Palestine's official submission for the 2025 Academy Awards, From Ground Zero is a collection of short films by 22 Palestinian filmmakers living through war in Gaza. Through a unique blend of animation, documentary, and fiction, these stories capture the unyielding steadfastness of the human spirit and enduring creativity that thrives even in the face of relentless devastation. RESERVE TICKETS  

The AAHD Gallery is excited to present Second Chances, an exhibition showcasing new works by second-year MFA students in Studio Art and Design. Featured artists include Lily Dorian (sculpture), Heidi Dargle (visual communication design), Franceska Alvarado (painting and drawing), Lucy Schultz (industrial design), and Olivia Koziel (photography). The exhibition runs weekdays from January 30 to February 13, 2025, with a special opening reception Thursday, January 30 from 5 to 7 p.m. Join us to celebrate these talented, emerging artists and their inspiring creations. Originally published at artdept.nd.edu.

Work-in-Progress Seminars are designed to generate in-depth discussion of new scholarly work. For the pre-circulated paper and to attend, please register with the link below. Room location information will be shared with preparation materials following your registration.   During his Kellogg visiting fellowship, Fernando Ojesto Martínez Manzur will work on his project, “How to (Un)Build a Democracy: The Mexican Case,” which explores the challenges of building a democratic system and the ease with which it can be dismantled. Democracy worldwide, particularly in Latin America, is under attack. The Mexican experience will be the basis of this research, especially because it is a great example of how an electoral democracy was built; but unfortunately, it also serves as an ongoing example of how democracy can be “unbuilt” or dismantled. The project is divided into two main sections. The first section will analyze how a democracy is built, focusing on the democratic transition that Mexico underwent from 1977 to 2018. This section will outline the necessary and foundational requirements for building a democracy. The second part of the research will examine the current state of democracy in Mexico and how a 40-year democratic process has been disrupted in the past six years. Since 2018, democracy and its institutions have faced a constant threat, orchestrated by the government and its ruling party. This threat, rooted in the concept of political majorities, has escalated into a reality following the 2024 election, where the governing party secured almost complete control, including a supermajority in Congress, granting them the power to amend the Constitution. This part of the research will aim to understand the dismantling process Mexican democracy is undergoing. Register Here

United Nations, 1960: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, jazz musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the Security Council, Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe, and the U.S. State Department swings into action, sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to Congo to deflect attention from the CIA-backed coup. Director Johan Grimonprez captures the moment when African politics and American jazz collided in this magnificent essay film, a riveting historical rollercoaster that illuminates the political machinations behind the 1961 assassination of Congo's leader Patrice Lumumba. GET TICKETS  

When fate brings Belfast schoolteacher JJ into the orbit of self-confessed “low life scum” Naoise Ó Cairealláin and Liam Óg, the needle drops on a hip hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish, the music group Kneecap quickly becomes unlikely figureheads of a Civil Rights movement to save their mother tongue. But the trio must first overcome police, paramilitaries, and politicians trying to silence their defiant sound while their anarchic approach to life often makes them their own worst enemies. In this fiercely original sex, drugs, and hip-hop biopic, Kneecap's members play themselves, laying down a global rallying cry for the defense of native cultures. GET TICKETS  

A (different) Innovation Journey is presented by John Schroeder, the executive vice president at Marmon Holdings, Inc. who is responsible for the Retail, Foodservice and Water Groups. The Ten Years Hence speaker series explores issues, ideas, and trends likely to affect business and society over the next decade. The theme of the 2025 series is Innovation: The Process of Creation and Renewal. Ten Years Hence is sponsored by the Eugene Clark Distinguished Lecture Series endowment. This is one of seven lectures in the Ten Years Hence Lecture Series. See website for details and other lecture dates. Free and open to students, faculty, staff and public.