Competition for U.S. Youth asks young people to create a short film (documentary or non-documentary) responding to the theme "Transatlantic Connections."

Who is eligible? Anyone ages 18-35 who are resident of OR currently enrolled in a college or university in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, or Florida. In addition, recent alumni (age 35 or under) of Florida International University, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, or the University of Pittsburgh (all campuses) are also eligible, regardless of residency.

APPLY BY NOVEMBER 28, 2021
https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/esc/outreach/community/meet-eu-film-competition

3:00 pm Student Club Activity
Korean Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures
See Details

Come brush up on your Korean skills in a casual, out of the classroom environment!

Monday, November 29 until Tuesday, November 30

9:00 am Exhibit
The “Relearn our Land” Initiative
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Office of Equity, Diversity and and Inclusion; Pitt Green Fund
See Details

The “Relearn our Land” Initiative is a student sustainability project that highlights the cultural and ethnic diversity aspect of sustainability by allowing students and staff on campus to interact with both nature and cultural history in a meaningful way. We hope to honor and respect the important but not well-known history of indigenous Native American groups in the area, in part by using native plants that they would have relied on as a way of conveying their history. This exhibit will spotlight the garden space to come in the spring of 2022 outside of Posvar that will contain medicinal, decorative, and native plants that will combine engagement and awareness with biodiversity efforts on campus. This two-day exhibit at the Global Hub will highlight research on Indigenous history in the Northeast region, showcase plants to be featured in the green space, and provide an opportunity for students to become engaged in the upcoming construction of the garden next year.

Students are encouraged to stop by from 11:30AM-1:30PM on Monday, November 29th for a community learning session where participants can learn more about our research on indigenous environmental history and how to get involved in the garden project coming in spring of 2022.

This event is supported by The Green Fund and is in partnership with the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

Monday, November 29

5:00 pm Student Club Activity
Brazil Nuts Bate-Papo
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies and Global Hub along with Department of Hispanic Languages & Literatures
See Details

Join Brazil Nuts for their weekly Portuguese conversation hour at all levels!

6:00 pm Student Club Activity
Pitt French Club Meeting
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of French & Italian
See Details

Join members of the French Club to and have casual conversation in French! All levels welcome.

Tuesday, November 30

8:00 pm Student Club Activity
Chinese Language & Culture Club
Location:
Global Hub - Conversation Table
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures
See Details

Join the Chinese Language & Culture Club for their biweekly meetings where we will build our Chinese language skills and participate in fun cultural activities!

Wednesday, December 1

9:00 am Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Building Autocracy: History as core element of contemporary Polish politics
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and European Studies Center along with Department of History and DAAD German Academic Exchange Service
See Details

Rafał Wnuk is a professor at John Paul II Catholic University in Lublin/Poland (KUL).

In the last couple of weeks, Poland is constantly in the news for not keeping the European standards of the rule of law. However, this deformation of the country’s legal system is just one of the many issues Poles face today. The current government is also trying to implement its version of national history, silencing dissenting views and encroaching on the school and university curriculum. Professor Wnuk will discuss the role of history as a tool in building an increasingly authoritarian state.

The talk is followed by a discussion moderated by Jan Musekamp (DAAD Visiting Associate Professor, Dept of History).

3:00 pm Cultural Event
Ice Skating and Language Practice
Location:
The Rink at PPG Place
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center
See Details

Visiting Japanese students and local Pittsburgh students gather at the Rink at PPG Place for an afternoon of ice skating and language/culture exchange, building on the previous language exchange event that had over 90 attendees.

4:00 pm Cultural Event
CANCELLED: Laber Rhabarber: German Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub - Living Room
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of German
See Details

Join the German Department for Laber Rhabarber, a weekly German conversation hour that is open to all!

4:00 pm Lecture
Book Launch
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies along with Political Science Department
See Details

Join us for this virtual book launch and a discussion with the author.

MODERATOR:
Jae-Jae Spoon
Associate Professor, Political Science
University of Pittsburgh

DISCUSSANT:
Henry Hale
Professor, Political Science and International Affairs
George Washington University

AUTHOR:
Vasili Rukhadze
Visiting Lecturer, Political Science
University of Pittsburgh

“This book is one of the first to compare the color revolutions in Eurasia in systematic fashion and makes a convincing case that the size and cohesion of the coalition ultimately determine the fate of the revolution in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, and Georgia. The empirical contribution is strong, providing one of the new data to compare the color revolutions in systematic fashion. With the Belarussian protests currently underway and possible rumblings of discontent in Russia itself, the book makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of protest and politics in electoral autocracies.”
—Richard Arnold, Muskingum University

“Vasili Rukhadze’s important new book picks up where most other studies of revolution end, demonstrating that an uprising’s organization crucially impacts its leaders’ potential to hold power long enough to effect real change if victorious. With clear and engaging prose, it will be a rewarding read for anyone interested in revolution generally or post-Soviet politics specifically.”
—Henry Hale, George Washington University

“A rigorous comparison of three multifaceted cases, this book traces the impact of the ‘color revolutions’ long beyond the days when they were grabbing headlines. Rukhadze’s analysis of their different paths illuminates crucial causes of the (in)stability of regimes emerging from popular uprisings.”
—Andrew Barnes, Kent State University

6:00 pm Student Club Activity
German Club Stammtisch
Location:
Global Hub - Conversation Table
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of German
See Details

A weekly conversation table for people interested in German culture and language, all proficiency levels are welcome!

8:00 pm Student Club Activity
International Relations Club Internship Meeting
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center and Global Hub
See Details

The International Relations Club will discuss the basics of searching for and applying to internships in international affairs.

Thursday, December 2

4:30 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
CULTNA: "De que lado você samba?: Raça, política e ciência na Bahia do pós-abolição"
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
See Details

Cultura Negra no Atlantico (CULTNA) é uma iniciativa que congrega o Laboratório de História Oral e Imagem (LABHOI) da Universidade Federal Fluminense e da Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, e o Center for Latin American Studies da University of Pittsburgh. Uma vez por mês, trabalhos recentes serão debatidos com especialistas e estudantes interessados no tema. As discussões serão realizadas em português. Neste encontro, serão discutidos os capitulos 5 e 6 do livro "De que lado você samba?: Raça, política e ciência na Bahia do pós-abolição", de Wlamyra Albuquerque e Gabriela dos Reis Sampaio. Evento em português. O evento será às 18:00 horas em São Paulo e às 16:00 horas em Pittsburgh.

6:00 pm Panel Discussion
Four Evenings Discussion: Yaa Gyasi's Transcendent Kingdom
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center along with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures
See Details

We are excited to continue our collaboration with the Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures "Ten Evenings" series. The Global Studies Center will be once again hosting "Four Evenings: Global Literary Encounters" pre-lecture discussions that put prominent world authors and their work in global perspective. The series is co-sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

Open to all, these evening discussions, conducted by Pitt experts prior to author events with Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures, provide additional insight on prominent writers and engaging issues. You can register for the book discussions and learn more on our website - https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/global/transcendent-kingdom

Yaa Gyasi’s follow-up to her acclaimed, bestselling Homegoing is powerful, raw, and intimate. Transcendent Kingdom is a deeply moving portrait of a Ghanaian immigrant family ravaged by depression and addiction—a searing novel of faith, science, religion, and love.

Transcendent Kingdom introduces us to Gifty, a sixth-year PhD candidate in neuroscience at Stanford, studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after an ankle injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Turning to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family’s loss, Gifty finds herself hungering for her evangelical childhood faith, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive.

Yaa Gyasi was born in Ghana and raised in Huntsville, Alabama. Her debut novel, Homegoing, was awarded the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award for best first book, the PEN/Hemingway Award for a first book of fiction, the National Book Foundation’s “5 under 35” honors for 2016, and the American Book Award. She lives in Brooklyn.

Discussion led by Tomas Matza, PhD, Professor of Anthropology. University of Pittsburgh

For questions and more information, contact Maja Konitzer at majab@pitt.edu.

6:00 pm Student Club Activity
Na Saoirí: Ireland at the Holidays
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Global Hub
See Details

Join the Irish Club at Pitt on Thursday, December 2, from 6-8 pm as we celebrate Irish traditions at the Holidays through Irish language, culture, and dance. Come learn something new, speak some Irish, and witness a special performance by Rince na gCathrach Cruach, the Irish dance team at Pitt

8:00 pm Student Club Activity
Persian Language Table
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Less-Commonly-Taught-Languages Center
See Details

Join the Persian Language Table every other Thursday at the Global Hub!

Friday, December 3

1:00 pm Presentation
ChE Global Day 2021
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Director's Office, Global Hub and Global Experiences Office along with Swanson School of Engineering, Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, Pitt-ChE Graduate Student Association and PPG
See Details

ChE Global Day 2021 is an initiative of the Swanson School's Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. Global Day will showcase global projects developed by senior chemical engineering students in their capstone course in which teams of students were challenged to come up with a solution to address a specific concern of another country in the world, in collaboration with stakeholders from that region.

Stop by the Global Hub to view these project teams' posters and listen to a live final presentation of their projects.

This event is sponsored by the Pitt-ChE Graduate Student Association, the University Center for International Studies, Pitt Global Experiences Office, Pitt Global Hub, Swanson Engineering Global Experiences and Engagement, Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, and PPG.

4:30 pm Student Club Activity
Addverse+Poesia Meeting
Sponsored by:
Global Hub
See Details

Addverse+Poesia is a transnational and multilingual student organization dedicated to celebrating Black/Indigenous and LGBTQIA+ writers, poets, etc. Join us for your weekly meetings on Fridays from 4:30-6PM!

6:00 pm Cultural Event
Spanish Trivia
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of Hispanic Languages & Literatures
See Details

Students currently enrolled in SPAN 1250 Hispanic Civilizations are invited to participate in Spanish Trivia at the Global Hub.

Saturday, December 4

1:00 pm Lecture
Tea and Talk with Rajko Grlic
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs along with Yugoslav Nationality Room, Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures and Carnegie Mellon Department of Modern Languages
See Details

Register in advance for this meeting: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0td--vrD0rE93f7vHeDLn7yzH4Eg5AZ6Qu

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The book could be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/One-More-Road-Directors-Family/dp/1800732546/ref=...

In his book, One More for the Road, Croatian filmmaker Rajko Grlic recounts his life and career through film terms, spanning from his post Nazi-era childhood in Yugoslavia to his college years during the 1968 invasion of Prague, the Yugoslav dissolution wars, and his subsequent exile in the United States. His stories paint a picture of the socialist film industries while also calling attention to its interactions with western filmmaking.