Wednesday September 15th
Posvar Patio
3:30-5pm
We are pleased to be welcoming Dr. William I. Brustein to the Global Studies Center with our Welcome Reception. Please join us! The event is open to all Pitt faculty, staff, and students.
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Congratulations to our summer graduates!
The Global Studies Center is honored to announce our Summer 2021 graduates:
- Steven Moon, PhD Music
- Caitlin Schroering, PhD Sociology
- Brenna Carse, BA Sociology
- Yanchen Ge, BA Film Studies
- Hanna Svelling, BA Communications and Rhetoric, Italian
- Eunjoo Oh, MA School of Education
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Global Studies Faculty Fellow |
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Dr. Shalini Puri, Professor of English, has been selected as the 2021-22 GSC Faculty Fellow.
Dr. Shalini Puri, Professor of English and recipient of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award, works on postcolonial and cultural studies of the global south with a focus on the Caribbean. Her research spans memory studies, environmental humanities, feminism, marxism, nationalism, indentureship and slavery, fieldwork, the arts, and everyday cultural practices. Puri is also a co-founder of the Pitt Prison Education Project. Her current project, “Writing on Water: Postcards from the Caribbean Anthropocene,” explores the representations and silences of the Caribbean water crisis. It tries to shift discourses of human rights and the Anthropocene by drawing on the sensory and embodied approaches of the arts.
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Global Academic Partnership (GAP) |
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Dr. David Sanchez, Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Assistant Director of Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, has been awarded a Global Academic Partnership (GAP) grant as part of a team project, “Sustainability in Micronesian Island Nations.”
Partnering with leaders across Micronesia this project will develop interdisciplinary and indigenous dialogue/scholarship around the dynamics of several global phenomena (threats to indigenous culture, climate change, environmental degradation, and of particular interest the geopolitical tussle between Chinese and US colonization) converging rapidly in Micronesia.
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Pittsburgh Network for Threatened Scholars (PiNTS) |
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Administered by the Global Studies Center (GSC) with support from the Provost's Office, the PiNTS network convenes diverse local and national partner organizations to bring threatened scholars, artists, and practitioners to Pitt and to Pittsburgh. Our program aims to provide scholars with safe and stable working and living environments as a way of helping them to regain their footing, rebuild their professional networks, and reset their careers.
By leveraging the Provost's funding with GSC endowment monies and partnerships with national organizations like the Artist Protection Fund and the Scholar Rescue Fund, we provide our visitors with a salary, benefits, visa and other legal assistance, and help them acclimate to University and local life. Through our membership of the New University in Exile Consortium, we provide scholars with intellectual and professional development opportunities and a network for engagement with similarly situated colleagues around the world. Our scholars work with Pitt faculty and students – as teachers, interlocutors, and colleagues – and contribute to the rich intellectual life of the University.
PiNTS employs a graduate student intern who assists with relocation and navigating life in the city. Through our partnership with City of Asylum (CoA), some scholars live on their northside campus, where they connect with exiled writers, artists, and musicians and engage the broader Pittsburgh community. This housing, provided at no cost by CoA, helps to stretch our funds further.
In our first two years, we have hosted a political scientist from Turkey, a Vietnamese rock star and free speech activist, and a Congolese documentary filmmaker (all in partnership with City of Asylum, and the latter two as Artist Protection Fund fellows). We are preparing to welcome a Cuban dissident couple (a writer and a women’s rights activist) in November (again with City of Asylum) and an Iranian sociologist and legal scholar in late fall (with Scholar Rescue Fund). We also have emergency efforts underway to assist scholars displaced as a result of the changing political situation in Afghanistan.
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Aunel Arneth is a pro-democracy activist, journalist, producer and documentary filmmaker whose work explores human rights, democracy and African political history. He was trained in writing, producing and directing documentaries at the Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis in Senegal as well as in residencies with a number of renowned filmmakers in Congo and France. Aunel has also worked as a producer, editor and journalist for, Human Rights Television, Africa24 and MNTV.
He has directed two medium-length documentaries, Blood and Voting Machine (2020) and Keep Quiet or Die (2020), and is currently in production for another film entitled Homeland or Death. Aunel Arneth’s work has received support from the Congolese Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) and other international institutions.
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Mai Khoi, a Vietnamese artist and activist, is an Artist Protection Fund Fellow in Residence at the University of Pittsburgh, with the cooperation of City of Asylum and the International Free Expression Project. Khoi’s music is an electrifying mix of social protest, traditional forms, and experimental jazz.
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GAP Update: Global Horror Studies Archival and Research Network |
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The University of Pittsburgh’s Horror Studies Working Group (HSWG), directed by GAP grant recipient Dr. Adam Lowenstein, is the umbrella organization that works to link horror studies initiatives unfolding in four different sectors: the Global Studies Center (home of the Global Horror Studies and Archival and Research Network); the University Library System (home of the George A. Romero Collection and the Horror Studies Archive); the University Honors College (home of the “Horror Genre as Social Force” scholar community); and the George A. Romero Foundation (home of vital partnerships and collaborations related to all of these sectors).
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Global Studies Mini/Pop-Up Courses Offerings |
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These courses are web-based and open to K-16 Educators, Pitt staff, students, and faculty, and members of the Global Studies community. |
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Transforming Cities:
Cities and Social Justice
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October 22-24, 2021
PS 1555
1 Credit
Get more information here
Due to economic development and globalization, cities continue to grow with predictions that 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by the year 2050. This course, then, will view cities as hubs where patterns, connections, discussions, and the processes shape such issues as social justice, economic development, technology, migration, the environment among others. By examining cities as a lens, this sequence of weekend courses encourages students to examine cities as a system for discussing social processes being built and rebuilt. With an interdisciplinary focus, the course invites experts from the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, and relevant fields more broadly.
This iteration of the course will explore such topics as: the rapid growth of cities and their impact on fair housing, gentrification, and poverty; the role of human rights cities as models; the role of migration on cities; the role of governance addressing inequality; the need to have access to health care; among others.
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Thursdays 4:30-5:45
PS 1556
1 Credit
Cities are terrains of social and political contestation. It is projected that 70% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050, and cities are major engines of both economic growth and socio-economic inequality. They are central nodes in networks of translocal and transnational migration, including immigration, gentrification, and trafficking; they are at the forefront of efforts to adapt to anthropogenic climate change and address environmental injustices; they are, increasingly, arenas in which people mobilize to demand human rights to food, water, health, housing, education, and more. In this one-credit pop-up course, students will study cities around the world as sites where contemporary struggles for social justice and human dignity unfold.
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Global Studies Students Meet 'n Greets
It’s time to connect! Drop by for snacks and interesting conversation. Meet fellow students from either the global health or global studies certificates. Exchange ideas and learn about opportunities! We’ll have students representing several relevant clubs too!
Global Health Meet N Greet September 23 @ 7 PM Global Hub, 1st Floor Posvar Hall.
Global Studies Meet N Greet September 27 @ 7 PM Global Hub, 1st Floor Posvar Hall.
Global Studies Information Meeting October 20 @ 7 PM, Global Hub, 1st Floor Posvar Hall. An informational meeting for students wanting to learn more about the global studies or global health certificate.
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International Career Toolkit Series
Be prepared for life after Pitt!
This Fall series offers students programming and support for submitting competitive applications to graduate programs, networking with professionals working in variety of fields, and presenting oneself professionally.
Thursday, September 23rd | 6-7PM
Join Jessica Baumgardner-Zuzik, Senior Director - Learning and Evaluation, Alliance for Peacebuilding, as she discusses global efforts in a post-COVID workplace, moving to the country from DC, and adjusting to online work.
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Community and K-12 Educator Programming |
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Global Issues Through Literature Series (GILS)
Imagining Other Worlds: Globalizing Science Fiction and Fantasy
This reading group for K-12 educators explores literary texts from a global perspective. Content specialists present the work and its context and with participants brainstorm innovative pedagogical practices for incorporating the text and its themes into the curriculum. Sessions will continue to take place on Thursday evenings from 5:00-8:00 PM. Books and Act 48 credit hours are provided free of charge.
Save the following dates - registration and titles coming soon here.
October 21, 2021
November 18, 2021
January 20, 2022
February 24, 2022
April 28, 2022
May 26, 2022
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CERIS Book Discussions for Educators
November 19th @ 6PM, in person and online.
Participate in a discussion on the legacy of France's Colonial Rule in Muslim lands, providing historical context to events unfolding in France and in Europe at large. Facilitated by Dr. Jean-Jacque Ngor Sène, Associate Professor of History and Cultural Studies, Chatham University.
Dr. Sène, will lead a discussion focused on the diversity of Arabic sources, archival sources from the colonial registries, oral ethnographic documents, and powerful folkloric testimonies from the early 1900s onwards. The book is a unique springboard for a re-evaluation of (Muslim) Civil Societies’ agency against neo-imperial forces of mass exploitation in our times. Register here.
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Faculty News and Funding Opportunities |
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AY 21-22 Funding For Faculty
The Global Academic Partnership (GAP) grant provides $40,000 over two years to help Pitt scholars build and sustain meaningful global partnerships, to enrich the intellectual environment at Pitt through bringing innovative events and programming to campus, and to support and amplify the priorities of the Global Studies Center (applications due March 1).
The Global Studies Faculty Fellowship promotes transnational research by providing an outstanding affiliated faculty member with up to $15,000 to stage scholarly events or projects; a course release; and, an additional $5,000 for related research, travel, or curricular development (applications due December 1).
New this year, we will provide small groups of faculty members with up to $4,000 to support new and early collaborations oriented to applications for internal or external funding in the future. These collaborative grants are intended to facilitate interdisciplinary global scholarship. The application will be simple and straightforward, and the award will include basic administrative and logistical support of the kind that can be crucial in the early stages of new collaborations. We will also provide small grants up to $2,000 for faculty members to support innovative projects for engaged student learning. Details and deadline forthcoming.
Finally, we will continue to award small research and travel grants this year – though with the caveat that we must follow the University’s guidance on travel. A limited number of grants will be available on a rolling basis. |
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2021-22 Student Ambassadors |
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Caroline Weiss | Global Studies Student Ambassador
'22 Environmental Studies and Political Science, BA
Caroline provides advising for Global Studies student portfolios, supports student programs, gives classroom presentations, and conducts alumni outreach. A native of Lancaster, PA, Caroline is an undergraduate senior majoring in Environmental Studies and Political Science as well as pursuing the Global Studies Certificate in Critical World Ecologies.
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Margie Lynch | Global Studies Student Ambassador
'23 Psychology and Neuroscience, BA
Margie focuses on the development of classroom engagement for incoming students interested in Global Studies. Margie is a junior majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology with an undergraduate certificate in Global Studies.
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Aisling Bartley | Global Studies Student Ambassador
'23 Political Science, BA
Aisling mentors fellow Global Studies undergraduates, plans UCIS Global Hub events and markets the Center around campus. She is a rising junior at Pitt. Originally from Ireland, she now lives outside of Philly. Aisling is studying Political Science, with a minor in Spanish and is pursuing two certificates in Peace, Conflict and Security, and Public and Professional Writing.
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Annette Han | Assessment
'22 Social and Comparative Analysis in Education, PhD
Annette develops quantitative assessments and analyzes data to understand the Center's outcomes. Annette is a computational social scientist who applies data science to domains of education policy, learning analytics, public policy to make positive impacts on the social good-- to improve lives, reduce poverty and enhance education quality. Annette is a fourth-year Ph.D. student at the School of Education. She is an advocate for girls' education and women's empowerment in developing countries.
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Ashlyn Salvage| Engagement
'26 Social and Comparative Analysis in Education, PhD
Ashlyn works on community engagement for the Center, which includes logistics and assessment for the Governor's School, Mini Course and K-16 workshops. Ashlyn is a first year PhD candidate in SCAE with a focus on equity in informal and hands-on STEAM learning.
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Eric Macadangdang | Logistics & Information
'23 Master of Public and International Affairs, GSPIA
Eric is working as the logistics and information intern for the Center. From just outside of Pittsburgh, he is beginning his studies in urban affairs and planning at GSPIA, having completed his undergraduate degree from Pitt in the Spring of 2021.
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Keith Reimink | Media Production
'22 Social and Comparative Analysis in Education, MEd
Keith works on visual material for the Center, turning lectures into educational materials, interviewing students and alumni, and archiving testimonials from the university and the community. A native of West Michigan, Keith is pursuing a degree in education with a focus on digital content and curricula creation.
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Mack Campbell | Communications
'23 Applied Linguistics, MA
Mack is the communications intern for the center, which includes managing social media and other outbound communications. He is a first year master's student in the Linguistics department. His research interest focuses on sociolinguistics. He is originally from Houston, Texas.
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Tahmina Ahmed | Scholars & Logistics
'22 Masters of Public Administration, GSPIA
Tahmina is a first year GSPIA student pursuing her MPA degree. As a child of immigrants from Afghanistan, she speaks fluent Dari and is passionate about working with immigrants and refugees in Pittsburgh.
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Global Studies Center| www.ucis.pitt.edu/global
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