You are invited to the first conference of the Building Inclusive Growth (BIG) Lab, focused on addressing structural barriers to equitable economic growth in low- and middle-income countries. Thursday, September 25 4:30 p.m. Welcome 4:45 Fireside Chat Introduction by Mary Gallagher, Dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs Dean Karlan, Northwestern University, former chief economist, USAID in conversation with Lakshmi Iyer, BIG Lab Director and Professor of Economics and Global Affairs 6:00 Opening Reception Friday, September 26 8:30 a.m.  Gender, Norms and Work Alejandro Estefan, University of Notre Dame & BIG Lab “Outsourcing Policy and Worker Outcomes: Causal Evidence from a Mexican Ban” Paul Novosad, Dartmouth College “Cultural Capital and Economic Opportunity in Rural India” Danila Serra, Texas A&M University “From Jobs to Careers: Understanding Aspirations, Opportunities, and Barriers Among Working Women in South Asia” Moderated by Brenda Samaniego de la Parra, University of Notre Dame & BIG Lab 10:00 Coffee 10:30 Keynote Address Introduction by James Sullivan, Professor of Economics & Director of the Notre Dame Poverty Initiative Ted Miguel, University of California, Berkeley 11:30 Human Capital Jere Behrman, University of Pennsylvania “Starting Strong: Medium- and Longer-run Benefits of Mexico's Universal Preschool Mandate” Taryn Dinkelman, University of Notre Dame & BIG Lab “Economic and Political Effects of Free Primary Education in Africa” Manisha Shah, University of California, Berkeley “Reducing bias among health care providers: Experimental evidence from Tanzania, Burkina Faso, and Pakistan” Moderated by Rebecca Thornton, University of Notre Dame & BIG Lab 1:00 Keynote Address & Lunch Introduction by Eric Sims, Notre Dame Economics Department Chair Pete Klenow, Stanford University 2:30 Trade & Structural Transformation Rodrigo Adao, University of Chicago Booth School "From Heterogeneous Firms to Heterogeneous Trade Elasticities: The Aggregate Implications of Firm Export Decisions" Heitor Pellegrina, University of Notre Dame & BIG Lab "Directed Innovation meets Economic Development: Embrapa and Brazil's Agricultural Revolution" Jing Zhang, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago “Deindustrialization and Industry Polarization” Moderated by Jeremy Majerovitz, University of Notre Dame & BIG Lab 4:00 Coffee 4:30 Political Economy Lakshmi Iyer, University of Notre Dame & BIG Lab “Electoral Redistricting in the World’s Largest Democracy” Nancy Qian, Northwestern University “Chinese growth and support for reunification in Taiwan” Enrico Spolaore, Tufts University “Cultural Remittances and Modern Fertility” Moderated by Enrique Seira Bejarano, University of Notre Dame & BIG Lab For more information, visit the event page. Sponsored by the Kellogg Institute at the Keough School of Global Affairs and the Franco Family Institute

The Chornobyl nuclear catastrophe of April 1986 shook the world. Its radioactive plumes defied borders and sowed fear across Europe. Yet in Soviet Ukraine, Chornobyl became more than a chilling site of ecological and human trauma: it resounded as a clarion call that galvanized new currents of resistance against the Kremlin. A figure long cast out of Soviet society emerged in Ukrainian culture to symbolise this union of hope and despair: the Madonna. Join Rory Finnin, professor of Ukrainian studies at the University of Cambridge and visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame during the 2025-26 academic year, to explore the immediate aftermath of the Chornobyl disaster in searing works of Ukrainian documentary film, poetry, and prose. He will show how Marian imagery invigorated a political movement for Ukraine’s independence and liberty — a movement that played a decisive role in the collapse of the Soviet empire and resonates in Ukraine’s defence against Russian aggression today. This event is open to Notre Dame students, faculty, staff, and visiting scholars. A short reception will follow. About the SpeakerRory FinninRory Finnin is professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge. He established the Cambridge Ukrainian Studies program in 2008. Finnin has curated and organized over 40 exhibitions and cultural events, advancing public understanding of Ukraine’s language, history, and society in the UK and beyond. His research focuses on the interplay between culture and identity in Ukraine, with particular attention to Crimea and Crimean Tatar literature, and his broader interests include nationalism studies, solidarity studies, and cultural memory in the region of the Black Sea. Finnin received his Ph.D. in Slavic languages and comparative literature from Columbia University. He is also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Ukraine, 1995-97). Finnin has published extensively, and his book, Blood of Others: Stalin’s Crimean Atrocity and the Poetics of Solidarity (University of Toronto Press), has received eight international awards, including the 2024 Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies, administered by the University of Notre Dame’s Nanovic Institute for European Studies. Professor Finnin has also served as head of the Department of Slavonic Studies and chair of the Cambridge Committee for Russian and East European Studies. Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.

Disappearance Studies Conference The Journal of Disappearance Studies, in collaboration with the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, invites you to attend its inaugural conference, scheduled to take place from September 29–30, 2025, at the University of Notre Dame. This landmark event marks the official launch of the Journal of Disappearance Studies, edited by scholars affiliated with the University of Bristol, Durham University, and the University of Tampere, which offers an interdisciplinary platform to examine the phenomenon of disappearance worldwide. The conference will convene scholars, practitioners, policymakers, artists, families of the disappeared, and advocacy organizations to explore the socio-political, cultural, and economic dimensions of disappearance. Conference Schedule MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 299:45 AM – 10:15 AM: Opening remarks – Room 1050, Jenkins Nanovic Halls10:30 AM – 12:00 PM: Panel 1, Memory, Art, and Embodied Testimony – Room 1050, Jenkins Nanovic HallsAlison Ribeiro de Menezes – From Disappearance to Disappearability: Natalia Beristáin’s Ruido (Noise, 2023)Cheryl Lawther – The Political Lives of Ireland’s Missing: Ownership, Agency and the Demands of the DeadTeri Murphy – From Indignity to Dignity: Search as HealingPortia Chigbu – For Those Washed Away: State Obligations in Addressing Involuntary Disappearances During Natural Disasters 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM: Break1:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Panel 2, Power, Politics, and Mobilization – Room 1050, Jenkins Nanovic HallsBahar Baser, Shivan Fazil and Élise Féron – Missing in the Shadows: Forced Disappearances of Yezidis and the Search for TruthCarlos Martin Beristain – Criterion of psychosocial work in the investigation of forced disappearances in Guatemala, Mexico, and ColombiaCarmen Hassoun Abou Jaoude – The National Commission for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared in Lebanon: challenges and opportunitiesGerasimos Tsourapas – Colonial Legacies and Authoritarian Circulations in Libya’s Disappearance Regime 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM: Break3:30 PM – 4:30 PM: Evening Keynote, Luz Janet Forero Martinez, Director General of the Search Unit for Missing Persons in Colombia  – Hesburgh Center Auditorium 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM: Reception – Jenkins Nanovic Halls ForumTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM: Panel 3, Legal and Forensic Responses to Disappearance – Room 1030, Jenkins Nanovic HallsLauren Dempster – Forensic Scientists in Transitional Justice: Challenges and Possibilities in the Search for the DisappearedGunes Dasli & Nisan Alici – Understanding Political Responses to Enforced Disappearances in Divided SocietiesMónica E. Nuño Nuño – Jalisco and enforced disappearances: a forensic crisis and mass graves 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM: Break 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Panel 4, Irish Perspectives on Disappearance – Room 1030, Jenkins Nanovic HallsSandra Peake – Orchestrated loss and the Disappeared of Northern Ireland’s ConflictDympna Kerr – My brother ColumbaOrla Lynch – Victims of political violence – a very public traumaPhil Scraton – Disappearance, Loss and Searching: the Cruel Legacy of Mother and Baby InstitutionsJennifer O Mahoney – Disappearing girls and women: Gendered state violence and the ethics of institutional memory in postcolonial Ireland 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM: Book Launch, The Disappeared: The Hidden Victims of Northern Ireland's Conflict by Sandra Peake and Orla Lynch - Room 1030, Jenkins Nanovic Halls 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Panel 5, Feminist & Gendered Approaches to Disappearance – Room 1050, Jenkins Nanovic HallsÉlise Féron – Feminist Approaches to Disappearances - Epistemologies of Activism and ResistanceAnush Petrosyan – War that Lingers: The Embodied Legacies of the Armenian - Azerbaijani ConflictTinotenda Chisambiro – The Stories of the Forgotten: Gendered Narratives of Disappearances in the Second ChimurengaSalina Kafle – Gendered Dimensions of Enforced Disappearances in Nepal: Addressing the Challenges of Women Survivors in Transitional Justice 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM: Break3:30 PM – 5:00 PM: Panel 6, Unresolved Absence and the Search for Meaning – Room 1050, Jenkins Nanovic HallsCath Collins – TBD, e.g., "Seeking 'Destino Final': The Limits of Resolution in Enforced Disappearances across Latin America"Julie Bernath – Syrian women’s everyday practices of ‘accounting for’ the disappearedRahaf Aldoughli – Loss, Loyalty, and the Emotional Aftermath of Disappearance: Syrian Fighters and the Mobilizing Power of AbsenceVilho Shigwedha – Missing people, amnesty, and reconciliation politics: The case of disappearance and unmarked war graves in northern Namibia5:30 PM – 6:30 PM: Evening Keynote, Simon Robins – Hesburgh Center Auditorium  Registration for the conference is free but required. Please contact Elizabet Campos Duarte at eduarted@nd.edu to register.   Originally published at irishstudies.nd.edu.

Disappearance Studies Conference The Journal of Disappearance Studies, in collaboration with the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, invites you to attend its inaugural conference, scheduled to take place from September 29–30, 2025, at the University of Notre Dame. This landmark event marks the official launch of the Journal of Disappearance Studies, edited by scholars affiliated with the University of Bristol, Durham University, and the University of Tampere, which offers an interdisciplinary platform to examine the phenomenon of disappearance worldwide. The conference will convene scholars, practitioners, policymakers, artists, families of the disappeared, and advocacy organizations to explore the socio-political, cultural, and economic dimensions of disappearance. Conference Schedule MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 299:45 AM – 10:15 AM: Opening remarks – Room 1050, Jenkins Nanovic Halls10:30 AM – 12:00 PM: Panel 1, Memory, Art, and Embodied Testimony – Room 1050, Jenkins Nanovic HallsAlison Ribeiro de Menezes – From Disappearance to Disappearability: Natalia Beristáin’s Ruido (Noise, 2023)Cheryl Lawther – The Political Lives of Ireland’s Missing: Ownership, Agency and the Demands of the DeadTeri Murphy – From Indignity to Dignity: Search as HealingPortia Chigbu – For Those Washed Away: State Obligations in Addressing Involuntary Disappearances During Natural Disasters 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM: Break1:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Panel 2, Power, Politics, and Mobilization – Room 1050, Jenkins Nanovic HallsBahar Baser, Shivan Fazil and Élise Féron – Missing in the Shadows: Forced Disappearances of Yezidis and the Search for TruthCarlos Martin Beristain – Criterion of psychosocial work in the investigation of forced disappearances in Guatemala, Mexico, and ColombiaCarmen Hassoun Abou Jaoude – The National Commission for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared in Lebanon: challenges and opportunitiesGerasimos Tsourapas – Colonial Legacies and Authoritarian Circulations in Libya’s Disappearance Regime 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM: Break3:30 PM – 4:30 PM: Evening Keynote, Luz Janet Forero Martinez, Director General of the Search Unit for Missing Persons in Colombia  – Hesburgh Center Auditorium 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM: Reception – Jenkins Nanovic Halls ForumTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM: Panel 3, Legal and Forensic Responses to Disappearance – Room 1030, Jenkins Nanovic HallsLauren Dempster – Forensic Scientists in Transitional Justice: Challenges and Possibilities in the Search for the DisappearedGunes Dasli & Nisan Alici – Understanding Political Responses to Enforced Disappearances in Divided SocietiesMónica E. Nuño Nuño – Jalisco and enforced disappearances: a forensic crisis and mass graves 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM: Break 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Panel 4, Irish Perspectives on Disappearance – Room 1030, Jenkins Nanovic HallsSandra Peake – Orchestrated loss and the Disappeared of Northern Ireland’s ConflictDympna Kerr – My brother ColumbaOrla Lynch – Victims of political violence – a very public traumaPhil Scraton – Disappearance, Loss and Searching: the Cruel Legacy of Mother and Baby InstitutionsJennifer O Mahoney – Disappearing girls and women: Gendered state violence and the ethics of institutional memory in postcolonial Ireland 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM: Book Launch, The Disappeared: The Hidden Victims of Northern Ireland's Conflict by Sandra Peake and Orla Lynch - Room 1030, Jenkins Nanovic Halls 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Panel 5, Feminist & Gendered Approaches to Disappearance – Room 1050, Jenkins Nanovic HallsÉlise Féron – Feminist Approaches to Disappearances - Epistemologies of Activism and ResistanceAnush Petrosyan – War that Lingers: The Embodied Legacies of the Armenian - Azerbaijani ConflictTinotenda Chisambiro – The Stories of the Forgotten: Gendered Narratives of Disappearances in the Second ChimurengaSalina Kafle – Gendered Dimensions of Enforced Disappearances in Nepal: Addressing the Challenges of Women Survivors in Transitional Justice 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM: Break3:30 PM – 5:00 PM: Panel 6, Unresolved Absence and the Search for Meaning – Room 1050, Jenkins Nanovic HallsCath Collins – TBD, e.g., "Seeking 'Destino Final': The Limits of Resolution in Enforced Disappearances across Latin America"Julie Bernath – Syrian women’s everyday practices of ‘accounting for’ the disappearedRahaf Aldoughli – Loss, Loyalty, and the Emotional Aftermath of Disappearance: Syrian Fighters and the Mobilizing Power of AbsenceVilho Shigwedha – Missing people, amnesty, and reconciliation politics: The case of disappearance and unmarked war graves in northern Namibia5:30 PM – 6:30 PM: Evening Keynote, Simon Robins – Hesburgh Center Auditorium  Registration for the conference is free but required. Please contact Elizabet Campos Duarte at eduarted@nd.edu to register.   Originally published at irishstudies.nd.edu.

Learning Beyond the Classics: Voicing Intergenerational Trauma in Postwar Korea and Japan through Contemporary Cinema Directed by Isao TakahataWith Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara Not Rated, 89 minutesIn Japanese with English subtitles When an American air raid kills their mother in the final days of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his 4-year-old sister Setsuko are left to fend for themselves in the devastated Japanese countryside. After falling out with their only living relative, Seita does his best to provide for himself and his sister by stealing food and making a home in an abandoned bomb shelter. But with food running short, the siblings can only cling to fleeting moments of happiness in their harsh reality. Based on the personal accounts of survivor Nosaka Akiyuki, Grave of the Fireflies is hailed as one of the most stunning contributions to animation and cinematic history. Deftly depicting the beauty of the human spirit as well as its devastating cruelty, Grave of the Fireflies is a singular work of art from Academy Award-nominated director and Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata. GET TICKETS *Free for ND, SMC, HC, and IUSB students. **Co-presented by the David A. Heskin and Marilou Brill Endowment for Excellence, Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Public Good, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship/Hesburgh Libraries.

Michele WaslinAssistant Director, Immigration History Research Center, University of MinnesotaCarol CleavelandAssociate Professor of Social Work, George Mason University Moderated by:Cat GarganoKellogg Doctoral Student AffiliatePhD student in Peace Studies and Clinical Psychology As part of Graduate Student Appreciation Week, the Kellogg and Klau institutes welcome Michele Waslin, a Notre Dame alumna, and her co-author Carol Cleaveland for a talk based on their book of the same name. Private Violence exposes how the US asylum system fails to protect Latin American women fleeing severe gender-based violence, including assault and death threats from intimate partners and gangs. The book reveals the legal challenges these women face due to asylum laws rooted in outdated views that persecution must come from state actors, not private individuals. It advocates for policy reforms to incorporate a gender-based perspective in asylum law, highlighting both the system's flaws and the resilience of survivors and their advocates. Presented by the Kellogg Institute and the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights.Michele Waslin is the assistant director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota, where she tracks and analyzes immigration research and policy. She has nearly 20 years of experience in immigration policy research, writing, and advocacy. She holds a PhD in government and international studies from the University of Notre Dame. Carol Cleaveland is associate professor of social work at George Mason University whose research focuses on Latino immigration and gender-based violence. She earned her PhD from Bryn Mawr College and specializes in immigration-related trauma and advocacy for vulnerable populations. For more information, visit the events page.