The Center for Social Concerns presents the 2024 Annual Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C., Lecture: An evening with Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. Welcome from University President Rev. Robert Dowd, C.S.C. Part of Notre Dame Forum 2024-25 Free, no ticket required. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. Interested in taking a free shuttle from the Notre Dame campus? Shuttle Interest Form Co-sponsors: Department of American Studies, Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights, Initiative on Race and Resilience, The Law School, Office of the President --- Bryan Stevenson is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a human rights organization in Montgomery, Alabama. He is the author of the bestselling book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, which has been adapted into a feature film. Under his leadership, EJI has won major legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent death row prisoners, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally ill, and aiding children prosecuted as adults. Stevenson has argued and won multiple cases at the United States Supreme Court, including a 2019 ruling protecting condemned prisoners who suffer from dementia and a landmark 2012 ruling that banned mandatory life-imprisonment-without-parole sentences for all children 17 or younger. Stevenson and his staff have won reversals, relief, or release from prison for over 140 wrongly condemned prisoners on death row and won relief for hundreds of others wrongly convicted or unfairly sentenced. Stevenson has initiated major new anti-poverty and anti-discrimination efforts that challenge inequality in America. He led the creation of EJI’s highly acclaimed Legacy Sites, including the Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and Freedom Monument Sculpture Park. These new national landmark institutions chronicle the legacy of slavery, lynching, and racial segregation, and the connection to mass incarceration and contemporary issues of racial bias.

Join the Klau Institute and NDVotes for this installment of "Pizza, Pop, and Politics" as Chloe Gibbs, assistant professor of economics, discusses the imapct of the economy on the upcoming US election.  Originally published at klau.nd.edu.

Peter Wallensteen, the Kroc Institute’s Richard G. Starmann Sr. Research professor emeritus, will discuss his new book, Sanctions for Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation: Moving Forward (Routledge, 2024). Co-edited with Uppsala University’s Armend Bekaj and appearing in Routledge’s Global Security Studies series, the volume examines the interplay between sanctions and nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Specifically, it studies the conceptual frameworks behind the application of sanctions and the decision by states to pursue nuclear disarmament in their theoretical and practical expressions. Wallensteen’s contribution does much to update and stimulate the academic and policy debates on these issues by recasting them in light of contemporary global events, and considering case studies from the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean, India, China, Pakistan, Iran, and Africa. This book launch will take the form of a panel discussion, moderated by George Lopez, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., professor emeritus of peace studies, who authored one of the book’s chapters, “Sanctions as tools to achieve nuclear reduction policy: is there a better way forward?” Responses to the book will come from Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, and Monica Montgomery (BA '19), policy analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, and members of Kroc’s Advisory Board who have worked extensively on nuclear disarmament. All are encouraged to attend the launch of this significant volume, which will be of particular interest to students of nuclear non-proliferation, economic sanctions, security studies, and international relations. Lunch will be provided after the event in the Hesburgh Center Great Hall. Originally published at kroc.nd.edu.

International scholars partake in a six-part seminar series devoted to Psalms in the first half of 2024. This series continues from where the 2023 series left off. The format will be a 60-minute lecture followed by a 30-minute discussion. These events are free and open to all, but registration is required.  Once registered, you will be sent an email with an invitation to the Zoom link for each session. Register for the last session The last meeting in the 2024 seminar cycle Meetings with the Psalms and Psalters – Series 2 will take place on Thursday, October 17th, 2024, at 12:00 EST / 18:00 CET. Our guest speaker, Sophia Dege-Müller (Hamburg University) will talk about Ethiopian and Eritrean psalters. Psalters in the Ethiopian and Eritrean tradition The manuscript culture in Ethiopia and Eritrea remains vibrant, with Psalters being the most numerous among the hundreds of thousands of manuscripts. While the overall Psalter tradition has been remarkably stable since the 15th century, these manuscripts exhibit significant features that link them to the broader Christian world. This lecture will highlight various codicological elements and explore the importance of illuminated medieval Ethiopic Psalters, which not only reflect artistic traditions of Ethiopia and Eritrea but also provide insights into the theological and liturgical practices of the time. Additionally, the discussion will address paratextual elements that connect to the Patristic heritage, illustrating how these works serve as vital links between past and present Christian communities in the region. Sophia Dege-Müller is a researcher and scientific coordinator of the ERC project BeInf: the Connected Histories of Ethiopic and Syriac Christianity led by Aaron Butts at the University of Hamburg. She is also a member of the editorial team of Aethiopica: International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies. In recent years, her research has focussed on the manuscript traditions of the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) and the Psalter tradition in Ethiopia and Eritrea. 12:00 Eastern Standard Time (NEW YORK, INDIANAPOLIS)17:00 Greenwich Mean Time (LONDON, DUBLIN)18:00 Central European Time  (WARSAW, BRUSSELS) (Individual session times are subject to change due to daylight savings time. Please check each session and the time conversion as the day approaches) Sponsored by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame, USA; John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland; the Research Group for the Study of Manuscripts (SIGLUM); and the Institute of English Studies at the University of Warsaw, Poland. Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.

Celebrate Godzilla's 70th anniversary by folding a paper monster. Earn a prize for dressing like Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, or other monster! Ages 5 and up are welcome. Godzilla Fest is a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the 1954 release of the film "Godzilla" by Toho Studios in Tokyo. The giant monster, who attacked Japan after being awakened by hydrogen bomb testing, went on to become a global icon. Godzilla has starred in 38 films and has appeared in comic books, games, novelizations, advertisements, toys, and more. The king of the monsters has also been interpreted widely as a symbol for the destructive nature of humankind—from nuclear war to climate change.Godzilla Fest is organized by the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies at the University of Notre Dame, the St. Joseph County Public Library, and the Browning Cinema at Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. More information is available at asia.nd.edu/godzilla. Originally published at asia.nd.edu.

Derek J. Mitchell is a non-resident senior adviser to the Office of the President and the Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). One of the nation’s foremost experts on global democracy and Asian and Pacific political and security affairs, Ambassador Mitchell, boasts a more than three-decade career in the U.S. government and the private and nonprofit sectors.   From 2001 to 2009, Ambassador Mitchell served as senior fellow with the International Security Program and director for Asia projects and founded CSIS’s renowned Southeast Asia Program. He served as the U.S. ambassador to Burma (Myanmar) from 2012 to 2016.  The U.S.-China Relations Lecture Series is facilitated by Liu Institute faculty fellows Joshua Eisenman professor of politics, and Kyle Jaros, associate professor of global affairs, in the Keough School of Global Affairs. 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 own water bottles or to drink from nearby water fountains. Thank you for your understanding. Originally published at asia.nd.edu.