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.

The Democracy in Dialogue Series enables Notre Dame students to engage with expert guest speakers on key issues facing global democracy. These monthly discussions aim to help students develop as global citizens and comparative scholars, explore threats to democracy, learn from international examples, consider actions to defend democracy, examine Catholic perspectives, and discuss overcoming polarization. The series also helps students build professional networks in international politics.Peter CummingsResearch Affiliate, University of Notre DameFormer Research & Evaluation Officer, Eurasia FoundationAlumnus, Kellogg International Scholars Program Broad, diverse coalitions have proven vital in advancing democracy, resisting authoritarianism, and protecting rights worldwide. Drawing on scholarly research and case studies from regions including Latin America and the Middle East, this discussion highlights both the successes and challenges of coalition formation. The conversation will draw out lessons for the United States today, pointing to concrete strategies for strengthening democratic resilience. Peter Cummings is a political scientist with an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, a Ph.D. from MIT, and more than a decade of experience related to democracy, international development, and social movements. In the academic space, he has conducted original field research in Chile and Brazil and published research on political protests, democracy, and education policy. In the practitioner space, he has applied his research skills to consulting at Tironi in Chile and to domestic and international development at FHI 360 and Eurasia Foundation. For more information, visit the event page. Sponsored by the Kellogg Institute at the Keough School of Global Affairs.

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.

This panel will be held in Spanish live via Zoom, with English translation. On Sept. 16 and 18, 2025, Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace — referred to as JEP, its acronym in Spanish — issued its first two rulings imposing restorative sanctions on those most responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed over more than five decades of internal armed conflict in the country. The first ruling addressed the crime of kidnapping carried out under the direction of the last secretariat of former FARC-EP (military and political leaders), while the second focused on extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances committed in the Caribbean region by members of the state armed forces.Register here. Join this event to hear presentations from JEP magistrates who reflect on the progress and challenges with issuing sanctions, as well as the sanctions' impact on the implementation of Colombia’s Final Peace Agreement and peacebuilding in the country, overall. Humberto Sierra Porto, director of the Department of Constitutional Law at the Universidad Externado de Colombia, will welcome attendees, with Ángela María Ramírez Rincón, executive director of the Barometer Initiative, and Steve Hege, director of The Latin American Institute for Peace & Security (ILAPS), offering opening remarks. The JEP panel presentations will be followed by discussion and Q&A with the audience, both virtual and in person, with the hope that Colombian contributions and experiences can inform and assist other peace and transitional justice processes around the world.This event is organized by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, part of the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, the Universidad Externado de Colombia, and The Latin American Institute for Peace & Security. Panelists:Alejandro Ramelli Arteaga, President, Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP)Ana Manuela Ochoa Arias, Magistrate, First Instance Chamber in Cases of Acknowledgement of Truth and ResponsibilityCamilo Suárez Aldana, Magistrate, First Instance Chamber in Cases of Acknowledgment of Truth and ResponsibilityModerator:Gloria Castrillón, The Latin American Institute for Peace & Security (ILAPS)Register here. Originally published at kroc.nd.edu.

Liberal democracies rely on truth-seeking institutions insulated from, or capable of rising above, partisan politics: science, universities, and serious journalism. Each was politicized and degraded under COIVD-19, falling victim to the moral and epistemic tribalism that disfigures our politics and culture. Based on his book, In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us, co-authored with Frances Lee (Princeton University Press, 2025), Macedo will trace how leaders made policy during the worst pandemic in over a century. In so doing, he will contend that educated elites need to soberly examine their performance, assess their own biases and blind spots, and strive to be more worthy of the public’s trust.Stephen Macedo is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics at the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2014, and the American Academy of Sciences and Letters since October 2024, he is also immediate past-President of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy. He is author, with Princeton Professor Frances Lee, of In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us (Princeton University Press, 2025), a comprehensive examination of COIVD-19 policy and discussion around it as a window onto our political dysfunction. Other books include, Just Married: Same-Sex Couples, Monogamy, and the Future of Marriage (2015); Diversity and Distrust: Civic Education in a Multicultural Democracy (2000); Liberal Virtues: Citizenship, Virtue, and Community in Liberal Constitutionalism (1990); and 20 other co-authored, edited, or co-edited books. As vice president of the American Political Science Association, and the first chair of its Standing Committee on Civic Education and Engagement, he published Democracy at Risk: How Political Choices Undermine Citizen Participation, and What We Can Do About It (Brookings Institute Press 2005), co-authored with Robert Putnam, Margaret Levi, William Galston, and others. Current research concerns the pressures on social justice exerted by various forms of globalization, especially immigration, and the problems raised by social media companies and the dangers of government efforts to policy “misinformation.” ** Stephen Macedo writes and teaches on political theory, ethics, public policy, and law, especially on topics related to liberalism, democracy and citizenship, diversity and civic education, religion and politics, and the family and sexuality. From 2001–09, he was director of the University Center for Human Values. As founding director of Princeton’s Program in Law and Public Affairs (1999-2001), he chaired the Princeton Project on Universal Jurisdiction, helped formulate the Princeton Principles on Universal Jurisdiction, and edited Universal Jurisdiction: International Courts and the Prosecution of Serious Crimes Under International Law (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004). Originally published at constudies.nd.edu.

The Thomas H. Quinn Speaker Series presents, Conquering the Ultimate Disease Instigator: Reversing the Aging Process, by Ronald A. DePinho, M.D., a physician-scientist, serial entrepreneur and past president of MD Anderson Cancer Center. A member of the National Academies, his research has advanced our understanding of cancer and aging, showing that aging can be reversed. He launched high-impact initiatives in disease prevention and therapy, including the Cancer Moon Shots Program. In his talk, Dr. DePinho will share insights into the forces shaping scientific research and its impact on humanity. He will then dive into the mechanisms driving aging and the transformative potential of science to extend healthspan and combat age-related diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s. He will provide knowledge on how to live a healthier life. The talk is free and open to the public. No tickets or registration required. The Thomas H. Quinn Speaker Series is an annual event hosted by the Mendoza College of Business to honor the Notre Dame alumnus and former member and chair of Mendoza’s Business Advisory Council. Quinn earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Notre Dame in 1969 and was a football monogram winner and member of the 1966 national championship team. The speaker series is sponsored by Notre Dame alumnus and trustee John W. “Jay” Jordan II, Quinn’s college roommate, longtime friend and business partner.

Join the Institute for Social Concerns on Friday afternoons on select home football weekends for MVP Fridays: lectures by national leaders, journalists, and writers on questions of meaning, values, and purpose. Reception and book signing to follow! For the weekend of the Boise State game, we welcome Timothy Egan, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and award-winning author. Introduction by Darren Dochuk, the Andrew V. Tackes College Professor of History; William W. and Anna Jean Cushwa Co-director, Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism. Co-sponsored by the Department of American Studies, the Department of History, the Department of Sociology, and the Initiative on Race and Resilience. Timothy Egan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and award-winning author. His most recent book, A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them, is a historical thriller that was an immediate New York Times bestseller. Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, called it “a harrowing look at forgotten chapter in American history.” The Immortal Irishman was a New York Times bestseller. His book on Edward Curtis, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, was awarded the Carnegie Award for best nonfiction. His account of the Dust Bowl,The Worst Hard Time, won the 2006 National Book Award and he was featured prominently in the 2012 Ken Burns film on the Dust Bowl. A lifelong journalist, Mr. Egan worked as a national correspondent and opinion columnist for the New York Times, roaming the West. As a Times correspondent, he shared a Pulitzer Prize in 2001 with a team of reporters for its series, “How Race is Lived in America.” He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Saturdays with the Saints has established itself as a popular Notre Dame football pregame ritual that combines the University’s rich traditions of Catholic faith and spirited game days. In this lecture, Sr. Ann Astell, Ph.D., will present on "St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of Divine Love." The lectures take place in the Andrews Auditorium, located on the lower level of Geddes Hall, adjacent to the Hesburgh Library. The talks are free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early as the events tend to fill to capacity.Originally published at mcgrath.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.

We invite you to join distinguished leaders for a dynamic discussion on AI research in and for Latin America! This event is part of the R.I.S.E. AI Conference. To ensure comfortable accomodations, we strongly encourage you to RSVP to the event.* If you are already registered for “The Impact of AI In Latin America” as part of your R.I.S.E. AI Conference attendance, please do not RSVP through the following form. RSVP to AttendSession I: 10:00 – 11:00amIn this session, hear engaging presentations from University of Notre Dame faculty and collaborators from institutions across Chile, including:Paula Aguirre Aparicio, Vice President for Digital Intelligence, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile:Paula Aguirre is a Mechanical Civil Engineer, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Astronomy, and a PhD in Astrophysics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. She is a faculty member at the UC Institute for Mathematical and Computational Engineering, Principal Investigator at the National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA), and Associate Researcher at the Research Center for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (CIGIDEN).Her current research focuses on risk assessment of natural hazards and their impacts on urban environments and critical networks, applying a combination of remote sensing, geospatial analysis, data science, and physics-informed machine learning methods. In June 2025, she was appointed Vice-Rector for Digital Intelligence at UC, whose mission is to design and implement the University’s policy to adapt, understand, and perform in digital environments, including the advancements of AI.Karla Badillo-Urquiola, Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame:Karla Badillo-Urquiola is a Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. She earned her Ph.D. from the School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training at the University of Central Florida. Badillo-Urquiola is a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research expert, investigating technology-driven solutions that empower people and protect the well-being of youth in marginalized communities, drawing on participatory and critical design methods. Her work has won Best Paper (top 1%), Best Paper Honorable Mention (top 5%), Best Poster, and Impact Recognition awards. She also received the Google Academic Research Award to support her research. As an active member of the ACM SIGCHI Latin American HCI community, Dr. Badillo-Urquiola is committed to building a global and interdisciplinary community around ethical technology. She co-founded the 1st International School on Responsible Computing in Guadalajara, Mexico. By integrating her expertise in HCI, psychology, and design, Badillo-Urquiola is at the forefront of shaping a more responsible and equitable digital world.Rodrigo Carrasco, Data Science Initiative Director, Associate Professor, Institute of Mathematical Engineering and Computation, Industrial and Systems Engineering Department, School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile:Carrasco is the Data Science Initiative Director and an Associate Professor at the Institute of Mathematical Engineering and Computation and the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department in the School of Engineering at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Since 2021, he has been a member of the Advisory Board of the Columbia Global Center | Santiago and a Board Member of the Chilean Institute of Operational Research. His research focuses on combinatorial problems and addressing uncertainty in these settings. To achieve this, his research team combines predictive and prescriptive analytics tools for uncertainty modeling with combinatorial optimization techniques and stochastic optimization, thereby developing robust decision support tools for applied problems. Rodrigo holds a B.S. in Electrical & Industrial Engineering and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Columbia University.Carolina Melo Hurtado, Director of the Library, Associate Professor, Universidad de los Andes in Chile:Carolina Melo Hurtado is a higher education leader and Fulbright alumna with over 20 years of experience in academic innovation, open science, and educational equity. As Director of the Library and Associate Professor at Universidad de los Andes in Chile, she has led a bold transformation of her institution’s library—repositioning it as a strategic academic unit that advances research, student success, and digital transformation. Her leadership spans academic program design, international collaboration, and evidence-based innovation, with a strong focus on Latin America. Recognized among Chile’s 100 Women Leaders, she has co-founded a national literacy network and led award-winning edtech initiatives.Motivated by a deep commitment to educational equity, Carolina combines academic vision, strategic execution, and global engagement to help shape higher education systems that are more inclusive, data-informed, and socially impactful.Session II: 11:00am – 12:00pm In the second session, join us for a panel discussion with leaders in AI and data innovation, who are driving interdisciplinary solutions to real-world challenges in Latin America. Moderator:Diego Gómez-Zará, Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame:Professor Gómez-Zará’s research focuses on how social computational systems help people organize and collaborate. His work has been at the forefront of computational social science, human-computer interaction, and network science. His recent publications include work in recommender systems, team formation, team formation, diversity, and virtual reality. This research has won best paper awards at top conferences in human-computer interaction, including CHI, CSCW, and IUI. Panelists:Angélica García Martínez, Assistant Research Professor, Lucy Family Institute for Data & SocietyAngélica García-Martínez is an expert in cancer epidemiology and early childhood development, with extensive experience working with highly vulnerable children in rural and Indigenous communities in Mexico. She coordinated national and international research at Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health in collaboration with leading universities (UCSF, Harvard, Yale). She led real-time child development monitoring innovations as Research Director at the NGO Un Kilo de Ayuda. Her contributions span cancer environmental epidemiology, nutrigenetics, early childhood development, and breastfeeding practices, authoring the Mexican national nurturing care guidelines in partnership with Yale.Lourdes Martínez Villaseñor, Research Professor, Universidad Panamericana:Dr. Lourdes Martínez Villaseñor holds a degree in Computer Systems Engineering and a PhD in Computer Science from Tecnológico de Monterrey, State of Mexico Campus, as well as a Master’s degree in Family Education from the Universidad Panamericana (IPCE). She is a Level D research professor in the area of artificial intelligence at the Universidad Panamericana and a Level II member of the National System of Researchers. Currently, she serves as President of the Mexican Society of Artificial Intelligence and is an IEEE Senior Member. Dr. Martínez Villaseñor has received multiple recognitions for her contributions to the field, including the 2023 Leading Woman in Responsible Artificial Intelligence in North America Award and the 2025 Trailblazer Award – Woman in AI of the Year in North America. Her research focuses on artificial intelligence applied to healthcare, user modeling, and AI ethics. With more than 30 years of teaching experience, she is the author of over 65 international journal and conference publications, as well as books and a patent in the field of artificial intelligence.Rodrigo Roa, Executive Director, Data Observatory:Rodrigo Roa is Executive Director of the Data Observatory, a Chilean non-profit co-founded by the Government of Chile, AWS, and Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. He drives national and regional initiatives that turn scientific, environmental, and civic data into impact through open data, FAIR stewardship, and trustworthy AI. His portfolio includes SURDATA, a Latin American alliance for data interoperability; LatamGPT, a regional large-language-model initiative with CENIA and AWS; and sector platforms for oceans, environment, consumer protection, and public health. A lawyer by training, Rodrigo works at the intersection of policy, research, and industry and represents Chile in international forums such as CODATA, Research Data Alliance, among others.Anil Sadarangani, Director of Innovation, Universidad de los Andes:Anil Sadarangani, Ph.D., MBA, is a scientist and innovation leader with a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Biological Sciences from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and an MBA from the University of California, San Diego. He currently serves as Director of Innovation at Universidad de los Andes (Chile), where he has been instrumental in shaping the university’s strategy for research engagement, technology transfer, and science-based innovation. At UANDES, he also leads the Technology Task Force, a strategic initiative focused on fostering the adoption and impact of emerging technologies across disciplines. In addition, he is a part-time professor in Strategy and General Management at the ESE Business School. As an entrepreneur, Anil founded a biotechnology company during his MBA studies in the United States in 2010, which has since advanced to clinical development. Beyond his entrepreneurial endeavors, he actively contributes to the governance and growth of science-based startups and initiatives, serving on the boards of spin-offs such as Dia+, Pregnóstica, and the innovation consortium HubTec Chile. His career bridges academia, industry, and entrepreneurship, reflecting his conviction that scientific knowledge, when connected with business and society, can generate transformative solutions for global challenges.

Register here  Brain and Heart: The Triumphs and Struggles of a Pediatric Neurosurgeon is a medical memoir that explores the thoughts and emotions that accompany the responsibility of making complex choices with life-changing consequences. We look forward to a conversation with Dr. Sandberg on courage, love, compassion, hope and the other virtues that shape his vocation as a pediatric neurosurgeon. Virtues & Vocations is a social movement committed to individual and communal flourishing through the cultivation of character across the professions. This aspirational, cross professional learning community understands thriving professions are the backbone of thriving societies and knows professional excellence requires both competence and character.

CANCELED. About the Speaker Randall 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 more than 20 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 DocumentaryIn 1935, Yonezo Okita left his home in Hiroshima, Japan, and began a new life in Canada. Then war and state-sanctioned racism changed everything—he became the enemy. Three generations later, his grandson, artist Randall Okita, leads us on an interactive virtual pilgrimage through an emotional geography of immigration and family to recover what was lost. 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 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, University of Notre Dame. Originally published at asia.nd.edu.

Andrew J. Medford Associate Professor in the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology As a faculty member, his group’s research lies at the intersection of catalysis and surface science, computational chemistry, and machine learning, and he has received several research awards, including the NSF CAREER Award and the Early Career Award from the ACS CATL division.2025 THIELE LECTURESHIP AWARDEESeminar Title: Machine learning in computational catalysis: from electronic structure theory to kinetic models Abstract: Heterogeneous catalysis is an inherently multi-scale process that ultimately connects the behavior of electrons to the global-scale production of chemicals. Understanding how these processes interact is a never-ending challenge, but recent research has shown that application of machine learning and artificial intelligence models is a promising strategy for discovery of novel catalytic materials and advancing fundamental insight at the interface between chemistry and physics. This talk will present progress in the application of machine learning from opposite ends of the multi-scale spectrum. At the scale of electrons, the talk will introduce the use of machine learning approaches to establish a new paradigm of exchange-correlation functional design that uses "multipole features" to provide flexibility between the solid-state and molecular electronic environments that arise in solid-gas/liquid interfaces of heterogeneous catalysis. At the scale of reactors, the use of "kinetics informed neural networks" will be presented as a route to directly analyze large volumes of transient kinetic and spectroscopic data to extract rate parameters that can help elucidate intrinsic kinetics and reaction mechanisms. The talk will demonstrate how these fundamentally different approaches have complementary strengths and weaknesses, indicating that a combination of methods will ultimately be required to understand the complex multi-scale processes involved in heterogeneous catalysis. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Thiele Lecture Series

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.

The Materiality of Medieval Texts working group, sponsored by the Medieval Institute and convened by Laura Banella, CJ Jones, and Johannes Junge Ruhland, invites you to its first meeting of the year. Please import meeting details to your calendar using this link.   We will discuss "(Un)Illustrating the Lyric: Possibilities of an Intermedial Dante," a pre-circulated chapter from Laura Banella's monograph, Rewriting Dante: Lyric Books and Cultural Authority in Medieval and Renaissance Italy (1290-1550), which is in its final stages of revision. Annie Killian will launch us off into discussion with a response, and we will have ample time to share thoughts and questions on the readings. If you are pressed for time and can only skim through the reading, please do come anyway!  Contact information: jjungeru@nd.eduOriginally published at romancelanguages.nd.edu.

The Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights will host a panel discussion with the Catholic Mobilizing Network on stories of justice from death row. The Catholic Mobilizing Network is a national organization that mobilizes Catholics and all people of good will to value life over death, to end the use of the death penalty, to transform the U.S. criminal legal system from punitive to restorative, and to build capacity in U.S. society to engage in restorative practices. A reception will follow the event in the atrium of the Hesburgh Center for International Studies. PanelistsGary Drinkard spent close to six years on Alabama’s death row for a crime he did not commit — the robbery and murder of a 65-year-old automotive junk dealer in Decatur, Alabama. The case against Drinkard rested primarily on testimony from his half-sister and her common-law husband, both of whom were facing charges for unrelated crimes that would be dismissed in exchange for their testimony against Drinkard. Drinkard reached out to Bryan Stevenson at the Equal Justice Initiative for help with his case. In 2000, the Alabama Supreme Court ordered a new trial because of prosecutorial misconduct, and with the help of the Southern Center for Human Rights, he won an acquittal in 2001.Rev. Dr. Crystal Walker has a Masters of Divinity degree from Payne Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary. Her ministry focus is on women who have experienced domestic abuse, rape, and/or incest. She is the founder of Pastors Against Domestic Violence, an ecumenical ministry that trains pastors to be courtroom advocates for victims of domestic violence (women, men, and children). She is also focused on many additional social injustices in the city of Dayton, Ohio. Walker is also a strong advocate against the death penalty and for stricter gun laws. She lost her son, Edward, to gun violence when he was 28 years old. She serves on the board of Journey of Hope – from Violence to Healing and is the co-chair of Ohioans to Stop Executions.Ruth Friedman has dedicated her career to fighting for the rights and lives of men and women sentenced to death, working first on behalf of state-sentenced people in Alabama and Georgia and then for those facing execution in federal courts. She began her capital work at the Southern Center for Human Rights, where she handled direct appeals, habeas proceedings, and trials throughout the South, and later joined the Alabama Capital Representation Resource Center and the Equal Justice Initiative as they transformed capital representation in Alabama. Friedman has testified, trained, and argued in Congress, classrooms, and courts nationwide. In 2023, she received the Southern Center’s Frederick Douglass Award. She earned her J.D. from Yale Law School and her undergraduate degree from Harvard University. Originally published at klau.nd.edu.

Join us for Richard Etlin’s body of work on the Pantheon and his unique view on one of the most important architectural buildings in the history of the world. Etlin is an architectural historian and a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland. Register to attend online here Co-sponsored by the Center for Italian Studies. Originally published at architecture.nd.edu.

Classics in the Browning Directed by Eom Yu-naWith Yoo Hae-jin, Yoon Kye-sang, Jo Hyun-do Not Rated, 135 minutesIn Korean with English subtitles The perfect film to celebrate Hangeul Day. This historical drama with comedic flourishes is set in 1940s Korea during its period of Japanese occupation when the Korean language itself was demoted and outlawed. A chance encounter between the illiterate Pan-soo (Yoo Hae-jin) and a representative of the Korean Language Society (Yoon Kye-sang) brings together an unlikely partnership working to publish a Korean language dictionary in defiance of the law. 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.

The Center for Italian Studies is pleased to inaugurate the sixth edition of the series Tre Corone: testi e contesti dell'Italia medievale (2025–2026) with an event dedicated to the recently published volume Voci sul Purgatorio di Dante. Una nuova lettura della seconda cantica (Carocci, 2024), edited by Zygmunt G. Barański and Maria Antonietta Terzoli. The book brings together canto-by-canto readings of Dante’s Purgatorio, developed through a series of five seminars held between September 2022 and September 2023, co-sponsored by the University of Basel’s Institute of Italian Studies and the William & Katherine Devers Program in Dante Studies at the University of Notre Dame. International in scope, Voci sul Purgatorio features contributions from scholars across diverse backgrounds and traditions who, building on the momentum of the Dante centenary, offer a fresh critical reassessment of the Purgatorio and its central themes. In addition to the canto readings, the volume includes essays on the structure and models of the Purgatorio ; its language and style between memory and modernity; the theme of love; the pastoral tradition; and issues of biography and textual transmission. On this occasion, the editors will be joined in conversation by Alberto Casadei (University of Pisa) and Mira Veronica Mocan (University of Roma Tre). Register hereZygmunt G. Barański is the Emeritus R. L. Canala Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Notre Dame and the Serena Professor of Italian Emeritus at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of numerous studies on Dante’s works and their reception, on medieval Italian literary tradition with particular focus on authors such as Cavalcanti, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, as well as on modern Italian literature, culture, and cinema, with many essays devoted to Pasolini. His books include: The New Italian Novel (with Lino Pertile, 1993); “Libri poetarum in quattuor species dividuntur”: Essays on Dante and ‘Genre’ (1995); “Luce nuova, sole nuovo”: Saggi sul rinnovamento culturale in Dante (1996); The “Fiore” in Context: Dante, France, Tuscany (with Patrick Boyde, 1997); Pasolini Old and New: Surveys and Studies (1999); Dante e i segni: Saggi per una storia intellettuale di Dante (2000); “Chiosar con altro testo”: Leggere Dante nel Trecento (2001; winner of the Valle dei Trulli Prize for Literary Criticism); The Cambridge Companion to Modern Italian Culture (with Rebecca West, 2001); Petrarch and Dante: Anti-Dantism, Metaphysics, Tradition (with Theodore J. Cachey Jr., 2009); Dante in Context (with Lino Pertile, 2015); The Cambridge Companion to Dante’s “Commedia” (with Simon Gilson, 2019); Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio: Literature, Doctrine, Reality (2020); and Voci sull’Inferno di Dante (with M. A. Terzoli, Rome, 2021). Maria Antonietta Terzoli is professor emerita at the University of Basel and the author of numerous studies on Italian literature from the fourteenth to the twentieth century. Her publications include: Il libro di Jacopo (1988); La casa della “Cognizione” (1993 and 2005); Foscolo (2000, 2008, 2010, and 2016); Le lingue di Gadda (1995); I margini del libro (2004); Le prime lettere di Jacopo Ortis (2004); Piccolomini und Basel (2005); Piccolomini: uomo di lettere (2006); Un archivio italiano (2006, with G. Giovannetti); Con l’incantesimo della parola (2007); Alle sponde del tempo consunto (2009); Letteratura e filologia fra Svizzera e Italia (2010, with A. Asor Rosa and G. Inglese); Nell’atelier dello scrittore (2010); Un meraviglioso ordegno (2013, with C. Veronese and V. Vitale); L’italiano in Svizzera (2014, with C. A. Di Bisceglia); William Blake. I disegni per la “Divina Commedia” (2014, with S. Schütze); L’italiano sulla frontiera (2015, with R. Ratti); Commento a “Quer Pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana” di C. E. Gadda (2015 and 2016, with the collaboration of V. Vitale); Gadda: guida al “Pasticciaccio” (2016, 2017, and 2018); Dante und die bildenden Künste (2016, with S. Schütze); Invenzione del moderno (2017); William Blake. La “Divina Commedia” di Dante (2017, with S. Schütze); Inchiesta sul testo (2018); Tasso und die bildenden Künste (2018, with S. Schütze); I “Trionfi” di Petrarca (2020, with M. M. S. Barbero); Saba, Ungaretti e altro Novecento (2021); Petrarca und die bildenden Künste (2021, with S. Schütze); and Voci sull’Inferno di Dante (Rome, 2021, with Z. G. Barański). Originally published at italianstudies.nd.edu.

Amit Prasad is an associate professor in the School of History & Sociology at Georgia Institute of Technology. He specializes in global, transnational, and postcolonial sociology and history of science, technology, and medicine. His research focuses on the history of the present — in particular, how history of colonialism continues to impact present day norms, values, and practices. His goal has been to excavate the complex and often contradictory entanglements of colonial tropes, ideologies, etc. with emergent knowledges and practices of science, technology, and medicine. Prasad also explores the visual culture of medicine, in particular its shift with the emergence of technologies such as MRI, issues of priority and invention, and scientific misinformation . He has also published on biopolitics of overseas drug trials and medical transcription and engaged with the role of history of science in films. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, American Institute of Indian Studies, among others and he has published in a number of journals, including Social Studies of Science, Science, Technology & Human Values, Theory, Culture, and Society, Cultural Geographies, Technology & Culture. His first book, Imperial Technoscience: Entangled Histories of MRI in the United States, Britain, and India (MIT Press, 2014), through a study of connected histories of MRI in the US, the UK, and India, investigated how the invention, industrial production, as well as cultures of MRI were entangled within colonial, West-centric, and Orientalist discourses. His second book, Science Studies Meets Colonialism (Polity, 2022), investigates how colonial tropes, norms, ideologies, etc. continue to animate the present, including in the fields of history of science and science and technology studies (STS). Drawing on an ethnographic study of a stem cell clinic, he is writing his third book that is tentatively titled Miracle or Science: Scientific Uncertainty, Contested Ethics, and Global Melange in a Stem Cell Laboratory. He is an editor of the journal Science, Technology and Society (Sage). He is also an avid collector of Indian art - medieval miniatures and modern and contemporary paintings and etchings. He is particularly interested in postcolonial cosmopolitanism of Indian art/artists. Prasad's lecture is sponsored by the Liu Institute's South Asia Group and Health, Humanities and Society, Reilly Center for Science Technology and Values.Lunch Provided — Please Bring Beverages In support of the Liu Institute’s growing commitment to sustainability, we will no longer be offering drinks at our public lectures and panels. We encourage audience members to bring their water bottles or to drink from nearby water fountains.   Originally published at asia.nd.edu.