My pronouns: She, her, hers
While some may find it new and unfamiliar to proactively share their pronouns, it’s something Cecilia Lucero has practiced for at least four years. Words matter, and so do actions.
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.
Notre Dame’s Eck Institute and Institute for Latino Studies professors partner to help students explore Hispanic/Latino health
For the 2.2 million U.S. farm workers who identify…
Having coffee with . . . Anna Haskins
Anna Haskins recalls the precise moment in June when she heard about the Supreme Court ruling that effectively ended affirmative action for college admissions. “Did I expect it? Yes. But…
Prashant Kamat receives Henry H. Storch Award in Energy Chemistry
Prashant Kamat, the Rev. John A. Zahm, C.S.C, Professor of Science, has added yet another accomplishment to his long list of accolades. Kamat was recently honored by the American Chemical Society (ACS) with the 2024…
Pride runs deep among ND faculty and staff who graduated from HBCUs
Scholars and professionals from across campus share how Historically Black Colleges and Universities helped make them who they are today.
Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month
Find out about events taking place on Notre Dame’s campus and get resources to learn more about the annual observance
Notre Dame receives AmeriCorps grant to support psychologist's TutorND initiative
The University has received a $640,000 grant from AmeriCorps that will allow it to continue serving children in the South Bend area and in schools working with the Alliance for Catholic Education.
Paul Ocobock’s new book pores over history of Kenyan coffee
“What I want from this book is for people to have a sense of, as the coffee machine is dripping the coffee into their pot … the long history of this beverage,” said the associate professor of history. After Kenya gained independence in 1963, Ocobock said farmers’ coffee production exploded. “We're so much more connected now to the people who...
Notre Dame partners with Tennessee State and nine other HBCUs to grow the U.S. microelectronics workforce
When it comes to making semiconductor chips in the United States, “we need all hands on deck,” says Matthew Morrison, associate teaching professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. Morrison recently joined Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative. The initiative provides $50 million to support science, technology, engineering, arts, and math opportunities...
Keough School of Global Affairs awarded for Urban Poverty and Business Initiative
The McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business, part of the Keough School of Global Affairs, received the 2023 Entrepreneurship Practice Award for its Urban Poverty and Business Initiative from the Academy of Management. The award recognizes research programs that are significantly advancing the practice of entrepreneurship.
Fall 2023 update from the Office of Institutional Transformation
The 2023-2024 academic year has gotten off to a fantastic start. As we enter our second full academic year of operations, the Office of Institutional Transformation is firmly positioned to lead and catalyze Notre Dame’s efforts to enhance inclusive excellence as a premier global Catholic research University, fostering a culture of belonging where all can thrive.
Notre Dame Office of Life & Human Dignity partners with Archdiocese of Los Angeles to address racism
Racism as a Life Issue The Notre Dame Office of Life and Human Dignity and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles collaborated to develop lessons on racism and racial justice for Respect Life month. These resources are part of the wider Teaching…
Bringing order to chaos: Jiahong Wu’s research applies mathematics to fluid behavior
For Jiahong Wu, professor in the Department of Mathematics, a pot of water boiling on the stove and the formation of a powerful tornado can be mathematically understood in the exact same way. …
Award-winning novelist Colson Whitehead to visit Notre Dame
Renowned author Colson Whitehead will visit Notre Dame on Oct. 3 (Tuesday) to deliver the 2023 Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C., Lecture at 5 p.m. in the Patricia George Decio Theatre of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.
Holly Goodson elected as fellow of the American Society for Cell Biology
Holly Goodson, Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, has been selected as a Fellow of The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB). She joins 18 other distinguished scientists from across the globe in the 2023 cohort of fellows. Her formal recognition will take place in Boston later this year at Cell Bio 2023, the joint meeting of the ASCB and the...
Now scheduling IRR artist-in-residence class visits
The IRR 2023-24 Artist-in-Residence is David Martin, a Pokagon Potawatomi painter, bead worker and tattoo artist. During his residency he is open to visit classes during the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 semesters. If you are interested in having David come speak to or work with…
English language at ND: a bridge, a door, and a passion
The English language is a major lingua franca in today’s world–that is, a “bridge language” that two speakers of different languages can use to communicate with each other. For a variety of reasons, people from all across the world have chosen to devote their lives to studying English for themselves and teaching the language to others. One of those individuals...
Notre Dame Law School holds moot court program for TRIO students
This summer, Notre Dame Law School hosted a moot court tournament for over 30 seventh and eighth graders in the South Bend community participating in Notre Dame’s TRIO Talent Search Summer Academy. The academy welcomes middle school students from first-generation, minority, and low-income backgrounds to Notre Dame every summer for two weeks.
TSU and ND grad Algie Oldham became a pillar of the community
Members of the Oldham family will celebrate their connections to both Tennessee State and Notre Dame when the schools meet on the football field September 2.
Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal, professor of digital scholarship and English, explores ethical implications of technologies
The concurrent assistant professor in the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre also makes video games, including Frack! The Game, a strategy contest that takes prompts from real-world incidents to explore the ethical, socioeconomic, and environmental landscape of injecting liquid at high pressure into the earth to force open fissures and then remove oil or gas.
Theology professor Jeremy Brown wins Kingdon Fellowship to research 13th-century Jewish theological movement
“I hope the award will underscore the promise of rigorous academic research into the heart of medieval Judaism and, likewise, testify to the strength of Jewish studies at Notre Dame,” Brown said.
FirstGen@ND: Department of American Studies Professor Jennifer Huynh was the first in her family to attend college
Department of American Studies Professor Jennifer Huynh was the first person in her family to go to college. “Attending university wasn’t…
Hispanic alumni offer advice to help students navigate college and life
The Success Stories of Hispanic Alumni virtual panel is a signature Hispanic Heritage Month event held in response to students’ desire to connect with alums who share their cultural heritage and experience.
Thomas Berg explores how religious liberty can reduce polarization in book talk hosted by ND Law’s Religious Liberty Initiative
In Religious Liberty in a Polarized Age, author Thomas Berg shows us how reaffirming religious freedom cultivates the good of individuals and society. In a book talk hosted by Notre Dame Law School’s Religious…
Sharon Hu receives 2023 Marie R. Pistilli Women in Engineering Achievement Award
Xiaobo Sharon Hu, professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Notre Dame, has received the 2023 Marie R. Pistilli Women in Engineering Achievement Award from the Design Automation Conference (DAC). DAC is the largest industry event devoted to electronic computer-aided design.
To examine the US in the world, Perin Gürel puts diplomatic policy documents in conversation with cultural products
“I might look at how a movie depicts Iran and how that movie is then interpreted in Turkey and how that relates to foreign policy, both Turkish foreign policy but also U.S. foreign policy and Iranian foreign policy,” said the associate professor of American studies. The title of her in-progess book, America's Wife, America's Concubine: Turkey, Iran, and the Politics...
Fighting for those with cystic fibrosis
A collaboration between Notre Dame and Trinity College Dublin explores a novel method to treat cystic fibrosis. …
Political scientist Rachel Porter earns award for best doctoral dissertation about American government
The assistant professor analyzed text from more than 5,000 congressional candidates’ campaign websites in 2018 and 2020, and learned that while much of today’s politics is polarized and nationally oriented, theories of strategic candidate behavior also need to reflect locally oriented campaigning. “So, for instance, I find that candidates are a lot more likely to talk about local issues, district...
Romance languages professor wins NEH grant for analysis and preservation of poet Rubén Darío’s influential work
María Rosa Olivera-Williams is leading a team of scholars from the U.S., England, and Argentina to analyze four volumes of Nicaraguan writer Rubén Darío lesser-known journalistic essays. She recently won an NEH Scholarly Editions and Translations grant, which will allow her to continue compiling, analyzing, and publicizing Darío’s work.
Yichun Wang receives Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from NIH for novel drug-delivery platform
Yichun Wang, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Notre Dame, has received the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health.