Join us for a celebration of the East European region and experience the festive music, delicious cuisines, and traditional dances of Eastern Europe and its surrounding regions! This event will bring together numerous food vendors, performers, student & academic organizations, and local diaspora organizations.
Join the Swiss Nationality Room Committee, the Paul Riis Legacy Preservation Volunteers, and the Swiss-American Society of Pittsburgh as we celebrate Paul Riis’ birthday on October 1, 2023 at 4:00 PM in South Park. We will gather at the Forbes Pavilion near the beautiful Cascades, designed by Riis.
Paul Riis was a Swiss-born landscape architect who served as the first director of Allegheny County Parks from 1928 to 1932. He designed numerous nature-inspired features in both North Park and South Park. We’ll sample some Swiss foods including Raclette and Fondue, learn how to sing Happy Birthday in German, and hear from the sponsoring organizations about their work.
Did you know a group of people meet monthly to help preserve Riis structures in South Park? Did you know Pittsburgh will host the North American Swiss Singing Alliance competition in 2024? Have you heard about the Swiss Nationality Room and the scholarships it sponsors for summer study in Switzerland?
Please RSVP to Ellen Porter by MONDAY SEPTEMBER 25 with the number of adults and children planning to attend:
ecarlson118@gmail.com
412.335.9659
The Italian Department will offer Italian coffee to students, along with information about studying Italian at Pitt.
Join German Club at Pitt’s weekly meetings during Fall 2023 to converse in German and learn German culture!
Come meet international students, make friends, practice conversational English, and have fun together, during these weekly discussion groups coordinated by the English Language Institute. Feel free to bring your lunch :)
Join us as graduate program experts share their insights into researching programs and creating competitive applications for graduate school. Learn tips on how to write effective statements, secure letters of recommendation, and choose a program that best suits your goals. There will be a Q&A following the panel discussion.
Panelists:
Thomas Keller (Director of Admissions, Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business)
Emily Renne (Recruitment and Admissions Manager, GSPIA)
Dr. Emily Rook-Koepsel (Asst. Director for Academic Affairs, Asian Studies Center)
Dr. Burcu Savun (Director of Graduate Studies and Professor, Department of Political Science)
Join us as graduate program experts share their insights into researching programs and creating competitive applications for graduate school. Learn tips on how to write effective statements, secure letters of recommendation, and choose a program that best suits your goals. There will be a Q&A following the panel discussion.
Panelists:
Thomas Keller (Director of Admissions, Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business)
Emily Renne (Recruitment and Admissions Manager, GSPIA)
Dr. Emily Rook-Koepsel (Asst. Director for Academic Affairs, Asian Studies Center)
Dr. Burcu Savun (Director of Graduate Studies and Professor, Department of Political Science)
Come meet international students, make friends, practice conversational English, and have fun together, during these weekly discussion groups coordinated by the English Language Institute. Feel free to bring your lunch :)
Learn how to earn credit by taking part in classes, activities, clubs, study abroad, and more, to support you holistically and make you stand out to employers. To start, undergraduate students can earn OCC and myPittGlobal credits by attending this event!
At this event, you will hear from representatives from the following:
Outside the Classroom (OCC)
Honors OCC
Pitt Global Hub
To attend, register here: https://pitt.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0P7abijZZ5nxg22
Come practice your Hungarian while meeting other people who are interested in speaking the language. All levels are welcome!
The presentation focused on the impacts of climate change, specifically on the African continent, shedding light on the various challenges African nations face due to environmental degradation and shifting weather patterns. Through the presentation, students gained insights into the unique vulnerabilities of African communities to climate change and the innovative strategies employed to mitigate its effects and promote sustainability. The Center for African Studies played a crucial role in providing valuable information and fostering awareness about this pressing global issue, empowering students to become informed advocates for environmental stewardship and sustainable development.
Stop by the Global Hub to see poster presentations by fellows from the School of Social Work's Browne Leadership Fellows Program, an interdisciplinary fellowship aimed at preparing students to be engaged civic leaders.
Join the French Club for a conversation hour for French speaking individuals of varying levels to practice the French language.
Join advanced Swahili students from Swahili 3 to practice the language outside of the classroom!
Note: Meetings will take place weekly in the Global Hub, during Fall semester, except on September 20 and October 18.
Join weekly Bate-Papo Portuguese conversation practice for all levels, from brand-new beginners to advanced or heritage speakers!
Note: Meetings will take place weekly in the Global Hub except on September 27, October 18, and November 1.
Join the Spanish Club meeting to learn more about opportunities to connect with the Spanish language and Spanish-speaking cultures!
SCREENSHOT: Asia is a project created to bring Asian and Asian American arts to Pittsburgh and engage students in practical, professional arts programming experience. By screening films from across Asia, we hope to create a dialog based on shared cinematic experiences, letting our audiences learn about and embrace different cultures, peoples, and ways of being in the world.
Pushan Kripalani | 2022 | 103 Minutes| India, United Kingdom, United States
Sadhana Tripathy (Deepti Naval), who is beginning to suffer from dementia, has one foot in the door that opens out to the hellish realm of memory loss and speech disruption. Summoned by Sadhana’s neighbor after a domestic mishap, her daughter Anamika (Koechlin) returns to a mother whom she resents for reasons both trivial and significant. The film is finely attuned to the symptoms of atrophy, both in Sadhana’s mind and the mother-daughter relationship. If the mother wants to remember, the daughter wishes to forget. Sadhana and Anamika’s relationship is peculiar to their past but is hauntingly familiar to anyone approaching that vulnerable point where parents begin to resemble children and children must double up as parents.
Tickets are free with a PITT id, regular tickets $10, Non-Pitt students $5 with ID.
For more information about the film festival, click here
Mangia con noi! Bring your lunch and chat with us! Pitt students only, all levels welcome!
Fall 2023 CLAS Speaker Series!
For virtual participation, please register here: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0kf-uqqjwiGdRmIQ-4nJkNjXRcDsRbOXi5
FLTA for the 2023/2024 academic year, Benedict Kachietano, visits K-12 classrooms to engage and teach the Kiswahili language and foster an appreciation for Kenyan and African culture.
At Woodland High School, students recently attended a classroom presentation led by a Fulbright scholar from Kenya, focusing on the Swahili language and culture. During the presentation, students were introduced to the rich linguistic and cultural heritage of Swahili-speaking communities in East Africa. The scholar provided insights into the origins and significance of the Swahili language and its role as a lingua franca across various East African countries. Additionally, students had the opportunity to learn about key aspects of Swahili culture, including traditions, customs, music, and cuisine. Through engaging activities and interactive discussions, the presentation not only deepened students' understanding of Swahili language and culture but also fostered an appreciation for the diversity and interconnectedness of global communities.
Babak Jalali | 2023 | 91 minutes | USA
Beautiful and troubled 20-something Donya, an Afghan translator who used to work with the U.S. government, has trouble sleeping. She lives by herself in Fremont, California, in a building with other Afghan immigrants and often dines alone at a local restaurant watching soap operas. Her routine changes when she’s promoted to writing the fortunes at her job at a fortune cookie factory in the city. As her fortunes are read by strangers throughout the Bay, Donya’s smoldering longing drives her to send a message out to the world, unsure where it will lead.
Tickets are free with a PITT id, regular tickets $10, Non-Pitt students $5 with ID.
For more information about the film festival, click here
il Messaggero (The Messenger) tells the story of an Italian man from a small village in Italy and his idea to bring messages of hope and joy to the United States as an immigrant in 1966. In doing so, he unknowingly immortalizes a generation of Italians through rare audio recordings and more than 50 years later we see its impact on the next generation living in the U.S. The film explores the amazing true history of one man's mission and his unique way of capturing the stories of those left behind in Italy. It revisits turbulent times in recent world history as well as local history, including the rise of the HJ Heinz company, a Pittsburgh area Italian DJ, and the migration of Italians to the Pittsburgh area.
Director Pete Ferrar will be present for Q&A
All films are sponsored by the History Center's Italian American program and the University of Pittsburgh's European Studies Center and Italian Nationality Room (part of the Nationality Rooms & Intercultural Exchange Programs). Film screenings are free to the public and will take place in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium on the University of Pittsburgh campus.
Kenneth Dagatan | 2023 | 97 minutes | Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan
As World War II in 1945 Philippines is coming to an end, a wealthy family is trapped in their country mansion and terrorized by Japanese soldiers who are losing control of the island. The family's patriarch, Aldo, is rumored to have stolen Japanese gold and hidden it nearby. Knowing that his family will be killed if the gold is found, Aldo leaves to seek help from the Americans. His absence causes the family to fear that he will never return, while the mother's health deteriorates. Desperate for help, the family's young daughter Tala turns to a deceitful and flesh-eating fairy, who plans to devour them all.
Tickets are free with a PITT id, regular tickets $10, Non-Pitt students $5 with ID.
For more information about the film festival, click here
Tune in at 92.1 FM and online: https://wptsradio.org/listen/
12 hours of specialty content highlighting the diversity of Pitt's campus! Hear from a different organization every hour.
Hear from the Center for African Studies from 1pm - 2pm!
Come practice your conversational Polish at these weekly meetings!
Join Kya Baat Hai weekly conversation hours for students to practice speaking in Hindi and Urdu and connect over shared cultural experiences!
Lim Oh-Jeong | 2022 | 109 Minutes| South Korea
In this black comedy from Na Mi and Sun Woo, who have been suffering from bullying and school violence throughout their school days, attempt suicide while their classmates go on a school trip. After the silly yet ridiculous suicide failure, the two try to take revenge on Chae Rin, who bullied them most and now lives happily in Seoul. However, their plans go awry. Ridiculously, Chae Rin, the worst bully ever, has found religion and has turned into a genuinely good person. What should they do now?
Tickets are free with a PITT id, regular tickets $10, Non-Pitt students $5 with ID.
For more information about the film festival, click here
Join Addverse Poesia, an international and multilingual poetry group that discusses, reads and translates poems in at least 4 languages, for their weekly meetings!
Makbul Mubarak | 2022 | 115 minutes | Indonesia, Poland, Germany, Qatar, Philippines, France, Singapore
A young man--Rakib (Kevin Ardilova)--is working as a housekeeper in an empty mansion. When its owner, retired general, Purnawinata (Arswendy Bening Swara), returns to start his mayoral election campaign, the young man bonds with him and defends him when his campaign is vandalized, setting off a chain of violence.
Tickets are free with a PITT id, regular tickets $10, Non-Pitt students $5 with ID.
For more information about the film festival, click here
Li Ruijin | 2022 | 133 Minutes | China
In rural Gaotai county, two lonely, middle-aged outcasts are pushed into an arranged marriage by their families. Ma (Wu Renlin) is a humble farmer with little to offer his timid and sickly wife, Cao (Hai Qing), except for a small, abandoned house on a barren patch of land. From just a few seeds, their newly planted crops take root and flourish; and similarly, an unexpected bond between the two starts to blossom. As seasons pass their dedication to each other grows stronger but change and adversity soon threaten the idyllic existence they share.
Tickets are free with a PITT id, regular tickets $10, Non-Pitt students $5 with ID.
For more information about the film festival, click here
Chie Hayakawa | 2022 | 112 minutes | Japan
In a near dystopian future, Japan’s government launches PLAN 75, a program encouraging the elderly to terminate their own lives to relieve its rapidly aging population’s social and economic burdens. In Chie Hayakawa’s remarkable and sensitive feature film debut, the lives of three ordinary citizens intersect in this new reality as they confront the crushing callousness of a world ready to dispose of those no longer deemed valuable.
Chieko Baishō stars as a 78-year-old Michi who considers signing up for the program after losing her meager but fulfilling hotel job and the means to live independently. A young Plan 75 salesman Himoru (Hayato Isomura) initially believes in the program’s benefits and serves as the human face of the program. And Maria (Stephanie Arianne), a Filipino care worker living overseas, reluctantly accepts a position with PLAN 75 to send money home to her ailing daughter. On the surface, the plan and its hawkers exude a kindness that serves as the film’s chilling vision of bureaucratic indifference and our increasing loss of interconnectedness. However, Hayakawa’s view is far from grim, as these characters soon learn to fully reckon with their own lives and what it truly means to live.
Tickets are free with a PITT id, regular tickets $10, Non-Pitt students $5 with ID.
For more information about the film festival, click here
Houman Sayyedi | 2022 | 117 minutes | Iran
Shakib (Mohsen Tanabandeh) is a homeless day laborer who lost his wife and son in an earthquake years ago. Over the last couple of years, he has been in a relationship with Ladan (Mahsa Hejazi), a deaf and mute woman. The construction site on which he works turns out to be the set of a film about the atrocities committed by Hitler during WWII.
Against all odds, he is given a house and an opportunity of a lifetime. When Ladan learns about his movie role and the house, she comes to his workplace to ask for help and a place. Shakib’s plan to hide her fails and threatens to destroy his chance to be somebody.
Tickets are free with a PITT id, regular tickets $10, Non-Pitt students $5 with ID.
For more information about the film festival, click here
