Week of February 26, 2023 in UCIS

Sunday, February 26

12:00 pm Cultural Event
Mărțișor - Exploring a Romanian Tradition
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, Global Hub and Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs along with Romanian Nationality Room Committee
See Details

Learn the history of Mărțișor and join the members of the Romanian Room committee to make your own and for your friends. Learn more about this Romanian tradition which falls on March 1 of every year during which the gifting of a red and white string attached to a small piece of jewelry or a flower is believed to bring health and luck to the wearer. Learn about mărțișoare and making them. You will also be able to purchase authentic mărțișoare, Romanian pastries, enjoy an exhibition of traditional Romanian costumes and shirts, and connect with members of the Romanian Room Committee.

Monday, February 27

12:00 pm Student Club Activity
CLAS SCC February Meeting
Location:
4217 Posvar
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
See Details

The purpose of the Student Club Coalition is to give clubs related to Latin America, the Caribbean, and the diasporas, an opportunity to be officially related to and involved with CLAS, providing mutual support for student engagement. The Student Club Coalition is designed to help students develop a voice for what's important to them, to assist them in that endeavor, and to help them acquire funding for those projects and goals. The member clubs work together to support each other and their goals, and to build friendships and community along the way.

4:30 pm Student Club Activity
Bate-Papo Portuguese Conversation Table
Location:
Global Hub
Announced by:
Global Hub on behalf of Brazil Nuts Portuguese Club
See Details

Join Brazil Nuts for their weekly Portuguese language conversation table during Spring semester, every Monday from 4:30-5:30 pm in the Global Hub!

5:30 pm Career Counselling/Information Session
International Career Toolkit: Careers in Publishing and Translation
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, 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 and Global Hub
See Details

In this session of the UCIS Career Toolkit, our guest is an editor for Yen Press with experience working with some of the biggest names in tech. Join us for this discussion of how you can find your own career in publishing and/or translation. Co-hosted by the Asian Studies Center.

Tuesday, February 28

10:00 am Seminar
WHAT MAKES AN ATMOSPHERE: The Visual Preparation for a Film Through Mood Boards and Storyboards Series
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center
See Details

2022-23- MEET EU EMERGING FILMMAKER:
VIDA SHERK,
Director, Night Ride (Noćna vožnja)

This is a three-part seminar that focuses on what makes a film visually distinctive, and
how mood boards and storyboards can be used in the pre-production process to
help the director, the cinematographer, the costume designer, the art director, and
the rest of the crew envision the right atmosphere for the film - and choose the
right tools to do so.

The goal of this seminar is also to encourage even Screenwriting students to
develop mood boards for their stories, as they can be a useful tool during the
screenwriting process as well.

FEB 14, 2023 @ 10:00-11:30 AM EST- Required
PART I: MOOD BOARDS - What are mood boards, and why are they important? Can
they be useful for screenwriters (during the development phase) as well, and how?

FEB 21, 2023 @ 10:00-11:30 AM EST (2nd Half-Optional)
PART II: STORYBOARDS – How do mood boards influence storyboards? How do we
make a storyboard?

FEB 28, 2023 @ 10:00-11:30 AM EST (Optional)
PART III: THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG? WHICH COMES FIRST? Are mood boards
useful only in the later stages of pre-production? Is there even a right way to
approach the development and pre-production process, or can we shake things up
and start with the parts of pre-production which are usually reserved for the later
stages in the process of making a movie, only after a story (or script) is already set
in stone?

REQUIRED WORK: Participants will be asked to produce mood boards and
storyboards for their own projects. We will discuss their own exercises and work
during the seminar. They will also be asked to watch Vida Skerk's short film “Night
Ride” beforehand, as this film and the material made during the preparation for
this project will be used as examples during the seminar.

11:00 am Information Session
Center for Latin American Studies Ambassador Tabling
Location:
Global Hub
Announced by:
Center for Latin American Studies and Global Hub on behalf of
See Details

Join CLAS ambassadors to learn more about CLAS academic offerings and related programs.

1:30 pm Cultural Event
International Speed Friending, Part 2!
Location:
Globasl Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with English Language Institute
See Details

Join us for  Part 2 of our International Speed Friending activity!  Fun conversation activities will help international students meet American and local students and vice versa. Whether you attended the Speed Friending activity on Feb. 21 or not, everyone is welcome. Snacks will be served, and you can win prizes, too! Earn OCC credit and MyPittGlobal credit for participation.

Advance registration is requested but not required: http://bit.ly/3XXFaSZ

4:00 pm Reading Group
Clube do Livro
Location:
4200 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
See Details

Monthly book club held in Portuguese. This month we will be discussing the book "Àgua funda" by Ruth Guimarães.

Sinopse:

Romance de estreia de Ruth Guimarães (1920-2014), uma das primeiras escritoras negras a ganhar destaque na cena literária brasileira, Água funda foi lançado em 1946 – mesmo ano de Sagarana, de Guimarães Rosa. Mas enquanto o escritor mineiro se valia da plasticidade da fala sertaneja para inventar um léxico novo, entre o popular e o erudito, Ruth fez aqui uma original reconstituição etnográfica da linguagem caipira – que conheceu pessoalmente em sua infância passada no Vale do Paraíba e Sul de Minas –, aproximando-a das pesquisas de Mário de Andrade.
Entrelaçando diferentes tempos e personagens, inseridos no universo de uma comunidade rural na Serra da Mantiqueira, a autora construiu uma prosa ágil e fluida, permeada de ditos populares e causos marcados pela superstição e pelo fatalismo, que antecipa em certos aspectos o realismo mágico de Juan Rulfo e Gabriel García Márquez. É o caso das histórias de Sinhá Carolina, dona da Fazenda Nossa Senhora dos Olhos d’Água, e do casal Joca e Curiango, trabalhadores locais, num arco temporal que vai da época da escravidão até os anos 1930. Como afirma o narrador do livro: “A gente passa nesta vida como canoa em água funda. Passa. A água bole um pouco. E depois não fica mais nada”.

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.

6:30 pm Student Club Activity
German Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Announced by:
Global Hub on behalf of Pitt German Club
See Details

Join the German Club for Spring 2023's weekly conversation hours, on Tuesdays from 6:30-7:30 pm!

7:00 pm Workshop
CLAS Portuguese Miniseries 1
Location:
4130 Posvar
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
See Details

Join us for student-run lessons to get a handle on the basics and to connect with other future Portuguese speakers! Plus, win a prize if you attend all three sessions!

Wednesday, March 1

3:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Panoramas: "Personal data protection laws in the Latin American and Caribbean region"
Location:
4217 Posvar
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies
See Details

Elías Chavarría-Mora is a political science PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh, focusing on comparative political behavior. He has an MA from the same university and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Costa Rica. His dissertation focuses on the use of social media for electoral campaigning by political parties. Prior research has mostly focused on protest politics and party competition and has been published in Latin American, Spanish, and American journals.

4:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Europe Today Lecture Series: Identity, Nation Building, and the War in Ukraine
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and European Studies Center
See Details

Oxana Shevel
Associate Professor, Political Science
Tufts University

Discussion:

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine’s spirited and effective resistance caught many observers by surprise amidst expectations of Russia’s quick victory. This talk will focus on the profound identity transformation within the Ukrainian society that began following the Euromaidan revolution and the start of Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014. Examining sources and consequences of these identity shifts sheds light on the sources of Ukrainian resistance, the nature of Putin’s miscalculations about Ukraine, and the likely future of post-war Ukraine, Russia, and their relations with each other and with Europe.

Education
PhD in Political Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States, 2003
MPhil in International Relations, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1994
BA in English and French Philology, Kyiv State University, Kyiv, Ukraine, 1992

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
Announced by:
Global Hub on behalf of 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.

7:00 pm Student Club Activity
Mesas de Conversación
Location:
Global Hub
Announced by:
Global Hub on behalf of Spanish Club
See Details

Join the Spanish Club for Spring 2023's weekly conversation hours, on Wednesdays from 7-8 pm!

7:30 pm Student Club Activity
Arabic Language Table
Location:
Global Hub
Announced by:
Global Hub on behalf of Arabic Language and Culture Club
See Details

Join the Arabic Language and Culture Club for this weekly get-together and safe space for Arabic speakers to have a conversation and work on their language skills!

Thursday, March 2

12:00 pm Student Club Activity
Tavola Italiana
Location:
Global Hub
Announced by:
Global Hub on behalf of Department of French & Italian
See Details

Mangia con noi! Bring your lunch and chat with us! Pitt students only, al levels welcome!

3:00 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Charlemos: Prosecutors, Voters, and The Criminalization of Corruption in Latin America
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies along with Latin American Political Institutions Section LASA
See Details

Join us for a conversation with Ezequiel Gonzalez-Ocantos (University of Oxford), Paula Muñoz (Universidad del Pacífico), Nara Pavão (Universidade Federal de Pernambuco), and Viviana Baraybar Hidalgo (University of Oxford) about their book Prosecutors, Voters, and the Criminalization of Corruption in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2023). Hosted by Alisha Holland (Harvard University).

5:00 pm Student Club Activity
French Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Announced by:
Global Hub on behalf of 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.

8:00 pm Student Club Activity
Persian Table Hour
Location:
Global Hub
Announced by:
Global Hub on behalf of Persian Club
See Details

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

Friday, March 3 until Saturday, March 4

(All day) Conference
West Coast Model EU
Location:
Seattle, WA
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and European Union Center of Excellence along with University of Washington Center for West European Studies
See Details

The West Coast Model European Union is an annual simulation of a European Council summit, bringing together undergraduate students from across the United States and Canada. Students, in teams of two, play the roles of representatives of European Union Member State delegations. Participants negotiate two issues of concern for the country holding the Presidency, Sweden (holding the presidency from January-June).

The University of Pittsburgh will send a team of students to this simulation.

Friday, March 3

8:30 am Award Ceremony
2023 High School Japanese Speech Contest
Location:
William Pitt Union
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center along with Japan Iron and Steel Federation and Mitsubishi endowments at the University of Pittsburgh and Japan America Society of Pennsylvania
See Details

The 2023 High School Japanese Speech Contest returns! Japanese language learners of all levels compete against other area students in the speech contest, and non-language students can compete in the poster contest. Each year over 80 students participate. There are speech levels and a poster session. Students are required to write a speech on the chosen topic for the speech contest or make a presentation for the poster session.

For over 20 years, the University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center and the Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania have hosted a speech contest event with local High Schools and Middle Schools with Japanese language classes where students can practice and utilize their language abilities. Pitt and CMU faculty assist in evaluating speeches and student groups help provide Japanese-related cultural activities.

12:00 pm Panel Discussion
Decolonization in Focus Series (Panel IV) Impact beyond the Ivory Tower?
Location:
Zoom
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies along with Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, The Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, “Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies, University of Chicago”
“Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison”
“Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, University of Kansas”
“Center for Russian, University of Michigan”
“Center for Russian, University of Texas at Austin”
“Center for Slavic, Ohio State University”
“Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies, UNC-Chapel Hill”
“Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center, Indiana University, Bloomington”
“Institute of Slavic, University of California, Berkeley”
“Robert F. Byrnes Russian and East European Institute and Bloomington”
See Details

Impact Beyond the Ivory Tower is the fourth panel of the Decolonization in Focus Series.

The Russian war in Ukraine has had innumerable impacts, from personal to political, local, national, and global. One of the many sea changes wrought by the war has been the reckoning within Slavic/Russian & Eurasian Studies over the outsized role Russia has played and continues to play in the field and what could and should be done about it. The invited panelists in this series will consider the relationships of power that have long dominated the region, how they have impacted the field of study, and what, if anything, could and should be done about it.

The series will have six wide-ranging panels featuring speakers from various disciplines and institutions. Panelists and participants will be encouraged to consider why decolonizing Russian & Eurasian studies matters, how to implement concrete change in their classrooms, and how to conceive of the future of expertise within the field. All sessions will be convened using Zoom, live-streamed via YouTube, and recorded to be made available for later viewing.

1:30 pm Information Session
Global Dustinction Drop-In Hours
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub
See Details

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!

2:00 pm Lecture
Translating Early Modern China
Location:
4130 Posvar Hall or via Zoom
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center
See Details

Please join us for a lecture by Dr. Carla Nappi, Andrew W. Mellon Chair, Department of History, in which she discusses her book, "Translating Early Modern China: Illegible Cities". Nappi's book presents a significant new interpretation of the history of translation in China. If you wish to attend this lecture via Zoom, please register here.