Throughout 2025/26, we’ll host a range of webinars featuring prominent figures from the intellectual, cultural, and policy spheres to explore the global problem of enforced disappearances — recognised under international law as a form of torture and a crime against humanity.
The series will complement the recently launched 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.
Each webinar in the series will be led and chaired by Professor Manuel Barcia (Pro-Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement at the University of Bath) and 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), alongside Chantal Meza.
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
We will add details about upcoming webinars in this series soon. Please check this page regularly for updates.
Previous webinars
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.
Podcast series
Listen to 'The Disappeared of History Global Webinar Series' on SoundCloud