Young Russian Scholars to Visit University of Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH—Students from a Moscow university will get a crash course in U.S. urban challenges in a Rust Belt city now known for its innovation, entrepreneurial technology and urban renewal.

The University of Pittsburgh will host the visit March 5–11.

“We are happy to welcome these young Moscow visitors,” said Zsuzsánna Magdó, assistant director of partnerships and programs at Pitt’s Center for Russian and East European Studies. “At a time when our two countries have little on which they can agree, these topics provide common points of engaged examination. We hope this programming will have a transformative impact on these young scholars at a key moment in their professional training.”

The dozen students on the tour are from the School of Public Policy at Moscow’s Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), the largest humanities university in Russia and Europe.

Pittsburgh is the only city the Moscow group will visit. Even though it emerged from its post-steel industry era with a focus on education, medicine and technology, Pittsburgh is viewed by many as a case study of ongoing challenges, including accessible housing, income disparity, transportation issues and gentrification.

The visit, supported with funding from the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and Pitt’s Humanities Center, inaugurates a collaborative initiative between RANEPA and Pitt’s Center for Russian and East European Studies.

Stops on the Pitt campus and Pitt-related activities include:

Monday, March 6
10:30–10:45 a.m.
Welcome by Zsuzsánna Magdó, Center for Russian and East European Studies

10:45–11:45 a.m.
“Pittsburgh and the American Rust Belt”
David Miller, professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
Both events take place in Room 249, Cathedral of Learning.

Tuesday, March 7
9–10:15 a.m.
Visit to the WonderLab at Pitt’s Falk Laboratory School
4060 Allequippa St., Oakland

11 a.m.–noon
Tour of Pitt’s Energy Innovation Center
1435 Bedford Ave., Uptown

3–4 p.m.
Pitt’s Student Accelerator Program
Greg Coticchia, director, Blast Furnace, Innovation Institute
Evan Facher, senior director, Innovation Commercialization, Innovation Institute
130 Thackeray Ave., Oakland

Thursday, March 9
2–3:30 p.m.
Public Art Walking Tour
Hosted by Drew Armstrong, director of Pitt’s Architectural Studies Program
Downtown Pittsburgh

The RANEPA group also will visit and meet with representatives of ACTION-Housing, Braddock Films, Chevron, City of Asylum, the Commission on Human Relations, the Hazelwood Initiative, the offices of Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Braddock Mayor John Fetterman and the RAND Corporation, among others.

The full itinerary can be found here.

###

3/1/17/jw/rkc