Events


View a comprehensive calendar of events.

Sunday, April 6

Thomas Kukucka Memorial Lecture: When Ties to Slovakia Remain Unbroken
Time:
2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Presenter:
John Palka
Location:
Cathedral of Learning 332
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies along with Slovak Studies Program and Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Dr. John Palka is a retired professor of biology at the University of Washington with a specialty in neuroscience. He is the winner of numerous prestigious academic awards, including election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, two Fulbright Fellowships for teaching in India, and a Guggenheim Fellowship for research in Cambridge, England. He also co-founded and co-directed the University of Washington's highly lauded Program on the Environment.

A two-time refugee from his Slovak homeland- in 1939 from the Nazis and in 1949 from the Communists- Dr. Palka has retained his love for Slovakia and his fluency in the Slovak language. Over the years he has visited his family in Slovakia often. These experiences inspired his research into the role that many generations of his family played in the national life of Slovakia, laying the foundation for his book My Slovakia, My Family: One Family's Role in the Birth of a Nation.

Tuesday, April 8

Spring 2025 Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Time:
2:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Presenter:
Molly McSweeney
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 Studies Center, Global Hub, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Office of International Services and Global Experiences Office
Contact:
Molly McSweeney
Contact Email:
mcm206@pitt.edu

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!

Wednesday, April 9

Slovak Conversation Table
Time:
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and Global Hub
Contact:
Renata Kamenarova
Contact Email:
rek89@pitt.edu

Join your classmates for Slovak conversation practice in a fun, relaxed environment!

Public Library Activities for the Making of War Memories in Present-Day Russia
Time:
4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Presenter:
Elena Kochetkova
Location:
4217 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies along with Department of History

The presentation discusses the role of local public libraries in shaping memory about the Great Patriotic War in Russia today. With a particular focus on the Northwest of Russia, it will demonstrate how local libraries practice an emotional approach to commemoration, building close connections with their audiences through the feelings and personal histories they convey by means of material objects. Rendering local public libraries as powerful memory influencers in the region, the presentation will show their contribution to promoting local patriotism and remembering the militarized past.

Elena Kochetkova is currently an Associate Professor of Modern European Economic History at the Department of Archeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion at the University of Bergen. She is the author of the monograph "The Green Power of Socialism: Wood, Forest, and the Making of Soviet Industrially Embedded Ecology" (MIT Press, 2024). She is currently working on a monograph on food modernity under state socialism. She is also working within the project "'Memory Politics of the North, 1993-2023", funded by the Norwegian Research Council.

Thursday, April 10

Green Cities for the Future
Time:
1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
Presenter:
Maria C. Taylor
Location:
4130 Posvar Hall
Sponsored by:
Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and Global Studies Center

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently predicted that global average temperatures will rise 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels in the mid-2030s. Over the last decades, a global network of scholars, policy makers, activists, and others have organized to offer ways to mitigate and even reverse the effects of climate change. What offramps can these solutions and movements offer our collective humanity?

“Eurasian Environments” seeks to provide some reflections to mark the UN’s 2024 Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. This series will examine social justice and sustainability efforts to address climate change by putting scholars of Eurasia in conversation with their peers specializing on Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The series will comprise six events that will illuminate the challenges and possible solutions to climate change in Eurasia in regional and global contexts.

This event is part of the Eurasian Environments: Climate Justice and Sustainability in Global Context series.

Tuesday, April 15

Spring 2025 Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Time:
2:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Presenter:
Molly McSweeney
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 Studies Center, Global Hub, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Office of International Services and Global Experiences Office
Contact:
Molly McSweeney
Contact Email:
mcm206@pitt.edu

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!

Wednesday, April 16

Slovak Conversation Table
Time:
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Location:
Global Hub
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies and Global Hub
Contact:
Renata Kamenarova
Contact Email:
rek89@pitt.edu

Join your classmates for Slovak conversation practice in a fun, relaxed environment!

Monday, April 21

Protest and Dissent: Cultureal and Political Resistance in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine
Time:
(All day)
Presenter:
Various
Location:
Humanities Center
Sponsored by:
Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, European Studies Center, Global Studies Center and Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs along with Film and Media Studies, Humanities Center, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Arts and Sciences Dean's Office, Carnegie Mellon Department of Modern Languages and The RIMA Course Development Fund
Contact:
Olga Klimova
Contact Email:
vok1@pitt.edu

This international conference will discuss the various forms of protest in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, with a particular focus on forms of protest in art and media. All forums will take place in the Humanities Center, followed by a screening of The Accidental President (dir. Mike Lerner and Martin Herring, 2024) in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium.

Tuesday, April 22

Spring 2025 Global Distinction Drop-In Hours
Time:
2:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Presenter:
Molly McSweeney
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 Studies Center, Global Hub, Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, Office of International Services and Global Experiences Office
Contact:
Molly McSweeney
Contact Email:
mcm206@pitt.edu

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!

Thursday, May 1

UCIS Graduation Ceremony & Reception
Time:
1:00 pm
Location:
Charity Randall Theatre
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Russian East European and Eurasian Studies, Director's Office, European Studies Center and Global Studies Center

The University Center for International Studies cordially invites students graduating in Spring and Summer 2025 to celebrate their academic achievements and receive their credentials at the University Center for International Studies’ Graduation Ceremony in the Charity Randall Theater followed by a reception in the Schenley Plaza Tent.

Graduating students should look for their personal email invitations from the University Center for International Studies to RSVP and contact their UCIS academic advisor with any questions about the event. For additional details, please contact Laura Daversa at Laura.Daversa@pitt.edu

Reception to follow the ceremony at 2:30pm in the Schenley Plaza Tent.