Week of March 13, 2022 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.

Saturday, February 26 until Thursday, March 31

(All day) Cultural Event
Mărțișor 2022
Location:
Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs - Mărțișor 2022 website
Sponsored by:
Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs along with Romanian Nationality Room Committee
See Details

Learn the history of mărțișor and watch the Romanian Room committee make them and talk about this old tradition.

Falling on March 1 of every year, Mărțișor is an old Romanian tradition of gifting a red and white string attached to a small piece of jewelry or a flower. This is believed to bring health and luck to the wearer.

Monday, March 14

4:30 pm Student Club Activity
French Club Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of French & Italian
See Details

Join the French Club for French language conversation practice

5:30 pm Student Club Activity
Brazil Nuts Bate-Papo
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies and Global Hub
See Details

Portuguese conversation at all levels

6:30 pm Student Club Activity
German Club
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of German
See Details

Come join the German Club to practice your language skills and learn about German culture!

Tuesday, March 15

4:00 pm Student Club Activity
Pop-Up Gaeltacht: A St. Patrick's Day Celebration
Location:
Global Hub (1st Floor Posvar)
Sponsored by:
Global Hub
See Details

The Irish Club at Pitt celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with this event incorporating Irish culture, language, dance, and tradition.

4:30 pm Workshop
What's Your Story?: From Page to Stage
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Global Hub and Office of International Services along with Center for Creativity
See Details

There are countless ways to tell a story - whether that's through writing, speaking, painting, weaving, music, and more. All of us have a unique story to tell. The What's Your Story? series consists of workshops on different storytelling methods that can help you share your unique identity, history, and ideas.

In this workshop, internationally-ranked slam poet Adriana E. Ramírez will discuss the process of transition from writing for the page to writing for the stage. We’ll discuss effective strategies for performance as well as how to bring out different elements in the writing through performance.

Bring a poem you’d love to perform—but don’t worry if you don’t have one, we’ll be doing some generative writing too!

5:00 pm Information Session
International Toolkit: CIA Site Visit
Location:
4217 Posvar
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 and Global Studies Center
See Details

The Central Intelligence Agency invites University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center students to an hour long Information Session on March 15 from 5-6 pm in Posvar Hall 4217. Two CIA officers will provide information about the mission of Agency and how the organization performs that mission around the world. They will discuss student internship and career opportunities and the application process, specifically highlighting the Directorate of Operations and the Directorate of Analysis. They will also focus on the advantages of bringing an academic background/experience in Asian Studies/Regional Affairs/Foreign Languages into the ranks of the Agency. There will be ample opportunity for Q&A and hard copy resumes will be accepted.

6:00 pm Presentation
Table for Two: Japanese Soy-based Foods
Location:
Zoom and Global Hub (First Floor Posvar)
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center and Global Hub
See Details

Table for Two will hold a presentation and cooking demonstration about Japanese soy-based foods. This event will be held in-person in the Global Hub on the first floor of Posvar Hall.

Register here:

https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMkcuyvqjoqHNX8DfVpFleowlhHpgsbuytj

8:00 pm Student Club Activity
Chinese Language & Culture Club
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures
See Details

Join the Chinese Language & Culture Club every other Tuesday to practice the Chinese language and participate in Chinese cultural activities,

The first meeting on 1/18 will be virtual: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/94596594820

Wednesday, March 16

11:00 am Information Session
Summer Edge Program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Info Session
Location:
Global Hub (1st Floor Posvar)
Sponsored by:
Global Hub and Global Experiences Office along with College of Business Administration International Programs Office
See Details

Learn about the Summer Edge in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (May 9 – August 6, 2022). Students complete 5 academic courses in entrepreneurship, with experiential learning opportunities throughout the summer. The program’s focus is the African Diaspora, and includes a week-long study away trip to Washington, DC, where students will visit a number of African-based business leaders and communities.

12:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Conversations on Europe: “Reckoning with the Past III: Reparations to the Victims of Colonial Violence
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center along with Jean Monnet in the USA Network, Miami-Florida Jean Monnet European Center of Excellence at Florida International University, Center for European Studies at the University of Florida, European Union Center at the University of Illinois, Center for European Studies at University of Texas-Austin and Center for European and Transatlantic Studies at Georgia Tech University
See Details

Colonialism in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries left legacies of violence, displacement, and economic underdevelopment with which European states and countries formerly under European control continue to reckon. How are damages calculated? Will restitution and recompense lead to reconciliation and social justice? Join us for a discussion of the transnational politics and history of reparations.

Panelists:
Joshua Kwesi Aikins, Human Rights Activist/Public Scholar
Wes Alcenat, Fordham University
Verene A. Shepherd, University of the West Indies
Claire Greenstein, University of Alabama-Birmingham

Moderated by Allyson Delnore, University of Pittsburgh

1:30 pm Film
Gurumbé: Afro-Andalusian Memories
Location:
Posvar 5108
Announced by:
European Studies Center on behalf of
See Details

An estimated 90,000 Africans were brought to Spain as slaves between the 16th-18th centuries. While their labor reinforced its economy, African cultures diffused throughout Spanish society, contributing to the development of musical genres such as Flamenco, which are hallmarks of Spanish society. Still, Africa's influence has been gradually disregarded, as the country has worked to reshape its national image; a trend that continues today in response to immigration of the 20th century. Miguel Àngel Rosales challenges the popular narrative be illustrating the ongoing presence of African cultures in Spanish music, dance and folklore, and thus a dialogue between Spain and the Africa that has existed for centuries.

3:00 pm Workshop
Creative-Critical Practices for the Anthropocene: Thinking through Place, Poetry, and the Visual Arts
Location:
4130 Posvar Hall & Zoom
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center along with Honors College
See Details

Climates of Change
Join us for a series of events related to climate change! Each event will focus on a different topic and is designed for different audience members.

Creative-Critical Practices for the Anthropocene: Thinking through Place, Poetry, and the Visual Arts
A talk by geographer and poet Eric Magrane and visual artist Allison Rowe, followed by Q&A. Open to the public with Pitt ID or prior registration. Eligible for OCC, Honors, and Pitt Global credit. Hybrid event with options to join virtually or in-person!

4:15 pm Film
A Discussion Director Elia Moutamid
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center along with Pitt University Honors College and Department of French & Italian
See Details

The University of Pittsburgh Italian program will host a discussion of the film Kufid (2020). We will be joined by the film's director, Elia Moutamid, and by critic and filmmaker Simone Brioni.

Discussion will be in English; the film is in Italian with English subtitles.

Everyone who registers will also receive a link that can be used to watch the film, streaming, whenever you wish.

4:30 pm Cultural Event
Austrian Cuisine
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Global Hub and Global Experiences Office
See Details

Join Orin James for a look at and taste of Austrian cuisine.

5:00 pm Lecture
Asia Pop: Mapping Digital Game Culture in China: From Internet Addicts to Esports Athletes
Location:
4130 Posvar and online via Zooom
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center
See Details

Since the early 2000s, the Chinese government has engaged in efforts to control young people’s passion for online gaming, a leisure pursuit commonly referred to as a form of spiritual opium. This past summer the government renewed its commitment to this cause, announcing a new regulation whereby gamers under the age of 18 will be restricted to 3 hours of gameplay per week. Such regulations baffle many. China is home to over 500 million online gamers and considered a leader in the professionalization of competitive gaming, or esports. Why is it that a country seemingly so invested in online games is simultaneously leading the charge against them? In this talk, Dr. Szablewicz will examine the motivations behind these decisions through the lens of Chinese history, culture, and class politics. She will also consider how the stigma surrounding online games affects the subjectivities of the youth who play them, and show how games have become an ideological battleground through which youth cope with and challenge dominant perceptions about failure and success in contemporary China.

Register here..

5:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
CLAS Virtual Competency Series
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
See Details

"Taking my professional career as a starting point, I will address some of the most important issues related to the study of slavery in contemporary Brazil"
- Keila Grinberg, CLAS Director

The Latin America and the Caribbean Competency Virtual Series is a student-led opportunity for anyone to learn more about different topics related to LAC content area and connect with the guest speakers outside the classroom. Particiaptns will have the chance to discuss and ask questions regarding the topic of the presentation, and can also earn myPittGlobal and OCC credit plus a certificate of participation by attending!

Thursday, March 17

12:00 pm Cultural Event
Tavola Italiana
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of French & Italian
See Details

Social Italian event for students of Italian at Pitt

12:30 pm Cultural Event
La Parlotte - French Conversation Table
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of French & Italian
See Details

French casual conversation table. Open to all students of all levels of proficiency.

12:30 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
CLAS Speaker Series: Environmental exposures in pregnant women living in Suriname
Location:
4217 Posvar/Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
See Details

Firoz Abdoel Wahid is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at the EOH Department of the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh. He is a native from Suriname where he graduated as a family physician in 2005, and as Master’s in Public Health in 2012. He has over 15-year experience in public health, the last eight of which in environmental health. His public health career started in 2005 as the clinical coordinator of the National AIDS Program in Suriname. He pursued his doctorate in environmental health in 2018 at Tulane University, New Orleans. Dr. Abdoel Wahid is part of the Caribbean Consortium for Research in Environmental and Occupational Health that is focused on the impact of chemical and non-chemical stressors on birth outcomes. He has a long-standing history of teaching, and has trained and mentored frontline healthcare workers in Suriname, as well as medical, physical therapy and public health students. His areas of expertise include global environmental health research, research training, and climate and health impact on vulnerable populations.

2:00 pm Cultural Event
Russian Tutoring
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
2:00 pm Film
Aliaksei Paluyan's Courage (2021)
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies along with Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures
See Details

Join us for an online screening of a critically acclaimed documentary on the Belarus protest movement by a Belarusian film director, Aliaksei Paluyan, and for a post-screening discussion with the director.
Aliaksei Paluyan's Courage
(Germany, 2021)
Thursday, March 17
2-4pm EST
online through Zoom

Register: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAsce2qrDIvGdaUJwkkn_0Fn0Azm81GVd...

4:30 pm Film
The Citizen
Location:
Posvar 5108
Announced by:
European Studies Center on behalf of
See Details

Wilson is a Bissau-Guinean refugee, who settles in Budapest, Hungary, after fleeing his country's civil war. Having lost his wife and daughters to the conflict, he builds a new life
as a market security guard while trying to pass the country's citizenship test. After taking in Shirin, a pregnant refugee from an who arrives illegally, and a local Hungarian tutor named, Mari, with whom he falls in love, their devotion to one another other is tested. Through differing life philosophies, prejudice, and the threat of deportation, they struggle to navigate their lives lives as refugees in Hungarian society.

5:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
CULTNA: Palmares & Cucaú: O Aprendizado da Dominação
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
See Details

A série CULTNA continua no dia 17 de março com Silvia Lara (UNICAMP) para a discussão sobre o livro Palmares & Cucaú: O Aprendizado da Dominação (EDUSP 2021). O evento será às 18:00 horas em São Paulo e às 5:00 PM em Pittsburgh. Venham!

5:00 pm Cultural Event
B/C/S/M Tutoring and Conversation Table
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
6:00 pm Workshop
Water Forms: Re-Imagining H20 through Paint, Poetry, and Postcard
Location:
1500 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center along with Honors College
See Details

Climates of Change
Join us for a series of events related to climate change and water!

Thursday March 17, 2022 | 6 pm - 8:30 pm | 1500 Posvar Hal
Water Forms: Re-Imagining H20 through Paint, Poetry, and Postcard
A workshop for students with visual artist Allison Rowe and geographer and poet Eric Magrane.
Limited seats, please register. Eligible for OCC, Honors, and Pitt Global credit.

Register here - https://bit.ly/PittClimatesofChange

6:30 pm Student Club Activity
ADDverse+Poesia Meeting
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar
Sponsored by:
Global Hub
See Details

ADDverse+Poesia is a poetry collective that shares stories and works of art from underrepresented communities within our society - including but not limited to: the LGBTQIA+ community, Black and Indigenous individuals, and people living with disabilities.

7:00 pm Presentation
Mottainai with Azby Brown
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center
See Details

Mottainai with Azby Brown via Zoom. Registration:

Mar 17, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMod-murDwrGt2iPzDc2q5SDax23r5L12Kn

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

Farsi students and those interested in the Persian language and culture can participate in language practice and cultural events

Friday, March 18 until Sunday, March 20

(All day) Seminar
Mini Course: Technology, Humanity, and Social Justice (PS 1555)
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and Global Studies Center along with Carnegie Mellon University
See Details

As humans rely more and more on electronic devices to support their everyday activities, there are ever present warnings about the impacts such reliance has on human autonomy ranging from who owns and controls information networks, the inequitable impact of technology consumption on peoples and places, varying accessibility of technology around the globe, and the promises and limitations of technology in improving human health. By engaging in technology as a lens, this sequence of weekend micro-courses encourages students to examine technology as a system disproportionately impacting humanity by enabling and constraining human rights of groups of people around the globe. With a multi-disciplinary focus, the course invites researchers and practitioners from the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, and relevant fields more broadly.

The course will occur on Friday, March 18th, Saturday, March 19th, and Sunday, March 21st. Engagement in the course should be synchronous; accommodations for those in significant time zone differences will be provided to allow enrollment and completion of all elements of the weekend. A pre-course video review of the major course assignment will need to be completed prior to the course starting.

Students must register for this course through PeopleSoft, which can be accessed via their my.pitt account.

Friday, March 18

9:30 am Seminar
Afro-Latin America Book Seminar
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies along with Afro-Latin American Research Institute at the Hutchins Center and Harvard University
See Details

We invite you to participate in a new initiative led by the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh and the Afro-Latin American Research Institute at Harvard University: an annual seminar on the books published by the Afro-Latin America Series at Cambridge University Press. This annual seminar brings people together to discuss the volumes published in the series in the previous year. Due to the pandemic, we will celebrate the eight books published until 2021.

11:00 am Workshop
Faculty Workshop: Applying Arts Methods to Climate and Environmental Research Across the Disciplines
Location:
4217 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Global Studies Center along with Honors College
See Details

Climates of Change
Join us for a series of events related to climate change and water!

Friday March 18, 2022 | 11 am - 12:30 pm | 4217 Posvar Hall
Faculty Workshop: Applying Arts Methods to Climate and Environmental Research Across the Disciplines
A workshop led by visiting geographer and poet Eric Magrane and visual artist Allison Rowe. Please register in advance.

Register here - https://bit.ly/PittClimatesofChange

3:00 pm Film
No U-Turn
Location:
Posvar 5201
Announced by:
European Studies Center on behalf of
See Details

26 Years ago, Ike Nnaebue attempted to flee Nigeria for a better life in Europe. Now, as a Lagos-based film director of No U- Turn, he documents the journey of West African migrants who attempt to reach the continent today. This portrays the causes and motivations of migrants who risk their lives for opportunities abroad.

4:00 pm Seminar
Women's Unpaid Work and Socialist Accumulation
Location:
Baker Hall 336 B, Carnegie Mellon University
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies along with Department of History and Carnegie Mellon Department of History
See Details

State socialism, like capitalism, relied for its functioning on certain “background conditions of possibility” (N. Fraser). These include the unpaid and frequently invisible reproductive labor of rural women, who not only raised new cohorts of workers but also fed and clothed their families with little help from the state. They also include “free gifts of nature” (J. B. Foster): the use of nature as a source of cheap inputs and as pollution sink. In this talk, I focus on rural women’s “muck work:” the back-breaking and time-consuming work of producing manure in order to maintain soil fertility under conditions of hyper-intensive agriculture.

Jacob Eyferth is a social historian of twentieth-century China interested in the lives of non-elite people. His first book, Eating Rice from Bamboo Roots, is an ethnographic history of a community of papermakers in Sichuan. He is currently working on a second book, tentatively titled Cotton, Gender, and Revolution in Twentieth-Century China.

5:00 pm Seminar
Mini Course: Technology, Humanity, and Social Justice - FRIDAY
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and Global Studies Center along with Carnegie Mellon University
See Details

First session of Spring Mini-Course: Technology, Humanity, and Social Justice

5:00PM-5:15PM: Welcome Remarks and Overview of Course
Session 1 – 5:15PM-6:30PM: Erin Dalton, Director of the Allegheny County Department of Human Services
Session 2 – 6:45PM-8:00PM: Roy Austin, VP of Civil Rights and Deputy General Counsel of Facebook

5:00 pm Cultural Event
Slovak Tutoring and Conversation Table
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
6:00 pm Student Club Activity
Women's Voices in Brazilian Poetry
Location:
Global Hub - 1st Floor Posvar OR Zoom
Sponsored by:
Global Hub
See Details

Join ADDverse+Poesia for a discussion on the politics and poetics of gender and racial identity with poets Ananda Lima and Elizandra Souza.

Register here if joining remotely: https://pitt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_51wDiRLnQdOiZ1w31QDZHQ

Saturday, March 19

8:30 am Seminar
Mini Course: Technology, Humanity, and Social Justice - SATURDAY
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and Global Studies Center along with Carnegie Mellon University
See Details

Spring Mini-Course: Technology, Humanity, and Social Justice - SATURDAY

● Session 3 – 8:30AM-10:00AM: Group Activity: Analyzing Governance and Technology Case Study

● Session 4 – 10:15AM-11:30AM: Andrew Meade McGee, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of History, Carnegie Mellon University

LUNCH 11:30AM-1:00PM

● Session 5 – 1:00PM-2:15PM: Jacqueline Lipton, Assistant Professor of Legal Writing, School of Law, University of Pittsburgh

● Session 6 – 2:30PM-3:45PM: Song Shi, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Informatics and Networked Systems, University of Pittsburgh

● Session 7 – 4:00PM-5:30PM: Group Activity: Comparing Analyses Governance and Technology Case Studies