Week of September 1, 2024 in UCIS

Tuesday, September 3

12:00 pm Student Club Activity
Fall 2024 Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for Ethnic Studies Research, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Hub, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Office of International Services and Global Experiences Office
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Attention: Undergraduate students! 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!

12:30 pm Lecture Series / Brown Bag
Conversations on Europe: The History of Environmentalism: Right, Left, Center
Location:
4217 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center and European Union Center of Excellence along with Department of German
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Reactionary? Progressive? Localist? Globalist? How do our climate politics line up? This panel will explore the history of environmentalism as a way of thinking about the spectrum of political positions in climate response. Recall that the oil shock, acid rain, nuclear energy protests at Wyhl, concern over DDT, all in the 1970s generated a new environmental activism: citizens initiatives in civil disobedience against business and state. In Germany and elsewhere very disparate interests came together to form what was understood as a new progressive political party: the Greens. Yet was it so progressive? Many people in the party came from a far-right political position, and with their entry into parliament, the Greens did not fit easily into the historic right-left spectrum. Such is not new. Indeed, environmental concerns have a longer and even a predominately conservative history. Romanticism praised pre-industrial bucolic patriarchal society. While climate change denialism may have become recently a hallmark of conservative politics, yet back to nature, back to the soil, survivalism, and prepping, are restoring environmentalism increasingly to conservative politics. And as with the Greens before, movements like Fridays for Futures and Last Generation do not align with any existing political party.

Moderator: Randall Halle

Panelists:
Iza Ding, Northwestern University
Patrick Manning, University of Pittsburgh
Stephen Milder, Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society

5:00 pm Student Club Activity
Hungarian Conversation Table
Location:
Braun Room
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies
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Come practice your conversational Hungarian with fellow students!

Wednesday, September 4

4:30 pm Information Session
SHRS Goes Global
Location:
Forbes Tower, 4060
Sponsored by:
Global Hub and Global Experiences Office along with School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
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SHRS Students: Have you always wanted to study abroad but haven’t done it yet? What are you waiting for? Join the Pitt Global Hub and Global Experiences Office staff and SHRS student travelers to learn how to build global experiences into your SHRS curriculum. What will your adventure be?

5:00 pm Cultural Event
African Languages Conversation Hour
Location:
Global Hub, Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Center for African Studies and Global Hub along with Less-Commonly-Taught Languages Center
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This is an informal time to meet fellow speakers of African languages and practice your skills with a seasoned facilitator! All levels are welcome.

Monthly schedule -

1st Wednesday: Arabic & Wolof
2nd Wednesday: Swahili & Amharic
3rd Wednesday: Yoruba & Akan/Twi
4th Wednesday: Haitian Creole

Thursday, September 5

10:00 am Information Session
IES Abroad Open Advising
Location:
810 William Pitt Union
Sponsored by:
Global Experiences Office
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Where will you go abroad? Talk with IES Abroad about all of the possibilities! Thursday September 9th from 10:00am - 12:00pm and 1:30pm - 3:30pm

12:30 pm Student Club Activity
Tavola Italiana
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Department of French & Italian
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Mangia con noi! Bring your lunch and chat with us! Pitt students only, all levels welcome!

Friday, September 6 until Friday, September 13

4:00 pm Student Club Activity
Kya Baat Hai!
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Global Hub along with Kya Baat Hai!
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Join undergraduate Pitt students for a conversation hour to practice speaking in Hindi and Urdu and connect over shared cultural experiences.

Kya Baat Hai will meet weekly, on Fridays, during the 2024-2025 academic year, EXCEPT on the following dates:
September 20
September 27
December 20
December 27
January 3

Friday, September 6

5:00 pm Lecture
Genealogy and the modern identity: A linguist’s journey into the past and back
Location:
Hungarian Room – CL 121
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, Global Hub and Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs along with Department of Linguistics; Hungarian Room Committee
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This talk summarizes the results of genealogical research done by the author – a linguist and academic from Hungary – which she has conducted in the past five years to uncover her own family’s history of mostly peasant ancestors in 18th-19th century rural southern Hungary. These results are then discussed in terms of the micro-historical, social-historical, and epigenetic contexts of modern (Central European) identity.

Anna Fenyvesi is Associate Professor and Director of the Institute of English and American Studies, University of Szeged, Hungary. She lived in Pittsburgh from 1991 to 1996, working towards her PhD in linguistics at Pitt (which she received in 1998). She is a sociolinguist with an interest in the Hungarian language use of American Hungarians, bilingualism, and digital language use. She is a self-taught genealogist with over five years of experience in family history research. She is currently a Fulbright Scholar at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV, doing research into the linguistic heritage of American Hungarians in Appalachia.

5:00 pm Workshop
Workshop with SWERY: The Power of Interactive Narrative
Location:
Cathedral of Learning G8
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center along with Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences, The David C. Frederick Honors College, Department of English, Digital Narrative and Interactive Design, Horror Studies Working Group, White Owls Inc. and Allfather Productions
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Join legendary video game designer Hidetaka "SWERY" Suehiro in an intimate setting to hone you game design skill! SWERY will deliver a short lecture, followed by an hour of design workshop in small groups. SWERY and DNID faculty will offer critique, advice and encouragement as you build the foundation of your own interactive narratives!

SWERY is a veteran video game director, designer and writer with over 25 years of industry experience. Among his most acclaimed works are "Deadly Premonition" and "The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories".

6:30 pm Cultural Event
2024 Eurovision Watch Party Event
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
European Studies Center, European Union Center of Excellence and Global Studies Center
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Join us as we revisit the top Eurovision contestants of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest.
We will review the top 10 songs/videos from across Europe, and you will have the chance to cast your vote.

The event will be hosted by Miss Georgia Bea Cummings, the 2024 Gay East Coast Beauty Icon.

*** Refreshments will be provided.

Saturday, September 7

11:00 am Cultural Event
Heritage Kitchen: Hungarian Food
Location:
Heinz History Center 1212 Smallman Street, Pittsburgh PA, 15222
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, Global Hub and Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs along with Hungarian Room Committee
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Presented in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchanges Programs (NRIEP), the History Center’s Heritage Kitchen series is a multi-generational cooking experience in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchanges Programs (NRIEP), the History Center’s Heritage Kitchen series is a multi-generational cooking experience that explores the historical and cultural significance of recipes passed down through families and communities. At the museum’s Heritage Kitchen: Hungary program, the Hungarian Room Committee will prepare one of the most famous Hungarian comfort foods: chicken paprikash and dumplings. Samples of the delicious dishes will be available for noshing at the end of the demonstration.

Taste, learn, and connect with the vibrant flavors and rich histories that make these dishes more than just food—they are a testament to the enduring legacy of the diverse ethnic communities of Pittsburgh.

Other Heritage Kitchen for the fall include:
Saturday, October 5, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. | Heritage Kitchen: Yugoslav Room Committee

Saturday, November 16, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. | Heritage Kitchen: Czechoslovak Room Committee

Ticketing $10 Non-Members - FREE for Members

To register please visit: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/event/heritage-kitchen-hungarian-food/

1:00 pm Exhibit
Hostage Diplomacy: Marc Fogel
Location:
Frick Fine Arts Auditorium
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies along with Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies and Center for International Legal Education
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Marc Fogel, a local Pittsburgh teacher, was sentenced in June 2022 to 14 years in a Russian penal colony for 0.6 ounces of medical marijuana prescribed for a decades-long back injury. This year Mr. Fogel was not included in the 24-person prisoner swap — one of the largest since the end of the Cold War — among the U.S., Russia, Germany and three other Western countries. Yet, since Brittney Griner’s 2022 release on a similar charge, US Senators have joined more than 25,000 signatories calling for Marc’s US recognition as “Wrongfully Detained,” to support negotiations for his Russian release back to his Pittsburgh family.
Join us to hear Ambassador Rubin (President of the American Foreign Service Association; Ambassador to Bulgaria: 2016-2019; Deputy Chief of Mission to the Russian Federation: 2008-2011) comment on Marc’s case. The event includes Max Karpman’s short documentary (Did You Forget Mr. Fogel?), an art exhibit by local artist activists and a panel of Pitt experts on hostage diplomacy: who gets released? At what price? If Brittney Griner was “wrongfully detained,” why not Marc Fogel?