Global Issues Through Literature Series (GILS)

Information for the 2024-2025 Series Coming Soon!

2023-2024 Series

Marginalized Voices in Global Context: Centering Overlooked Narratives in Literature

This reading group for K-16 educators explores literary texts from a global perspective. Content specialists present the work and its context, and participants brainstorm innovative pedagogical practices for incorporating the text and its themes into the curriculum. Sessions this year will take place in a hybrid format, with virtual and in-person discussions taking place on Thursday evenings from 5-8 PM (EST). A copy of the book (while supplies last) and 3 Act 48 credit hours are provided for each session.

Register today!

David

Kenley

Dakota State University

Dr. David Kenley is the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Cyber Leadership and Intelligence at Dakota State University. With a PhD in Chinese History, he has published four books and numerous journal articles. Previously at Elizabethtown College (PA) and Marshall University (WV), Dr. Kenley joined the DSU community in 2020. He has a successful record of program innovation, international engagement, grant writing, faculty development, strategic planning, online instruction, and many other critical areas of higher education. Recognizing these accomplishments, he has been asked to speak and provide professional consultations throughout the US and in many countries around the world. Dr. Kenley is fluent in Chinese and committed to the principles of diversity, equity, and international understanding. He and his wife live in Madison, South Dakota.

Nancy

Caronia

West Virginia University

Dr. Nancy Caronia is a Teaching Associate Professor in Department of English and Cultural Studies at the University of West Virginia. Her research focuses on topics related to migration, working class studies, women & gender studies, and Italian diaspora studies. In 2017, she received an NEH Summer Institute fellowship to the Bard Graduate Center’s American Material Culture: Nineteenth-Century New York in support of this project. And in 2020, she received the WVU Library in the Arts Faculty/Staff Exhibit Award to mount the exhibit “Dime Novels: Racialization and Erasure.”

Yasmine

Flodin-Ali

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Yasmine Flodin-Ali is an Islamic Studies PhD Candidate in the Religious Studies department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on the history of Muslims and racial identity from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. She has a background in interfaith and educational equity work, and is passionate about her role as an educator. She has been awarded the Maynard Adams Fellowship for the Public Humanities in 2020, and the Humanities Professional Pathways Fellowship through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Humanities for the Public Good institute in 2021.

Sunnie

Rucker-Chang

The Ohio State University

Sunnie Rucker-Chang works, writes, and researches on the social construction of race and culture as it relates to privileged and marginalized communities in Central and Southeast Europe. In her research, Rucker-Chang focuses on how literature and film contribute to culture and nationalist identities, especially in the creation and maintenance of racialized communities in Southeast Europe. Her other research interests include émigré and exile literature and the application of post-colonial thought to post-socialist contexts. Her research has been funded by the American Association of University Women, Taft Research Center, and University Research Council. She is Co-director and Co-PI of the Howard University Undergraduate Think Tank in the field of REEES. She is also Co-director of the University of Cincinnati STARTALK Russian language programs.

Karen

Kingsbury

Chatham University

Karen Kingsbury is Professor of Humanities and Asian Studies at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, where she chairs the Humanities Department and coordinates the Asian Studies certificate program. Her research fields include Modern Chinese and East Asian literature and film, Asian American literature and film, and literary translation.

Zuzule

Demalalade

Council of Indigenous Peoples

Zuzule Demalalade is Executive Officer and Curator of the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Development Center, Council of Indigenous Peoples in Pintung County, Taiwan.

Tien-Li

Schneider

Indigenous Peoples Cultural Development Center

Tien-Li Schneider is Coordinator for Taiwan Indigenous Cultural Workshops and Co-Curator of Indigenous Culture Exhibitions at the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Development Center in Pintung County, Taiwan.

Dr. Filipo

Lubua

University of Pittsburgh

Filipo was born, raised and partly educated in Tanzania. He did his undergraduate degree at the University of Dar es Salaam, in Dar es Salaam Tanzania. Filipo enjoys teaching. Before coming to Pitt in August 2016, he taught Swahili at the University of Wisconsin Madison, Ohio University and University of Florida. Filipo likes involving himself around activities related to creating and developing digital resources for learning and promoting Swahili language. He is curently a board member of the Global Association for the Promotion of Swahili (CHAUKIDU). Apart from teaching Swahili, Filipo also enjoys writing Swahili novels and poems.

Registration is open to all K-16 educators and administrators. Please note that 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.

Full List of 2023/24 Titles!

A Blue Moon in Poorwater

by Cathryn Hankla

Thursday, October 19th, 2023 | 5 PM to 8 PM

This discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Nancy Caronia, a Teaching Associate Professor in Department of English and Cultural Studies at the University of West Virginia. Learn more about A Blue Moon in Poorwater.

The Roads of the Roma: A PEN Anthology of Gypsy Writers

Thursday, November 16th, 2023 | 5 PM to 8 PM

This discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Sunnie Rucker-Chang, Associate Professor at the Ohio State University and Co-Director of Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Undergraduate Think Tank at Howard University, and STARTALK Workforce Media Development and Year-Long Russian Immersion Programs at the University of Cincinnati. This discussion is co-sponsored by the European Studies Center and the Center for Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies. Learn more about The Roads of Roma.

Halal if You Hear Me: The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 3

Thursday, January 18th, 2023 | 5 PM to 8 PM

This discussion will be facilitated by Yasmine Flodin-Ali, an Islamic Studies PhD Candidate in the Religious Studies department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is co-sponsored by the Consortium for Educational Resources on Islamic Studies (CERIS). Learn more about Halal if You Hear Me.

Hunter School

by Sakinu Ahronglong; translated by Daryl Sterk

Thursday, February 15th, 2024 | 5 PM to 8 PM

This discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Karen Kingsbury, Zuzule Demalalade, and Tien-Li Schneider, and is co-sponsored by the Asian Studies Center and the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia (NCTA) at the University of Pittsburgh. Learn more about Hunter School.

Home is Not a Country

by Safia Elhillo

Thursday, March 21st, 2024 | 5 PM to 8 PM

This discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Filipo Lubua, Swahili Instructor, Department of Linguistics, University of Pittsburgh, and is co-sponsored by the Center for African Studies. Learn more about Home is Not a Country.

Go: A Coming of Age Novel

by Kazuki Kaneshiro; translated by Takami Nieda

Thursday, April 18th, 2024 | 5 PM to 8 PM

This discussion will be facilitated by David Kenley, PhD, Dean of Arts and Sciences at Dakota State University, and is co-sponsored by the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia. Learn more about Go: A Coming of Age Novel.

2022/23 Titles Below:

Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling

by Sabrina Jones & Marc Mauer

Thursday, October 20th, 2022 | 5 PM to 8 PM

The discussion was facilitated by Celena Todora, PhD Candidate, Department of English at the University of Pittsburgh. Learn more about Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling.

All Rise: Resistance and Rebellion in South Africa

by Richard Conyngham

Thursday, November 17th, 2022 | 5 PM to 8 PM

This book discussion was facilitated by Jared Staller, PhD, an Upper School History Faculty member at St. Francis Episcopal School in Houston, Texas, and is co-sponsored by the Center for African Studies and Howard University's Center for African Studies. Learn more about All Rise: Resistance and Rebellion in South Africa.

Threads: From the Refugee Crisis

by Kate Evans

Thursday, January 12th 2023 | 5 PM to 8 PM

This book discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Mark Best, Senior Lecturer in English Literature and Film and Media Studies, and is co-sponsored by the European Studies Center and the Center for European Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Learn more about Threads: From the Refugee Crisis.

They Called Us Enemy

by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, & Steven Scott

Thursday, February 16th, 2023 | 5 PM to 8 PM

This book discussion will be facilitated by English PhD student Sophia Pan from the University of Florida and is cosponsored by the Asian Studies Center. Learn more about They Called Us Enemy

Daria: A Roma Woman's Journey

by Positive Negatives and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Thursday, March 16th, 2023 | 5 PM to 8 PM

This book discussion is facilitated by Sunnie Rucker-Chang, Associate Professor in the Center for Slavic, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies at The Ohio State University, and is cosponsored by the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies at the University of Pittsburgh and the Center for Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Learn more about Daria: A Roma Woman's Journey

Run for It: Stories Of Slaves Who Fought For Their Freedom

by Marcelo d'Salete

Thursday, April 20th, 2023 | 5 PM to 8 PM

This book discussion will be cosponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies. Learn more about Run for It: Stories of Slaves Who Fought for their Freedom.

Banned Book Club

by Kim Hyun Sook & Ryan Estrada

Thursday, May 18th, 2023 | 5 PM to 8 PM

This book discussion will be facilitated by Dr. Seung-hwan Shin, Visiting Lecturer of Korean Studies and Film & Media Studies, and is cosponsored by National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA). Learn more about Banned Book Club

For questions about the Global Issues Through Literature Series (GILS), please contact Maja Konitzer at majab@pitt.edu