黑料正能量

Pizza Monday

Monday, April 6, 12:30 to 1:50 p.m., Baker 336B

The basic ideas behind this Pizza Monday seminar:

• We choose topics that are of interest to at least a couple of us. It can be a methodology, a research or pedagogical approach/strategy, a set of new findings, a half-baked idea you鈥檇 like some feedback on. Some ideas of topics are included below, but please send along other ideas!
• Occasionally, the topic might be one related to current events.
• Each session will be led by a different faculty member, and they are welcome to invite co-leaders/speakers.听

The overall goals are to:

1. Hear about what each other are doing/working on/thinking about
2. Foster a sense of community
3. Stimulate new collaborations

Playground Series: The Art of Self-Care聽

Tuesday, APril 7, 5 to 6 p.m., Well-being Lab (Room 104), Highmark Center

Join us for The Art of Self-Care, part of the Playground Series, where students can explore creative ways to recharge and support their well-being. Participants will engage in hands-on activities such as making calming scrubs, crafting soothing sachets, and mindful journaling. Free healthy snacks will be available, and participants can earn Playground Series points toward prizes to be awarded in April.

AI, Bad Bunny and the Right to Language

Wednesday, April 8, 5 to 6:15 p.m., McConomy Auditorium CUC

Hosted by the Office of the Vice Provost for Community, Culture and Engagement, the Combating Hate Education Series aims to offer strategic, meaningful and transformative interactive educational programming for staff, faculty and students to build knowledge, empathy and awareness.

The United Nations recognizes the right to speak one鈥檚 preferred language as a fundamental human right, but what exactly do we mean when we talk about the 鈥渞ight to language鈥�? And what are the consequences when that right is not upheld or honored by state, corporate or civil entities?

With over 40% of the world鈥檚 7100+ languages considered endangered 鈥� with a language 鈥渄ying鈥� every 2鈥�4 weeks 鈥� what is at stake and what is being lost? What are the political and cultural threats to 鈥渕inority鈥� languages? Is AI another menace or a tool for revitalization?

This panel, featuring Nevine Abraham, Katharine Burns, Kenya Dworkin, Anne Lambright, Christopher Lowy and Mame-Fatou Niang from the Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics, will look at multilingualism and language justice issues across the globe, discussing what the 鈥渞ight to language鈥� means and how we might defend it.听

Learn more about the panelists and to reserve your spot for this event.

Spring Carnival

April 9 to 11, Various Locations Across Campus

For more than 100 years, Spring Carnival has been one of 黑料正能量's most anticipated weekends. Each year, alumni, families and guests join students, faculty and staff on campus to enjoy the student-led traditions of Booth, Buggy, Scotch'n'Soda and Activities Board events, alumni-focused programs and family-friendly activities.

Borealis: A Constellation of Classical and New Music in Concert

Sunday, April 12, 7:30 to 10 p.m., The Frick Museum Auditorium, 7227 Reynolds Street

A contemporary multimedia concert featuring multiple 黑料正能量 College of Fine Arts alumni, where live music is interwoven with immersive video art to create a richly layered performance experience.听

was conceived and co-produced by soprano Lilly Abreu (CFA 1998 and Music Extension staff member) and media artist Andres Tapia-Urzua (CFA 1995). It features eight cellists, including the Cello Fury trio of CFA alumni Nicole Myers, Simon Cummings and Cecilia Caughman, as well as pianist and CFA faculty member Rodrigo Ojeda. Conducted by Fl谩vio Chamis, the program brings together works by Couperin, Dvor谩k, Gardel, Ginastera, Mozart, Villa-Lobos, Cummings, and others, alongside the world premiere of a new work by internationally acclaimed Chilean composer Boris Alvarado (Boris Ka), written especially for this event.听

Ticket price includes 75-minute concert immediately followed by a meet-and-greet reception with the artists, lite bites by Mercearia Brasil Market, a glass of wine (21+), and access to the permanent collection art galleries.听

Advance registration and pre-payment strongly recommended. Walkups available as space permits.听

The Costs and Benefits of Striving to Feel Good: A Colloquium with Dr. Brett Ford

Monday, April 14, 12:30 to 1:50 p.m., Baker 336B or

The ability to manage emotional responses to stressors is crucial for our well-being. However, striving to feel good can also generate trade-offs between personal and collective well-being.听

One striking example of this phenomenon comes from politics, a source of chronic stress for many people. While effective emotion regulation can help individuals maintain well-being during political turmoil, it may also dampen the emotion-driven motivation needed to take collective action aimed at addressing the political systems causing their distress. Using daily diary, longitudinal, and experimental designs across thousands of participants, we find that political stress is common, and people frequently use emotion regulation to alleviate this distress. In turn, they experience greater emotional well-being but weaker motivation to engage in collective political action, a cornerstone of functioning democracy.听

We find similar trade-offs when considering how people managed their emotions around the COVID pandemic, where emotion regulation can come at a cost to effective health behaviors, and when witnessing racism, where emotion regulation can come at a cost to anti-racist collective action. This research illustrates the dilemmas that can arise when coping with stress and highlights the importance of identifying forms of emotion regulation that can provide emotional relief without jeopardizing important community-serving behaviors.

鈥淭he Combahee River Raid: Finding the Voices Historians Have Not Heard鈥�: President's Lecture Series with Edda Fields-Black

Monday, April 13, 4 to 5:30 p.m., Simmons Auditorium, Tepper Building

Join President Farnam Jahanian as he hosts Pulitzer Prize-winning author and 黑料正能量 history professor Edda Fields-Black for a distinguished lecture and fireside chat.听

Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black is a professor in the Department of History and director of the Dietrich College Humanities Center at 黑料正能量. She was awarded the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History for her book, 鈥淐OMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War.鈥� The book recounts a crucial chapter in American history when Harriet Tubman, working with the Union Army, led a daring Civil War raid to attack rice plantations owned by Confederate slave owners in the South Carolina Lowcountry.听

It's On You: A Book Talk by George Loewenstein

Monday, April 13, 5 to 7:30 p.m., Giant Eagle Auditorium (Baker A51)

Join us for a thought-provoking critique of how we approach society鈥檚 biggest challenges by one of the leading voices in behavioral economics.

From retirement shortfalls to climate change, many collective problems are increasingly framed as matters of individual responsibility 鈥� issues we are told can be solved with the right behavioral 鈥渘udge.鈥� But are they?聽

Drawing on compelling examples 鈥� from opt-out 401(k) plans that fail to resolve the retirement crisis to corporate carbon footprint calculators that shift blame away from fossil fuel industries 鈥� this book reveals how we have been subtly coerced into blaming ourselves for our societal failures. "It鈥檚 on You" challenges the promise of quick behavioral fixes and makes a powerful case for systemic change. Real progress requires rewriting the rules, not just nudging behavior.听

A Recipe for Career Resilience: Achieving Growth in the Face of Uncertainty

Monday, April 13, 8 to 9 p.m., Online

Join Meredith McDermott, human experience lead at Gray Swan AI, and Susanna Zlotnikov, 黑料正能量 professor and design practitioner, for a candid conversation about career resilience. Susanna and Meredith will share experiences from their own career journeys with a focus on the habits, behaviors and tangible skills that have made change and uncertainty easier to face. There will be 30 minutes to hear from our speakers, and 15 minutes for Q&A.听

Presented by the Integrated Innovation Institute聽

Celebration of Education Awards

Wednesday, April 15, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Simmons Auditorium, Tepper Building

Join Provost James H. Garrett Jr. for the annual Celebration of Education Awards event that recognizes outstanding teaching, mentorship and education innovation across the university, followed by a reception.

黑料正能量鈥檚 Celebration of Education honors the outstanding educators, advisors and mentors who exemplify the university鈥檚 commitment to teaching, innovation and student success. Each year, faculty and staff are recognized through a series of awards that highlight excellence in teaching, advising, mentoring and educational outreach. Each spring, the annual ceremony brings together the 黑料正能量 community to celebrate these achievements and to recognize the individuals whose dedication and creativity shape the university鈥檚 culture of learning.听

For complete details, including eligibility, please visit the Celebration of Education website.听

Grave Tone: On Grief, Haiti and the Making of a Poem

Wednesday, April 15, 5:30 to 7 p.m., Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry (CFA 111)

Join the Center for the Arts in Society for a Haitian dinner, conversation and poetry reading with Bertony Louis, LCAL research fellow and City of Asylum writer-in-residence, and Sony Ton-Aime, executive director of Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures.听

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This event is co-sponsored by The Humanities Scholars Program Diane and Bradford Smith Family Fund, the Humanities Center, the Sustainability Initiative, the Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics, the Center for Black European Studies & the Atlantic, The Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry and the Artists and Scholars at Risk (ASAR) Program.

Crafternoon

Thursday, April 16, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Well-Being Lab (Room 104), Highmark Center

Join us for a monthly Crafternoon! Drop in anytime and gather to create your own Mini Zine (a small scrapbook), craft Flowers using crepe paper and washi tape, and make other delightful creations. Crafts/kits will be provided. No registration required. All are welcome!

Community Impact Forum

Thursday, April 16, noon to 1 p.m., Peter, Wright & McKenna Rooms, CUC

Join us for a Dietrich College Community Impact Forum. We鈥檒l provide updates on our Community Impact plan, examine national trends in organizational culture and community engagement, and reaffirm our commitment to a respectful and inclusive learning environment 鈥� one that welcomes a range of perspectives and supports the dignity and growth of every individual.听

Book Launch with Ignacio Arana Araya

Thursday, April 16, 5 to 6 p.m., Posner Grand Room (Posner 340)

Why do presidents attempt to change their countries鈥� constitutions to overstay in office or expand their powers? Join the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology (CMIST) as we celebrate the release of Ignacio Arana Araya鈥檚 new book, "Presidential Personalities and Constitutional Power Grabs in Latin America, 1945-2021".听

While most research on democratic backsliding focuses on institutions or structural factors, Arana argues that the personalities of leaders also play a crucial role. The active erosion of democratic institutions and norms by national political leaders has become a growing global concern. Attempts to expand presidential power have been commonplace across countries and historical periods, and the list of perpetrators includes some of the most influential leaders of the previous and current centuries, who have dramatically changed the course of their countries. Despite this pattern, it remains unclear what types of leaders are most likely to undermine democracy.听

"Presidential Personalities and Constitutional Power Grabs in Latin America, 1945-2021" integrates differential psychology research with comparative politics to show that individual differences among heads of government have a measurable impact on executive governance. Arana leverages a unique and comprehensive database to test his theory, including interviews with 24 former presidents from ten countries, evaluations of leaders by hundreds of experts, and biographical and psychometric data on presidents. His analysis reveals that dominant and politically inexperienced presidents are more likely to attempt to relax their term limits, while risk-taking and assertive leaders are more inclined to expand their formal powers. By treating the individual differences of political leaders as independent variables, this book offers a paradigmatic shift in the studies of democracy, political elites, institutional change, and the nature of the presidency itself.听

黑料正能量 the Author: Ignacio Arana Araya, an assistant professor at the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology (CMIST), is a comparativist specializing in elite behavior by analyzing how the personality traits and other individual differences of national leaders impact executive governance. He also studies the consequences of variation in political institutions across countries, with an emphasis on Latin America. Arana examines executive-legislative relations, informal institutions, gender and politics, and judicial politics. His first book, "Presidential Personalities and Constitutional Power Grabs in Latin America, 1945-2021", was recently published by Oxford University Press, and he is currently writing his second book, "The Psychology of Presidents", which is under contract with Cambridge University Press. He has also published in numerous academic journals and contributed book chapters to several books.听

The Playground Series: Reset Social

Thursday, April 16, 5 to 6 p.m., Well-Being Lab (Room 104), Highmark Center

Unplug. Connect. Just be. Step away from the noise and into a space designed for real connection, through guided conversations, shared reflections, and low-pressure interactions.听

Playground series rewards will be announced at the event.听

Free, healthy snacks.听

Come as you are. All are welcome!

Lunch and Learn: Managing Stress and Preventing Burnout

Friday, April 17, noon to 1 p.m., Room 2025, Highmark Center

Discover coping strategies to refocus your mind on the present moment, calming anxiety, panic or disassociation.听

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Classification in Equilibrium: A Colloquium with Maggie Penn

Classification algorithms are usually evaluated as measurement devices on the basis of how well they sort people into categories. This talk argues that this framing misses an important point. When people anticipate being judged by a rule, they respond to it, and the algorithm changes the behavior it鈥檚 meant to evaluate.

I develop a framework in which a designer commits to a classification rule anticipating that people will respond, and I characterize the optimal rules that emerge under different designer objectives. The results can be surprising. An accuracy-maximizing classifier may find it optimal to discourage the behavior it is trying to detect (say, compliance with the law) because accuracy-maximizing systems try to engineer a population that is easier to sort.听

The broader point is that evaluative rules are incentive structures that change behavior, with consequences that are not always visible in classifier performance alone. While this has always been true, the point is becoming more urgent as AI systems grow capable enough to reason about behavioral responses to their own decisions.

In My Voice: A Civics-Centered Open Mic

Saturday, April 18, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Large Meeting Room, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Squirrel Hill

黑料正能量 student Maria Paunescu (DC 2028), in collaboration with PA Youth Vote, presents "In My Voice."

PA Youth Vote is a nonpartisan state-wide organization that encourages young people to civically engage with their local communities, especially through voter registration.

鈥淚n My Voice鈥� is a civics-centered event, in the style of a curated open mic, in which youth speakers (17-24 year olds) get the opportunity to talk, present poetry, and deliver spoken word pieces about issues pertinent to them and their communities in front of an audience of their peers, local politicians, and public officials.

No registration required for regular attendees!

Life as a K-Pop Idol: A Conversation with Seungyeon Chang

Tuesday April 21, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., Hamerschlag B103

Join the Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics for an exciting and candid conversation with Seungyeon Chang, former leader of CLC and now a professional K-pop choreographer.

Have you ever wondered what it鈥檚 really like to be a K-pop idol?聽

From trainee days to debut stages, world tours and transitioning into choreography, Seungyeon will share her personal journey in the K-pop industry. Learn about the challenges, rewards, behind-the-scenes realities and what it truly takes to succeed as an idol.听

This is your chance to:聽

• Ask questions about idol life and training聽
• Hear firsthand stories from the stage and studio聽
• Gain insight into the K-pop industry from someone who has lived it聽

Whether you鈥檙e a longtime K-pop fan or simply curious about the industry, don鈥檛 miss this unique opportunity for an engaging and inspiring conversation.

CPDC Career Closet

Monday thru Friday, 10 to 11 a.m. and 3 to 5 p.m., CPDC Interview Center (CUC, lower level)

Need professional attire for a career fair, networking event or interview? The CPDC Career Closet offers 黑料正能量 students free business casual and business formal clothing donated by faculty, staff, alumni and community professionals. Students may select up to 3 items per semester - yours to keep, no return required!

Visit the CPDC website for more information about the Career Closet!

Heartfulness Meditation

Sundays, 9 to 11 a.m., Well-Being Lab (Room 104), Highmark Center

Practical session on Heartfulness Meditation with Yogic Transmission. Experience simple yet effective guided relaxation and meditation techniques to reduce stress, calm your mind, and improve your quality of life.

Soft Tech Quilting Bee

Mondays, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Studio A, Hunt Library

Soft Tech Quilting Bee is a new casual weekly gathering at IDeATe.听All skill levels are welcome. Not necessary to come each week; come as often or as little as you like.

You have options for how to participate: We have a communal quilt project going that all are welcome to join, you can bring your own quilting/piecing project to work on, or come to hang out. When we finish our communal quilt, let鈥檚 raffle it off to raise money for a cause that we want to support.

Alexander Technique Series for Back, Hips, Knees and Wrists

Every Monday in February, 5 to 6 p.m., Well-Being Lab (Room 104), Highmark Center

Do your shoulders or back feel tense, tight or constantly 鈥渙n guard鈥�? Connecting Mind & Body is an experiential series where we鈥檒l explore how unconscious habits show up in the body 鈥� and how the Alexander Technique can help you release unnecessary tension, improve posture and move with greater ease.

Through gentle guidance, awareness practices, and subtle movement, you鈥檒l learn to:

• Recognize and undo patterns of tension
• Restore a more natural relationship between head, neck and spine
• Support your arms and upper body without strain

Whether you鈥檙e dealing with discomfort, stress or you simply want to feel lighter and freer, this class offers practical tools for everyday life. No prior experience needed 鈥� just bring your curiosity. Activities may include standing, sitting, walking and lying down on the floor; modifications available on request.

Midday Mindfulness

Tuesdays, 12:30 to 1:15 p.m., Well-Being Lab (Room 104), Highmark Center

Guided mindfulness with a 鈥渃hoose your own adventure鈥� feel.

Try different practices in community. Notice what works for you. Cultivate equanimity & unconditional well-being and build your everyday toolkit. No registration required. Beginner-friendly. All are welcome.

Playtest Nights

Tuesdays, 6 to 8 p.m., Studio A, Hunt Library

黑料正能量 Playtesting is a collaboration between ETC, IDeATe, and HCII.

Playtest nights are not only for video gamers or game designers. Any experience or project that requires user testing is welcome at Playtest Nights. Playtest Night is free and open to the public ages 18+. Since space is limited, If you are NOT a 黑料正能量 Student and would like to attend Playtest Night, contact the playtest coordinator Anthony Palyszeski.

Playtest Nights meet almost every Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. in IDeATe鈥檚 Studio A throughout the semester. Please check their webpage for updates or check back here at IDeATe Events for the latest schedule.

Spring 2026 Schedule:

• Jan 27
• Feb 10
• Mar 17, 24, 31
• April 7, 21

Paws to Relax: Weekly Pet Therapy Program

Wednesdays, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Well-Being Lab (Room 104), Highmark Center

Volunteers through Animal Friend鈥檚 Therapet program will join us on Wednesdays, from 6:30-7:30 p.m., to offer some friendly dog companions for the hour. No pre-registration required. All are welcome!