(The Pitt in Romania: Identity and Global Politics program is a five-week program that will immerse students in Romania's political, economic, social, and cultural environments. The questions that motivate this program are: by what processes do people construct (trans)national identities and what are their historical and contemporary socio-political consequences? By engaging with these questions in the Romanian context, and particular attention to the experiences of ethnic, national, religious, and gender minorities, students will: (1) examine how people in Romania come to see themselves as Romanians; (2) explore tensions, contradictions, and conflicts that arise from varied conceptions of nationality; and (3) investigate how national and European identities interact in the institutional context of the European Union and against the backdrop of Romania’s historical transition from Socialist totalitarianism to Capitalist parliamentary democracy. Students will become more proficient in historical developments specific to Romania, East Europe, and the EU and strengthen their ability to identify generalizable socio-political processes.

The program, which will start in May 2024, will include

• Two weeks in Bucharest, Romania
• Two weeks traveling by charter bus in the Transylvania region of Romania including various cities (such as Brasov, Sibiu, Sighisoara, Deva, Alba Iulia, and Cluj-Napoca), villages (such as Piscu, Viscri, and Biertan), castles/fortresses (such as Peles, Bran, Rasnov, Rupea, and Hunedoara), churches, archeological sites (such as Sarmisegetuza Regia), and other culturally important places. 
• One week in Brussels, Belgium.​

Courses: 

• PS 1650: Processes of Identity Formation​ - This course foregrounds theoretical perspectives on meaning-making about “selves”—that is, how do “selves” acquire and/or form identities? In the context of contemporary Romanian society, students will engage with commonly circulating, socially salient identity framings (related to nationality, religion, ethnicity/race, class, sex/gender, sexual orientation, etc.) and consider how they take shape and evolve through social interaction. We will examine social processes including self/other recognition, use metaphor, traumatization and healing, memory-making, institutionalization of narratives, and migration. 
• PS 1521: Eastern Europe in World Politics - Since the nineteenth century, Eastern Europe has undergone one of the most breathtaking political and socioeconomic transformations. Imperial ambitions, contentious politics of fin de siècle European nationalisms, the destructiveness of two world wars, experiments with socialism, political revolutions, transitions to capitalist democracy, and European integration (re)shaped the lives of hundreds of millions of people across twenty countries. Moreover, the region continues influencing global politics, as a site of the major geopolitical contestation between the “West” and its challengers. Contextualized in regional history since 1848, and through immersive case study in contemporary Romania, this course explores a wide array of social, political, economic, and cultural processes across local, national, regional, and global levels of analysis.

​Check the Pitt GEO page for application deadlines and more details. 

Pitt in Romania 2024 Photo Album - click here for more