Dr. Urbansky discusses the challenges faced by Chinese immigrants during the late Tsarist Empire and early Soviet Union, highlighting the racial and cultural prejudices that fueled hostilities in urban settings. His analysis explores how these early interactions shaped the experiences and perceptions of Chinese communities in a rapidly changing socio-political landscape.
This event is a three-day Polish film festival at Row House Cinema, running from November 8-10, 2024.
@ 2:45pm - Kiler 1997 dir. Juliusz Machulski, Jerzy Stuhr retrospective
104 min. Polish with English subtitles
An innocent cab driver named Jurek Kiler is mistaken for a contract killer and imprisoned. Soon, he is hired by the mafia to kill a gangster (comedy).
@ 5:00 pm - Scarborn (Kos) 2023 dir. Paweł Maślona
118 min. Polish with English subtitles
The movie is set in 1794 and follows General Kosciuszko’s rebellion plan against the Russians in Poland. Winner of the Best Film award at the Gdynia Film Festival
Tickets will be available at the movie theaters website & box office
https://rowhousecinemas.com/lawrenceville/
The 42nd Annual Polishfest is designed to give everyone an opportunity to experience the living Polish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, and Carpatho-Rusyn cultures
The 42nd Annual Polishfest is designed to give the festival guests, families, and students an opportunity to experience the living cultures of the Polish, Lithuanian and Carpatho-Rusyn Peoples that throughout history were joined, separated and independently are connected. A living legacy presented to teach, to experience, to taste, to try and to have fun.
This family-oriented event is FREE to everyone and will include many activities such as Polish name writing; Lithuanian angel papercutting demonstration; pierogi / pirohy cooking demonstrations and samples; and Carpatho-Rusyn spinning and lace making; and a pierogi toss.
Every display, demonstration, and activity will offer an explanation of the cultural history of the tradition.
Entertainment will include Polish folk songs with a violinist; a Lithuanian choir with Bocjai folk songs; Polish Karazula folk songs and folk dancing by the “Lajkoniki” Ensemble; Polka dancing; and contemporary Polish music.
In-Person event
Join the food workshop that celebrates Vietnamese coffee culture with an interactive experience to enjoy coffee and bread!
Visit the Global Hub or the Global Experiences Office instagram @pittglobalexp to vote for your favorite photo in each category for the International Photo Contest 2024!
Unmasking Prejudice: Confronting Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Racism Across Europe Lecture Series:
Although antisemitism was on the rise across Europe since 2001, the EU ignored the issue. In 2015, however, the tide seemed to change when the European Commission, the executive body of the EU, formed a coordinators office to combat antisemitism. In 2021, the office created the first ever strategy to combat antisemitism and foster Jewish life. This presentation will examine why and how the EU created a policy focusing on antisemitism and some of the policy tools the EU possesses to address antisemitism. The EU strategy attempts to address antisemitism with both preventative measures and actions to address antisemitism when it occurs. Although not created distinctly to address antisemitism, the EU has other legal underpinnings that provide a framework within which the EU can address antisemitism. After October 7th and the rise of antisemitic incidences in Europe, it begs the question what measures if any can the EU really implement? We will explore the possibilities and limitations of the EU’s policy and its influence on its member states.
Carolyn M. Dudek, Ph.D. is Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science and Director of European Studies at Hofstra University in New York. She received her Master and Ph. D. at the University of Pittsburgh. She has written extensively on the EU across various policy sectors. Her current work is focused on EU antidiscrimination policy with a particular focus on antisemitism. She is currently the grant writer and coordinator for an ERASMUS+ Jean Monnet Module at Hofstra University, which is focused on EU anti-discrimination and hate crime policy, and she was recently awarded a Jean Monnet Chair to further her research. She is currently writing a monograph about the EU’s antisemitism policy.
Join Brazil Nuts for weekly Bate Papo: Portuguese Language Hour in the Global Hub, every Monday at 5-6 pm during Fall 2024!
Come practice your conversational BCMS with fellow students at this conversation table!
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!
Come practice your conversational Slovak with your classmates.
Come practice your conversational Hungarian with fellow students!
Join the French Club on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during Fall semester for conversational meetings and to practice French speaking and listening skills and create a francophone community on campus!
French Club at Pitt will meet twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, during Fall 2024, EXCEPT on October 1, October 15, and November 6.
This event is to prepare for a festive celebration of Ukrainian traditions surrounding Christmas and New Year's Eve. This event will have a Ukrainian theme and feature activities centred on crafting handmade souvenirs, which could be given as gifts or used as holiday decorations
Join the German Club on Tuesdays during Fall semester for conversational meetings and to practice German speaking and listening skills.
Looking to brush up on your Swahili? Join Swahili TA and students every Wednesday and Thursday in the Global Hub.
This course uses a month of day hikes to explore the myriad natural resources in and around the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The geology section of this course unraveling the forces that have produced the spectacular landscapes and unique landforms characterizing the region, as well as the underlying natural resources that plants, animals, and humans need to make a living. The biology section focuses on the diverse ecosystems of the region, including those of the dry basins, the relatively wet mountains and plateaus, and the near-arctic settings of the Beartooth Plateau. Particularly noteworthy is the diversity and abundance of birds, mammals, and wildflowers across the region. Throughout our geological and ecological discussions, we will also consider how people should best interact with the natural resources of the area. What roles should government regulation and private enterprise have when it comes to hunting wolves and elk, exploiting petroleum and mineral resources, protecting wild areas, and making the natural wonders of Yellowstone and beyond accessible to tourists? Students will see abundant wildlife, amazing geology, practice basic field methods, and come to appreciate the cultural distinctness of the West.
We welcome you back to a new semester. The Global Appalachia Reading Group is looking forward to this semester’s new book discussion. In the fall of 2024, the World History Center’s and the Global Studies Center will host a second series of book discussions focusing on Appalachia from a global perspective. The semester’s series theme is Race, Place and Migration. Participation in all four events in the series is not required but encouraged. All events will take place from (please see dates below) 1:30-3:00pm. Copies of the books will be available for those planning to attend the event. Please contact Veronica Dristas at dristas@pitt.edu for the book or with questions.
Note: We are able to fund and distribute books to registrants as funding allows. Registration will remain open after this amount is reached. Registrants will be notified if we are unable to provide them with the reading material.
Session Descriptions:
September 25, 2024: African American Workers and the Appalachian Coal Industry by Joe William Trotter
October 23, 2024: Hillbilly Highway: The Transappalachian Migration and the Making of a White Working Class by Max Fraser
November 13, 2024: After Coal: Stories of Survival from Appalachia and Wales by Tom Hansell
December 4, 2024: Out of the Mountains: Appalachia Stories by Meredith Sue Williams
To register please follow this link: https://forms.gle/J7jqr1h3mRsdrJEa9.
Explore summer graduate internship opportunities in African countries! Hear from others who have completed internships abroad previously. Open to all fields of study.
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
Come practice your conversational Russian with your peers at the Russian conversation table!
Join the French Club on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during Fall semester for conversational meetings and to practice French speaking and listening skills and create a francophone community on campus!
French Club at Pitt will meet twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, during Fall 2024, EXCEPT on October 1, October 15, and November 6.
On November 13, join us for Jewish Heritage Night when we host the Detroit Red Wings! Featuring a concourse display courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh Nationality Rooms & Intercultural Exchange Programs, be here when we honor the incredible impact of our city’s Jewish community and celebrate their rich culture and history.
In celebration of your heritage, lock in special pricing now. Plus, the first 300 community members that purchase tickets through this offer will receive an exclusive Penguins-branded Jewish Heritage Night Hockey Shirt!
To purchase groups of 10 or more tickets or to request additional information, please contact Jared Milstein at (412) 255-1802.
Penguins vs. Red Wings
Nov 13, 2024 7:30 PM EST
PPG Paints Arena
1001 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, US
Purchase Deadline: Nov 13, 2024 5:30 PM EST
The Center for African Studies coordinated a school visit featuring Fulbright Scholar Faraja Ngogo at a local middle school for a series of five presentations. Speaking to groups of approximately 20 to 40 seventh-grade students (ages 12–13), Faraja introduced students to Tanzanian culture, daily life, and language. The 35-minute sessions provided an engaging, interactive opportunity for students to learn about East Africa and expand their global perspectives.
Looking to brush up on your Swahili? Join Swahili TA and students every Wednesday and Thursday in the Global Hub.
On Nov. 14th (11 am to 12 pm) REEESNe is holding a FREE webinar on digital hygiene, intended especially for students and scholars contemplating travel to Central Asia, the Caucasus, or Eastern Europe. While nothing can guarantee absolute safety for one's data, understanding the risks and the precautions that may mitigate them can make travel a more secure endeavor. Our speaker, journalist/producer Nikita Makarenko, is an experienced reporter and educator who has worked in the United States, Uzbekistan, and many other parts of the former Soviet Union, creating and traveling with film and print media content in both democratic and authoritarian contexts. The discussion will focus on some of the known risks of and strategies for traveling with data, hardware, and one's own internet/social media footprint in parts of Central Asia and Eastern Europe.
Andrea Gevurtz Arai teaches Japan and East Asia anthropology and society courses in the Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington. Arai’s first book, The Strange Child: Education and the Psychology of Patriotism in Recessionary Japan (Stanford U. Press, 2016) is a long-term multi-site fieldwork study of the social and cultural effects of the bursting of the financial bubble in the early 1990s in Japan and the protracted recession that followed. This ethnography delves deeply into how the recession provided the conditions for government and corporate “neoliberalization,” replacing former support and security in education and labor with new logics of self-responsibility, self-development and patriotism, privatizing public services; shifting cultural ideologies and producing a profound “uneasiness” about everyday life. The book traces the way that the young became the subjects of these unfamiliar or “strange” conditions and the objects of blame for not being able to fulfill new requirements of human capital development. The Strange Child tracks the hardships of this altered national-cultural environment as well as introduces some of the surprisingly creative responses of the recessionary generations.
Arai has edited, co-edited and contributed to three East Asia volumes: Spaces of Creative Resistance: Social Change Projects in 21st Century East Asia (July, 2022-Digital and Print Teaching Volume and Pre-publication Draft) is the product of an interdisciplinary collaborative group of U.S. and East Asia based scholars and scholar-activists, and a May 2021 workshop organized by Arai and Jeffrey Hou (UW Built Environments) and supported by the UW Global Initiative Fund and Title VI East Asia Center. Arai also wrote the Introduction, “Shifting Contexts, Creative Responses” and chapter, “DIY Sensibilities, Eco-Aesthetics and Women’s Projects in Post 3.11 Japan.” Spaces of Possibility In, Between and Beyond Korea and Japan (UW Press, 2016) w/Clark Sorensen, is the product of cross-national, collaborative fieldwork in Japan and South Korea. Arai’s chapter in this volume focuses on the struggles over how to represent the colonial period and postcolonial landscapes at the Seodaemun Prison History Hall in Seoul and the Japan Folk Art Museum in Tokyo. Global Futures in East Asia (Stanford U. Press, 2013) w/Ann Anagnost. Arai’s chapter, “Notes to the Heart” in this volume engages with a moral’s curriculum for the age of recession and its relation to the 2006 revision of the Fundamental Law of Education enacted in 1947 alongside the new postwar constitution.
Arai’s second book project focuses on the social and cultural “development from below” movements in the peripheries, rural areas, outskirts of regional cities, and lower income sections of major cities in Japan. The second decade of Japanese neoliberal reforms have resulted in a social landscape of underemployment, income inequality, “social disconnection,” falling birth rates and over 8,500,000 vacant homes, schools and buildings. Further exacerbated by March, 2011 triple disasters of Fukushima, these realities inform and have transformed the lives, livelihood prospects and world views of the younger generations. Arai’s ethnographic project investigates creative action responses to these conditions. No longer able to fulfill and/or be satisfied with the former status quo of middle-class trajectories, increasing numbers of young Japanese are “turning away” from prescribed paths of social reproduction (including exiting salaried positions) and “turning to” environmentally conscious, gender and income equalizing DiY collective projects of social change. Informed by socio-political and ecological movements around the world, these projects challenge former gendered, spatial and environmental hierarchies of center and periphery and employ aesthetics of “rebuild, reuse and rescue” to reimagine forms of work and society, in contrast to the growth focused model of past generations. Arai’s second book describes the how, what and where of the innovative and imaginative rebuilding, creative reuse of materials, sharing of ideas, resources and knowledge, film and social media outreach and horizontal collaborations across social class, age, gender and ethnicities.
Arai is working on two separate articles: one on Hitomi Kamanaka’s documentary films and notions of eco-disaster, sacrifice zones and the interrelation between documentary film and social activism. The second focuses on notions of care, kin and nature in Michiko Ishimure’s novel, Lake of Heaven and Erika Kobayashi’s “Precious Stones.” This piece looks at intersections in these authors’ environmental and ethnographic sensibilities of life and thinking about and from the Japanese peripheries.
The Himalayas to the Andes Information Session to learn about study abroad Summer 2025.
Mangia con noi! Bring your lunch and chat with us! Pitt students only, all levels welcome!
Join us for an informative session on the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, an excellent funding opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students who are committed to language study and international expertise. This session is designed to help students understand the application process, benefits, and unique experiences that come with being a FLAS Fellow. A great opportunity to ask questions and get advice directly from fellows.
Dr. Pulford's research focuses on experiences of socialism and empire in borderland and minority regions in Eurasia, including along the China-Russia border, the focus of his first two books. His most recent project examines the experiences of cross-border ‘Chinese’ minorities in Southeast, Central and Northeast Asia. In many global locations, crossing state borders involves a sense of temporal shift. Modern citizen-subjects often perceive a world divided into areas of greater or lesser ‘development’ or ‘backwardness’, containers for different versions of the big-H official Histories which nations have written since the era of European Enlightenment and empire. As this talk explores drawing on a new book, at the three-way convergence of China, North Korea and Russia, populations with similarly stark but also very different experiences of socialism and its varied aftermaths interact regularly, and in doing so shed unique light on the progressive schemes which have unfolded here.
The University of Pittsburgh has a long tradition of activism for global justice by students who seek to raise awareness, engage communities, and advocate for change at the university and in the United States. To showcase that history, we are bringing together student activists across generations for a dialogue, including those who demonstrated against the war in Vietnam in the 1970s, South African apartheid in the 1980s, and those advocating for divestment from Israel today.
The goal of this event is to share insights and strategies for fostering generative and constructive classroom experiences related to student activism. How can instructors support student activists? How can instructors help student activists teach and learn about global history outside of traditional classroom boundaries? How can instructors effectively and responsibly teach the history of global justice activism in their classrooms?
Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeUesdaFdFJ-SaGl9usWwqctR1e3w13...
Moderated by Maria Cristina Galmarini, with speakers Katharina Wiedlack and Gala Kornienko.
11:00 am - 12:30 pm (EST) | 10:00 am - 11:30 am (CST) | 8:00 -9:30 am (PST)
This six-part virtual event series will examine body matters within Eurasia through a variety of disciplines and themes. The body-as-method has emerged recently to provide novel insights on society, culture, and identity by foregrounding alternatives to Western traditions that marginalized the corporeal dimensions of social and personal existence.
Why is the body good “to think with” on both intellectual and professional matters?
How do classed, diversely abled, gendered, and raced bodies interact in the daily lives we study or inhabit through our avocations?
What is the continuously evolving relationship between the body and the body politic, whether the nation, empire, the EU, or NATO?
Is research and teaching disembodying and can recentering “embodied and uncomfortable knowledge” therefore move liberation in East European and Eurasian Studies forward?
To address these questions, "Bodies in Focus" will have six virtual, recorded panels featuring speakers from various disciplines and institutions. Panelists and the audience will explore how bodies matter for the study and teaching of East European and Eurasian social and material environments, our understanding of power and equity, and for the cultivation of human capacities in our field.
This panel is part of the series Bodies in Focus; Power, Subjectivity, and Practice in East European and Eurasian Studies. For the full schedule, see https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/creees/content/bodies-focus
Come and celebrate our students' research projects who are enrolled in GER 101-202 (beginner to intermediate levels)
Light refreshments will be served!
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
This research explores the concept of the "queer urban underworld" in late socialist Prague, where hidden and marginalised spaces allowed alternative identities and subcultures to flourish despite state control. Framed by queer theory, spatial theory, and intersectionality, the analysis reveals how these underworlds both reflected nd reshaped power dynamics, social identity, and urban space. Through archival research, mapping, and oral histories, this research uncovers how queer individuals navigated state surveillance and transformed the urban environment.
Join the Center for African Studies and the African Graduate Students Union for a forum highlighting the cultural differences African students experience upon moving to America. Topics discussed include race-related issues that impact African students' academic journey and well being and insights on how to navigate these and similar challenges. The panelists will also share their individual experiences. Come learn, network and enjoy some African dinner!
When: November 15, 2024, University of Pittsburgh Dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m. 4217 Posvar Hall , discussion will begin at 6:00pm (Hybrid)
The book for discussion is Elastic Empire: Refashioning War through Aid in Palestine, by Lisa Bhungalia. Lisa was a visiting professor on Contemporary and International Issues, at the University of Pittsburgh (2016).
"Drawing on extensive research conducted in Palestine, Elastic Empire offers a novel accounting of the US security state. The US war chronicled here is... a quieter one waged through the interlacing of aid and law. It emerges in the infrastructures of daily life... Situated in a landscape where the lines between humanitarianism and the global war on terror are increasingly blurred, Elastic Empire reveals the shape-shifting nature of contemporary imperial formations, their realignments and reformulations, their haunted sites, and their obscured but intimate forms."
The discussion will be facilitated by Lauren Banko, Lecturer, Department of History, Carnegie Mellon University.
Participants will receive a free copy of the book.
Register here: https://www.cerisnet.org/resource/ceris-educators-readers-forum
Join Addverse, a transcultural, multilingual, and intergenerational poetry organization, in the Global Hub for a special celebration of Black Consciousness Day.
Join the History Center for a taste of Czechoslovakian food traditions and immerse yourself in our region’s culinary culture!
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 that explores the historical and cultural significance of recipes passed down through families and communities.
At the museum’s Heritage Kitchen: Czechoslovak program, the Czechoslovak Room Committee will prepare Chiebecky, a popular Slovak country dish.
Samples of the delicious dish 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.
Admission:
The program is $10 for non-members and FREE for History Center members. Admission to the program also includes full access to the Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum on Saturday, Nov. 16.
The event will be held in the museum’s third floor Weisbrod Kitchen Classroom. Doors open at 10:45 a.m.
Capacity is limited for this event. Please register in advance online to reserve your spot!
For additional questions, please contact programs@heinzhistorycenter.org.
