Grants to link Pitt Schools, world

Working to bridge international barriers, Pitt has crossed a number of borders within the… Working to bridge international barriers, Pitt has crossed a number of borders within the University.

Pitt’s Global Studies Program received five Global Academic Partnership grants of $20,000. The grants are designed to strengthen interdisciplinary research and curriculum development regarding global themes, as well as to increase scholarly ties here at Pitt.

The grants, a joint initiative of the University Center for International Studies and the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, will support research conferences on global issues organized by faculty from two or more Pitt schools.

The first grant will support an international conference about societal inequality, examining the relationship between the overall distribution of resources and health, both individually and collectively. The conference is planned for May 2006 at Pitt, said group member Salvatore Babones.

Babones said he and his group members were “pleasantly surprised” to receive the grant, which will provide the minimum amount of funding needed to hold the conference. Babones and the other coordinators for the conference hope to raise additional funds.

The second grant will support an international workshop in the spring, bringing together Pitt and Russian scientists. A large, interdisciplinary group of Pitt behavioral, medical and public health scientists will combine efforts with Russian bio-behavioral scientists concerned about controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS in the eastern region of the Russian Federation.

Pitt’s Office of the Provost and University Center for International Studies co-sponsored these first two grants.

The third grant will support a research conference on high-end outsourcing, focusing on activities and functions that add significant value and are strongly knowledge-based. Such activities include research, design and enhanced manufacturing — jobs that are often contracted to offshore organizations.

This award is co-sponsored by Pitt’s International Business Center, within the Katz Graduate School of Business.

The fourth grant will support an October 2005 conference marking the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. It will involve foreign partners from the University of Augsburg in Germany and the University of Ghent in Belgium.

Law and business professionals from around the globe will attend the conference to discuss the development of uniform law for international business and the goal of uniform interpretation of that law. They will also speak about applying it in a way that allows more predictable and efficient trade relationships.

Group member Ronald Brand, a professor in Pitt’s School of Law, said the conference would be held in the Teplitz Moot Memorial Courtroom of the School of Law.

“The conference, as planned, will require more than $20,000, since we are bringing in major experts from around the world. We have obtained additional support from the International and Comparative Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and cooperating European universities [the University of Ghent and the University of Augsburg] will contribute some travel support. We will also charge a fee for attendance and provide continuing legal education credit for practicing lawyers,” Brand said.

This award is co-sponsored by Pitt’s School of Law.

The final group will hold a workshop exploring the consequences of post-Sept. 11, 2001, immigration policies on both immigrants and institutions, including universities and corporations in the European Union, Russia and the United States.

Group member Donna Gabaccia, a Mellon professor of history, said she was surprised to receive the grant.

“In the past, I have experienced difficulties finding funding for the kind of collaborative but international research projects I have undertaken on Italian migration around the world,”Gabaccia said.

Gabbacia said the conference would be held in Posvar Hall, from April 7 to 9.

The grant is co-sponsored by the International Business Center, the Graduate School for Public and International Affairs, Pitt’s Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies and the Centers for West European Studies and Russian and Eastern European Studies within UCIS.