Events

Language Table: Hungarian Conversation and Tutoring
- Viktoria Batista
- 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
- Braun Room (12th Floor), Cathedral of Learning
Tuesdays, 4-5pm
Braun Room (12th Floor), Cathedral of Learning
Come to chat, practice, meet others who are interested in Hungarian and Hungary! All levels are welcome.
For more info, contact Dr. Viktoria Batista (vib21@pitt.edu)

Information Session: Urban Farm Tours
- 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
- Various

Workshop: Faculty Roundtable: Displacing Territory
- Drs. Karen Culcasi, Michael Glass and Robert Ross
- 1:00 pm
- 4130 WWPH
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...

Lecture: Postponed-The Green Scene: Urban Farmers, Sustainable Communities in Pittsburgh and Berlin
- Dr. Jesko Hirschfeld, Humboldt University of Berlin
- 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
- 4130 Posvar Hall
This event is part of a two-day series focusing on sustainability in Europe and Pittsburgh.
About the Keynote Speaker:
Jesko Hirschfeld studied economics at the universities of Bonn, Frankfurt am Main, and the Free University of Berlin. From 1996 to 1998, he worked as a scientific staff member for the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag), and from 1998 to 2002, he worked on his doctorate with a scholarship by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in the Research Training Group “Agriculture and Environment” at the University of Göttingen. Since 2002, he has been a research associate and later subject area manager for water and land management at the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) in Berlin in the research field “Environmental Economics and Policy.” From 2017 to 2020, in addition to his work at the IÖW, he was a visiting professor for landscape economics at the Technical University of Berlin. From 2022 to 2024, he taught as a visiting professor of environmental economics at Humboldt University in Berlin. He has worked on numerous inter- and transdisciplinary projects on natural climate protection, nature-based adaptation to climate change, land and water use, and integrated coastal zone management, focusing primarily on economic aspects and ecological-economic assessments. In recent years, he has focused on urban ecosystem services provided by urban green spaces, parks, and gardens.

Teacher Training: Displacing Territory: K-12 Educator PD Workshop
- Dr. Karen Culcasi, Michael-Ann Cerniglia
- 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
- 4130 Posvar Hall and via Zoom
Join the Global Studies Center on Wednesday, October 15 from 6:00-7:30 PM ET in 4130 or via Zoom for a presentation by Dr. Karen Culcasi on her book, Displacing Territory: Syrian and Palestinian Refugees in Jordan. Curriculum strategies and resources for K-12 classroom use will also be shared. A limited number of books will be mailed to registrants in advance of the workshop.
Language Table: Turkish Language Table
- Eda Kurtsoy
- 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm
- Global Hub

Workshop: Postponed- Sustainable Cities & Communities: A Transatlantic Dialogue
- Various
- 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
- WPU, Lower Lounge
Final Event of this two-day event
Part I: Panel Discussion
Moderator: Randall Halle, European Studies Center
Panelists:
Dr. Patrick Shirey — Geology and Environmental Science, University of Pittsburgh
Lisa Freeman — Freeman and Family Farm
State Representative Emily Kinkead, PA House District 20, Chair of the Legislative Hunger Caucus
Dr. Jesko Hirschfeld — Humboldt University of Berlin
Part II: Breakout / Discussion Groups
Group A: Urban Farming Challenges and Opportunities
Group B: Climate resilience strategies in cities
Group C: Ensuring nutrition security for vulnerable populations
**Lunch will be provided

Information Session: Vira I. Heinz Program Information Session
- 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
- 810 William Pitt Union
Want to study abroad this summer? You could be selected for a scholarship of $5,000+! Learn more about the Vira I. Heinz Program for Women in Global Leadership (VIH Program) by stopping by this info session. Qualified students will be female-identifying, have a QPA of 3.0 and be a current sophomore or junior with no prior travel experience beyond Canada. Come by even if you are thinking about it for next year!

Information Session: American Councils Info Session
- 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
- Global Hub, Posvar Hall
Interested in studying, researching, or teaching abroad? Join American Councils for International Education to learn about opportunities across Eurasia, East Asia, and beyond. Programs emphasize advanced language study, area expertise, and cultural immersion.
Opportunities for faculty and undergraduate & graduate students:
- Explore summer, semester, and year-long options
- Learn about fellowship, scholarship, and financial aid opportunities
- Connect programs to UCIS global and area studies
Discover how you can build language skills, expand research, and engage globally with the support of Pitt's University Center for International Studies and American Councils.

Lecture Series / Brown Bag: Between connection and disconnection: Global perspectives on youth residential care
- Mary Rauktis, University of Pittsburgh and Singrid James, University of Kassel
- 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
- 4217 Posvar Hall
Both the United States and Germany have a long history of residential care for children, but in the last fifty years have taken different directions on policy and practice.
This lunch and learn will include global information, but will focus on how the workforce in both countries are prepared for children who require out-of-home care.
About the Speakers:
Mary Rauktis, School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh
Singrid James, Dept. of Social Work and Social Welfare
University of Kassel
SIGRID JAMES, PhD, MSW is professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Welfare at the University of Kassel in Germany. She received her social work education in the United States (PhD University of Southern California, 2003; MSW UCLA, 1990) and was tenured at Loma Linda University, Department of Social Work and Social Ecology, in California, USA (2004-2016). She has completed a Fellowship in Dissemination and Implementation Research at Washington University (2010-12) and received multiple research grants in the US and in Europe. She also was the Editor-in-Chief for the peerreviewed journal Residential Treatment/or Children and Youth (2015-2018) and was among the top 100 contributors to social work journal scholarship (Hodge & Turner, 2022). Dr. James has been writing and researching in the area of residential care for over two decades and is part of the International Workgroup on Therapeutic Residential Care. Presently, her projects are focused on cross-national comparisons of residential care.
Language Table: Hungarian Conversation and Tutoring
- Viktoria Batista
- 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
- Braun Room (12th Floor), Cathedral of Learning
Tuesdays, 4-5pm
Braun Room (12th Floor), Cathedral of Learning
Come to chat, practice, meet others who are interested in Hungarian and Hungary! All levels are welcome.
For more info, contact Dr. Viktoria Batista (vib21@pitt.edu)

Reading Group: Global Appalachia Reading Group: Session 2
- 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm
- 4217 Posvar Hall or via Zoom
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.

Information Session: Vira I. Heinz Program Information Session
- 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
- 810 William Pitt Union
Want to study abroad this summer? You could be selected for a scholarship of $5,000+! Learn more about the Vira I. Heinz Program for Women in Global Leadership (VIH Program) by stopping by this info session. Qualified students will be female-identifying, have a QPA of 3.0 and be a current sophomore or junior with no prior travel experience beyond Canada. Come by even if you are thinking about it for next year!

Lecture: CLAS Speaker Series: A Quechua at Pitt and Ensinando português: My journey as a Portuguese FLTA (Foreign language Teaching assistant)
- Thatiellen Ribeiro and Ruth Jimenez
- 1:00 pm
- 4130 Posvar Hall
Thatiellen holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Language from UFT (Federal university of Tocantins) and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Applied Linguistics at UnB (University of Brasília). She has extensive experience teaching second languages, including Portuguese as an additional language for Indigenous communities and non-Brazilian learners. Thatiellen has also worked with minority communities in Brazil, teaching English to young Black, Brown, and Indigenous students. She is currently serving as a Portuguese FLTA through the Fulbright Program at the University of Pittsburgh.
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Ruth Jimenez Nina is a Quechua linguist, researcher and a quechua activist from Bolivia. She holds a Master's in Indoamerican Linguistics from CIESAS México and studied Applied Linguistics to Language Teaching at San Simon University, where she has also taught since 2023. She has been a member of the Indigenous Research Center Taki Unquy in Cochabamba since 2019. Her work centers on sociolinguistics, language acquisition and teaching and anthropological linguistics. She has published academic and opinion papers in Bolivia and México.
In 2020 she was the recipient of the French Institute of Andean Studies' Young Researcher Support Grant to study Bolivian quechua evidentiality. She also contributed as a linguist to the Simi Project (the first Bolivian Quechua App launched in 2024).
She is currently a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant for the Quechua Program at the University of Pittsburgh.

Panel Discussion: Bridging Communities Through Experiential Learning Locally and Globally at the School of Business
- 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
- Global Hub
This session will focus on some of the ways the students and programs are connecting with communities both here in Pittsburgh and abroad through global programs. An interactive panel discussion will highlight the global and local partnerships that have brought some of these programs to fruition. Hear from students and administrators on ways you can get involved through programming as well as how you can highlight your experiential learning for future career opportunities.
Language Table: Suchitra: Hindi Language Table
- Vibha
- 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
- Global Hub

Exhibit: Camera as Passport: The Ship of Photographers
- 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
- American Jewish Museum, JCC of Greater Pittsburgh, 5738 Forbes Ave, Pgh, PA 15217
This powerful exhibition features 36 striking images that trace the remarkable journeys of eight European photographers who, facing Nazi persecution in the 1930s and ’40s, used their cameras as tools of escape, survival, and reinvention.
Curated by:
Deborah Dash Moore
Jonathan Freedman Distinguished University Professor of History & Judaic Studies, University of Michigan
Louis Kaplan
Professor of History and Theory of Photography and New Media, University of Toronto
Exhibition will be on view from August 20, 2025-Jan 30, 2026
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