Events

Tuesday January 28, 2025 at 5pm in O’Brien 117 “Responsible AI Beyond the Assumption of Normality” by Nuno Moniz

Nuno Moniz is an Associate Research Professor at the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society. He is also the Director of the Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab and the Associate Director of the Data, Inference, Analytics, and Learning Lab. Moniz, who joined the University of Notre Dame in 2022, is an expert on machine learning, investigating challenges such as imbalanced learning, model interpretability, and data privacy, for which he has won multiple awards internationally. He is particularly interested in interdisciplinary efforts to understand the real-world impact of automated systems. Nuno’s team includes 11 people at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc levels while currently (co-)leading eight projects involving collaborations in six different countries.

Monday February 3, 2025- "Okurimono" Film Viewing at 6:30pm at Bowtie Cinemas

In honor of the 80-year anniversary of Hiroshima/Nagasaki, the film "Okurimono" will be presented in a private showing for Union College on Monday February 3, 2025 at 6:30pm at Bowtie Cinemas, presented by Union College's Film Studies Program, co-sponsored by Union's Asian Studies Program and Templeton Institute with additional support from Union College's Music and History departments.

At the age of 60, Japanese Canadian Noriko Oi embarks on an emotionally charged journey back to Nagasaki, her childhood city, to unravel the tightly kept secrets of her family’s past. Decades after the death of her mother, Mitsuko, and facing the sale of her ancestral home, Oi seizes a poignant opportunity to piece together a mother’s history that was never shared with her. Sifting through the hidden corners of her family home, engaging with those who shared Mitsuko’s history with her, Oi discovers letters and stories that weave a rich tapestry of her mother’s life and untold narratives of her native Japan. Through Laurence Lévesque’s thoughtful storytelling marked by stunning visuals, Okurimono navigates the delicate realms of unspeakable pain and intergenerational trauma with grace, painting a poignant picture of closure.

Bus transportation will be provided at 6pm in the Old Chapel traffic circle to bring attendees to Bowtie Cinemas and at 8:45pm at Bowtie Cinemas to bring people back to Old Chapel traffic circle on campus. Admission is free for the Union College Community.

Tuesday February 25, 2025- "We Have Just Begun" Proctors Film Event at 7pm

"We Have Just Begun" is a new documentary about the 1919 Elaine riot, massacre, and dispossession, that sheds light on an obscured part of US race and labor history. The result of over seven years of investigation into the buried history and legacy of the Elaine massacre and disposition, this film explores the continuity of exploitation and domination in the Arkansas Delta from before 1919 to the present.

The film will be accompanied by a live narration done by Poet Laureate of San Francisco and co-writer Tongo Eisen-Martin, and live astral soul music by composer Joshua Asante. Following the film, there will be a discussion with filmmaker Michael Warren Wilson.

This event was made possible through collaboration with Proctors, and the generous support of Union College's Film Studies Program, Templeton Institute, Modern Languages & Literatures Department, Political Science Department, Visual Arts Department, and Africana Studies Program.

Shuttles will be provided at 6:30pm in the Old Chapel traffic circle to transport viewers to Proctors and at 9:15pm at Proctors to transport viewers back to Union College's Old Chapel traffic circle.

Admission is free with Union ID presented at Proctors' Box Office.

One of our signature events, TI Wednesdays, brings together faculty and staff to meet with their colleagues, get to know each other better, and discuss new ideas and potential integrative collaborations. Each TI Wednesday features a topic (e.g., Academic Honesty, Artificial Intelligence, etc.), and participants will be encouraged to spend at least part of the time discussing such topics together. From time to time, a brief “lightning talk” may be scheduled to stimulate conversation.

Join us for a discussion on ways librarians model the use of AI tools in academic research. Learn more about how students and faculty can ethically and effectively incorporate AI into the research process. Schaffer Library librarians will review AI research tools like Claude, LitMaps, ResearchRabbit, and Perplexity, and discuss how to cite and reference the use of AI in research.