This forum is organized and sponsored by the Chinese Heritage Room Committee of the Chinese Nationality Room of the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, University Center for Internatioal Studies, University of Pittsburgh.

Chinese Heritage Room Committee of the Chinese Nationality Room was established in 1939. It has since served as a hub for promoting Chinese scholarship and culture at the University of Pittsburgh and the surrounding communities. For details, please visit the Chinese Nationality Rooms website https://www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu/committees/chinese-room-committee

At this event, the Chinese Heritage Committee will present the history of the early Pittsburgh Chinatown and the contribution of the Chinese immigrants to the Southwest Pennsylvania. Local community leaders are invited to speak about their role in building a more diversified and equitable communities around the region.

Free to public. Seating is limited, please register at link to attend.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chinese-american-experiences-in-pittsburgh-...

Winner of the Eagle for Best Documentary at the Polish Film Awards, The Balcony Movie is a provocative experiment that tests the form of documentary and the cinematic power of the passerby. The film limits its scope, capturing only what can be seen from the director’s own balcony, yet Łoźinski is able to capture insights about the world both banal and profound. Following a cast of characters which changes each hour and each day, we hear stories from personalities that easily remind us of ourselves, from those who are in a rush to their next appointment to those of us who wouldn’t mind being in the spotlight for a moment. Above all, the film reminds us of our own place in the world and asks us what we would say when we came across the balcony, if anything at all.

Born in 1965 in Warsaw, Paweł Łoziński is a director, cameraman, and producer of distinct and emotionally charged films. Before film, he worked as a carpenter, as a warehouseman, and as a fence painter, yet film won out overall. He is a graduate of the Directing Department at the Film School in Łódź, and found international recognition for his work with his debut documentary Birthplace in 1992. His latest film, The Balcony Movie, is considered innovative as it explores the mundane, a theme often untouched by the documentary form.

"Those 4 Years" is an amazing journey into the lives of those Chinese who came to India around the middle of the 19th century… speaking a language unknown to their neighbours when they first arrived. The film journeys across three countries and reams of colonial office records to retrace the places those people came from, the means and mode of their arrival, and how many of them ended up making India their home. It is a history of people, plants and places - as it catalogues their contributions to plantations, locates places and sites associated with their earliest arrival and stay and, more remarkably, manages to locate some of the descendants of those Chinese who arrived in India over 150 years ago. After the film screening, there will be a Q&A with the film's creator, Dr. Joe Thomas Karackattu.

With the recent developments in Ukraine and Putin's talk on restoring the Soviet aor the Russian Empire, newly independent territories and cities at the former imperial periphery are again in focus. Riga, today's capital of Latvia, belonged to the Russian Empire (1710-1917) and used to be one of imperial Russia's main ports. In the decade before World War I, Riga was the port with the highest turnover, surpassing both Odessa and the capital St. Petersburg. But Riga was never really a "Russian" city: before World War I, only 18 percent of its inhabitance were native Russian speakers. More important for its economic viability were its Latvian, German, and Jewish residents. This talk will map Riga as a port city and trading metropolis using research results obtained through GIS and archival research. It will also highlight the diversity of the people behind Riga's economic success.

For centuries, Indian culture has embraced the transformative power of yoga and mindfulness. Contrary to modern thought, yoga is not just about physical exercise. It encompasses much more. It includes four paths: jnana yoga (knowledge), bhakti yoga (universal love), karma yoga (selfless action) and hatha yoga (postures and breath control). Yoga is your ultimate gateway to Enlightenment, which is 100% mindfulness! Join Mrs. Jaya Row as she takes you on a journey through the fascinating science behind these ancient practices. In this talk, you'll discover how to achieve a profound mindbody connection, reduce stress, and uncover the secrets to unlocking your potential. Learn how to live mindfully and find the blessings every moment holds. Are you ready to embark on this journey of self-discovery and transformation? Come, join us to realise the amazing things you are capable of!

Jaya Row is the founder of Vedanta Vision. She is one of the world’s most influential speakers on Indian philosophy. She is a spiritual leader whose expositions on Vedanta touch the mind and uplift the intellect. Backed by her corporate experience and 40 years of research on Vedanta, she motivates her audiences to live successful and happy lives. Clarity, wit and zeal are the hallmarks of her presentation.

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!

Learn Swahili from fellow students studying the language!

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

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

Want to learn about fan cultures of East Asia? Interested in the online culture of k-pop fans? What is Otaku and how does it help define Japanese fandom? This semester's lecture series will explore the fan cultures of East Asia and their influence on contemporary fan cultures across the world. In this lecture, Dr. Lu Chen, Guangzhou University, will discuss traditional fandoms.

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

This IRB information session is helpful to determine if you are conducting human subject research under the jurisdiction of the University of Pittsburgh IRB as well as stey-by-step instructions on how to apply for approval.

The Finnish Prime Minister, Sanna Marin, recently stated that “the American dream can be achieved best in the Nordic countries.” For many who consider the economic and social mobility of the American Dream to belong uniquely to the United States, it can be surprising and illustrative to learn that other countries may have found better strategies for helping their citizens realize them. Focusing on Norway as a representative example of the Nordic Model of economic development and welfare, this lecture will consider what opinion surveys reveal about American and Norwegian citizens’ attitudes towards their respective systems, and how “freedom and mobility” may be particularly defined in each country as a result.

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

Learn Amharic from fellow students studying the language!

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

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!

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

Soviet ideology treated religion as an enemy, a tool of oppression and an expression of backwardness. Militant atheism, the prohibition of religious rituals, and the repression of religious communities aimed to create a secular, rational, and scientific society. Yet, religion mattered in Soviet people’s lives. And with institutional religion restricted, many people expressed their spirituality through “lived religion” - the practice of religion and spirituality in everyday lives. What were the practices of lived religion in the context of state socialism? And how did it converge and diverge with the return of institutionalised religion and spiritual lift after the collapse of communism? REEES Spring 2023 Series, Religion in (Post-Socialism) Societies, will explore the role of religion in socialist and post-socialist societies in eight online discussions on religion and its relations to repression, nation-building, indigenous cultures, and memory.

This is a part of REEES’s Spring 2023 lecture series.

Global climate change is looming as a long-lasting, all-dimensional issue of the century with far reaching impacts. Despite the increasing interests and rhetoric, higher education is poorly prepared to keep pace with the rapidly changing climate. Global studies can and should play a leading role to prepare students whose lives will be increasingly impacted by the climate crisis. As an Earth scientist, international education administrator, and a current Harvard Radcliffe Fellow, Dr. Hong Yang explores the linkage between climate change and global education by drawing his expertise, experience, and recent interviews with climate change education experts. He examines key questions such as: How do current US-China relations impact climate change collaborations? What kind of intellectual competence should a college graduate acquire about climate change? What can international educators do to move climate change to the center of global studies?

Dr. Hong Yang is the Charles J. Smiley Chair Professor of Biological and Biomedical Sciences and the Inaugural Vice President in charge of campus internationalization at Bryant University. He is also a current Radcliffe Institute Fellow at Harvard University.

As Department of German students present their projects in Posvar 1501, please join us in the Global Hub for food and drink.

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

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

Are you looking to gain experience that will help prepare you for a globally-connected job market? Stop by 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!