As part of the Keough-Naughton Institute's fall 2024 speaker series, Professor Peter Shirlow will deliver a lecture titled “The Failings of Irish Republicans and the National Question in Ireland.” Lecture Abstract This lecture will explore how, despite post-Brexit Referendum predictions of a united Ireland by as early as 2021, there has been, at best, limited growth in recorded support for ending partition between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Growth of Northern Ireland’s Catholic population has been less dramatic than predicted and the region now has the fastest growing economy in the UK. Peter Shirlow asserts that in this context, pro-united Ireland campaigns and republican activism, especially via civic fora and social media, have failed to significantly close the gap between Irish unity and pro-union proponents. In this lecture, Shirlow will consider how Irish Republican arguments for unity contain internal contractions: underscoring the economic successes of the South while also indicating its structural deficiencies, or pointing to socio-economic deficiencies of Northern Ireland even while Republicans are co-authors of its new found economic growth. Ultimately, Shirlow argues, the shortcomings of Irish republicanism lie in its inability to read and understand the new sociology of Northern Ireland– particularly temporal and social shifts that potentially render the inevitability thesis of Irish unification inconsistent, if not ineffective, in the short to medium term. Speaker Biography Professor Peter Shirlow (FaCSS) is the director at the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies. He was formerly the deputy director of the Institute for Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, QUB. He is the independent chair of the Executive Office's Employers' Guidance on Recruiting People with Conflict-Related Convictions Working Group and a board member of the mental health charity Threshold. He is a visiting research professor at the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice. He sits on the editorial boards of Irish Political Studies and International Planning Studies. Professor Shirlow has undertaken conflict transformation work in Northern Ireland and has used that knowledge in exchanges with governments, former combatants and NGOs in the former Yugoslavia, Moldova, Bahrain and Iraq. He has also presented talks to members of the US Senate and House of Representatives and is a regular media contributor. Originally published at irishstudies.nd.edu.

Register here Join us for an engaging discussion on the groundbreaking Abraham Accords and their implications for national security, regional order, and popular representation in the Middle East. Signed on September 15, 2020, the accords normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and later Morocco, marking a major shift in regional dynamics. In this event, co-authors of The Abraham Accords: National Security, Regional Order, and Popular Representation (Lexington Books, 2025) will explore the motivations and impacts of this historic agreement. They will analyze how political consolidation, pluralism, and regional alliances have shaped normalization trends with Israel and could influence future developments, especially amid the ongoing Gaza conflict. Moderated by Asher Kaufman, John M. Regan, Jr. Director of the Kroc Institute for International Studies, the panel will provide key insights into Israel's relationships with the six Gulf Cooperation Council states—Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and the UAE—as well as Iran. Don’t miss this opportunity to dive into the evolving dynamics of Middle Eastern politics and diplomacy. Panelists: Banafsheh Keynoush, scholar in residence, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre DameGuy Burton, visiting fellow, Sectarianism, Proxies and De-Sectarianisation Project, Lancaster University  Register here Originally published at kroc.nd.edu.

A professor of music theory at Florida State University and recent past president of the Society for Music Theory, Michael Buchler will discuss the 1959 musical Gypsy (Styne and Sondheim) though an examination of Momma Rose’s music and how it reflects her increasing obsessiveness and decreasing relationship with reality. Originally published at music.nd.edu.

As part of the Keough-Naughton Institute's spring 2025 speaker series, Professor John Morrison will deliver a lecture titled "Presbyterian Martyr John Brown of Priesthill and the Disruption." Lecture Abstract  In 1843 the presbyterian Church of Scotland split along ideological lines. The dispute centered on the question of 'patronage,' or who had the power to appoint any given individual minister: the congregation of the church he was being appointed to, or the principal local landowner. Around forty percent of all incumbent ministers walked out of the Church of Scotland over the issue and established the Free Church. This arcane piece of exclusively Scottish history was a major event in Scotland but not hugely significant (or, apparently, terribly interesting) However, it is more thought provoking than it initially appears. At the time, the 'Disruption' of the Kirk occasioned much literature and painting on and around the event, and the 1844 painting in the Raclin Murphy collection, Thomas Duncan’s sketch for The Death of John Brown of Priesthill relates directly, if metaphorically. Duncan’s subject is historical: depicting an event in the late 17th century, it is about sometimes extremist presbyterian belief, political power and revolution. In this lecture, Professor John Morrison will consider the painting, its 17th century subject, its relevance to its 19th century context, and its relationship to Ireland, Scotland and Notre Dame. Speaker Biography John Morrison took a Ph.D. in Art History at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Following a period at the Yale Center for British Art in Connecticut working on the success of the ‘Glasgow Boys’ in the USA in the late nineteenth century, Professor Morrison joined the Art History Department at the University of Aberdeen in 1992. He went on to be Head of the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy and Director of teaching and learning for Arts and Social Sciences. From July 2019 he became Head of the School of History and Heritage at the University of Lincoln. He has appeared regularly on radio and television and published several monographs on Scottish art and cultural history, including Painting the Nation (EUP), Painting Labour in Scotland and Europe 1850-1900 (Ashgate) and Land and Landscape (Sansom). He is currently working on a volume of historical sources for nineteenth-century Scottish painting for Routledge. This event is co-sponsored by the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art. Originally published at irishstudies.nd.edu.

This event is part of the Kroc Institute’s series on intersectionality and justice as a beneficial framework and methodology paired with peace studies. The series is led by Ashley Bohrer, assistant professor of gender and peace studies, and features a variety of guest presenters who address the potential of intersectional analysis to transform timely global conversations and issues. Since the new millennium, Rwanda has been celebrated as a prosperous country with the highest number of women (61% in 2018) in its Parliament. Yet, President Paul Kagame has been winning Rwandan elections since 2003, and in 2024 was elected to a fourth term with 99.15% vote. Led by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the government has been criticized as an authoritarian state for its repression of political dissidents. Dr. Xianan Jin, lecturer in politics at the University of Exeter, will discuss her book project, "Selective Capital in Women’s Political Participation: Neoliberal Authoritarianism in Rwanda," which investigates the paradox between liberal political inclusion of women and oppressive state control. Originally published at kroc.nd.edu.

The Office of Institutional Transformation, in partnership with the Initiative on Race and Resilience, invites students, faculty, and staff to gather weekly for support and fellowship. Wellsprings: A Time for Connection and Care provides a safe space for members of the campus community to discuss fears and concerns related to social divisiveness. Some sessions may feature presentations or information from campus resources. To suggest a topic, please contact Eve Kelly at ekelly11@nd.edu. Originally published at diversity.nd.edu.