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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.

Institute for Latino Studies report analyzes role of gender in Latino savings and retirement

Published: February 25, 2016

William G. Gilroy

A new report by the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies examines how gender affects Latino men’s and women’s savings for retirement and concludes that there is a need to develop programs to empower lower-income women and men to save for retirement. The research report, directed by Karen Richman, a Notre Dame cultural anthropologist, applies a novel, interdisciplinary...

Scholar of Chinese literary and internet culture appointed director of Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies

Published: February 12, 2016

Joan Fallon

Michel Hockx has been appointed director of the University of Notre Dame’s Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies within the new Keough School of Global Affairs. Hockx is professor of Chinese and director of the China Institute at SOAS, University of London. He will join the Notre Dame faculty in August 2016 and teach in the Department of East...

‘Stakes are high’ in pope’s visit to Mexico, experts say

Published: February 04, 2016

Michael O. Garvey

When Pope Francis travels to Mexico, he will visit six cities — including two in the state of Chiapas, Mexico’s poorest state — and will celebrate a Mass in Ciudad Juárez across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. The first pope from Latin America, where 40 percent of the world’s Catholics live, he will be touring the country that’s...

ScreenPeace Film Festival addresses global issues

Published: February 01, 2016

Notre Dame News

The University of Notre Dame’s annual ScreenPeace Film Festival includes six films on topics ranging from an inside look at North Korea, to the 1965 Indonesian genocide, to the indigenous people of Chile.

Black Lives Matter co-founders share message with overflow crowd

Published: January 20, 2016

Sarah Snider

Black Lives Matter co-founders Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors spoke January 18 to an overflow crowd of 600 interested students, faculty, administrators and South Bend community members at DeBartolo Hall.

Building a community of genuine love and respect

Published: January 18, 2016

Notre Dame News

The following is a transcript of University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.’s remarks at the University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Luncheon on Monday (Jan. 18).

NDI leaders meet with Yudhoyono, former president of Indonesia

Published: January 08, 2016

Amanda Skofstad

J. Nicholas Entrikin, vice president and associate provost for internationalization, and Jonathan Noble, assistant provost for internationalization in Asia, visited H. E. Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), former president of the Republic of Indonesia, in December 2015.

Three Notre Dame faculty receive fellowships from National Endowment for the Humanities

Published: December 18, 2015

Josh Weinhold

Three faculty from the University of Notre Dame received fellowships this week from the National Endowment for the Humanities, continuing the University’s record success winning support for humanities research. Receiving the grants are Julia Douthwaite, a professor of French; Amy Mulligan, an assistant professor of Irish language and literature; and Gabriel Said Reynolds, a professor of Islamic studies and theology.

Maurizio Albahari: How do liberal democracies deal with newcomers?

Published: November 19, 2015

Gene Stowe

For Maurizio Albahari, an assistant professor of anthropology and native of Italy, this year’s refugee crisis in Europe is a new layer on an old story of deadly immigration efforts across the Mediterranean Sea from Africa and Asia to Europe. The experience also bears considerable analogs with American migration issues, Albahari says, although especially in the Mediterranean situation, a fence...

Provost Burish meets Ma Ying-jeou, president of Taiwan

Published: November 13, 2015

Amanda Skofstad

Thomas G. Burish, provost of the University of Notre Dame, met at the Presidential Office in Taipei with Ma Ying-jeou, president of Taiwan, on October 22, 2015.

Robert O. Smith named academic director of Jerusalem Global Gateway

Published: February 24, 2016

Amanda Skofstad

Robert O. Smith, historian and specialist in American Christian theologies concerning the Israeli-Palestinian context, has been appointed the first academic director of the Jerusalem Global Gateway by Nick Entrikin, vice president and associate provost for internationalization. Smith is concurrent faculty in the Department of Theology and Keough School for Global Affairs.

Notre Dame scholars address challenges for Latino Catholic education

Published: February 11, 2016

Michael O. Garvey

Luis Ricardo Fraga, Arthur Foundation Endowed Professor of Transformative Latino Leadership, Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie Professor of Political Science and co-director of the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, served as co-editor of a special issue of the Journal of Catholic Education, its first issue ever to focus specifically on Latinos and Catholic education.

Notre Dame economists help small business owners in Kenya find success

Published: February 03, 2016

Carrie Gates

In a dense Nairobi slum best known for its toxic garbage dump, the crowded streets are lined with roadside stands. With no job prospects, residents’ best chance to eke out a living comes from selling foods and handcrafted goods at these tiny stalls. Three assistant professors in Notre Dame’s Department of Economics—Wyatt Brooks, Kevin Donovan, and Terence Johnson—are researching ways...

Next steps in our journey of purpose; beyond Walk the Walk Week

Published: January 27, 2016

Cidni Sanders

What does it mean for the Notre Dame community — its students, faculty and staff — to be doers, not merely speakers or hearers, of the call to Walk the Walk? As the campus paused January 18-22 to reflect on the values central to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and the mission of the University, several speakers outlined possible next steps...

King Day prayer service honors the past, looks to Notre Dame’s future

Published: January 18, 2016

Cidni Sanders

The midnight prayer service held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2016 was just as much about the historic actions of the slain civil rights leader as it was about the prospective actions of the Notre Dame students, faculty, staff and guests who gathered together. More than 1,000 people attended the service at 12 a.m. on Monday, January 18, the...

Spanish students connect with South Bend through community-based learning

Published: January 13, 2016

Josh Weinhold

Through a series of new community-based-learning Spanish courses at Notre Dame, undergraduates are improving their language skills both inside and outside the classroom. Spanish students in intermediate-level and community-based learning classes now average about 3,000 hours of service per year in South Bend. The model is based on the idea that a faculty member and local organization leader are co-educators...

A longtime voice in the dialogue on civil and human rights

Published: January 06, 2016

Cidni Sanders

From the turbulent civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s to today’s efforts to advance justice and human dignity around the world, the University’s commitment to human rights has been inextricably linked to social teachings of the Catholic Church.

Women at work: What's next in tech

Published: December 15, 2015

College of Engineering

Meet some of the next generation of innovators — the women of Notre Dame engineering.

Karen Richman: ‘We are a nation of immigrants’

Published: November 19, 2015

Gene Stowe

Karen Richman, director of undergraduate studies for the Institute for Latino Studies, was one of the first scholars who saw both sides of immigration as it created transnational interdependent communities in the late 20th century. Her long-view historical perspective sees the current U.S. immigration debate as another in a long series of resistance followed by acceptance as newcomers contribute to...

Notre Dame hosts 10th annual Fulbright Foreign Language Teachers orientation

Published: November 09, 2015

Charlene Dundek

The University of Notre Dame hosted its 10th annual Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) orientation in August 2015. Sixty-four scholars from 29 countries gathered at Notre Dame to celebrate their arrival in America and prepare for the upcoming year of teaching their native languages in universities across the U.S.

Political science, peace studies associate professor wins grant to study war's hidden costs

Published: February 12, 2016

Renée LaReau

Tanisha Fazal, associate professor of political science and peace studies, has been awarded a research grant from the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation to investigate the human and financial costs of war. The costs of caring for wounded veterans are not traditionally or accurately factored into government assessments, Fazal said.

Notre Dame celebrates Black History Month

Published: February 05, 2016

Sarah Snider

Multicultural Student Programs and Services invites you to celebrate Black History Month at one of these many exciting events happening on campus and in the community.

Inaugural Ursula Williams Faculty Fellow develops hybrid Chinese language course

Published: February 03, 2016

Anne Daly

The Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures has partnered with the Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning to offer the Ursula Williams Faculty Fellowship. The fellowship connects foreign-language faculty with technology experts and supports research to help faculty members determine which technological tools are most helpful in language classrooms. Chengxu Yin, associate teaching professor of Chinese, was awarded...

New Political Science faculty expand department’s international profile

Published: January 22, 2016

Tom Lange

As students read news about China’s turbulent economy or about Russia flexing political muscle, two new professors in Notre Dame’s Department of Political Science can provide them with context about what’s happening. Associate Professor Karrie Koesel and Assistant Professor Susanne Wengle have both lived in Russia and studied its culture and politics for years. Koesel has also worked and researched...

ND Expert: It's time for a grown-up view of Martin Luther King Jr.

Published: January 18, 2016

Richard Pierce

I find myself bracing for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday celebrations. I envision speaker after speaker struggling to reinterpret, as if the audience had not heard before, among other things, King’s dream about the red hills of Georgia and the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners.…

Psychologist honored for a lifetime of influential personality research

Published: January 11, 2016

Tom Lange

When you help create two dozen psychological assessment instruments—including one cited more than 19,000 times—the world takes notice. David Watson, the Andrew J. McKenna Family Professor of Psychology, was honored for those accomplishments and many others when the Society for Personality and Social Psychology presented him with the 2015 Jack Block Award for Distinguished Research in Personality. The award recognizes...

MLK Day — A time for reflection

Published: January 06, 2016

Cidni Sanders

It will begin, fittingly, at the Hesburgh Library Reflecting Pool, a serene spot on campus designed to encourage serious thought and meditation. A midnight march will kick off the University’s celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I hope you will use this occasion to reflect on the values that are so central both to...

Alex Chávez: Parallels among Latino, Mideast and North African migration

Published: November 19, 2015

Gene Stowe

Alex E. Chávez, an assistant professor in anthropology and Fellow of the Institute for Latino Studies (ILS), sees parallels between longstanding Latino migration to the United States and the current crisis of Middle Eastern and North African migration to Europe. He was part of a group of ILS faculty fellows who met with Italian scholars to discuss immigration at Notre...

Technology meets society: New app helps seniors live better

Published: November 18, 2015

William G. Gilroy

A new technological solution developed by researchers from the University of Notre Dame is aimed at enhancing the physical health, vitality and brain fitness of seniors residing in independent living communities.

Sociologist’s research compares police presence at Christian and secular protests

Published: November 09, 2015

William G. Gilroy

Police are less likely to show up at protests involving religious actors or organizations — unless the protesters are fundamentalist Christians, according to a new study. Notre Dame sociologist Kraig Beyerlein, the lead author of the study, analyzed protest-event data from daily editions of The New York Times published between 1960 and 1995 and found that, in general, police were...