The Democratic Futures Project hosted the Resisting Illegal Government Detentions and Hostage-Taking (RIGHT) Coalition meeting at UVA’s Fairfax campus on September 17th, 2025.  The DFP’s involvement in this project emerged from DFP fellow and Global Studies faculty member Felix Maradiaga’s efforts to promote international advocacy and cooperation to prevent and deter the use of arbitrary detention against democratic advocates working in authoritarian regimes.

PhD candidate Robert Sanchis-Álvarez (Spanish, Italian & Portuguese) describes his discovery of a Spanish colonial-era newspaper from the Philippines at a flea market. With CGII funding, Sanchis was able to start a two-year process of preservation and repatriation.

This 10-minute video captures highlights from the 3rd Gugulethu Community-Researcher Indaba, held on 12 March 2025 in Gugulethu, Cape Town. The Research Indaba was organized by the Cape Town-based Movement for Change and Social Justice (MCSJ), the University of Cape Town, and the University of Virginia. The objective of the Indaba (a local word for ‘news’ or ‘meeting’) is to improve community health and well-being by promoting community-researcher engagement. The focus was on improving men’s health given the high levels of disease and death among South African men from TB, HIV, diabetes, hypertension and cancer, and from violence and injury. This Indaba presented relevant research to the local community to increase awareness, build social and research networks, and consider next steps for local solutions.