Week of January 15, 2023 in UCIS

Tuesday, January 17

12:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Conversations on Europe: Legacies and Manifestations of Irish Nationalism and Irish National Identity in the EU and the UK in the Context of Brexit
Location:
Zoom Webinar
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center along with Miami-Florida Jean Monnet European Center of Excellence at Florida International University, EU Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, Center for European Studies at the University of Florida and enter for European Studies at the University of Texas-Austin. Center for European and Transatlantic Studies at Georgia Institute of Technology
See Details

The organizer and moderator of this panel is Jennifer Keating, Department of English, University of Pittsburgh

Panelist:

Garrett Carr, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland
John Carson, Carnegie Mellon University
Mairead McClean, Artist and Filmmaker, from Bath, England and Northern Ireland
Eve Patten, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Ireland’s relationships with Europe have safeguarded features of national identity from the early twentieth century to the present as the region negotiated its long-standing and historically fraught relationship with the United Kingdom. In recent years, Ireland’s role in the EU has further solidified these regional relationships as a counterpoint to its tangled politics with the UK, especially in complex concepts of national identity in Northern Ireland. In the midst of ongoing political tumult in the UK and the complexity of Britain’s extraction from the EU through Brexit, what does Irish nationalism look like today north and south of the border?

Please join Professor Eve Patten, Director of the Long Room Hub at Trinity College Dublin, artist and filmmaker Mairéad McClean and Professor Garrett Carr, Seamus Heaney Center at Queen’s University Belfast, as we discuss manifestations of Irish nationalism today. Professor Patten will discuss ongoing relationships between the Long Room Hub, its resident artists and scholars and governmental grant programs at Trinity College. Mairéad McClean will discuss her recent Beyond 22 residency supported by the Decade of Centenaries grant to undertake work with the Irish Archives and the Long Room Hub and her exhibition Here, at Belfast Exposed in Northern Ireland. Garrett Carr will discuss his book, The Rule of the Land: Walking Ireland’s Border.

5:00 pm Student Club Activity
Hungarian Conversation Table
Location:
Cathedral of Learning 329
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
See Details

Come and practice your Hungarian and meet others interested in the language! All levels welcome.

Wednesday, January 18

4:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Europe Today Lecture Series: Insights into National and European Political Landscape after Presidential Elections in the Czech Republic
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and European Studies Center
See Details

SPEAKER:
Ondřej Horký-Hlucháň
Institute of International Relations, Prague
Czech Republic

Senior Researcher at the Centre for Global Political Economy of the Institute of International Relations Prague. He has a PhD in International Economic Relations and a Master’s in International Trade and European Integration from the University of Economics in Prague. Among other positions, he worked as Deputy Director for Research. His professional interests include the governance of global and sustainable development, development cooperation, and gender. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), a member of the IIR Board, and the president of the IIR’s Trade Union.

MODERATOR:
Pawel Lewicki, University of Pittsburgh

5:00 pm Student Club Activity
Polish Conversation Table
Location:
1219 Cathedral of Learning
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
5:00 pm Student Club Activity
French Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with French Club
See Details

Join the French Club for Spring 2023's weekly conversation hours, on both Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5-6:30 pm!

Note: French Conversation Hour will not meet in the Global Hub on Thursday, April 13.

5:00 pm Presentation
Global Trivia Night
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub and Global Experiences Office along with Pitt TRIO SSS
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Pitt TRIO SSS and the Global Experiences Office present a global trivia game to welcome students back to the spring term.

Thursday, January 19 until Saturday, January 21

8:30 am Symposium
Environment as Imaginative Force: Nature and Culture in Southeast Europe and the Middle East
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
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Environmental history and nature-writing have captured both scholarly and public interest as evidenced by the number as well as the quality of recent publications. The proliferation is doubtlessly the result of the urgency of the climate crisis and environmental destruction and social, political, and cultural anxieties stemming from them. Within the academy especially, research on environmental history is flourishing; scholars have been examining new themes and possibilities for studying environmental change and its complex entanglements with the human world. In the last several years, scholars have expanded the scope of environmental research, which now ranges from narratives centering on various environments and topographies such as rivers or permafrost to animal farming in the context of twentieth-century politics and the role of technology such as photography in making nature an important part of colonialist discourse.

This symposium aims to gather scholars whose work touches on different aspects of the cultural and social history of the environment in Southeast and East Europe and the Middle East. Broadly conceived, the region forms a part of the former Ottoman domains and the historical treatment of the region has been overwhelmingly through the lens of political history and top-down approaches. In recent years, though, a number of historians embraced environmental approaches, producing in turn excellent studies on a range of topics, from climate history and its impact on societies to empire and resource management, particularly of water. Inspired by this scholarship, the symposium seeks to emphasize the environment as a powerful discursive force at the intersection of cultural, religious, and intellectual history. Therefore, its core concern is to explore and formulate new questions, themes, and approaches regarding the role of the environment in shaping different imaginaries as well as modes of belonging and identity, of history and cultural and political categories and hierarchies.

Thursday, January 19

12:00 pm Student Club Activity
Tavola Italiana Speciale - Tombola!
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Pitt Italian Club
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Join the Italian Club for weekly Tavola Italiana on Thursdays from 12-1 pm during Spring 2023! The first tavola of the semester, on January 19, will be a special one where the group will play the Italian game tombola - bring your spare change!

5:00 pm Student Club Activity
French Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with French Club
See Details

Join the French Club for Spring 2023's weekly conversation hours, on both Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5-6:30 pm!

Note: French Conversation Hour will not meet in the Global Hub on Thursday, April 13.

6:30 pm Panel Discussion
The African Diaspora Convenes on the World Stage & Calls for Reparatory Justice Reports from the Inaugural session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies and Global Studies Center along with U.S. Human Rights Cities Alliance, Southern Center for Human Rights, Southern Poverty Law Center, Ubuntu Institute for Community Development and Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance
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Join us as we have a discussion with prominent social justice advocates who attended the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (UNPFPAD), as they share their observations and offer ideas on a global Declaration on the Rights of People of African Descent and how this new body can be a tool for building local and national movements to end white supremacy and advance racial justice.

In December 2022, the United Nations launched the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (UNPFPAD) as part of the International Decade on People of African Descent (2015-2024). The PFPAD will develop a global Declaration on the Rights of People of African Descent and define steps to improve the lived experiences of African descended people around the world through improved implementation of international commitments to end racism and all forms of discrimination. Delegate Justin Hansford calls this Forum a potential "instrument of liberation" that requires grassroots communities to “dream big” and engage with this global process to find creative and concrete ways to address ongoing harms of colonialism, genocide, and slavery. Over 900 civil society representatives attended the first PFPAD meeting in Geneva, which generated promising ideas for transformative change.

8:00 pm Student Club Activity
Persian Table Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Persian Club
See Details

Join the Persian Club for weekly converstions on Thursdays at 8-9 pm during Spring 2023!

Friday, January 20

5:00 pm Film
How Does it Feel to Be a Problem: Film Screening and Community Dialogue
Location:
Frick Fine Arts Auditorium
Announced by:
Center for African Studies on behalf of School of Social Work, Frederick Honors College, Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and Department of History and Philosophy of Science
See Details

The Center on Race and Social Problems (CRSP) will be hosting a film screening and panel discussion in the Frick Fine Arts auditorium on January 20, 2023 as part of MLK Social Justice Week. The film, ‘How Does It Feel To Be A Problem’, is an award-winning documentary that traces the phenomenon of othering in America and situates the Black Lives Matter movement in historical, philosophical and political context. The title of the film is based on W.E.B. DuBois' famous question that he raised in his seminal book, "The Souls of Black Folk." The film has not yet been publicly released, so this engagement is a unique opportunity for the Pitt community to see the film and engage directly with both the writer, JW Wiley, and the director, Tom Keith.

'How Does It Feel To Be A Problem' screening & panel discussion
Friday, January 20
Frick Fine Arts Auditorium
5:00 pm - Reception
5:30 pm - Film screening
7:00 pm - Panel discussion

5:30 pm Film
I Never Cry (Jak Najdalej Stad)
Location:
Harris Theater
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and European Studies Center along with University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill European Union Center of Excellence and Miami-Florida Jean Monnet European Center of Excellence at Florida International University and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
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Ola, a seventeen-year-old from a small city, sets off to a foreign country on her own. It will turn out to be the trip of her lifetime, a trip into the unknown, on which she will try to reconnect with her estranged father. In Ireland, she will come to know a different world and meet people who will change her approach to life.

COUNTRY: Poland (2020)
DIRECTOR: Piotr Domalewski

Harris Theater (Pittsburgh Cultural Trust)
809 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Get Tickets Here: https://trustarts.org/production/84764
PROMO CODE for discounted tickets: EUPITT (* Pitt Students, Staff and Faculty Only)

7:30 pm Film
Eternal Winter (Örök Tél)
Location:
Harris Theater
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and European Studies Center along with Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill European Union Center of Excellence and Miami-Florida Jean Monnet European Center of Excellence at Florida International University
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Christmas 1944. Soviet soldiers invaded Hungary and dragged every young ethnic German woman away from a small village and transport them to a Soviet labour camp where they are forced to work in the coal mines under inhuman conditions. This is where Irén meets fellow prisoner Rajmund who decides to teach her how to survive. While she is determined to return home to her little daughter and family, history and fate have a different plan: Irén and Rajmund fall in love. Based on a true story. “Eternal Winter” is the very first feature film about the 700,000 Hungarian victims of the Soviet labour camps whose stories remained untold for over 70 years.

COUNTRY: Hungary (2018)
DIRECTOR: Attila Szász

Harris Theater (Pittsburgh Cultural Trust)
809 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Get Tickets Here: https://trustarts.org/production/84756

PROMO CODE for discounted tickets: EUPITT (* Pitt Students, Staff and Faculty Only)

Friday, January 20 until Friday, January 27

5:30 pm Festival
2023 Pittsburgh EU Film Series-Europe's Moving Images
Location:
Harris Theater
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and European Union Center of Excellence
See Details

SAVE THE DATE: More information to come.

Saturday, January 21

2:30 pm Film
The Raven and the Seagull (LYKKELÆNDER)
Location:
Harris Theater
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and European Studies Center along with University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill European Union Center of Excellence and Miami-Florida Jean Monnet European Center of Excellence at Florida International University and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
See Details

Following fictionized lives of the inhabitants of Greenland, THE RAVEN AND THE SEAGULL tenderly recreates and overimagines the myths and misconceptions which exist between the people and landscapes of Greenland and Denmark. Examining a colonial history embedded not only in the heartbreakingly beautiful Greenlandic terrain but also in the infinite landscapes of a country’s mind, this docu-legend by Danish filmmaker and artist Lasse Lau prompts the turning of a new lens on a national past and future promise.

COUNTRY: Denmark (2018)
DIRECTOR: Lasse Lau- will be present at the screening for Q&A

followed by Night Ride (Noćna vožnja)
Country: Croatia
DIRECTOR: Vida Skerk

Night Ride (Noćna vožnja) explores quarter-life identity crisis through the perspective of a twentysomething student in Croatia. Dunja, the main character, questions her decision to move to a bigger city and regrets leaving behind the safety of her hometown where she could always count on the support of her close friend, Sara. Exploring the “borders” and boundaries of the film medium itself, the film is constructed as a series of dreams and nightmares which evade a linear narrative structure, and retain the qualities of a more stream-of-consciousness type of approach, presenting to the viewer Dunja’s inner world in its most authentic, raw and honest form.

Harris Theater (Pittsburgh Cultural Trust)
809 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Get Tickets Here: https://trustarts.org/production/84739

PROMO CODE for discounted tickets: EUPITT (* Pitt Students, Staff and Faculty Only)

5:30 pm Film
Lola (Lola Vers La Mer)
Location:
Harris Theater
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and European Studies Center along with University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill European Union Center of Excellence and Miami-Florida Jean Monnet European Center of Excellence at Florida International University and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
See Details

Lola, 18 years old, bleach blonde hair, lives in a foster home with Samir, her only friend. Impulsive and lonely, she is trying to get her diploma as a veterinary assistant. When her mother passes away, her father, Phillip makes sure that Lola will miss the ceremony. Two years before that, Philip was throwing her out of the family home: at the time, Lola was still Lionel - Philippe is determined to fulfill Catherine's last wish: to be dispersed to the North Sea, in the dunes of her childhood home. Lola, on the other hand, is furious against her father, but she will not leave her mother alone on this last journey. So they take off together, both unwilling to share a car but determined to take Catherine home.

COUNTRY: France (2019)
DIRECTOR: Laurent Micheli

Harris Theater (Pittsburgh Cultural Trust)
809 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Get Tickets Here: https://trustarts.org/production/84772
PROMO CODE for discounted tickets: EUPITT (* Pitt Students, Staff and Faculty Only)

7:30 pm Film
Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush (Rabiye Kurnaz gegen George W. Bush)
Location:
Harris Theater
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and European Studies Center along with University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill European Union Center of Excellence and Miami-Florida Jean Monnet European Center of Excellence at Florida International University and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
See Details

Desperate to help her son, Rabiye Kurnaz, a housewife and loving mother from Bremen, goes to the police, notifies authorities and almost despairs at their impotence and in the end, against all the odds, something truly remarkable happens.

COUNTRY: Germany (2022)
DIRECTOR: Andreas Dresden

Harris Theater (Pittsburgh Cultural Trust)
809 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Get Tickets Here: https://trustarts.org/production/84776

PROMO CODE for discounted tickets: EUPITT (* Pitt Students, Staff and Faculty Only)