The Disappeared of History Global Webinar Series brings a range of prominent figures from the intellectual, cultural, and policy spheres together to explore the global problem of enforced disappearances — recognised under international law as a form of torture and a crime against humanity.
The series complements the State of Disappearance exhibition at the University of Bath, which features a collection of artworks gifted by Mexican painter Chantal Meza. This exhibition reflects on the multiple forms that disappearance can take and the long-lasting impacts felt by individuals and communities.
The series was officially launched by Professor Manuel Barcia (Pro-Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement at the University of Bath) in 2025/26, with each webinar hosted by Professor Brad Evans (Director of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Professor of Political Violence in the Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies) and Chantal Meza (Artistic Engagement and Impact Research Fellow at the University of Bath).
The aim of the series is to address the pressing issue of enforced disappearances and to foster transdisciplinary conversations and ethical reflections on the topic.
Upcoming webinars
Our 2025/26 webinars have now finished. We will host more during the 2026/27 academic year.
Please check this page regularly for details.
Previous webinars
You can watch all of the previous webinars from the playlist at the top of this page, or select the individual seminar you are interested in from the list below.
A conversation with Rubén Blades
In the inaugural event of 'The Disappeared of History Global Webinar Series', we hosted Rubén Blades — a renowned Panamanian musician, songwriter, activist, and former politician.
A Latin music icon, Blades was at the heart of the New York salsa revolution in the 1970s. His landmark albums in classic Afro-Cuban salsa are infused with elements of rock, jazz, pan-Latin, and global influences. He has won 12 Grammy Awards and 12 Latin Grammy Awards.
During this webinar, he focused on "Desapariciones" (Disappearances), a song he released in 1984. It is widely regarded as a powerful musical testament to the issue of forced disappearances in Latin America, particularly during the dictatorships and armed conflicts that plagued the region in the 1970s and 1980s.
That this Blades anthem has been picked up and adapted by so many artists speaks to the way both the violent practice and the artistic response transcend space and time. Against death, such music becomes a dance for dignity — bringing poetry and politics together to compose a more just future. Blades writes songs for the disappeared, so those who cannot speak might still be heard.
A conversation with Everardo González
In this webinar, we spoke to Everardo González, a Mexican director who is considered one of the strongest voices in the documentary genre in Latin America.
Everardo's filmography includes Pulque Song (2003), The Old Thieves (2007), The Open Sky (2011), Drought (2011) and El Paso (2015), all screened and awarded at various festivals like Berlin, IDFA, Toulouse, Locarno, Montreal, BAFICI, Sarajevo, Guadalajara and Morelia.
His film Devil’s Freedom (2017) was awarded the Amnesty International Film Prize at the Berlinale in 2017. In 2018, he directed A 3 Minute Hug, a Netflix Original in Latin America. He collaborated with the New York Times OpDocs with the film Children from the Narcozone, which was nominated for a News and Doc Emmy Award. His most recent film, A Wolf Pack called Ernesto (2024), has young gang members tell their chilling, occasionally poetic stories, revealing the ease with which violent organisations target young people in Mexico.
Everardo is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas. He is also the founder of the Mexican Documentary Net, which looks for social, political, and cultural impact for bringing documentary filmmakers better conditions for the future. In 2007, he founded Artegios, a production and distribution company based in Mexico City, which focuses on international documentaries. Its main goal is to release documentary films mainly in Mexico and Latin America. Artegios also serves as a platform for workshops on documentary research, ethics, and production.
A conversation with Karla Quintana
We hosted Karla Quintana, the Head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic, following her appointment by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in December 2024.
Born in Mexico, she is a human rights expert and legal scholar with extensive experience in international human rights law, transitional justice, and constitutional law. As the former National Commissioner for the Search of Missing Persons in Mexico, she led efforts to address over 100,000 cases of disappearances and more than 70,000 unidentified bodies.
During her tenure, she established the National Registry of Missing Persons and spearheaded key initiatives, such as forensic interventions and contextual analysis. Before this role, Karla served as Head of the Victims’ Federal Public Defence in Mexico, where she led initiatives to enhance access to justice, psychological assistance and reparations for victims of crimes and human rights violations. Earlier in her career, she served as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico.
She is currently an Associate Researcher at El Colegio de México, focusing on transitional justice and disappearances, and holds a Doctorate in Law (SJD) from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico, a Master of Laws (LLM) from Harvard University, US, and a master’s degree in Gender Studies from the University of Barcelona, Spain.
A conversation with Caroline Douilliez-Sabouba
We hosted Caroline Douilliez-Sabouba, the Head of the Red Cross Red Crescent Missing Persons Centre, within the ICRC Central Tracing Agency.
Building on ICRC’s CTA 150 years of experience working for families separated as a result of armed conflict, migration and disasters, the centre develops the advisory role of the Central Tracing Agency, through advocacy efforts, systemic support, and sharing knowledge. The centre is a partnership with the Australian, British, and Kenyan Red Cross.
A conversation with Luis Fondebrider
During this webinar, we spoke to Dr Luis Fondebrider. Luis is a leading Argentine forensic anthropologist, internationally recognised for his contribution to the analysis and documentation of human rights violations, as well as for his work in the recovery and identification of the victims of enforced disappearance.
Founder of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), he was president of the organisation until 2021 and director of the Forensic Unit of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) between 2021 and 2022. With more than 40 years of experience in the field, he has advised national and international courts, UN commissions, human rights organisations, and governments around the world on more than 1,200 cases. In 2020, the EAAF was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and, during his career, he has led forensic investigations in more than 65 countries, including in contexts of political, ethnic and migration-related violence, and of armed conflict. His work has ranged from the application of forensic techniques to advising on the creation of international human rights and transitional justice policies and protocols.
A conversation with Miriam Lewin
In this webinar, we hosted Miriam Lewin, who, as a young political activist, was detained and disappeared in 1977 and spent a year in a clandestine torture centre in Buenos Aires.
Miriam then spent another 10 months in the notorious ESMA concentration camp, where 5,000 people were killed. She is one of the few survivors.
Having testified in 1985 as a witness in the trial of former Junta commanders, she later led the campaign with Italian journalist Giancarlo Ceraudo to track down the plane used in the notorious “death flights”. It was a crucial piece of evidence in the 2017 trial of former military operatives (including the pilots) responsible for the Junta's atrocities. It has since been repatriated to Argentina and is now on display at the ESMA museum.
Between June 2020 and June 2024, Miriam served as head of the Public Defender's Office of Argentina. As a print, radio and TV journalist, she has received numerous awards. She has also published several books revolving around the crimes of the last civic-military dictatorship. A member of the Centre for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) and the Argentine Journalists collective, Ms Lewin continues to campaign against the practice of enforced disappearances.
A conversation with Marcela Turati
We hosted Marcela Turati Muñoz, an award-winning Mexican reporter and acclaimed author writing since 2018, in Quinto Elemento Lab, a lab to promote investigative journalism in the silenced regions in Mexico.
She also coordinates A Donde Van Los Desaparecidos, a website specialised in investigating disappearances in Mexico.
She has coordinated several collected books and investigations, and authored two books, the most recent being San Fernando: Last Stop, about the disappearances of migrants, whose mass graves were found on the border with United States.
Further to this, Marcela is co-founder of the network Periodistas de a Pie (Journalists on Foot), dedicated to training journalists to improve the quality of their journalism and to defend freedom of expression.
She has received multiple international awards, such as the Louis Lyons Award for conscience and integrity in journalism, granted by the Nieman Foundation at Harvard.
She was described by the Nieman Foundation as a “standard-bearer for the journalists who have risked their lives to document the devastating wave of violence in Mexico.
She was also a recipient of the “Premio a la Excelencia” by the Fundación Gabriel García Márquez.