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University of Notre Dame and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile dual PhD program welcomes all disciplines

2025-02-04T13:37:00-05:00

Michael Hildreth, Notre Dame’s associate provost and vice president for graduate studies and dean of the Graduate 91��Ƶ, joined Dr. Ignacio Sánchez, president of UC Chile, for the signing ceremony.

Building on a long history of partnership, the University of Notre Dame and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC Chile) — widely recognized as one of the top universities in Latin America — have announced the expansion of their dual Ph.D. program. Previously available to engineering students, the program now welcomes candidates from all academic disciplines, reflecting the universities’ shared vision for international collaboration and promoting academic innovation. This marks the first university-wide dual Ph.D. agreement for both institutions.

The signing ceremony took place at UC Chile's campus in Santiago, Chile, with representatives from both institutions in attendance. Michael Hildreth, Notre Dame’s associate provost and vice president for graduate studies and dean of the Graduate 91��Ƶ, and Jonathan Noble, Notre Dame’s senior assistant provost for internationalization, joined Dr. Ignacio Sánchez, president of UC Chile. Representatives from Notre Dame Santiago, Notre Dame’s office located on UC Chile’s campus, were also present. The event marked a significant step forward in the growing partnership between the two universities.

“Graduate student exchanges are the foundation of strong research partnerships with institutions like UC Chile,” said Hildreth. “By enabling students to spend time in different academic environments, we deepen collaborations and contribute to groundbreaking research that strengthens both institutions while addressing global challenges. The breadth of this new agreement will allow faculty and students from all disciplines to share the process of discovery.”

UC Chile and Notre Dame representatives discuss the dual Ph.D. agreement.

The dual Ph.D. program allows students to spend time learning in two leading academic institutions, benefiting from diverse research opportunities, faculty mentorship and access to advanced resources. Participants spend at least one year at each institution, culminating in two doctoral degrees — one from Notre Dame and one from UC Chile — for a single body of work. This program is unique in that it encompasses all doctoral programs, offering significant opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.

Sánchez noted the importance of this expansion and said, “This agreement allows us to deepen collaboration in both training and research — not only in engineering, but also in humanities, social sciences, literature, theology and philosophy. We are very happy with this partnership and committed to making it thrive by engaging the best professors and Ph.D. students from both institutions.”

Faculty involvement is a cornerstone of the initiative, as the expanded program opens new pathways for academic exchange beyond student mobility. The agreement lays the foundation for a broader faculty exchange program across disciplines, allowing scholars from both institutions to collaborate more deeply. The initiative strengthens institutional ties and enhances the depth of interdisciplinary research across both universities.

The Notre Dame delegation’s visit also included strategic meetings with UC Chile’s academic leadership, deans and department chairs to explore further opportunities for collaboration and integration across disciplines. This visit and associated initiatives align with Notre Dame's strategic framework, which prioritizes deepening academic impact through global partnerships, interdisciplinary collaboration and furthering global research initiatives.

“The partnership between Notre Dame and UC Chile aligns with Notre Dame’s strategic priorities of advancing global engagement and strengthening the Catholic mission by partnering with premiere global institutions,” said Juan Esteban Montes, director of Notre Dame Santiago. “This dual Ph.D. program builds a bridge for collaborative research that equips scholars to address critical global challenges with academic excellence and ethical leadership.”

By cultivating these relationships, Notre Dame aims to create a network of enduring academic collaborations that benefit both institutions and address pressing global challenges. These discussions reinforced the commitment to not only enhancing student opportunities but also advancing significant research partnerships at the faculty level.

For more information about this initiative, please contact Notre Dame Santiago Program Manager Felipe Gomez Carol. To learn more about Notre Dame’s work in Santiago, please visit Notre Dame Santiago’s website.

From left to right: Juan Esteban Montes, director of Notre Dame Santiago, Jonathan Noble, senior assistant provost for internationalization for Notre Dame, Michael Hildreth, associate provost and vice president for graduate studies and dean of the Graduate 91��Ƶ at Notre Dame, Claudia Correa Hérnandez, associate director of Student Life & Administration at Notre Dame, and Felipe Gomez, program manager of Notre Dame Santiago.

Originally published by Joanna Byrne at santiago.nd.edu on Feb. 4.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

PAM-M partners with civil society in baseline report, shedding light on Bangsamoro peace process in the Philippines

2025-02-04T13:20:00-05:00

The Peace Accords Matrix-Mindanao (PAM-M) project, part of the Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ within the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, released a civil society baseline report detailing progress and challenges in the Bangsamoro peace process in the Philippines. This is a noteworthy milestone as the implementation of the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro celebrated its 10-year anniversary in March 2024.

PAM-M is a partnership between the Peace Accords Matrix (PAM) and Catholic Relief Services–Philippines to aid the peace process in Mindanao emerging from the 2014 peace agreement between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. PAM-M supports the peace process using a specific methodology to measure progress related to the Annex on Normalization in the peace agreement, which focuses on pathways for transforming armed struggle to peaceful political participation, citizenship and livelihood.

PAM-M and civil society partners jointly developed indicators to measure advancement related to the “normalization track,” which is showcased in the baseline report. This report is the result of a long standing collaboration with civil society organizations based in the Bangsamoro region, and establishes a baseline of implementation data on selected normalization-specific stipulations from the community level.

The report presents initial assessment scores on key commitments including transitional justice, security and transitional components, socio-economic programs, the decommissioning of combatants from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and confidence-building measures. It also provides initial findings on the implementation status of stipulations under the Women Peace and Security category, acknowledging the UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

The report's findings highlight the resilience of the peace process, the necessity of mobilizing resources and addressing community-level needs, and the importance of ongoing dialogue between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to discuss implementation challenges and to share community feedback. The findings offer valuable insight regarding strides made, obstacles that remain, and opportunities that transformed the Bangsamoro struggle into peaceful political participation and livelihood. Continuous community-level monitoring by civil society can ensure transparency and equitable implementation, contributing to the overall success of the peace process.

Throughout this work, the Kroc Institute, PAM and Catholic Relief Services–Philippines continue to work in close proximity with civil society organizations, the signatory parties, peace process stakeholders and the community to build awareness, engagement and trust.

Originally published by Jena O'Brien at kroc.nd.edu on Jan. 24.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Three Notre Dame Faculty Recognized in 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings

2025-02-04T13:00:00-05:00

Three University of Notre Dame faculty members have been named to the 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. This prestigious annual list recognizes the 200 scholars whose academic work has most influenced educational practice and policy nationwide.

All three are faculty fellows in Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI), which strives to improve PK-12 education through research, formation of teachers and leaders, and direct service to educational systems.

Ernest Morrell

Ernest Morrell has been included on the list every year since 2015 for his groundbreaking contributions to literacy education. Morrell is the Associate Dean for the Humanities and Equity in the College of Arts and Letters, the Coyle Professor in Literacy Education, and the Director of the Notre Dame Center for Literacy Education within the IEI. He is a faculty member in the Departments of English and Africana 91��Ƶ and a faculty fellow in the Initiative on Race and Resilience.

Morrell’s research focuses on how the use of out-of-school literacy practices (e.g. popular culture and media) in the classroom can successfully engage urban youth in academic content and improve educational outcomes. He is also interested in collectively working with young people and their communities in collaborative research geared toward social change.

He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in fall 2024 and he is an elected member of the National Academy of Education and Director of the National Council of Teachers of English James R. Squire Office for Policy Research in the English Language Arts. Morrell also is a fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and an elected member of the AERA council.

”I cannot thank the leadership at Notre Dame enough for their support of my research program and my outreach to schools and communities,” said Morrell. “This recognition ultimately belongs to them for their faith in me and my work.”

Mark Berends

Mark Berends is making his seventh appearance on the annual list, recognized for his impactful research on school effectiveness and education policy. He is a professor in the Department of Sociology and a faculty fellow of the IEI’s Center for Research on Educational Opportunity and the Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ.

Berends has written and published extensively on educational reform, school choice, the effects of family and school changes on student achievement trends, and the effects of schools and classrooms on student achievement and attainment. His research focuses on how school organization and classroom instruction are related to student outcomes, with special attention to historically marginalized students and school reforms aimed at improving their educational opportunities. Currently, he is conducting several studies on school choice, including an examination of the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program.

He is a member of the National Academy of Education and an AERA fellow. At Notre Dame, he has served as the director of the Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI), Associate Vice President for Research, Director of the Center for Research on Educational Opportunity (CREO), and founding director of Notre Dame’s Program for Interdisciplinary Educational Research (PIER).

“It’s an honor to be selected with this incredible group of scholars, many of whom I have looked up to for years,” said Berends. “Having research recognized for its impact on policy and practice provides additional motivation to find new ways to make it happen.”

Jeffrey Denning

Jeffrey Denning, who is new to the list this year, focuses his research on higher education economics and student outcomes. He is the Dillon Hall Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and a faculty affiliate of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities. Denning is also a National Bureau of Economic Research associate, an IZA research fellow, and a CESifo research affiliate.

Denning’s recent work explores critical issues in education and labor economics, including the effects of increased student loan availability on long-term outcomes, the relationship between selective college access and labor market success, and factors contributing to gender wage gaps.

"It is an honor to be included on this list of scholars affecting education policy,” said Denning. “ I am grateful to my collaborators and the support I've received from Notre Dame for my research on the economics of education."

“We are thrilled to see Ernest Morrell, Mark Berends, and Jeff Denning recognized for their significant influence on education policy and practice,” said Matt Kloser, Hackett Family Director of the Institute for Educational Initiatives. “I can think of no greater privilege than to work alongside such talented faculty whose research contributes significantly to the field, and even more importantly, helps shape policy and practice to foster even stronger academic outcomes for all young people.”

The full list of rankings can be found on Education Week.

Contact: Carrie Gates, Associate Director of Media Relations, c.gates@nd.edu, 574-993-9220

Empowering through education: A pathway out of poverty for children in India

2025-02-03T13:25:00-05:00

When Anaya was in third grade in a primary school outside Hyderabad, India, she was told she would have to arrive an hour before the other students each day to clean the classrooms and toilets. Once she reached her class, she was often isolated, bullied, and overlooked.

Because she was born into a tribal community, Anaya was defined as a second-class student who would never rise above manual labor status.

Although the caste system in India was formally abolished in 1950, the effects of a hierarchy that was in place for more than 3,000 years are still evident today. Many people in India still adhere to the view that those born into the impoverished lower castes and tribal groups are not equal and can never achieve upward mobility.

After years of isolation and mistreatment at school, Anaya entered a residential school specifically for girls from vulnerable groups in fifth grade. Her first semester was difficult. Four hours away from home and feeling homesick, she often cried at night and had trouble concentrating in the classroom. When her father visited, she begged to go home.

But all that changed for Anaya in sixth grade—when Project Sampoorna was implemented in her school.

Read the story

Editor’s note: The names of the Indian students throughout this story have been changed to protect their privacy.

Walk the Walk Week prayer service emphasizes the power of love, call to uplift one another

2025-02-03T11:17:00-05:00

To kick off the 10th annual Walk the Walk Week, the University of Notre Dame hosted a candlelight prayer service in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart attended by students, faculty, staff and local community members on Monday (Jan. 27). University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., presided over the evening of prayer and reflection. Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America and 2024 Laetare Medalist, offered the keynote reflection.

In his opening prayer, Father Dowd invited the audience to remember Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to build the Beloved Community — a community based on love, justice and equal opportunity, where all people are treated with dignity and respect and where poverty, hunger and homelessness are eliminated.

“May your Holy Spirit remind us all that you show no partiality toward nationality, race, ethnicity or gender. For us to do so is to go against your great commandment of love toward one another.

We pray that the Church will not be complicit in injustice by being silent, but that it can rise up with a prophetic voice that speaks with integrity and advances the values of your Kingdom,” said Father Dowd.

Following a reading from Luke’s Gospel (Luke 18:1-8), Babineaux-Fontenot offered the keynote reflection, focusing on the question at the center of this year’s Notre Dame Forum, “What do we owe each other?”

Exploring this theme through the lens of the names we have each been given, Babineaux-Fontenot shared stories of the names in her family, including those of her son, her husband and her own name. Babineaux-Fontenot, who hails from Louisiana, is named after her great-grandmother, Clarice Richard, a woman of extraordinary courage and fortitude, who, as an enslaved woman, protected her daughter by bearing an inhumane punishment on her behalf. Babineaux-Fontenot reflected on the significance of carrying a family name that reflects such great love in action.

Babineaux-Fontenot also explored the significance of the terms “Christian” and “Catholic.” She observed that in calling ourselves Christian, we are called to love as Christ loved.

Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America and the 2024 Laetare Medalist, speaks at the 2025 Walk the Walk Week prayer service.

“I’m struck by the fact that He did not only tell us to love the people we like. He told us to love and pray for our enemies,” Babineaux-Fontenot said. “I understand that this can feel like a tall order, but He also taught us that we should seek redemption because He understood that none of us would be perfect at any of this.”

In closing, Babineaux-Fontenot reflected on Catholic social teaching, with its emphasis on a preferential option for the poor and a commitment to serve the most vulnerable. As CEO of Feeding America, Babineaux-Fontenot described witnessing kindness, generosity and compassion in action.

“I am buoyed by what I see in us and by what I have the opportunity to do with us,” she said. “If I had to boil down the lessons that I hope you hear from what I believe Christ is telling us, if it had to be reduced to just one word…it would be love.”

Following Babineaux-Fontenot’s reflections, Father Dowd invited student readers to offer prayers of intercession.

“God calls the people of the world into one human family, trusting in the Lord’s desire that we might all be one,” he said. “Let us offer our prayers to God for justice, healing and peace.”

Intercessions were offered in multiple languages including French, Igbo, Irish, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish.

The University’s Voices of Faith Gospel Choir provided the music for the prayer service.

At the conclusion of the service, those in attendance were invited to participate in the annual candlelight march to the Sacred Heart of Jesus statue. Walking along paths lit by luminaria, marchers placed their candles at the foot of the statue in silent prayer for peace, justice and unity.

Babineaux-Fontenot has served as CEO of Feeding America since 2018, and has spent decades as a leader and advocate dedicated to combating hunger, addressing food insecurity, and strengthening local communities. Feeding America is a national network of more than 200 food banks and 60,000 charitable and faith-based partners, and works to rescue, store and distribute food to more than 49 million people facing hunger each year. Babineaux-Fontenot has led the organization through a number of challenges, including navigating a global pandemic and the ensuing increase in food insecurity. Under her direction, Feeding America became the nation’s largest charitable organization in 2022, according to Forbes, and the network distributed 5.3 billion meals in 2023.

A recording of the prayer service is available online. Visit walkthewalk.nd.edu for information on upcoming events.

Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development to deliver Keeley Vatican Lecture

2025-02-03T09:00:00-05:00

Rev. Msgr. Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo, undersecretary of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, will deliver the Keeley Vatican Lecture on Monday (Feb. 10) at 5 p.m. at the University of Notre Dame. Msgr. Ekpo will speak in 1050 Jenkins Nanovic Halls and University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., will introduce him. All students, faculty, staff and the general public are invited to attend.

The Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ, part of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, will host this lecture and facilitate his visit with students, faculty and administrators. Msgr. Ekpo’s message is titled “The Reform of the Roman Curia and the Promotion of Integral Human Development.”

The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, founded by Pope Francis in 2016, frames its mission as “serving the Church in the world, for the development of each person and the whole person.” These concepts of “each person” and “the whole person” lie at the heart of the Keough 91��Ƶ’s commitment to integral human development. Because of this synergy, the address is expected to produce a fruitful dialogue about how the Keough 91��Ƶ and the University as a whole may engage with this critical component of Catholic Social Teaching.

“Msgr. Ekpo not only has a unique perspective to connect the Notre Dame community with the Vatican, but even more excitingly, he directly engages with integral human development, something we all focus on at the Keough 91��Ƶ,” said Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute and professor of social ethics at the Keough 91��Ƶ. “We look forward to engaging with him to learn how we can more fully integrate this core value into our work and what the Holy See is doing directly through the Dicastery.”

Msgr. Ekpo will participate in class discussions and meetings throughout his campus visit. The public lecture will be free and open to all. It will be recorded but not livestreamed. Everyone is invited to join a small reception after the presentation in the forum of Jenkins Nanovic Halls.

Msgr. Ekpo’s visit marks the 20th anniversary of the Nanovic Institute’s Keeley Vatican Lecture series, which aims to connect Church leaders with the Notre Dame community. Established in 2005 through the generous support of Notre Dame alumnus Terrence R. Keeley, class of ’81, the Keeley Vatican Lecture series brings lecturers to campus for several days, allowing them time to join classes, celebrate Mass with students and converse with faculty members.

The mission of the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ is to strengthen Notre Dame’s presence in Europe, deepen the understanding of Europe within the Notre Dame community, and contribute to academic discourse and research on European studies. The institute seeks to enrich Notre Dame’s intellectual culture by creating an integrated, interdisciplinary home for students, faculty and visiting scholars to explore the evolving ideas, cultures, traditions, beliefs, moral challenges and institutions that shape Europe.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Ahsan Kareem elected to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts

2025-01-31T16:58:00-05:00

Ahsan Kareem, the Robert M. Moran Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences (CEEES) at the University of Notre Dame, has been elected to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He will join the academy’s division of technical and environmental sciences.

Kareem’s election to the academy recognizes his contributions and achievements in advancing the safety and resilience of civil infrastructure exposed to natural hazards such as wind, waves and earthquakes. His research includes using synergistic approaches such as computer modeling as well as laboratory and full-scale experiments to better understand and predict the impact of natural hazards on the constructed environment and to develop measures to enhance structural performance.

Much of Kareem’s research takes place within Notre Dame’s NatHaz Group (NatHaz Modeling Laboratory), which he directs. The mission of the laboratory is to quantify load effects caused by various natural hazards on structures and to develop innovative strategies to mitigate and manage their effects.

In 2023, Kareem was named a lifetime fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for contributions to analyses and designs to account for wind effects on tall buildings, long-span bridges and other structures.

In the U.S., Kareem is also an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, a foreign fellow of the Indian Academy of Engineering, and a foreign member of the Engineering Academy of Japan.

Located in Salzburg, Austria, the European Academy of Sciences and Arts numbers 1900 eminent scholars and practitioners, among them 28 Nobel Prize winners. Members are divided into eight classes: humanities, medicine, arts, natural sciences, social sciences, law and economics, technical and environmental sciences, and world religions.

Previous Notre Dame faculty elected to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts include Ulrich L. Lehner, the William K. Warren Professor of Theology, and Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ and professor of social ethics.

Liam O’Connor selected as 2025 Richard H. Driehaus Prize Laureate at the University of Notre Dame; Philippe Rotthier wins Henry Hope Reed Award

2025-01-30T09:30:00-05:00

The RAF Bomber Command Memorial by Liam O’Connor is made from Portland stone and covered with an open structural stainless steel roof, inspired by the Vickers Wellington ‘geodetic’ airframe designed by Barnes Wallis. The riveted aluminum ceiling panels were formed from the remains of a Canadian Halifax aircraft, shot down over Belgium on May 12, 1944.

Architect Liam O’Connor has been selected as the 2025 laureate of the Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame. The jury acknowledged his lifelong dedication to the design of a body of excellent new traditional public and private buildings and civic monuments — works projecting grace and beauty and expressing the shared emotions and cultural expectations of their audiences.

O’Connor’s war memorials, in particular, set his work apart for this year’s jury. The memorials are skillfully integrated into their urban or rural settings, with their landscape, fine art and construction details uniquely and thoughtfully developed in each case. Poetically charged, rationally disposed and emotionally laden, they are precisely sited, composed and constructed as statements of public admiration for the idea that freedom exists at all because of heroism and personal sacrifice for the common good, according to the jury citation.

The highest such integration of design, construction and symbolism is exemplified in his classical British Normandy Memorial that overlooks Gold Beach. The project is located adjacent to one of the five D-Day landing beaches during World War II. The memorial was inaugurated on June 6, 2021, 77 years after the 1944 landings, and commemorates the 22,442 British service personnel who sacrificed their lives there in the struggle to liberate Europe. The names of the fallen are carved into the structure’s 160 limestone Doric columns.

House in Belgravia is built entirely in load-bearing brickwork and lime render with Portland stone portico, steps and window sills. This project was built using largely locally sourced materials and built by highly skilled craftspeople.

The Driehaus Prize citation states, “For this project, O’Connor orchestrated a masterplan for 60 acres of land and designed several structures to be eventually built from 3,500 tons of Burgundy limestone and hundreds of sustainably felled oak trees. Such was his commitment to this work that after its construction was halted during the coronavirus pandemic, he took on the task himself while directing 500 craftsmen and craftswomen.”

The citation continues, “Typical of O’Connor’s architecture is its enrichment by symbolic elements that add highly contemporary and personal dimensions to his interpretation of classicism. For the RAF Bomber Command Memorial in Hyde Park Corner in London, his reuse of riveted metal from downed aircraft to construct the central Doric pavilion’s roof memorializes the modern war machines central to these heroic aviators’ glory and demise.”

In addition, the citation noted “the merit of his private and commercial projects, where new construction blends into existing urban settings, in elegant and inventive designs that offer users and onlookers the gift of beautiful everyday places to be.”

Philippe Rotthier wins this year’s Henry Hope Reed Award

In conjunction with the Driehaus Prize, Philippe Rotthier was named the 2025 Henry Hope Reed Award laureate for his lifelong initiatives and continuing commitment to the cause of a new traditional architecture and urbanism. For more than 50 years he has dedicated his time and personal resources to resist the modernist disruption that followed WWII and lay the groundwork for reestablishing a culture of architectural continuity. Among his notable accomplishments was his renewal of vernacular architecture on the Island of Ibiza, Spain, where he built 80 houses using local materials and crafts.

The Philippe Rotthier Foundation, based in Brussels, Belgium, has provided the institutional framework for supporting this movement for architectural renewal through publications, exhibitions, occasional design competitions and his eponymous triennial architectural awards. His relentless advocacy for architectural change has enabled the emergence of two generations of significant young architects capable of exploring alternative forms of architectural modernity, including the 2025 Driehaus Prize laureate, Liam O’Connor.

Rotthier created the European Prize for the Reconstruction of the City that has been a catalyst for spreading the message of the intellectual, social and environmental merits of a contemporary classical and vernacular culture across the European continent. Since 1982, 86 award-winning works from 33 different countries have been awarded a Rotthier Prize.

Rotthier has been a significant contributor to the movement to rebuild existing and new communities and to steward nature in ways that have been proven to help humans flourish over thousands of years. The encouragement that he has provided to architects has begun to transform the practice of a new traditional architecture and urbanism worldwide at all scales, from repair through local design and craft, to new classical and vernacular architecture at the multi-block scale, to the urbanism of large-scale infill or city extension projects.

This year’s Driehaus Prize and Henry Hope Reed Award laureates were selected by a jury composed of Melissa DelVecchio, partner at Robert A.M. Stern Architects; Michael Lykoudis, professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame; Léon Krier, architect and urbanist; Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, founding principal of DPZ CoDesign and professor at the University of Miami; Demetri Porphyrios, principal of Porphyrios Associates, London; and Julia Treese, partner at Treese Architekten in Berlin and Munich. Stefanos Polyzoides, Notre Dame architecture professor and dean, and partner at Moule & Polyzoides, Architects and Urbanists, Pasadena, California, served as jury chair.

The $200,000 Driehaus Prize, the largest cash award in architecture worldwide, is granted by the Driehaus Trust in the name of Richard H. Driehaus, founder and chairman of Chicago-based Driehaus Capital Management LLC, as is the Henry Hope Reed Award of $50,000.

Contact: Carrie Gates, associate director of media relations, 574-993-9220, c.gates@nd.edu.

Aspects of marriage counseling may hold the key to depolarizing, unifying the country, study finds

2025-01-30T09:00:00-05:00

Laura Gamboa, assistant professor of democracy and global affairs at the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs.

Research has shown that polarization undermines democracy by driving citizens to prioritize partisan preferences over democratic principles, encourages democratic gridlock and threatens democratic attitudes and norms, such as tolerance for opposition.

Today, Americans are grappling with deep political divides, often seeing those on the other side as untrustworthy, unpatriotic and misinformed — a rift that threatens democracy.

Could marriage counseling hold the key to a more unified country?

A recent study, published in Political Behavior and co-authored by Laura Gamboa, an assistant professor of democracy and global affairs at the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, found “reciprocal group reflection” — an intervention inspired by marriage counseling — helped reduce affective polarization among opposing political parties.

“Polarization threatens democracy, and finding ways to reduce it is vital,” Gamboa said. “This study uses a unique approach to understand why a proven depolarizing intervention works. With depolarizing efforts multiplying across the U.S., understanding not just if they work, but how and why, is more important than ever.”

The study brought together groups of undergraduate students on four university campuses who identify as Democrats and Republicans. They attended workshops designed on practices used in couples counseling that seek to elicit mutual vulnerability and compassion while working to improve the health of the marriage. Researchers partnered with Braver Angels, a non-governmental organization, to utilize the group’s “red/blue” workshops designed to apply principles from couples therapy to partisan polarization.

During the workshops, study participants mainly interacted with members of their own group, reflecting on the attitudes, beliefs and characteristics of co-partisans. When the two opposing groups met, they did not try to persuade or reach a compromise on particular issues, but focused on generating understanding and tolerance of the other side and the motivations and experiences behind their beliefs.

According to the study, the workshops helped reduce both subtle and open signs of political division, by both Democrats and Republicans. Participants were also more willing to support depolarization efforts, such as donating to programs that encourage constructive political conversations among young Americans. While the immediate effects on reducing division faded somewhat over time, participants’ willingness to support depolarization efforts remained strong even after six months, according to the study.

While other methods aim to get groups to work together on shared goals or reach agreements on specific issues, Gamboa said “reciprocal group reflection” doesn’t try to make people cooperate or compromise. Instead, it focuses on improving understanding and communication, which are important for better discussions and decision making.

“Unlike similar interventions, these workshops combine strategies proven to reduce political divisions, like sharing information about the beliefs and policies of people from the other side with activities designed to build empathy and understanding, based on ideas from social psychology,” Gamboa said.

The findings, Gamboa said, illustrate the effectiveness of depolarization when it combines both informational and emotional elements, helping to bridge divides and laying the groundwork for a healthier democracy.

Gamboa’s co-authors include Hannah Baron, Tulane University; Robert Blair and Donghyun Danny Choi, both from Brown University; Jessica Gottlieb, University of Houston; Amanda Lea Robinson, Ohio State University; Steven C. Rosenzweig, Boston University; Megan M. Turnbull, University of Georgia; and Emily A. West, University of Pittsburgh.

Originally published by April Toler at keough.nd.edu on Jan. 29.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Bots increase online user engagement but stifle meaningful discussion, study shows

2025-01-29T09:00:00-05:00

John Lalor (Photo by Angela Santos/University of Notre Dame)

Last July, Meta introduced AI Studio, a tool for users of Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram to create chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The bots can be used for specific tasks such as generating captions for posts, or more generally as an “avatar” — engaging directly with platform users via messages and comments. Tools similar to AI Studio have also been rolled out for Snapchat and TikTok.

In an interview with the Financial Times in December, Meta’s vice president of product for generative AI said, “We expect these AIs to actually, over time, exist on our platforms, kind of in the same way that accounts do. … They’ll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform.”

As AI bots become more prevalent on platforms, especially bots that are able to generate new content, there are risks that these bots will share false information and overwhelm users’ social feeds with automatically generated content.

This sparked a discussion about the role of bots on social media platforms. Although Meta removed some of its internally developed AI bots from its platforms, there are still user-created bots on the platforms. Additionally, with heavy investment in generative AI (GenAI) technologies — software programs that use AI to create content and interact conversationally with users — firms may continue to look for ways to increase user engagement on platforms through the use of AI bots.

GenAI bots are not the only bots that can interact with users. Bot accounts on platforms such as Reddit and X follow a series of pre-programmed rules to interact with users or moderate discussion.

Within Reddit communities, those bot accounts profoundly influence human-to-human interactions, according to new research from the University of Notre Dame.

Bots increase user engagement, but at the cost of deeper human-to-human interactions, according to “The Effect of Bots on Human Interaction in Online Communities,” recently published in MIS Quarterly from John Lalor, assistant professor of IT, analytics and operations, and Nicholas Berente, professor of IT, analytics and operations, both at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, along with Hani Safadi from the University of Georgia.

Nicholas Berente (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

Recent work has identified a taxonomy of bots — a system of classifying and categorizing different types of bots based on their functionalities, behaviors and operating environments.

Bots can be very simple or very advanced. At one end of the spectrum, rules-based bots perform simple tasks based on specific guidelines. For example, the WikiTextBot account on Reddit replies to posts that contain a Wikipedia link with a summary of the Wikipedia page. The bot’s automated nature allows it to see every post on Reddit via an application programming interface (API) to check each post against its hard-coded rule: “If the post includes a Wikipedia link, scrape the summary from the wiki page and post it as a reply.” These bots are called “reflexive” bots.

Other bots on Reddit moderate conversations in communities by, for example, deleting posts that contain content that goes against community guidelines based on specifically defined rules. These are known as “supervisory” bots.

“While these bots are rigid because of their rules-based nature, bots can and will become more advanced as they incorporate generative AI technologies,” said Lalor, who specializes in machine learning and natural language processing. “Therefore, it’s important to understand how the presence of these bots affects human-to-human interactions in these online communities.”

Lalor and his team analyzed a collection of Reddit communities (subreddits) that experienced increased bot activity between 2005 and 2019. They analyzed the social network structure of human-to-human conversations in the communities as bot activity increased.

The team noticed that as the presence of reflexive bots (those that generate and share content) increases, there are more connections between users. The reflexive bots post content that facilitates more opportunities for users to find novel content and engage with others. But this happens at the cost of deeper human-to-human interactions.

“While humans interacted with a wider variety of other humans, their interactions involved more single posts and fewer back-and-forth discussions,” Lalor explained. “If one user posts on Reddit, there is now a higher likelihood that a bot will reply or interject itself into the conversation instead of two human users engaging in a meaningful back-and-forth discussion.”

At the same time, the inclusion of supervisory bots coded to enforce community policies led to the diminished roles of human moderators who establish and enforce community norms.

With fewer bots, key community members would coordinate with each other and the wider community to establish and enforce norms. With automated moderation, this is less necessary, and those human members are less central to the community.

As AI technology — especially generative AI — improves, bots can be leveraged by users to create new accounts and by firms to coordinate content moderation and push higher levels of engagement on their platforms.

“It is important for firms to understand how such increased bot activity affects how humans interact with each other on these platforms,” Lalor said, “especially with regard to their mission statements — for example, Meta’s statement to ‘build the future of human connection and the technology that makes it possible.’ Firms should also think about whether bots should be considered ‘users’ and how best to present any bot accounts on the platform to human users.”

Contact: John Lalor, 574-631-5104, john.lalor@nd.edu

Notre Dame researchers partner with Mexico hospital to develop childhood cancer care monitoring tool

2025-01-27T13:09:40-05:00

For a child battling cancer, an unexpectedly high temperature can initiate a race against time to reach providers who can treat and monitor symptoms. And for families in low- and middle-income communities in Mexico, pediatric cancer care is even more of a challenge. Fragmented healthcare systems, the absence of trackable health data, and a lack of access to healthcare facilities with readily available resources are fueling a race not easily won.

Now, a study to evaluate the preliminary design and usability of a cooperative cancer monitoring tool has published successful findings that may address this gap in care.

Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez

An interdisciplinary team of 30 researchers and health professionals from the University of Notre Dame, the Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez (HIMFG) and the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico (INSP) are working together to develop a comprehensive health app, SaludConectaMX, that can be accessible to clinicians in a hospital setting and caretakers at home.

“SaludConectaMX represents the dedicated effort of an interdisciplinary team of researchers and practitioners across three institutions and two countries, all united by the goal of driving innovation in service of society — reflecting the University’s commitment to building bridges as a force for good,” said Nitesh Chawla, founding director of the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society and lead author of the project’s publication. “While we are still early in our journey, the success of the pilot study inspires us with hope for the transformative impact SaludConectaMX will have in supporting families battling pediatric cancer.”

Chawla and Angélica García Martínez, an international scholar and postdoctoral research associate for the Lucy Family Institute, worked together to organize the cohort of international researchers.

“Our work with the Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez includes supporting pediatric cancer patients with febrile neutropenia, a condition that occurs when a pathogen is present in the bloodstream, causing high temperatures in patients with lower-than-normal levels of white blood cells. Without immediate care and extended hospital stays, these patients have poor health outcomes,” said Garcia Martinez.

More than half of children in Mexico experience extreme poverty — most without health coverage and social welfare benefits that provide quality health and nutrition for families struggling with life-changing illnesses. In 2022 alone, 95% of emergency room consultations at HIMFG were for children without health insurance.

While mortality is linked to various factors, including age, type of tumor, stage at diagnosis and genetic predisposition, the financial burden and fragmentation of health services available to families in low- and middle-income communities are generating delays in diagnosis and treatment of infection-related complications — reducing the chances of positive health outcomes. Based on available data, it is estimated that survival rates for childhood cancer in these communities in Mexico is half the rates observed in high-income countries.

Additionally, many of the families attended by HIMFG have only completed an elementary school education. For this reason, they struggle with health and technical literacy. At the same time, the absence of a tool for tracking health information including childhood cancer cases is hindering a comprehensive understanding of factors that may contribute to complications, creating financial burdens that push families deeper into poverty and strain public health resources. The Lucy Institute’s collaboration with HIMFG aims to alleviate some of these challenges.

“The SaludConectaMX system is a cooperative way for physicians and caretakers to monitor a patient’s evolving health trajectory during cancer treatment when they are most vulnerable to developing life-threatening complications,” Gracia Martinez said.

The SaludConectaMX system features a holistic approach to monitoring the signs and symptoms of adverse health effects that can occur during the cycle of cancer treatment. The software development was led by Michael Kennel, lead software solutions architect for the Lucy Family Institute, and Notre Dame alumnus Patrick Soga, supported by a technical team in Mexico. It features two applications — a hospital web component and a family mobile application — to track clinical indicators, including standard clinical information, treatment plans and social determinants of healthcare access. Information is securely stored and accessed through individual account registrations.

Once enrolled, caretakers can submit information, including their mental health status and complementary social determinants of health, which may play a key role in a patient’s risk factors for developing complications during their cycle of treatments.

Horacio Márquez-González, a clinical researcher for the HIMFG, is working with Notre Dame researchers to identify the key features needed in the system’s design. “A significant challenge is that the needs of caregivers are distinct from those of health personnel. When complications arise, caregivers must provide continuous care to the urgent needs of the child, which may or may not include submitting health information including oxygen saturation level, blood pressure and temperature into the system.”

In the clinical setting, health professionals rely on the information that caretakers submit, which can be subjective depending on the level of training and development of skills a caretaker has received.

“When we started developing the system, we had to consider the impact that it would have on hospital workers and families who might rely on it to monitor their child’s care. This meant identifying the challenges with mobile application usage and access to reliable networks, along with other barriers that might limit communications between users and the interface,” said Karla Badillo-Urquiola, the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, a fellow of the Lucy Family Institute, and a co-author of the publication.

As an expert in human-computer interaction, Badillo-Urquiola connected with families living in rural areas who needed more experience with the mobile application. “One of the things that we identified as a critical component for the success of this project was to implement a training feature to guide caretakers through all of the application’s features,” she explained.

The project’s next phase will be to analyze the collected user data and feedback from the pilot study. “There are almost 400 patients enrolled in the system right now,” said Jennifer Schnur, a graduate research assistant in the Data Inference Analytics and Learning Lab. Schnur, who is a co-author of the publication of the pilot’s results, added, “There is already a significant amount of engagement within the system, so our priority moving forward is to optimize existing features and to increase usability by leveraging artificial intelligence to integrate additional resources into the family mobile application.”

The results of the pilot study were presented in November at the Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing in Costa Rica.

Contact: Brandi Wampler, associate director of media relations, 574-631-2632, brandiwampler@nd.edu

Four Arts & Letters faculty continue Notre Dame’s record NEH fellowship success

2025-01-24T15:00:00-05:00

Arts & Letters faculty won NEH fellowships for projects that will examine the history of Kurdish music and media, rethink Thomas Aquinas’ philosophical approach, unveil how the Catholic Church handled marital violence and separation in the 18th century, and further understand the cultural impact of Hurricane Maria. (Photo by Jon L. Hendricks/University of Notre Dame)

Four faculty members in the College of Arts & Letters have won National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships, extending the University of Notre Dame’s record success with the federal agency committed to supporting original research and scholarship.

Jon Bullock, an assistant professor in the Department of Music; Therese Cory, the John and Jean Oesterle Associate Professor of Thomistic 91��Ƶ in the Department of Philosophy; Ulrich Lehner, the William K. Warren Foundation Professor in the Department of Theology; and Marisel Moreno, a professor of Spanish in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, are among the 78 scholars offered the prestigious fellowships, which were announced Jan. 14.

Notre Dame and Johns Hopkins University were the only institutions to have four faculty win individual NEH fellowships this year, and Notre Dame faculty have won more NEH fellowships than any other private university in the country since 2000. Notre Dame’s success has been driven in large part due to faculty research support provided by the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts.

“I am delighted that the NEH has once again recognized the exceptional research projects our faculty are pursuing,” said Sarah Mustillo, the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts & Letters. “These four awards underscore the high caliber of diverse scholarship across our disciplines and invaluable guidance offered by ISLA throughout the fellowship application process.”

Connecting Kurdish music, media and culture

Jon Bullock, an assistant professor in the Department of Music.

For the past decade, Bullock has been conducting research on Kurdish music and broadcasting, a long-established but underexplored area of global culture.

Kurds are an ethnic group that predominantly span across Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria and have faced varying degrees of linguistic, cultural and political oppression. Because of this history, and because they have no nation-state of their own, Bullock said relatively little research has been done on Kurdish art and media.

In his book project, tentatively titled “Kurdish Broadcasting and the Power of Music on Air,” Bullock hopes to provide a historical overview of Kurdish music on the radio and analyze how its impact on Kurdish society helps scholars of music and media think more deeply about the power of music broadcasting as a whole.

“It’s not just trying to piece together a music history over the last 100 years among the Kurds,” Bullock said. “But also showing that music and media are intertwined and how that can lead to new perspectives on the affordances of music broadcasting, maybe in ways that we haven’t heard before.”

As an ethnomusicologist, Bullock was initially interested in the varying styles of Kurdish music that he describes as a “mosaic of related musical practices.” That led to him discovering the importance of radio broadcasting and understanding where and when the music was shared and what messages were being transmitted, especially during times of geopolitical fluctuation.

Through his work, Bullock hopes to show that the history of Kurdish media can ultimately help to contextualize the present moment of political uncertainty.

An essential part of the project, Bullock said, is centering Kurds in global narratives that shape and define the region.

“This is not just about how we paint a picture of Kurdish music as something unique — it’s about how this helps us to understand how Kurds see themselves in relation to the rest of the world at any given moment,” he said.

Over the past several years, Bullock has completed archival and ethnographic research in Kurdistan, reviewed radio programming and station records and interviewed former employees who worked for Kurdish radio stations. Now, in his second year at Notre Dame and with support from the NEH, he will be able to complete his project fully.

“It’s been a very long journey of trying to just find things,” he said. “So when I heard I received the fellowship, I was shocked, surprised and, of course, super grateful.”

Contextualizing Aquinas’ philosophical approach

Therese Cory, the John and Jean Oesterle Associate Professor of Thomistic 91��Ƶ in the Department of Philosophy.

Cory, who studies medieval philosophy, is currently working on a large project that aims to challenge how scholars consider the mind of the great Catholic thinker Thomas Aquinas.

The director of the Jacques Maritain Center and its associated History of Philosophy Forum, Cory focuses her research on mind, self-consciousness, personhood and the nature of knowing. She is particularly interested in Aquinas’ systematic approach to such topics.

The first portion of her current project is her tentatively titled book “Thinking as Being in Aquinas: Aquinas's Metaphysics of Mind,” which will examine the nature of the mind according to Aquinas. The NEH fellowship will help support a second book and final portion of the project, tentatively titled “Aquinas’ Mind-in-World.” In it, Cory will build off her understanding of Aquinas’ mind and examine how he understands intentionality, or the mind’s ability to enter into relationships with things outside itself.

To do so is intrinsically human, she said, but also something shared with other animals, and Aquinas considered intentionality to be the mind’s way of making itself part of the real world. While watching a football game, for example, a person in the crowd may imagine what it may be like to be a player on the field to better understand the game scenario. In doing so, Aquinas contended, that person also becomes a part of the game.

“We’re part of the world, too — we’re not just spectators,” Cory said. “That’s a really important insight, and it’s something that brings Aquinas closer to non-Western philosophies and Indigenous views that we would often not associate him with at all.”

In her research process, Cory aims to read and understand Aquinas through the historical context in which he lived. She contends that present-day thinkers have often erroneously read Aquinas’ theory of mind through the lens of modern philosophies, whose questions can be very different from his own. In her current project, Cory aims to fundamentally change and correct how scholars interpret his teachings.

“I’m arguing that’s been a huge mistake,” she said. “He really thinks about the mind in a fundamentally different way — he’s not asking those questions. So I’m trying to take the theory off that track and put it on a different track.”

Examining sexualized violence in early modern Catholicism

Ulrich Lehner, the William K. Warren Foundation Professor in the Department of Theology.

Lehner, a scholar of religious history and theology of the early modern era, is currently pursuing a project called “Bodies in Court,” which explores how Catholics from 1700 to 1800 confronted marital violence and separation. It highlights the intersections of sexualized violence, power dynamics, legal assessments and religious values in Catholic regions of central Europe.

Lehner will examine ecclesiastical court records from Austrian, Swiss, German, and Czech archives — areas he is already familiar with from research he did for his previous book, “Staged Chastity: Sexual Offenses in the Society of Jesus in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries” (De Gruyter, 2023), which ultimately led to his current project.

“When I researched the history of sexual abuse among clergymen, I stumbled in the archives upon accounts of marital violence that had been adjudicated before ecclesiastical judges,” he said. “When I decided to read them, I was amazed by how detailed they were. They gave me a glimpse into the intimate lives of people who died centuries ago.”

Lehner was surprised to find accounts of women bravely speaking up about the abuse they suffered and the physical and emotional toll it took on them.

Because sexual violence is a relatively new area of research for historians, Lehner said, there is little known about how Catholics handled this issue. He hopes his project will shed more light on this gap in historical knowledge.

“It will not only provide new insights into the construction of views of body and sexuality, but also analyze the legal and theological background of sexualized violence, thus bringing a new aspect of history to light,” Ulrich wrote in his proposal. “This overlooked area of research promises to overturn many assumptions in standard narratives and contribute to the societal discussion about the abuse of power and its concealment in ecclesiastical contexts.”

Amplifying cultural expression after a disaster

Marisel Moreno, a professor of Spanish in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.

Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in Sept. 2017, leaving the U.S. territory reeling from its aftermath that can still be felt today.

The following spring, in partnership with the University of Michigan, Moreno, whose area of expertise is U.S. Latinx literature, and Spanish professor Tom Anderson, led and co-produced an online course and created the multimedia project “Listening to Puerto Rico,” in which they interviewed Puerto Ricans about the immediate impact of the Category 4 hurricane’s destruction.

“As a Puerto Rican born and raised in the archipelago but who has been living stateside for decades, I am one of the millions of Puerto Ricans in the diaspora who witnessed, from afar, the destruction of our homeland,” she said. “There were limited ways to help immediately following the hurricane, but in spring 2018 a unique opportunity arose to create awareness about Puerto Rico and the impact of the storm.”

Deriving inspiration from those interviews, Moreno is now focusing on her NEH-supported project, tentatively titled “Eye of the Storm: Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rican Cultural Production.” The book will focus on Puerto Rican literary and cultural expressions post-Maria, and Moreno said those aspects play a “crucial role by providing a counter-narrative to the dehumanizing rhetoric of the local and federal governments.”

“By examining the representation of the hurricane’s impact in literature and other art forms, I aim to untangle the links between colonialism, anti-Blackness, disaster capitalism, climate change and migration,” she said. “It has been more than seven years since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, yet much of the archipelago is still experiencing the consequences of the storm — or what I call the ‘afterlives of disaster.’”

Puerto Rican cultural production, Moreno contends in her project, resists the colonial violence that reproduces the afterlives of disaster by being life-affirming and a testament to the survival of the Puerto Rican people.

This project, Moreno said, can also shed light on how cultural creation can uplift resistance to colonial violence and help imagine a decolonial future, especially for communities in the Global South. She also believes this is especially topical as vulnerable communities of color face challenges in light of globalization and climate change.

“I am extremely grateful to everyone who has supported me,” she said. “Winning this fellowship has given me a renewed sense of confidence in this project, which is very close to my heart.”

Originally published by Mary Kinney at al.nd.edu on January 22, 2025.

Nearly 500 students, faculty and staff to attend 2025 March for Life in Washington, D.C.

2025-01-23T15:30:00-05:00

On January 24, nearly 500 undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff from the University of Notre Dame, Holy Cross College and Saint Mary’s College will participate in the 2025 March for Life in Washington, D.C., now in its 52nd year.

The University consistently sends one of the largest single contingents to the annual event through the support of the Notre Dame Right to Life student club and the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture.

“The University of Notre Dame proudly joins in this joyful public witness to the inherent dignity of every human life, especially the most vulnerable among us,” said Jennifer Newsome Martin, director of the de Nicola Center. “We gather with thousands from around the nation to peacefully proclaim that unborn children in the womb, their mothers and their families deserve our love, support and the full protection of law.”

Phil Tran, program coordinator at the de Nicola Center and staff advisor to the Notre Dame Right to Life Club, said: “Once again, Notre Dame will be well represented in our nation's capital. In addition to the hundreds of students that will ride the buses to join in the march, the de Nicola Center is delighted to support the participation of 65 professors, staff and graduate students, many of whom have attended this event for decades. Marching together, they proclaim the University's enduring institutional commitment to the God-given dignity of all human life.”

The Notre Dame Right to Life student club was established in 1972, the year before the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade. Today, the club is the largest pro-life student group in the United States, as well as the largest student club at Notre Dame.

Students, faculty and staff traveling to Washington for the march will celebrate a Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration followed by a Mass for Life at St. Charles Catholic Church in Arlington, Virginia, beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday.

The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture is the primary locus and engine of pro-life research, teaching, service and public witness at the University of Notre Dame. In addition to sponsoring the university’s annual participation in the March for Life, the center administers the Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal, the nation’s preeminent lifetime achievement award for individuals whose efforts have significantly advanced a culture of life around the world.

The center also offers the annual Notre Dame Vita Institute, an intensive intellectual formation program for senior and emerging leaders working in all vocations of the pro-life movement around the globe. Through its Women and Children First initiative, the de Nicola Center sponsors research and publications for academic, general and policy expert audiences; academic conferences both in the U.S. and abroad; support for faculty, students and visiting scholars; and expert advice for governmental, private sector and nonprofit audiences around the many interlocking questions at the heart of building a culture of life.

For details about Notre Dame's participation in the 2025 March for Life, visit https://ethicscenter.nd.edu/events/2025/01/24/march-for-life-2025/

Originally published by Kenneth Hallenius at ethicscenter.nd.edu on January 22, 2025.

Nanovic Institute awards 2025 Laura Shannon Prize to Megan Brown, author of ‘The Seventh Member State’

2025-01-23T10:03:07-05:00

The Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ, part of the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, has awarded the 2025 Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European 91��Ƶ to Megan Brown, associate professor of history at Swarthmore College, for her book “The Seventh Member State,” published by Harvard University Press.

One of the preeminent prizes for European studies, the Laura Shannon Prize is awarded each year to the best book that transcends a focus on any one country, state or people to stimulate new ways of thinking about contemporary Europe as a whole. This year’s award cycle considered books in history and the social sciences published in 2022 and 2023.

In its statement, the final jury recognized Brown’s book as a groundbreaking exploration of the role of Algeria in the European Economic Community.

“‘The Seventh Member State’ is an exciting and original book presenting a careful case study of the complex relationship between European integration, imperial ambitions and decolonization in the post-World War II era," they stated.

The jury also lauded Brown for her focus on Algeria’s role as a temporary member of the European Economic Community due to its status as a French colony until it reached independence in 1962. The book's narrative spans from the French insistence on including Algeria in the Treaty of Rome in 1957 — which aimed to mitigate anti-colonial sentiments during the Algerian Revolution — to the Cooperation Agreement of 1976, which formalized Algeria’s exclusion from the European Community.

“Brown analyzes the political and socioeconomic implications, legal issues and moral challenges that the emerging European Community faced while being confronted with Europe’s colonial past," the jury wrote. "She explores the delicacies of negotiating future relations with nations that had suffered centuries of oppression and exploitation, aiming for equality and mutual respect. Brown skillfully avoids oversimplification and refrains from any black-and-white painting. Her narrative captures the competition among European nations for resources and leadership, as well as the ambiguous attitudes toward race and religion that effectively excluded Muslim Algerians from European integration.

“‘The Seventh Member State’ is an exemplary multifaceted case study of Europe’s decolonization problems because it shows how the ideas of empire and colony, of metropole and periphery, of Eurafrica were all crucial for the birth of the European Union as we know it today.”

Brown will give a public talk and accept the prize at Notre Dame during the 2025-26 academic year. The date will be announced in a future communication.

The 2025 prize jury included an accomplished group of scholars from history and the social sciences: Rüdiger Bachmann, the Stepan Family College Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame; Alexander Beihammer, the Heiden Family College Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame; Kristen Ghodsee, professor and chair of Russian and East European studies at the University of Pennsylvania; Mark Gilbert, the C. Grove Haines Professor of History and International 91��Ƶ at Johns Hopkins University; and Stathis Kalyvas, the Gladstone Professor of Government and a fellow of All Souls College at the University of Oxford.

Now in its 16th year, the Laura Shannon Prize is made possible through a generous endowment from Laura Shannon (1939-2021) and her husband, Michael, Notre Dame class of ’58. Laura Shannon joined the Nanovic Institute’s advisory board in 2003 and served for many years. As well as her work in social services and family court mediation, she was a regular visitor to Europe, particularly to France where she honed her language skills and explored libraries and cultural centers. Claire Shannon Kelly and Katie Shannon carry on their parents’ legacy as members of the institute’s advisory board.

The 2026 Laura Shannon Prize is now accepting nominations. Books in the humanities published in 2023 or 2024 are eligible, and nominations are due Feb. 28.

The Nanovic Institute seeks to enrich Notre Dame's intellectual culture by creating an integrated, interdisciplinary home for students, faculty and visiting scholars to explore the evolving ideas, cultures, traditions, beliefs, moral challenges and institutions that shape Europe. The Laura Shannon Prize contributes to this mission by connecting the most groundbreaking scholarship in European studies to the Notre Dame community.

For additional information about the Nanovic Institute and the Laura Shannon Prize, visit nanovic.nd.edu/prize.

Originally published by Keith Sayer at nanovic.nd.edu on Jan. 22.

Notre Dame to celebrate 10th annual Walk the Walk Week

2025-01-22T13:30:00-05:00

The University of Notre Dame’s 10th annual Walk the Walk Week, planned each year around Martin Luther King Jr. Day, will take place Jan. 27 (Monday) through Feb. 1 (Saturday). The week will feature a series of events, exhibits and discussions designed to invite members of the Notre Dame community to reflect — both individually and collectively — on how they can take an active role in making the University more welcoming and participate in building the Beloved Community at Notre Dame and beyond.

The week’s events will begin with an annual Candlelight Prayer Service at 7 p.m. Monday in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, with University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., presiding. The service, which is open to the public and will be livestreamed, will feature a keynote reflection from 2024 Laetare Medalist Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, chief executive officer of Feeding America.

Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America

Babineaux-Fontenot, a leader and advocate dedicated to combating hunger and strengthening communities, has led Feeding America — now the nation’s largest charity — since 2018. She previously served on Walmart’s leadership team, most recently as executive vice president and global treasurer.

The prayer service will be followed by a candlelight march to the Sacred Heart of Jesus statue and a dessert reception in the Center for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the LaFortune Student Center.

A campus-wide donation drive is also part of this year’s Walk the Walk Week. Notre Dame faculty, staff and students are encouraged to donate new supplies including personal hygiene items, diapers, socks, and winter hats and gloves to support individuals in the South Bend community facing hardship and housing insecurity. Dropboxes have been placed around campus, and donations will be accepted until Tuesday.

On Feb. 1 (Saturday), all students — undergraduate and graduate — are invited to gather in Duncan Student Center to sort the donations and package care kits for four local organizations: The Center for the Homeless, Hope Ministries, Our Lady of the Road and St. Margaret’s House. This initiative is co-sponsored by Notre Dame Student Government, the Office of Public Affairs and Communications, and Procurement Services, in partnership with the Office of the President.

The week will include more than 20 additional campus events sponsored by various University departments and student organizations. A full list is available at walkthewalk.nd.edu.

Statement on national championship game from University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C.

2025-01-20T23:30:00-05:00

“On behalf of the University, I want to congratulate Ohio State University on their national championship. I would also like to express my profound gratitude to our Notre Dame football players, coaches, and staff for their incredible dedication and congratulate them on everything they have accomplished during this historic season. Special thanks to Vice President and James E. Rohr Director of Athletics Pete Bevacqua and the Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Marcus Freeman for their tremendous leadership. The entire Notre Dame community takes pride not only in this team’s achievements, but also in what this team stands for: faith, perseverance, selflessness, and a steadfast commitment to Notre Dame. Go Irish!”

Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C.
President, University of Notre Dame

A global majority trusts scientists, wants them to have greater role in policymaking, study finds

2025-01-20T07:14:00-05:00

In what is considered the most comprehensive post-pandemic survey of trust in scientists, researchers have found a majority of people around the world carry widespread trust in scientists — believing them to be honest, competent, qualified and concerned with public well-being.

Researchers surveyed more than 72,000 individuals across 68 countries on perceptions of scientists’ trustworthiness, competence, openness and research priorities.

The results, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, also showed the general public’s desire for more engagement from scientists through communication and policymaking.

“This was a major collaborative study, involving dozens of labs from across the world, all of them asking the same questions to specific audiences, in their specific languages according to their own customs,” said Tim Weninger, the Frank M. Freimann Collegiate Professor of Engineering and director of graduate studies in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. “This is the first time I have seen such a distributed and collaborative effort in the social sciences. Our results show that, generally, denizens worldwide do indeed trust scientists.”

Tim Weninger

Weninger is an expert in disinformation and fake news and one of 241 researchers who contributed to the study as part of the Trust in Scientists and Science-Related Populism (TISP) Many Labs project, an international, multidisciplinary consortium of researchers at 179 institutions around the world.

Researchers sought to identify levels of trust in scientists, how demographic and country-level factors impact trust and vary between countries, perceptions of scientists in societal roles and policymaking, and which issues people believe scientists should prioritize.

A challenge to a ‘popular, dominant narrative’

The study challenges a “popular, dominant narrative claiming a crisis of trust in science and scientists,” the authors said. Building on previous studies, primarily focused on attitudes in the United States and Europe, the survey also includes individuals and countries long underrepresented in research.

An overwhelming majority of respondents (83 percent) believe scientists should communicate scientific concepts and research findings with the public. More than half (52 percent) believe scientists should be more involved in policymaking.

According to the study, “higher levels of trust were found among women, older people, residents of urban (vs. rural) regions,” higher-income earners, individuals who identify as religious and those with left-leaning or liberal political views. Education also positively correlated with trust.

In most countries, however, political orientation is unrelated to trust in scientists, the study found — one of several results that provided insight into global views.

Additionally, whereas some people might assume religion and science to be at odds, the TISP study found a positive association between trust and science and religious identity.

“That was the most surprising thing to me,” Weninger said. “Religiosity positively and significantly correlated with trust in science. Science and religion are often seen as being at odds with one another. This global study shows that religiosity and trust in science are commonly held in tandem by people across the world.”

The desire for more engagement

Overall, attitudes reveal a desire among the public to see scientists engage in science communication and policymaking — advocating for policies that address specific issues such as climate change and communicating research findings to government officials and politicians.

People also want to see scientists prioritize improving public health, solving energy problems and reducing poverty. The survey showed that people generally believe the scientific community prioritizes defense and military technology above all other research goals, which was found to be a lesser priority for most respondents.

Previous studies have shown trust in science and scientists as critical to managing global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Weninger and the study’s authors said the results of the TISP survey “can help scientists and science communicators better tailor their communication to different audiences” and stressed the need for international research that includes underrepresented and understudied populations.

Challenges and recommendations

While the results of the TISP study strongly challenge current narratives, the consortium noted their findings reveal some areas for concern.

Though 57 percent of global respondents believed scientists are honest, and 56 percent believed scientists are concerned with public well-being, only 42 percent believe scientists are receptive to feedback or pay attention to others’ views.

“Anti-science attitudes, even if held by only a minority of people, raise concerns about a potential crisis of trust in science, which could challenge the epistemic authority of science and the role of scientists in supporting evidence-based policymaking,” the authors stated in the study.

With that in mind, the consortium suggested scientists find ways to be more open to feedback and dialogue with public audiences, increase public science communication efforts to highlight ongoing research in public health and energy, consider ways to reach conservative groups in Western countries and consider the role of the scientist in setting priorities aligned with public values.

The survey’s full dataset is available via a comprehensive dashboard, providing insights on science-related populism, science communication behavior and public perceptions about climate change. Through the dashboard, users can explore specific data at the country level and compare results.

Contact: Jessica Sieff, associate director of media relations, 574-631-3933, jsieff@nd.edu

Lilly Endowment grant supports expansion of Robinson Center’s Talk With Your Baby program

2025-01-16T11:00:00-05:00

Notre Dame senior Lydia Liang works with a pair of preschoolers at the Robinson Community Learning Center in South Bend. (Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame)

The University of Notre Dame has received a $3.7 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. in support of the Robinson Community Learning Center (RCLC) and its Talk With Your Baby program.

The grant will be used to scale and expand the parent education program based on four key objectives:

• Expand the existing parent curriculum from a single module of eight lessons to four modules with a total of 32 lessons delivered in English and Spanish.

• Develop a parallel curriculum specifically for early care providers and those responsible for preparing and licensing early care providers in both English and Spanish.

• Grow the program regionally through expansion into neighboring Elkhart, Marshall and La Porte counties, and across the state through the early care provider program.

• Develop a robust online platform to complement in-person learning.

The lump-sum grant is the largest ever awarded to the RCLC, significantly enhancing its capacity for community outreach within the context of the University’s strategic framework.

“We are deeply grateful for Lilly Endowment’s support of the Robinson Community Learning Center’s Talk With Your Baby program to promote language development for our youngest neighbors,” said Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. “We know that investing in early childhood programs can have a profound impact on children’s future learning outcomes. We are delighted to collaborate with local partners to expand access to these critically important resources.”

Managed by the RCLC since 2013, Talk With Your Baby educates parents and caregivers on the importance of frequent interaction with children through talking, reading and singing from birth to age 3.

91��Ƶ increasingly underscore the importance of such interactions for bonding, brain structure and function, language development, reading readiness and social and emotional development.

“From the outset, the RCLC has been committed to preK-12 and parent education as part of a holistic approach to early childhood development ... This commitment is part of a broader focus on the entire South Bend-Elkhart region, and is only possible through the generous support of individuals and organizations like Lilly Endowment and Early Learning Indiana.”

Classes cover a variety of topics and tips for new and expecting parents and are available in both English and Spanish.

“Thanks to Lilly Endowment’s ongoing support, the Talk With Your Baby program can expand its vitally important work of bolstering language development in young children,” said Susan Devetski, director of the RCLC. “Adults interacting meaningfully with young children promotes the development of essential language skills, nurtures social and emotional development and puts young children on the path to success in school. This grant will allow us to give more parents and caregivers in the South Bend-Elkhart area and beyond a playbook that they can use with their children to develop their young brains.”

This is the second major grant for Talk With Your Baby in as many years.

In 2023, Early Learning Indiana, with support from Lilly Endowment, awarded $500,000 to the RCLC to expand the program in partnership with the city of South Bend and other local stakeholders.

The grant, which was part of Early Learning Indiana’s Early Years Initiative, allowed the RCLC to hire a full-time coordinator and two part-time parent educators for the program, and to expand participation in the program from 125 to 400 parents annually.

Early Learning Indiana also supports the RCLC’s preschool program.

Robinson Community Learning Center

“From the outset, the RCLC has been committed to preK-12 and parent education as part of a holistic approach to early childhood development,” said Tim Sexton, associate vice president for public affairs at Notre Dame. “This includes Talk With Your Baby as well as a variety of multilingual after-school, evening and summer tutoring and enrichment programs, robotics and theater programs, and a high-quality preschool program geared toward fostering the social, emotional, physical, cognitive and creative development of every child. This commitment is part of a broader focus on the entire South Bend-Elkhart region, and is only possible through the generous support of individuals and organizations like Lilly Endowment and Early Learning Indiana.”

As a trusted local provider of early childhood care and resources, the RCLC partners with local organizations to deliver Talk With Your Baby to hundreds of parents and caregivers annually, with a focus on reading, emotional coaching and other aspects of good parenting.

Parents and caregivers learn to use books as a medium for imaginative interaction, verbal exploration, vocabulary building, receptive and expressive language skills, and emotional closeness, leading to better achievement in reading, school, relationships and other aspects of learning and life.

Building on the important work of the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health, Talk With Your Baby was originally established as an initiative of Memorial Health Foundation, now Beacon Health Foundation, in 2009.

Since then, more than 3,000 parents and caregivers have participated in the program, along with more than 150 facilitators, the majority of them trained by the RCLC. More than 22,000 books have been distributed through the program.

The RCLC is an off-campus educational initiative of Notre Dame in partnership with Northeast Neighborhood residents, offering a variety of programs for children and adults as well as classes, clubs and lectures for seniors.

For more information, visit rclc.nd.edu.

Protective actions need regulatory support to fully defend homeowners and coastal communities, study finds

2025-01-15T16:00:44-05:00

As climate change drives increasingly severe hurricanes, U.S. coastal communities are bearing the brunt of mounting losses. With regulations failing to curb the damage, homeowners have become the front line of defense — but their efforts often fall short, a recent study reveals.

Led by Tracy Kijewski-Correa, professor of engineering and global affairs at the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, the study, published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, explored how homeowners respond in the aftermath of hurricanes when reconstruction becomes necessary. Focusing on Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana — a community still recovering from a sequence of disasters beginning with Hurricane Laura — the research introduced a new methodology to document homeowner actions, the damage they experienced and their recovery paths.

Why homeowners are key to reducing losses

“With no mandates to upgrade at-risk homes, homeowners will be responsible for adapting their properties to halt mounting climate-driven losses in the housing sector,” said Kijewski-Correa, who also serves as the director of the Pulte Institute for Global Development at the Keough 91��Ƶ. “Unfortunately, we have no idea what decisions households are making and why — this study created a methodology to answer those questions so we can better incentivize them to adapt before the next storm.”

Since 1980, U.S. losses from tropical cyclones have reached $1.3 trillion, exposing how underprepared the country remains in addressing weather and climate disasters. This growing vulnerability is compounded by rapid population growth in coastal areas and outdated or inconsistent building codes.

Gaps in protection and future risks

Using indices developed for the study, researchers measured protection levels for a number of critical home components at key points: at the time of purchase, pre-disaster and after post-disaster repairs, as well as future intended upgrades.

The study found that, on average, homeowners took proactive steps to protect their properties before the hurricane, enhanced those protections after the storm and expressed intentions to continue investing in resilience. Roofs, windows and other external components were the primary focus of these improvements. However, the typical home achieved only about half the measures needed to withstand future storms effectively.

Visible damage in neighborhoods and the experiences of family and friends also influenced voluntary homeowner decisions to invest in protective measures. Motivated by observing widespread destruction across the community, even homeowners who escaped damage in Hurricane Laura expressed intentions to invest in resilience.

Policy and incentives: closing the protection gap

“Homeowners are making efforts to ‘build back better’ — strengthening roofs, adding hurricane clips or straps and replacing standard windows with impact-rated alternatives,” said Kijewski-Correa. “Unfortunately, most investments still leave homes only moderately protected against future hurricanes.”

The study’s methodology, which includes a flexible survey tool and evaluation methods to analyze homeowner decisions, provides a framework for future research. Next steps include identifying the factors that most effectively motivate homeowners to adopt comprehensive protections.

“Policies need to incentivize comprehensive, whole-house upgrades while ensuring clear messaging about the importance of these measures,” Kijewski-Correa said. “We also need to address barriers such as affordability and awareness, which often prevent households from taking action.”

Study co-authors include civil engineering Ph.D. student Rachel Hamburger and Debra Javeline, professor of political science, both from the University of Notre Dame. The research is funded through a National Science Foundation grant under the Strengthening American Infrastructure program.

Originally published by April Toler at keough.nd.edu on Jan. 15.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Contact: Jessica Sieff, associate director of media relations, 574-631-3933, jsieff@nd.edu

Habitat partnership bears fruit for homebuyers in South Bend

2025-01-14T08:39:00-05:00

Joel Gibbs was about five years into his job as a maintenance technician at the University of Notre Dame when the message arrived in his inbox.

“Find out if you qualify to build a new home with Habitat,” read the headline in the March 7, 2023, edition of NDWorks Weekly, the weekly e-newsletter for Notre Dame faculty, staff, and their families.

Notre Dame, via its public affairs, treasury services, and University relations offices, had recently partnered with Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County to increase access to affordable housing in South Bend. Now, it was asking employees if they wanted to join with the local nonprofit too.

A single father, Gibbs was intrigued.

“I saw the post in NDWorks Weekly and thought, ‘Let’s give it a shot,’” he said.

Less than two years later, Gibbs is the proud owner of a new home on Turnock Street in South Bend, five blocks south of campus in the city’s Northeast Neighborhood, which encompasses Eddy Street Commons and the rapidly developing Indiana 23 corridor.

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