Events

2nd Annual European Heritage Day Saturday, August 23, 2025
11 a.m. to close Kennywood Park
Sponsored by The Tamburitzans and the Lithuanian Citizens Society of Western PA (LCSWPA)
Order your discounted Kennywood admission tickets online at
https://tamburitzans.ludus.com/200487161
Join us for a day of food, fun, and festivities! Experience your favorite Pittsburgh amusement park while also sampling ethnic foods, connecting with the community, and seeing authentic songs and dances from around the world
The special price for the “One-Day Park Admission” and ride all day is $27.99 (Plus fees equals $30.14) only for the day of the event. The lowest online ticket price for that day is $39.99 + fees. Thus, our price represents a savings of $12.
The Tamburitzans will be selling tickets for their performance, and we will be selling Lithuanian food like last year. The link for tickets also allows you to preorder food along with your tickets. While it is not necessary to pre-order food, it will help us ensure there is enough of each item available.
You don’t have to be Lithuanian or a Tamburitzan to attend. Everyone is welcome to join us on Saturday August 23rd. Invite your family, grandkids, neighbors, friends & out of towners!.
Mark your Calendar, See you at Kennywood.
-The Lithuanian Team.

Join the Spanish Club for a conversation table as they welcome everyone back to school and talk about goals for the new school year!

European Studies Center Brown Bag Lunch and Learn Series
This “lunch and learn” session will present the preliminary results of Dr. von Dirke research for her upcoming book titled "East Asian Diaspora in Germany Today."
Dr. von Dirke will discuss how images of minoritized populations shape perception in today’s highly differentiated media societies. Her research aims to map the circulation of Asian clichés and stereotypes in public discourse. These stereotypes, clichés and tropes are, of course, rooted in the German colonialist project. She uses the 1970s ABC television series, Kung Fu, to analyze how these colonialist images are refracted through US-American popular media, such as television shows, in the case of West Germany since 1945.
Bio:
Sabine von Dirke is Associate Professor in the German Department at Pitt and focuses on the political and cultural developments of Germany since 1945 within a European context. Previous scholarship analyzed sub- and counter-cultural developments in (West) Germany (1960s student movement 1960s, politically motivated violence of the Red Army Faction; the politics of popular culture (Neue Deutsche Welle, German Hip Hop, Pop Literature of the 1990s). Her current research explores the politics of representation with respect to Germans of Color, mostly Asian Germans, within Germany’s public television and digital media landscape, with a focus on the 2nd generation’s self-articulation. A second project explores the ideological labor televisual entertainment formats perform in maintaining the political and economic status quo.

The Global Appalachia Reading Group examines the complex intersections of regional identity, global influence, and environmental justice as they pertain to Appalachia and its connections to the wider world. The Fall 2026 theme is "Place."
Session 1 Book, September 17, 2025: Appalachia in Regional Context: Place Matters, edited by Dwight B. Billings and Ann E. Kingsolver
Session 2 Book, October 22, 2025: Affrilachia by Frank X. Walker
Session 3 Book, November 19, 2025: Making Our Future: Visionary Folklore and Everyday Culture in Appalachia  by Emily Hilliard
Copies of the books will be available for those planning to attend the event. Please stop by the Global Studies Center (4100 Posvar Hall) to pick up your copy. If you need the books shipped, that can be arranged.
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.

Join us for an African fashion show to kick off our Celebrate Africa Festival!

Join German Club at Pitt weekly meetings to improve language skills and cultural knowledge of German speaking regions!
German Club will meet in the Global Hub every Monday during Fall 2025 semester, starting September 8 and ending December 1, EXCEPT on November 24.

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.
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.
The September 25, 2025 workshop will focus on the book, "Lark Ascending," by Silas House.
For more information and to register, please go to: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/global/GILS .

Victoria Harms, Associate Teaching Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University and author of the book The Making of Dissidents: Hungary’s Democratic Opposition and Its Western Friends, 1973-1998 (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2024) in conversation with Gregor Thum, Associate Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh. Introduction by Kati R. Csoman, Director of the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs.
Co-sponsors to list are: Hungarian Room Committee of the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, the History Department, World History Center, European Studies Center, Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.
Where: 4130 Posvar Hall
When: 4pm - 5pm October 6th
What: Interview followed by a Q&A segment

Displacement disrupts our understandings of borders, identity, and home. We invite you to a dynamic, faculty-led roundtable that explores the pressing and complex themes of displacement, territoriality, and belonging through a multidisciplinary lens. Drawing on the lived experiences of Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Jordan, this discussion will delve into how these realities challenge traditional frameworks and open new avenues for research and teaching.
Together, we’ll critically examine the varied roles and responsibilities of the Global North and South in addressing the ongoing refugee crisis. The roundtable will also spotlight a range of innovative research methodologies for engaging with transnational, interdisciplinary issues.
Faculty participants will receive a complimentary copy of Displacing Territory: Syrian and Palestinian Refugees in Jordan.
Register Here:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfqum4WVIt0eVH8PjsM9RYc0ztFJyMg...