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January 2021

Begin with empathy: Notre Dame Ethics Week explores finding common ground

Published: January 29, 2021

Notre Dame Ethics Week, held Feb. 16-19, features four events exploring the theme “Beginning with Empathy: Listening and Learning From Others.” The sessions explore a wide range of topics related to empathy, including the underlying science, diversity and inclusion, teaching empathy as part of problem solving and how medical professionals employ empathy.

Implementation of ethnic provisions lags in 2016 Colombian Peace Agreement, report finds

Published: January 27, 2021

Hannah Heinzekehr

The Peace Accords Matrix program (PAM), part of the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, has released its first report monitoring the implementation of 80 stipulations within the 2016 Colombian Peace Agreement related to ethnic communities across the country.

Elizabeth M. Renieris appointed founding director of the Notre Dame-IBM Tech Ethics Lab

Published: January 26, 2021

Notre Dame News

Elizabeth M. Renieris, currently a technology and human rights fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a practitioner fellow at Stanford University’s Digital Civil Society Lab, has been appointed founding director of the Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab at the University of Notre Dame.

IDEA Center Student Intern Stories: Oscar Shimabukuro ND ‘21 will be a Cloud Solutions Architect at Microsoft

Published: January 25, 2021

Emily Tyson

When Oscar Shimabukuro was seeking out an MBA program, he looked for a university that was characterized by having a close-knit community and a strong alumni network. The University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business was a perfect match and Oscar is now in his 2nd year of the MBA program.

Emily Tsui Receives NSF CAREER Award

Published: January 21, 2021

Rebecca Hicks

Emily Tsui, Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, has been selected as a recipient of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. This award is the NSF’s most prestigious award for junior faculty members and is given to recognize outstanding research and its integration with education.

Statement by Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., on presidential orders and actions

Published: January 21, 2021

Notre Dame News

"We’re thankful that President Biden has taken immediate action through an executive order to preserve and fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and for his support for legislation to provide permanent status and a path to citizenship for Dreamers."

NDIAS Fellow Hollie Nyseth Brehm Publishes Policy Brief on Rwandan Genocide

Published: January 19, 2021

Kristian Olsen

Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study Faculty Fellow Hollie Nyseth Brehm recently completed a policy brief for the United States Institute of Peace on the research she is conducting at the NDIAS.

Notre Dame launches interdisciplinary Initiative on Race and Resilience

Published: January 18, 2021

Josh Weinhold

The University of Notre Dame has launched the Initiative on Race and Resilience, a new interdisciplinary program focused on the redress of systemic racism and the support of communities of color both within and beyond the Notre Dame campus. Led by the College of Arts & Letters with additional support from the Office of the Provost, the initiative will bring...

How an experience abroad in high school taught Kate Cooper to say “yes” to more opportunities as an undergraduate

Published: January 13, 2021

Colleen Wilcox

Kate Cooper traveled to Rome, Italy with ND Pre-College in the summer of 2015 as a high school junior. What she didn’t know at the time was that this would shape her life significantly in the years to come.

Puebla alumni series: Jesse Hernandez ‘11

Published: January 12, 2021

Jesse Hernandez

Jesse Hernandez is a 2011 Notre Dame graduate and majored in Arts & Letters pre-professional studies and psychology. Hernandez writes about his time in Puebla and how it led to a career in medicine.

State license ‘the culmination of a decade-long dream’ for Robinson Center preschool program

Published: January 29, 2021

Erin Blasko

The Robinson Community Learning Center’s early childhood program is now a licensed preschool program in Indiana, allowing it to accept voucher students and participate in the state’s child care quality and rating system as a reference for parents and a pathway to accreditation.

Morrell joins Center for Applied Linguistic's Board

Published: January 26, 2021

Center for Applied Linguistics

Starting January 2021, Klau Center faculty fellow Dr. Ernest Morrell joins the Center for Applied Linguistics’s Board of Trustees for a 3-year term. A well-respected leader in the field of English education, the African Diaspora, and Media and Popular Culture, Dr. Morrell brings over a decade of research and writing experience to the board of 12.

Notre Dame, others join to fight rising local hunger

Published: January 25, 2021

Erin Blasko

The Health Improvement Alliance of St. Joseph County, in partnership with Cultivate Food Rescue, established the Emergency Food Initiative in March as a way to support food security in South Bend and the surrounding area and negotiate the complexity of that task during the pandemic.

Alumni Spotlight: Nancy Nguyen '17 is a Product Manager in a Drone Technology Startup

Published: January 22, 2021

Gene Stowe

Boston native Nancy Nguyen, who earned a degree in chemistry at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, was considering an offer for a lab chemist job at Massachusetts General Hospital when a professor urged her to consider Notre Dame's ESTEEM graduate program. After a visit with David Murphy, Executive Director of Student Entrepreneurship and the ESTEEM program, she agreed.

Call for Papers: 2nd Annual HPSTV Graduate Conference

Published: January 21, 2021

Char Brecevic

Systemic racism has received growing attention in both American politics and academic scholarship. One key historical aspect of American racism is the role science has played in reifying racial difference, establishing asymmetric social orders, and obstructing the realization of social justice efforts.

ND Founders Profile #51: From Startups to Starting a Family, this FouNDer Has Prioritized Bringing It All Together

Published: January 20, 2021

Melanie Lux

Jeannine Parise has two speeds, full-steam ahead and full stop. That applies to her career and her family, both of which she calls her “important work.”

Blue and Gold and Black and White

Published: January 18, 2021

Notre Dame Magazine

From the health disparities that COVID-19 has exposed in communities of color, to the killing of George Floyd that sparked nationwide protests, it has been a tragic and tumultuous year, prompting a reckoning with racial issues across the country, including at Notre Dame.

Tong Zhao awarded Snap Research fellowship for work to enhance intelligent systems

Published: January 17, 2021

Nina Welding

Tong Zhao, a graduate student in computer science and engineering, has received a 2020 Snap Research fellowship. These fellowships honor students who had a positive…

ND Law students win North American region in international environmental moot court competition

Published: January 13, 2021

Denise Wager

Two second-year Notre Dame Law School students, Ambris Saravanan and Mark Simonitis, won the North American regional championship round of the Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition on January 8-9. They now advance to the international finals, which will be held virtually in March.

Two Notre Dame professors named to 2021 Edu-Scholar rankings

Published: January 12, 2021

Theo Helm

Ernest Morrell and Mark Berends are among the 200 scholars named to the 2021 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, an annual listing published by Education Week of academics who had the year’s biggest impact on educational practice and policy.

The Rome Gateway commemorates the International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Published: January 27, 2021

Costanza Montanari

The Rome Gateway has had a special connection to the historical heritage of the Jewish presence in Rome since the acquisition of the ND Villa, the living-learning community where the students of the University of Notre Dame in Rome live, located in Via Celimontana. The ND Villa housed a Jewish school in the two-year period from 1938 to 1940

Jessica Binzoni ’15 J.D. founded a nonprofit in Iraq, the Law School’s Loan Repayment Program makes her mission to serve a reality

Published: January 26, 2021

Denise Wager

Jessica Binzoni came to Notre Dame Law School knowing that her calling was to work with refugees, especially those displaced by international conflicts. Her path after law school—including two years as a Thomas L. Shaffer Public Interest Fellow—led her to northern Iraq where she serves displaced Iraqi and Syrian refugees through the nonprofit organization she founded, HOPE + FUTURE.

Civil Rights Memoir Resonates with Today’s Call for Racial Justice

Published: January 25, 2021

Kathryn Pitts

Taking the Fight South is available in paperback and digital editions from the University of Notre Dame Press.

Statement from Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., on the passing of baseball legend Hank Aaron

Published: January 22, 2021

Notre Dame News

“When Notre Dame bestowed an honorary degree on Hank Aaron in 2005, our citation referenced his legendary baseball career and concluded that, most importantly, he had done it all ‘fair and square.’ His many records, particularly in the face of racial prejudice, make him one of the greats of the game.

Professor Veronica Root Martinez appointed to FINRA NAC

Published: January 21, 2021

Amanda Gray

Veronica Root Martinez was appointed to the National Adjudicatory Council (NAC) of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) as of the start of 2021 for a four-year term. Martinez is one of the nation’s foremost experts on corporate compliance and is the nation’s leading academic expert on the role of monitors and monitorships.

'21 Okanlami Family Fellow: Justen Lewis

Published: January 19, 2021

Kanami Kitagawa

“Success isn’t how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.” –Steve Prefontaine …

IDEA Center Student Intern Stories: Dayeel Dauphine (ND ‘20) is a Mechanical Design Engineer for Essai, Inc.

Published: January 18, 2021

Emily Tyson

Dayeel Dauphine (ND ‘20) learned about the Innovation Lab from Sarah Kubinski, Outreach Coordinator for the AnBryce Scholars Initiative. Dayeel, a double major in Industrial Design and Theology and an AnBryce Scholar, had been enjoying doing research in Prof.…

Books in Honor of MLK Jr. Day from Notre Dame Press

Published: January 14, 2021

Notre Dame Press News

The University of Notre Dame Press is proud to publish two profoundly moving books this spring that look at the history of the civil rights movement and a great abolitionist and archivist of the Underground Railroad.

ThinkND series to explore world religions

Published: January 13, 2021

Amanda Skofstad

University of Notre Dame theologians from the World Religions World Church program will embark on a seven-session virtual teaching series examining the Catholic Church in a global religion context starting Jan. 26 (Tuesday) and running through October.

Call for Papers: Through Gendered Lenses

Published: January 11, 2021

Gender Studies Program

Through Gendered Lenses: An Undergraduate Academic Journal of Gender Research fosters research in the broad field of Gender Studies and highlights excellent gender-related work being done by undergraduate students across the university.