Join an extraordinary opportunity to learn firsthand about ancient Chinese ceramics through the world-famous Imperial Kiln Museum in Jingdezhen, China. This two-part experience will allow participants to hear from the museum’s renowned curator and then restore a replica of one of its most significant pieces. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Register by September 25, 2025 LECTURE & LUNCH: 11:45 a.m.—12:45 p.m. Sunday, September 281030 Jenkins Nanovic Halls Curator Yanjun Weng, the director of the Imperial Kiln Museum, will discuss Chinese ceramics culture—their meaning in history, archaeology, and human life—for this virtual lecture. Weng will draw upon the history of Jingdezhen, known as China’s “Porcelain Capital,” which has been regarded for its porcelain production for 1,700 years. Registration is required. Lunch will be available with registration. CERAMICS REASSEMBLY WORKSHOP 1:00—3:00 p.m. Sunday, September 28, Art StudiosNew location: 1050 Jenkins Nanovic Halls In this workshop, participants will use ancient techniques to reassemble a replica of an artifact from the Imperial Kiln Museum. The “DucKtor Sui” (岁岁鸭) is a royal incense burner with rich historical significance. Participants will experience the excitement of an archaeological dig by unearthing ceramic fragments and then piecing them back together in a restoration process. At the end, participants will take home their restored “DucKtor Sui.” The workshop will be guided by Coleton Lunt, a professor of ceramics and 3D design at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Participation is limited to 45 people, and registration is required. You must attend the lecture to participate in the workshop.  The lecture and workshop are sponsored by the Imperial Kiln Museum, Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures,  and Notre Dame Beijing. It is organized by Notre Dame students Nikki Shao ’26 and Yingxin Cindy Liu ’26.   Originally published at asia.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 (online) – 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 (online) – Forensic Scientists in Transitional Justice: Challenges and Possibilities in the Search for the DisappearedGunes Dasli and Nisan Alici (online) – 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 (online)– 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 (online) – Feminist Approaches to Disappearances - Epistemologies of Activism and ResistanceAnush Petrosyan (online) – War that Lingers: The Embodied Legacies of the Armenian - Azerbaijani ConflictTinotenda Chisambiro (online) – 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 – "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 (online) – 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.

About the Film Immerse yourself in the life of Yonezo Okita as he leaves his home in Hiroshima, Japan, to migrate to Canada in 1935. Experience Yonezo’s peaceful life on a strawberry farm and feel the shock of war and racism that affects his family for generations. Filmmaker Randall Okita pays tribute to his grandfather through interactive and deeply personal storytelling in this room-scale virtual reality film.  Register for the VR Experience Audience members will be able to view this short documentary by signing up for timed one-hour slots at two campus locations at Hesburgh Libraries and Jenkins Nanovic Halls. Staff will be present to assist the user of the virtual reality (VR) equipment throughout the entire session.  Make an Appointment: Fall 2025 Book of Distance Virtual Reality ExperienceAvailable between September 29 and October 6, 2025 Attend the Lecture Join director Randall Okita in person for the free public lecture “Bridging Generations: Memory, Virtual Reality, and the Art of Reclaiming Lost Narratives in The Book of Distance” on Monday, October 6, 5:00 p.m. in 1050 Jenkins Nanovic Halls. About the DirectorRandall OkitaRandall Okita is an artist and filmmaker known for his use of rich visual language and innovative storytelling. His films have screened at Sundance, Venice, Tribeca and TIFF, while his art has appeared in galleries and museums worldwide. With over twenty international awards, including two Canadian Screen Awards, a Webby, and a Japan Prize, Okita continues to push boundaries internationally. Recent work includes the IFC feature film See for Me (Tribeca, BFI London), the VR experience The Book of Distance (Sundance, Venice), the solo exhibition A Place Between at the Prince Takamado Gallery in Tokyo, and Transport to Another World at The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul. Of Irish and Japanese descent, Okita was born in Calgary and now splits his time between Toronto and Tokyo. An active mentor and educator, he believes in fostering creative communities. About the Series The film series Voicing Intergenerational Trauma in Postwar Korea and Japan through Contemporary Cinema explores how trauma is experienced intergenerationally in the family within the context of East Asia. Research demonstrates that trauma has lasting effects that reverberate beyond the victims who directly experience it (Cai and Lee 2022; Cho 2006). Families are the primary site where trauma is experienced and transferred across generations. This series sheds light on how these dynamics play out through a gendered lens within the context of East Asia, which has been profoundly shaped by ethnocentric violence during the Japanese imperial period and World War II, as well as social and economic upheaval following the outbreak of civil wars and the spread of Cold War politics in the 20th century. The series is sponsored by the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, and Hesburgh Libraries with support from the Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Public Good, College of Arts & Letters. Originally published at asia.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 (online) – 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 (online) – Forensic Scientists in Transitional Justice: Challenges and Possibilities in the Search for the DisappearedGunes Dasli and Nisan Alici (online) – 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 (online)– 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 (online) – Feminist Approaches to Disappearances - Epistemologies of Activism and ResistanceAnush Petrosyan (online) – War that Lingers: The Embodied Legacies of the Armenian - Azerbaijani ConflictTinotenda Chisambiro (online) – 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 – "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 (online) – 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.

About the Film Immerse yourself in the life of Yonezo Okita as he leaves his home in Hiroshima, Japan, to migrate to Canada in 1935. Experience Yonezo’s peaceful life on a strawberry farm and feel the shock of war and racism that affects his family for generations. Filmmaker Randall Okita pays tribute to his grandfather through interactive and deeply personal storytelling in this room-scale virtual reality film.  Register for the VR Experience Audience members will be able to view this short documentary by signing up for timed one-hour slots at two campus locations at Hesburgh Libraries and Jenkins Nanovic Halls. Staff will be present to assist the user of the virtual reality (VR) equipment throughout the entire session.  Make an Appointment: Fall 2025 Book of Distance Virtual Reality ExperienceAvailable between September 29 and October 6, 2025 Attend the Lecture Join director Randall Okita in person for the free public lecture “Bridging Generations: Memory, Virtual Reality, and the Art of Reclaiming Lost Narratives in The Book of Distance” on Monday, October 6, 5:00 p.m. in 1050 Jenkins Nanovic Halls. About the DirectorRandall OkitaRandall Okita is an artist and filmmaker known for his use of rich visual language and innovative storytelling. His films have screened at Sundance, Venice, Tribeca and TIFF, while his art has appeared in galleries and museums worldwide. With over twenty international awards, including two Canadian Screen Awards, a Webby, and a Japan Prize, Okita continues to push boundaries internationally. Recent work includes the IFC feature film See for Me (Tribeca, BFI London), the VR experience The Book of Distance (Sundance, Venice), the solo exhibition A Place Between at the Prince Takamado Gallery in Tokyo, and Transport to Another World at The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul. Of Irish and Japanese descent, Okita was born in Calgary and now splits his time between Toronto and Tokyo. An active mentor and educator, he believes in fostering creative communities. About the Series The film series Voicing Intergenerational Trauma in Postwar Korea and Japan through Contemporary Cinema explores how trauma is experienced intergenerationally in the family within the context of East Asia. Research demonstrates that trauma has lasting effects that reverberate beyond the victims who directly experience it (Cai and Lee 2022; Cho 2006). Families are the primary site where trauma is experienced and transferred across generations. This series sheds light on how these dynamics play out through a gendered lens within the context of East Asia, which has been profoundly shaped by ethnocentric violence during the Japanese imperial period and World War II, as well as social and economic upheaval following the outbreak of civil wars and the spread of Cold War politics in the 20th century. The series is sponsored by the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, and Hesburgh Libraries with support from the Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Public Good, College of Arts & Letters. Originally published at asia.nd.edu.

About the Film Immerse yourself in the life of Yonezo Okita as he leaves his home in Hiroshima, Japan, to migrate to Canada in 1935. Experience Yonezo’s peaceful life on a strawberry farm and feel the shock of war and racism that affects his family for generations. Filmmaker Randall Okita pays tribute to his grandfather through interactive and deeply personal storytelling in this room-scale virtual reality film.  Register for the VR Experience Audience members will be able to view this short documentary by signing up for timed one-hour slots at two campus locations at Hesburgh Libraries and Jenkins Nanovic Halls. Staff will be present to assist the user of the virtual reality (VR) equipment throughout the entire session.  Make an Appointment: Fall 2025 Book of Distance Virtual Reality ExperienceAvailable between September 29 and October 6, 2025 Attend the Lecture Join director Randall Okita in person for the free public lecture “Bridging Generations: Memory, Virtual Reality, and the Art of Reclaiming Lost Narratives in The Book of Distance” on Monday, October 6, 5:00 p.m. in 1050 Jenkins Nanovic Halls. About the DirectorRandall OkitaRandall Okita is an artist and filmmaker known for his use of rich visual language and innovative storytelling. His films have screened at Sundance, Venice, Tribeca and TIFF, while his art has appeared in galleries and museums worldwide. With over twenty international awards, including two Canadian Screen Awards, a Webby, and a Japan Prize, Okita continues to push boundaries internationally. Recent work includes the IFC feature film See for Me (Tribeca, BFI London), the VR experience The Book of Distance (Sundance, Venice), the solo exhibition A Place Between at the Prince Takamado Gallery in Tokyo, and Transport to Another World at The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul. Of Irish and Japanese descent, Okita was born in Calgary and now splits his time between Toronto and Tokyo. An active mentor and educator, he believes in fostering creative communities. About the Series The film series Voicing Intergenerational Trauma in Postwar Korea and Japan through Contemporary Cinema explores how trauma is experienced intergenerationally in the family within the context of East Asia. Research demonstrates that trauma has lasting effects that reverberate beyond the victims who directly experience it (Cai and Lee 2022; Cho 2006). Families are the primary site where trauma is experienced and transferred across generations. This series sheds light on how these dynamics play out through a gendered lens within the context of East Asia, which has been profoundly shaped by ethnocentric violence during the Japanese imperial period and World War II, as well as social and economic upheaval following the outbreak of civil wars and the spread of Cold War politics in the 20th century. The series is sponsored by the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, and Hesburgh Libraries with support from the Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Public Good, College of Arts & Letters. Originally published at asia.nd.edu.