Faculty Stories
Faculty at Notre Dame come from communities and cultures all over the world. They conduct research and scholarship on topics and issues that span numerous academic disciplines. They share with students not just their areas of expertise but also their questions and concerns about the enduring issues and latest developments that shape our times.
But their role in broadening and sharpening the lenses through which we understand ourselves and the world around us extend well beyond individual research projects, classroom lectures, course syllabi, or a list of academic programs.
The selection of stories below helps illustrate the many other ways Notre Dame faculty foster diversity, support inclusion, and enliven the entire Notre Dame community.
The University of Notre Dame will welcome 14 new business and social entrepreneurs from across Latin America and the Caribbean for the 2018 Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Professional Fellows Program.
Why Gender Studies?
Pamela Wynne Butler, associate director and director of undergraduate studies in the Gender Studies Program, discusses the Gender and Culture in American Society course she teaches as part of the Summer Scholars program.
Article examines mental health of internally displaced persons
An article, co-authored by a researcher at the Notre Dame Initiative for Global Development, titled “Identifying Mental Health Problems and Idioms of Distress Among Older Adult Internally Displaced Persons in Georgia,” has been published in Social Science & Medicine.
Fr. Jenkins responds to Administration practice of separating immigrant families at the border
“Central to the Holy Cross education Notre Dame offers is a sense of family, centered on the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and in that spirit I call on the Administration to end immediately the cruel practice of separating children from parents and parents from children.”
African American religious traditions in the early 20th century: A seminar with Judith Weisenfeld
The spring 2018 Seminar in American Religion featured Weisenfeld’s New World A-Coming.
Statement by Father Jenkins on the 50th anniversary of MLK’s death
"On this anniversary of his violent death, let us at Notre Dame and throughout the nation and the world recommit ourselves to work for justice everywhere.”
Women Lead 2018
Progress is made in the details. The things outside the frame. On the occasion of International Women's Day 2018, meet seven scholars whose work is inspiring others to #PressForProgress.
Physics professor strengthens Notre Dame-Colima relationship
Antonio Delgado, a physics professor at the University of Notre Dame, visited the University of Colima in early January to promote particle physics and encourage collaboration between Notre Dame and Colima.
Cardinal Onaiyekan and Bishop Farrell to headline Notre Dame conference on interreligious and ecumenical dialogue
The conference titled “The Whole is Greater than its Parts: Christian Unity and Interreligious Encounter Today” aims to embrace Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation in “Evangelii Gaudium” to dialogue with fellow Christians and believers from other religious traditions.
Alexander McLean delivers inaugural Klau Center lecture
Alexander McLean, founder of the African Prisons Project, visited the University of Notre Dame on September 6, 2018, to deliver the inaugural lecture for the newly endowed Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights.
English professor Ernest Morrell on why powerful, equitable literacy is essential
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.
Keough School introduces new undergraduate global affairs major
A supplementary major in global affairs, designed for students interested in exploring contemporary global issues, will be offered to this year’s incoming class of 2022.
Spanish professor wins book prize for her work on Latin American female travel writers
Vanesa Miseres, an assistant professor of Spanish in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, has won a prize from the International Institute of Latin American Literature for her book Mujeres en tránsito: viaje, identidad y escritura en Sudamérica. Mujeres en tránsito examines four prominent female writers who traveled to and from Latin America in the 19th century — Flora Tristan, Juana...
Connections between Quran and Bible illuminated in new commentary
Gabriel Said Reynolds — University of Notre Dame professor of Islamic studies and theology — shows in his newest publication, The Qur’an & the Bible: Text and Commentary, that the connections between the sacred texts of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism run deep.
The Commencement of the Notre Dame Class of 2018
The University of Notre Dame celebrated its 173rd Commencement Ceremony Sunday (May 20) in Notre Dame Stadium, with an audience of approximately 21,000 family members, friends, faculty and graduates.
Notre Dame makes additions to the Wall of Honor
Established in 1999, the Wall of Honor recognizes men and women “whose contributions to Notre Dame have been lasting, pervasive and profound.”
Video: International migration and refugees as a theological issue
Rev. Daniel G. Groody, C.S.C. is associate professor of theology and global affairs and the director of the Kellogg Global Leadership Program. His research interests include migration and the US-Mexican border, international migration and refugees.
Political science department adds four international relations experts to faculty
Notre Dame’s Department of Political Science has added four new faculty members, bolstering its expertise in international relations issues. The new faculty join an elite group of academics advancing research and teaching in a vibrant department.
David and Corey Robinson to deliver keynote at Notre Dame Walk the Walk Week luncheon
NBA Hall of Famer David Robinson and his son, a Notre Dame graduate and former football player Corey Robinson will be the featured keynote speakers during the University of Notre Dame's Martin Luther King Celebration luncheon on Jan. 22 (Monday).
Muñoz to speak at Justice Department’s Forum on Free Speech in Higher Education
Muñoz’s presentation, titled “Securing Free Speech and Free Inquiry: Lessons from the Notre Dame Experience,” will emphasize the vital role of universities as places where the search for truth is paramount. He also stresses the importance of diversity of thought on campuses. He believes it is crucial and fundamental to the very mission of higher education to make room...
The Insider Project: Exploring ethnic identity and self-esteem in Vietnam
Tony Do with two other student research assistants at Imperial City, Hue, the former imperial capital of Vietnam. Notre Dame senior Tony Do didn’t know what to expect when he…
First class of accomplished leaders goes ‘back to school’ as part of Notre Dame’s Inspired Leadership Initiative
Sixteen leaders in fields ranging from global sustainability to finance, law, medicine, manufacturing and health care are fellows in the first class of the new Inspired Leadership Initiative.
Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., welcomes 2018 Mandela Washington Fellows to campus
University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., and some 100 guests from across the University and the greater South Bend area convened in Jenkins Nanovic Halls on June 21 to welcome the 2018 Mandela Washington Fellows to campus.
Online course connects students with perspectives from around the world
Gabriel Said Reynolds greets his students on the final day of his Introduction to the Quran course. He is in a small classroom on Notre Dame’s campus. His students are in Orlando, Colorado, Canada, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and beyond. Such arrangements are not uncommon in the world of massive open online courses (MOOCs), but this one is different....
Sister Norma Pimentel, M.J.: 2018 Laetare Address
Sister Norma Pimentel, M.J., executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley and longtime advocate for immigrants and refugees, received the University of Notre Dame’s 2018 Laetare Medal — the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics — at Notre Dame’s 173rd University Commencement Ceremony on May 20.
Bishop Edward K. Braxton delivers Dean’s Lecture on Race, Law, and Society
In the prologue of his Dean’s Lecture on Race, Law, and Society, “The Catholic Church and the Racial Divide in the United States,” the Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Ph.D., S.T.D., Bishop of Belleville, Illinois, asked a thought-provoking question: “What if?”
Conversations and conversions: The Bob Pelton interviews
Peter Cajka reflects on five interviews he conducted with Father Bob Pelton, C.S.C., from October 2017 to January 2018.
Success in community college aided by comprehensive case management, study finds
Community colleges provide a path out of poverty for many low-income students. However, far too many never graduate. Nationally, fewer than 40 percent of community college students obtain a degree within six years.
VIDEO: Medieval Institute director and historian on interreligious interaction in the Mediterranean
“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.