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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.

AI, robots, and the future of work: insights from economist Yong Suk Lee

Published: August 14, 2023

Josh Stowe

As powerful technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics become widespread, so have worries about the future of work. Will these innovations make employees irrelevant and ultimately take their jobs? The good news is that they don’t have to. Policymakers can use education to leverage technology and build a better future for workers, says Yong Suk Lee…

Michiana Community Health Coalition addresses health disparities in South Bend-Elkhart

Published: August 07, 2023

Erin Blasko and Gwen O'Brien, Office of Public Affairs and Communications

Who has their finger on the pulse of public health? One could argue it’s community health workers (CHWs). Some CHWs work in clinics and others are mobile, moving through city neighborhoods and rural areas, sometimes going door to door or hosting resource tables at community events. The workers serve as a link between health and social services and people facing...

Pioneering disability rights

Published: July 26, 2023

Notre Dame Magazine

July 26 is National Disability Independence Day. In this feature, we look back at a story that appeared previously in Notre Dame Magazine about the pioneering role Notre Dame played in the disability legal rights movement.

ND Law Dean G. Marcus Cole included on list of Indiana’s most influential leaders

Published: July 24, 2023

Notre Dame Law School

G. Marcus Cole, the Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School, was among those recognized on IBJ Media’s list of the most influential leaders in Indiana.

Access to improved resources fails to impact economic outcomes for Black families across generations

Published: July 23, 2023

Tracy DeStazio

“Any benefits accrued by growing up in more advantaged neighborhoods may be undercut by enhanced discrimination in the labor market and society at large,” wrote Notre Dame sociologist Steven Alvardo and his co-author. “Race, not class origins, is the dominant factor governing the economic mobility of Black individuals.”

Romance languages and literatures professor’s book about undocumented migration wins Caribbean Studies Association’s most prestigious prize

Published: July 17, 2023

Beth Staples

Notre Dame professor Marisel Moreno’s book about the largely unknown and dangerous phenomenon of undocumented sea migration within the Caribbean region has won the Gordon K. and Sybil Lewis Book Award, the Caribbean Studies Association’s most prestigious prize. In Crossing Waters: Undocumented Migration in Hispanophone Caribbean and Latinx Literature & Art, Moreno seeks to lift the veil of invisibility around...

Beijing Global Gateway helps secure crucifix from Chinese Artist Dao Zi

Published: July 10, 2023

Colleen Wilcox

Dao Zi is pictured with Jingyu Wang from the BGG The Crucifix Initiative at the University of Notre Dame is adding a new addition to its collection. Dao Zi, a well-known Chinese artist who recently retired from the Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University, donated his latest piece “Crucifixion on the Red Cross” to Notre Dame. Through his...

Notre Dame International participates in student orientation, counselor training in Mexico City

Published: July 05, 2023

Norma Sofia Rivera Padilla

Leah Zimmer, executive director of International Student and Scholar Services (ISSA) at Notre Dame International joined the Mexico Global Center team to participate as a speaker on the topic of international students’ responsibilities while studying at a U.S. college or university. The event took place as part of EducationUSA Mexico City’s Pre-Departure Orientation series.…

University reaction to Supreme Court decision

Published: June 30, 2023

diversity.nd.edu

University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., made a statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision on race-conscious admissions policies in higher education.

Physicist Xiaolong Liu receives Powe Junior Faculty Award

Published: June 21, 2023

Deanna Csomo Ferrell

The competitive research award provides seed money for Liu's work in condensed matter and quantum physics.

University of Notre Dame, City of Elkhart, Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce join forces to address affordable housing and economic development strategies

Published: August 13, 2023

Carrie Rulli

The University of Notre Dame School of Architecture will conduct its sixth Dean’s Charrette in Elkhart, Indiana.

Ansari Institute to attend the Parliament of the World's Religions

Published: July 31, 2023

Rebekah Go

The Ansari Institute is pleased to be attending and serving as a sponsor of the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions. The Parliament, which traces its roots back over a century ago to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, was originally envisioned as a way to engage with religions “of the east and the west.”…

NDLA Board honors Vietnam veteran John Lancaster ’67, ’74 J.D.

Published: July 26, 2023

Notre Dame Law School

This National Disability Independence Day, we look back at a story previously published by Notre Dame Law School about an alumnus honored for his “contributions to people with disabilities worldwide and his life’s reflection of Notre Dame values.”

ND Law’s Religious Liberty Initiative presents 2023 Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty to Lord David Alton

Published: July 24, 2023

Denise Wager

The third annual Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit, hosted by Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative, culminated on Thursday, July 13, with a black-tie gala at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall in London.

Professor emerita wins prestigious lifelong achievement award for her work assessing environmental injustice

Published: July 21, 2023

Deanna Csomo Ferrell

Kristin Shrader-Frechette, O’Neill Family Professor Emerita in the University of Notre Dame Department of Philosophy, who had a concurrent appointment in the Department of Biological Sciences, has won the 2023 Cosmos International Prize…

Targeted prevention helps stop homelessness before it starts

Published: July 13, 2023

Tracy DeStazio

Homelessness has become an increasingly worrisome crisis in our nation over the past several years, but a new study from the University of Notre Dame shows that efforts to prevent homelessness work.

Panel probes affirmative action rulings

Published: July 07, 2023

Pauline Namuleme

Where do we go from here? Notre Dame administrators are considering that question in the aftermath of the June 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down affirmative action in college admissions. The ruling means race cannot be a factor in admission decisions and requires institutions to look for new ways to achieve diversity in their student bodies.…

Health Equity Data Lab awards launch data science innovations in addressing healthcare disparities

Published: July 05, 2023

Christine Grashorn

Health Equity Data Lab awards launch data science innovations at Notre Dame in addressing healthcare disparities The Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society (LFIDS) has announced the first round of Health Equity Data Lab (HEDL) awards to four new research projects led by multidisciplinary teams of researchers and community stakeholders.…

Research fellow studies civic feminist Virginia Salvi in Rome and Venice

Published: June 27, 2023

Costanza Montanari

McKenna is currently the National Endowment for the Humanities and Teagle Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Notre Dame, where she teaches classes on the history of science and gender.Since the days of undergraduate studies, McKenna was fascinated by women authors and their active involvement in civic and politics.

Rome Global Gateway collaborates on restoration of the Biblia Hebraica

Published: June 20, 2023

Costanza Montanari

The Renaissance Bible was recently restored with the contribution of the University of Notre Dame Rome Global Gateway and Center for Italian Studies, as part of a collaboration between Notre Dame and the Historical Archive of the Jewish Community of Rome.

Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative hosts human dignity conference at Oxford with BYU Law

Published: August 07, 2023

Arienne Calingo

From July 27 to 29, Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative and Brigham Young University’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies hosted an enriching conference at the University of Oxford that gathered more than 150 participants. The conference attendees consisted of international law and human rights experts from around the world, including Australia, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Nepal,...

ROAM engineering lab developing powered prosthesis to aid natural movement

Published: July 28, 2023

Notre Dame Stories

In continued recognition of National Disability Independence Day, we look back at a story previously published by Notre Dame Stories about the Robotics, Optimization and Assistive Mobility (ROAM) lab’s work to enrich the lives of amputees.

Connecting students with the resources and accommodations they need

Published: July 25, 2023

diversity.nd.edu

Brent Fragnoli, a care and wellness consultant and prevention and outreach specialist in the Center for Student Support and Care, partners with colleagues across campus to increase retention, well-being and support for students with disabilities.

A new generation of employees is looking for more than business as usual

Published: July 24, 2023

Notre Dame Magazine

At a recent birthday dinner, a friend asked me what she thought was an easy question. “Now that you’ve finished one decade,” she said — I was turning 31 — “what’s your vision for the next one?” I paused. For most of my 20s — perhaps even my teens — I had an answer ready for what I envisioned for...

What Gen Z students want us to know about their lives

Published: July 19, 2023

Notre Dame Magazine

Daymine Snow is a junior and first-generation student with a major in business analytics and a minor in digital technologies. He was recruited to Notre Dame through the Posse Foundation scholarship program. Notre Dame undergraduates grab their backpacks, visit the dining hall and walk to class. Later they’ll head to Hesburgh Library or their residence halls with a pile of...

Ansari Institute awards 2023 Nasr Book Prize to Anthony Annett for "Cathonomics"

Published: July 10, 2023

Renee LaReau

The Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion has awarded the 2023 Nasr Book Prize to Anthony Annett, a visiting scholar at Columbia University's Center for Sustainable Development, for his book Cathonomics…

Champion appointed Associate Dean; Gezelter and Kolberg receive promotions

Published: July 06, 2023

Tammi Freehling

Patricia A. Champion, Ph.D., has been appointed the next Associate Dean for Research, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies effective July 1, 2023. She replaces Michael Hildreth, who transitions to his new role…

ND Law and Nanovic Institute host inaugural conference for Consortium of Catholic Law Schools in Poland

Published: June 30, 2023

Kevin Allen

Photo courtesy of John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin Earlier this year, Notre Dame Law School committed to supporting a consortium of Catholic law faculties and scholars in Central and Eastern Europe. Last week, the Law School and the University of Notre Dame’s Nanovic Institute for European Studies…

Flamenco: The soul of Andalucía builds community in South Bend

Published: June 27, 2023

Office of Brand Content

Over the last two years, flamenco has created connections between Spain and Notre Dame and between Notre Dame and South Bend, helping to build a community from neighbors.

Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., shares Juneteenth message

Published: June 19, 2023

diversity.nd.edu

“Let us recommit ourselves as the Notre Dame community to treating every person with dignity and as a beloved child of God,” Jenkins said.