Illinois Global Institute

The Center for East Asian & Pacific Studies (CEAPS) will be hosting a coffee discussion with filmmaker Beth Harrington at Coble Hall Room 111 on Monday, September 14th at 1:30 pm. This event is open to any student interested!

Our Mr. Matsura, a feature documentary film, is the story of photographer Frank Matsura who journeyed from his native Japan to live in rural Washington State in the early 1900s. The film presents a picture of the “frontier” that departs from the existing popular culture narrative and celebrates the singular contribution of a community-building immigrant artist in America.

This talk examines how MBL used social media to mobilize mass anti-left sentiment yet failed to turn that energy into lasting political power. It argues that digital “indignation politics” can amplify outrage—but struggles to build durable institutions—helping explain the rise of Bolsonarismo’s more reactionary agenda.

International Family Game Night September 15 | 4:30pm - 6:30pm | First Presbyterian Church, 302 W. Church St, Champaign

CSAMES will host a discussion on the unprecedented disaster brought about by flash floods in the Nepal valley in August 2026. Professor Rabin Bhattarai (rbhatta2@illinois.edu) will lead the discussion. CSAMES is working with Prof. Bhattarai to assemble a resource page with information as they become available.

The Mosaic: A Welcoming Week Concert September 18 | 6pm - 8pm | Neil Street Plaza (Downtown Champaign Plaza), Neil St & Washington St, Champaign

Join us on Sunday, September 20th, at the Orchard Downs Community Center for a free hands-on workshop where people can make delicious mooncakes and egg yolk pastries together! We will be holding a family session from 10:00 am - 11:30 am and a general session open to everyone from 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm.

Friday Forum & Conversation Cafe: BENIVENIDOS: The Works and Murals of Jose Vazquez September 25 | 12pm - 1pm | University YMCA, 1001 S Wright St, Champaign

Lunch talk "Sexual Harassment and the Geography of Service Work in the US" will offer hybrid format with in-person in room 306 Coble Hall and via Zoom. Lunch provided with registration. This presentation, which is pulled from the opening chapter of working manuscript, Hands Off: A History of Fighting Back against Sexual Harassment in the American Workplace.

Justin Jackson is a George A. Miller Visiting Scholar from the University of Massachusetts Amherst who is here to present his project titled "Occupying America: War and the Infrastructure of US Power in a Globalizing World" about America's complex relationship with occupation and globalization.

Join us for a conversation with current and former students who have taken active roles in community-engaged research and leadership. Three students/alums will be joined by their faculty mentors. Presented by the Center for the Study of Global Gender Equity and the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute, this session will be facilitated by Dr. Kevin Tan (Social Work).

Dr. Tingting Zhang, School of Labor and Employment Relations gives lunch talk, "Pushed out and Boxed In: Gendered Silence and Exit Orientation in China's Tech Industry" on Thursday, October 15th. She argues that silence in such environment is not a uniform response to constrained institutional conditions, but it shaped by the gendered social positions workers occupy.

CEAPS 2026 Fall Travel Grants are due today!

Professor Austin Strange is an Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong. He will be presenting his paper titled "Is Soft Power a Zero-Sum Competition?" where he dives into the economic relations between the United States and China. Join us in David Kinley Hall Room 404 to learn more about his findings.