From 10-11 June, 'The Disappeared: Addressing the Legacies and Challenges of Confronting Human Disappearance', examined the global legacies and implications of forced disappearance.

Focusing on numerous cases from around the world, the conference featured presentations and discussions involving victims, policy-makers, human rights practitioners, and scholars.

It was co-hosted at Queen's by the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice; the Clingen Family Center for the Study of Modern Ireland, University of Notre Dame; the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame; the Global Insecurities Centre, University of Bristol; and the Centre for the Study of Violence, University of Bath.

Mitchell Institute Director Professor Richard English commented: "Enforced disappearance has been a profoundly painful aspect of various kinds of conflict globally, and it was important to gather together people with insights and wisdom based on local, national, and international experience and expertise."

Clingen Center Director Professor Colin Barr said: "The trauma of enforced disappearance has been widely felt, but rarely studied on a truly international basis.  This event was an important first step in understanding, ameliorating, and perhaps one day reducing the human tragedy of enforced disappearance."

On 12 June, 'The Future of Irish Studies' brought together scholars from around the world to discuss aspects of the study of Ireland, and future possibilities for global collaboration.

The Conference featured academics from Ireland, the UK, and numerous other countries and was co-hosted at Queen's by the Institute of Irish Studies and the Mitchell Institute, in partnership with the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Director of the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen's Professor Peter Gray commented: "Irish Studies is both an evolving multidisciplinary subject area and a transnational scholarly community. This event has facilitated critical reflection and learning from each other on new directions and priorities in research, and allowed us to explore ideas for new modes for international collaboration and research support."

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