Our Stories

Video: Theatre historian La Donna Forsgren on women’s contributions to the Black Arts Movement

Todd Boruff

La Donna L. Forsgren is an associate professor in the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre; concurrent faculty in the Gender Studies Program; and affiliated faculty in the Department of Africana Studies. Her latest book, Sistuhs in the Struggle: An Oral History of Black Arts Movement Theater and Performance, is the first oral history to fully explore the contributions of...

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English professor Ernest Morrell on why powerful, equitable literacy is essential

Todd Boruff

Ernest Morrell's research examines how children can move beyond basic reading and writing abilities by analyzing and producing media in ways that allow them to engage meaningfully with the world. “The practices around literacy in your own neighborhood and community are just as powerful as the literacy practices in school, and hopefully we begin to bridge that gap,” he said.

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Video: William Collins Donahue on the Resonance of Small Moments in Holocaust Literature

Todd Boruff

“Early literary encounters with the Holocaust tended to tell you about the whole event, but now when the Holocaust appears, generally speaking, it appears in small moments, in kind of passing glances,” said William Collins Donahue, the John J. Cavanaugh, C.S.C., Professor of the Humanities and chair of the Department of German and Russian Languages and Literatures at the University...

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Video: Sociologist Dana Moss on studying authoritarian regimes, transnational repression, and protest movements

Todd Boruff

Dana Moss is an assistant professor of sociology at Notre Dame whose research interests include collective behavior and social movements, global and transnational sociology, international migration, and political sociology. She's currently working on a book project on the "Arab Spring abroad" — how Libyan, Yemeni, and Syrian communities, spread from as far away as Los Angeles to London, mobilized to support...

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Video: Student researches impact of Communist ideology in Shanghai

Todd Boruff

  During the summer of 2015, Notre Dame history and political science major Matt Souza interviewed laborers in multiple Chinese cities. The goal of his research was to determine whether the official ideology of the Communist Party is still influential amongst Chinese citizens. “All of my findings, they’re actually quite different from all the previous research, and I really want...

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Video: Theologian Gary Knoppers on the origins of an international Judaism

Todd Boruff

  “Different texts speak with different voices. Paying attention to these differences between different writings really helps to illumine the history of early Judaism,” said Gary Knoppers, John A. O’Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. Knoppers, whose research focuses on ancient Israelite history, is currently writing commentaries of 2 Chronicles and 1 and 2 Kings, Biblical...

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Video: Arts and Letters major researches perceptions of race at national library of France

Todd Boruff

During the summer of 2014, Notre Dame French and history major Curran Cross traveled to Paris to conduct research at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. His project examined the differing views of Arab and African immigrants in modern France. “My hypothesis is that the French have had centuries of experience racially mixing with people of African ancestry and this is...

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Video: Meet gender studies major Natalie Perez

Todd Boruff

“Being in gender studies helps you really understand how to be an advocate for yourself and an advocate for other people as well,” said Natalie Perez ’14, a gender studies major in the College of Arts and Letters. Gender studies at Notre Dame is an interdisciplinary academic program which analyzes the significance of gender in all aspects of human life,...

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VIDEO: Medieval Institute director and historian on interreligious interaction in the Mediterranean

Todd Boruff

“The medieval Mediterranean world is the one really impressive laboratory we have for studying how Jews and Christians and Muslims interacted with each other over a long period of time,” said Thomas Burman, professor of history and Robert M. Conway Director of the Medieval Institute at the University of Notre Dame. 

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Faculty fellow, Jennifer Jones on understanding race relations

Todd Boruff

Jennifer Jones is an assistant professor of sociology and a faculty fellow at the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Her research uses qualitative methods to explore increasing migration, the growing multiracial population, and shifting social relations between and within racial groups. In this video, she discusses her work on how race relations are changing and what race...

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Video: Cross-Cultural Leadership Program immerses students in Latino communities

Todd Boruff

  The Cross-Cultural Leadership Program (CCLP) is a three-credit, eight-week summer course administered by Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies. This service learning experience immerses students in organizations serving Latino communities in either Chicago, Los Angeles, or Washington, D.C. All living expenses are covered for the students during the program. “We’re able to go out into the community, speak Spanish,...

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Video: Meet Africana Studies major Olivia Furman

Todd Boruff

“I am more than glad that I chose Africana studies. It’s a major that helps you form a way of going about life,” said Olivia Furman, a senior in the College of Arts and Letters. Africana studies at the University of Notre Dame centers on Africans and the African Diaspora—the global dispersion of peoples of African descent—and examines their historical,...

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Video: Peter Casarella on the future of Latino theology

Todd Boruff

“I want to try a new step forward in Mestizo Christianity, looking at cultural dialogue and cultural difference that brings the traditions from the past … into conversation with Latino theology,” said Peter Casarella, associate professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame and a fellow at the University’s Institute for Latino Studies.

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