Join the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs to commemorate the 1848 Hungarian Revolution.
Dr. Judit Trunkos, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Robert Morris University will talk about the importance of the 1848-1849 revolution in Hungary. A reading of the Nemzeti dal or "National Song", the patriotic poem written by Sándor Petőfi, will also be shared. A Hungarian Kokarda will be given to the first 10 guests.
A reception will be held following the program portion in the Frick Fine Arts Building Cloister.
The event is free and open to the public.

Join Brazil Nuts in the Global Hub for weekly Bate-Papo Conversation Hours to meet other students and to practice Portuguese of all levels!

Bate-Papo Conversation Hours are every Monday during Spring semester, starting January 26 and ending April 20.

Hosted by Brazil Nuts

UPDATE: Bate-Papo's meeting on January 26 has been postponed due to weather.

Join the German Club for weekly meetings on Mondays in the Global Hub to practice German and share about German culture! 

Hosted by the German Club

Join us for our weekly Global Distinction Drop-In Hours on Tuesdays from 3-4 pm in the Global Hub! Come learn how to gain experience that will help prepare you for a globally-connected job market, get the Global Distinction added to your academic transcript, receive special recognition at graduation, and stand out to prospective employers.

Taiwanese horror is a rising genre that has claimed an important space in Taiwanese popular culture, particularly in the video game industry since the debut of Detention in 2017. Video games associated with such aesthetics often incorporate elements of Taiwan's local religions, cultures, and mythologies. Furthermore, such horror is evoked not only by fear of the unknown, but also by the unsettling feeling of being forced to live under duress. Although mostly implicit, many Taiwanese horror games contain hints of historical references to the 228 Incident and the White Terror under Martial Law. Malevolent monsters and ghosts become physical incarnations of state-sanctioned violence perpetrated by perpetrators, dehumanized accomplices, and those who were arrested, executed, or silenced.

Chee-Hann Wu is an assistant professor faculty fellow in Theatre Studies at New York University. She received her Ph.D. in Drama and Theatre from the University of California, Irvine. Chee-Hann is drawn to the performance of, by, and with nonhumans, including but not limited to objects, puppets, ecology, and technology. Her current book project, provisionally titled The Unfinished Gesture: Puppetry, Memory, and the Becoming of Taiwan, considers puppetry a mediated means to narrate Taiwan’s cultural and sociopolitical development, colonial and postcolonial experiences, as well as Indigenous histories. Chee-Hann’s work has appeared in Puppetry International, Asian Theatre Journal, International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, and other places. Her most recent research explores video games, VR, and artificial intelligence through the lens of theatre and performance. In addition to her scholarly work, Chee-Hann is the editor and a frequent contributor to Taiwan Insight, an online academic magazine of the University of Nottingham’s Taiwan Research Hub.

The Department of French and Italian are hosting a special Tavola Italiana event to advertise for Fall 2026 ITAL courses

Join the French Club on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6-7 pm during Spring semester for conversational meetings and to practice French speaking and listening skills and create a francophone community on campus!

Hosted by the French Club

Join lead curator Dr. Lina Insana, Associate Professor in the Department of French and Italian, for a gallery talk on the new exhibit, Read the Room! Uncovering the Italian Room's Transnational Traces.

This exhibit, co-curated by students in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences, showcases University Archives from the University of Pittsburgh Library System that document the transnational networks and economic class dynamics at play during the Room's development in the 1930s and 1940s. How did decisions made in Rome and Florence determine the Italian Room’s decorative style and use of materials? To what extent was the Italian immigrant and ethnic community in Pittsburgh involved in these decisions? And at what point did skilled manual labor intersect with philanthropic support and elite decision-makers to bring the Italian Room to completion? Attend this talk and visit the exhibit for answers to these questions and more.

Visit the Hyland Gallery to see this display between February 2026- September 2026. For more details, visit https://www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu/events/history-program-archives-sp... and https://library.pitt.edu/asc-exhibits.

This exhibit and gallery talk are part of the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs Centennial celebration. For more information about the Centennial and related events across the University, visit https://www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu/100years.

Join the French Club on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6-7 pm during Spring semester for conversational meetings and to practice French speaking and listening skills and create a francophone community on campus!

Hosted by the French Club

Join curator Joanna Conings, PhD candidate in the Department of French and Italian, for a gallery talk on the new exhibit, The Women Behind the Walls!

This exhibit is dedicated to uncovering the hidden labor and “affective diplomacies” through which women made the French Nationality Room at the University of Pittsburgh a reality, as evidenced in the University Archives at the University of Pittsburgh Library System. The Women Behind the Walls invites scholars and visitors alike to reconsider how personal agency and affective diplomacy shape, and are shaped by, our shared architectural legacies.

Visit the Hyland Gallery to see this display between February 2026 -September 2026. For more details, visit https://www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu/events/history-program-archives-sp... and https://library.pitt.edu/asc-exhibits.

This exhibit and gallery talk are part of the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs Centennial celebration. For more information about the Centennial and related events across the University, visit https://www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu/100years.

Mangia con noi! Bring your lunch to the Global Hub every Thursday to chat with the Department of French and Italian and practice Italian!

Tavola Italiana will meet every Thursday during Spring semester, from January 15 to April 23, EXCEPT on January 29, February 5, February 12, and March 12.

Hosted by the Department of French and Italian

Join the Center for African Studies on Thursdays to practice conversational Swahili in a social environment.

This professional development workshop series is designed for K-12 educators seeking to deepen their understanding of global issues through literature. This year, we will explore the theme of “The U.S. in the World.” Through global and regional perspectives, we will discuss narratives of a “Global United States,” where the U.S. role in the world and its relationship with other countries and regions is informed by transnational narratives and dialogues shaped by global trends such as migration, environmental issues, human rights, and human conditions. By exploring compelling stories from diverse cultural perspectives, educators will gain insights into the complexities of this theme, its impact on individuals and communities, and how to engage students in meaningful discussions around these topics.

Each session features a carefully selected book, paired with historically contextualized presentations, interactive discussions, teaching strategies, and cross-disciplinary activities to inspire classroom implementation.

The workshop for March 19, 2026 will focus on the book, "The Last Watchman of Old Cairo," by by Michael David Lukas.

Sessions this year will take place virtually on Thursday evenings from 6:00-7:30 p.m. (ET). Three Act 48 credit hours (for PA educators) and a copy of the book are provided for each session.

For more information and to register, please go to: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/global/GILS .

Pitt students: Join Kya Baat Hai, a Hindi-Urdu conversational club that practices language and celebrates South Asian culture, for weekly conversation hours!

Documentary Premiere 100 Years of Sharing Stories of Regional Ethnic Communities Through Spaces that Inspire and Create Cultural Connections
A documentary film produced by Anthem Video which exemplifies the Nationality Room and Intercultural Exchange Program's mission of sharing stories of regional ethnic communities past and present through inspirational spaces and intercultural experiences. The documentary is to tell the story of the program through various thematic approaches, such as reflections on the Nationality and Heritage Rooms & Program history; images of the future; scholarships/academics; multigenerational learning; evolving communities in the Pittsburgh region as reflected through the Nationality and Heritage Room Committees; identity through creative expression – intercultural programming through the Nationality and Heritage Room Committees; and spaces as expressions of identity.

Free tickets can be obtained by registering at the EventBrite site.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nationality-rooms-and-intercultural-exchang...

The University of Pittsburgh's Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, the European Studies Center, and the Graduate Organization for the Study of Europe and Central Asia join Yale University's Macmillan Center to host the 2026 REEESNe Student Conference. This FREE student conference will bring together undergraduate and Master's-level students from the northeast and beyond. The event will feature panels of student research papers, roundtables for presenting student experiences (study abroad, internships, volunteering, etc.), and a professionalization panel with alumni, who apply REEES expertise in a diversity of careers.

Application Deadline: December 12, 2025

Celebrate Women's History Month by joining us for a conversation with inspiring women of the Balkan Community!

Featuring Dr. Deborah Studen-Pavlovich, DMD and Alema Galijatovic Idrizbegovic, PhD.

Sponsored by the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, and European Studies Center.

Yugoslav Room, CL 142

Celebrate Women's History Month by joining the Yugoslav Nationality Room for a conversation with inspiring women of the Balkan community!

Dr. Deborah Studen-Pavlovich, DMD, served as professor, chair, and residency program director of the Department of Pediatric Denistry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine. In this role, she oversaw all of the Department's curricula and activities, including the annual Give Kids A Smile Days. She graduated cum laude from Butler University in 1976 and received her DMD and certificate in pediatric denistry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine.

Dr. Alema Galijatovic Idrizbegovic, PhD, was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1991, she came to the United States as a high school exchange student in Gallatin, TN. After obtaining a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, she started her career at Merck & Co. in 2003, where she held several positions and reached her most recent post as the Vice President of the Nonclinical Drug Safety Department.

Research Presentations on the Nationality and Heritage Rooms
Saturday, March 21, 12 – 3 pm
Reception following in the Braun Room, 12th floor Cathedral of Learning

Affirmation & Erasure: Lessons from the Architecture of the Irish Room - 12:00 – 12:45 pm , Irish Room CL127
Presented by Lovemerry Illin, a December 2025 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies and a minor in Studio Arts. A recipient of the Mary Campbell Cross scholarship, Lovemerry conducted extensive archival research on the Irish Nationality Room, which funded a two-month unpaid internship at a preservation architecture firm in Dublin, Ireland. Her commitment to the field was recently recognized by the Young Preservationists Association (YPA) of Pittsburgh, where she was honored with the Dan Holland Promise Award for exemplary early-career work in Historic Preservation. Lovemerry currently interns with the YPA, managing finances and event programming, and plans to pursue a Master’s degree in Historic Preservation to continue her professional development in the stewardship of the built environment.

The Czechoslovak Nationality Room Collection: Archival Sorting, Digitization, and Hidden Gems - 1:00 - 1:45pm, Czechoslovak Room CL113
Presented by Liv Beckage, a graduate student of Library and Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Beckage hopes to combine her professional values of information access and archival stewardship alongside her passion for language learning and love of history in order to give back to the local community of Pittsburgh’s Czechs and Slovaks. Her presentation will center the recent work she did in sorting through the Czechoslovak Nationality Room Committee Collection for future digitization at Pitt’s Archives and Special Collections.

Women of the Italian Nationality Room - 2:00 – 2:45 pm, Italian Room CL116
Angel Cramer is currently a staff member at the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at Pitt. She graduated in April 2025 with a History thesis entitled “Embracing an Italian (and) American Fascism: The Interwar Politics of Pittsburgh’s Italian American Prominenti, 1929–1941.” Motivated by her thesis work and prior research assistantship within the Italian Department, “Women of the Italian Nationality Room” is the fruit of further exploration of the Italian Nationality Room archives over this past summer.

Presented by Lovemerry Illin, a December 2025 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies and a minor in Studio Arts. A recipient of the Mary Campbell Cross scholarship, Lovemerry conducted extensive archival research on the Irish Nationality Room, which funded a two-month unpaid internship at a preservation architecture firm in Dublin, Ireland. Her commitment to the field was recently recognized by the Young Preservationists Association (YPA) of Pittsburgh, where she was honored with the Dan Holland Promise Award for exemplary early-career work in Historic Preservation. Lovemerry currently interns with the YPA, managing finances and event programming, and plans to pursue a Master’s degree in Historic Preservation to continue her professional development in the stewardship of the built environment.

Presented by Liv Beckage, a graduate student of Library and Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Beckage hopes to combine her professional values of information access and archival stewardship alongside her passion for language learning and love of history in order to give back to the local community of Pittsburgh’s Czechs and Slovaks. Her presentation will center the recent work she did in sorting through the Czechoslovak Nationality Room Committee Collection for future digitization at Pitt’s Archives and Special Collections.

Angel Cramer is currently a staff member at the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at Pitt. She graduated in April 2025 with a History thesis entitled “Embracing an Italian (and) American Fascism: The Interwar Politics of Pittsburgh’s Italian American Prominenti, 1929–1941.” Motivated by her thesis work and prior research assistantship within the Italian Department, “Women of the Italian Nationality Room” is the fruit of further exploration of the Italian Nationality Room archives over this past summer.