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Using robots in nursing homes linked to higher employee retention, better patient care

2025-01-08T12:51:00-05:00

Facing high employee turnover and an aging population, nursing homes have increasingly turned to robots to complete a variety of care tasks, but few researchers have explored how these technologies impact workers and the quality of care.

A new study from a University of Notre Dame expert on the future of work finds that robot use is associated with increased employment and employee retention, improved productivity and a higher quality of care. The research has important implications for the workplace and the long-term care industry.

Yong Suk Lee, associate professor of technology, economy and global affairs at Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, was the lead author for the study, published in Labour Economics. Most studies of robots in the workplace have focused on manufacturing and the industrial sector, but Lee’s research broke new ground by analyzing long-term care — and by looking at the different types of robots used in this setting. Researchers drew on surveys of Japanese nursing homes taken in 2020 and 2022.

“Our research focused on Japan because it is a super-aging society that provides a good example of what the future could entail elsewhere — a declining population, a growing share of senior citizens and a declining share of working-age people,” Lee said. “We need to be ready for this new reality.”

In 2022, for instance, more than 57 million U.S. residents were 65 or older, according to the National Council on Aging. The Census Bureau forecasts that by 2050, this number will grow to 88.5 million.

The impact on workers

In a future where there are more senior citizens requiring care, using robots in a targeted fashion could benefit workers and patients alike, Lee said. The study analyzed three types of robots that are increasingly used in assisted living facilities:

Transfer robots, which nurses use to lift, move and rotate patients in beds and around rooms.
Mobility robots, which patients use to move around and to bathe.
Monitoring and communication robots, which include technologies such as computer vision and bed sensors that can monitor patient data such as movement and share it with care providers.

Robots now help nursing home workers complete a variety of care tasks, reducing employee turnover and improving the quality of care patients receive.

“We found that robot adoption complements care workers by reducing quit rates,” Lee said. “This is important because turnover is a big concern in nursing homes. Workers typically experience a great deal of physical pain, particularly in their knees and back. The work is hard and the pay is low. So robot use was associated with employee retention.”

While robot use was associated with an overall employment increase, Lee said, the trend seems to have helped some workers more than others: It was associated with an increased demand for part-time, less experienced employees and with less demand for more experienced workers.

Improving patient care

Patients benefited in facilities that have used robots, according to the study. The nursing homes that Lee’s team studied reported a decrease in the use of patient restraints and in the pressure ulcers or bedsores that nursing home residents commonly suffer, largely because of a lack of mobility. Both metrics are widely used in the long-term care industry to measure patient outcomes, Lee said.

By removing the physical strain associated with certain tasks, Lee said, robots may have made room for care workers to focus on tasks better suited for human beings.

“Robots can improve productivity by shifting the tasks performed by care workers to those involving human touch, empathy and dexterity,” Lee said. “Ultimately, robots can help workers provide a higher level of patient care.”

“This research provides critical insights into how societies can successfully navigate the challenges of caring for aging populations”

The future of work

Lee co-authored the study with Toshiaki Iizuka from the University of Tokyo and Karen Eggleston from Stanford University. The study received funding from Stanford’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International 91��Ƶ Japan Fund and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, as well as the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Liu Institute for Asia and Asian 91��Ƶ and Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ.

This latest research fits into Lee’s ongoing work to examine how new technologies, including artificial intelligence and robotics, affect inequality and the future of work. Lee serves as program chair in technology ethics for the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good, a key element of the Notre Dame Ethics Initiative. He is also a faculty affiliate of the Keough 91��Ƶ’s McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business and a faculty fellow of the school’s Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ, Pulte Institute for Global Development and Liu Institute for Asia and Asian 91��Ƶ.

“This research provides critical insights into how societies can successfully navigate the challenges of caring for aging populations,” Lee said. “It will help inform the work of the long-term care industry and help us better understand how technologies impact workers and patients.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on Jan. 8.

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

Research on Colombian peace accord shows that addressing gender issues strengthens peace agreements

2025-01-02T12:04:21-05:00

When it comes to peace processes and negotiations, U.N. Women highlights a stark reality: All too often, women remain invisible and excluded. But a new study by University of Notre Dame political scientist Madhav Joshi draws on evidence from Colombia to show that addressing gender-related issues helps peace agreements succeed.

Gender-inclusive peacebuilding: lessons from Colombia

The study, published in Policy 91��Ƶ Journal, is the first peer-reviewed research that examines Notre Dame’s ongoing work to monitor the Colombian peace accord. It has implications for strengthening peace agreements as well as the women, peace and security agenda that was inspired by a landmark U.N. resolution more than two decades ago.

“An inclusive approach that sees women as changemakers and addresses gender-specific concerns empowers other marginalized groups and cultivates meaningful buy-in from more people,” said Joshi, research professor and associate director of the Peace Accords Matrix, part of the Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs. “When you prioritize gender, you end up addressing the broader society’s needs.”

Monitoring progress on Colombia's peace agreement

Madhav Joshi, research professor and associate director of the Peace Accords Matrix, part of the Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs. (Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame)

The study is a natural progression for Notre Dame researchers. Since the 2016 Colombian peace agreement ended 50 years of conflict, the Peace Accords Matrix has had primary responsibility for technical verification and for monitoring the implementation of the agreement through its Barometer Initiative.

In his latest research, Joshi analyzed monthly monitoring data for provisions outlined in the Colombian accord. He examined approximately 70 reforms and programs designed to support more than 570 key stipulations in the agreement.

Joshi found that a higher implementation status for gender-related measures (for instance, identifying obstacles that kept women from voting) was related to the agreement’s overall success rate.

Investing in safeguards for gender provisions

Importantly, Joshi also confirmed that negotiators must invest the resources needed to overcome resistance.

When he examined stipulations in the Colombian agreement, he found that the implementation of gender-specific provisions lagged behind the implementation of gender-neutral ones. This indicates a level of societal resistance to changing norms, Joshi said, and the need for policymakers to invest in safeguards.

“This study highlights that gender measures and women’s mobilization are not sufficient without proper safeguards to ensure their implementation,” Joshi said. “But with the necessary support, they will succeed and strengthen peace agreements. And the resulting quality of peace could be really impactful, particularly for transitioning societies such as Colombia.”

Advancing women, peace and security debates

Joshi said the study provides data and methods that other researchers can draw upon as they build on this work.

“My research will advance women, peace and security debates in peace processes,” Joshi said. “This study will help researchers identify factors that help or hinder women’s inclusion in peacebuilding.”

Joshi’s support team for the study included research assistants Clare Barloon, a 2024 Notre Dame graduate who majored in global affairs and art history, and Grace Sullivan, a sophomore majoring in global affairs and minoring in peace studies and gender studies. Jenna Sapiano, a specialist on women, peace and security and a visiting fellow at the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Kroc Institute, provided feedback to help guide the study.

The Peace Accords Matrix Barometer Initiative in Colombia received funding from the U.S. Department of State, Humanity United, the U.N. Multi-Partner Trust Fund and the European Union.

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on Dec. 20.

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

As Northern Ireland grapples with legacy of the Troubles, Notre Dame experts influence policy to prioritize victims’ rights

2024-11-25T15:59:00-05:00

Northern Ireland has long struggled to reckon with the trauma of the Troubles, a 30-year conflict that killed approximately 3,700 people — many of them civilians — through sectarian violence. Experts in the University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs recently influenced the design of a Northern Ireland commission to address the conflict’s legacy, sharing key lessons from Colombia on the importance of centering victims in truth and reconciliation.

The open consultation used expertise from the Peace Accords Matrix, part of the school’s Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ, as well as the Clingen Family Center for the Study of Modern Ireland, part of the school’s Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish 91��Ƶ. Notre Dame was one of 11 organizations that provided input during the consultation and the only entity outside of Ireland or Northern Ireland to participate. The consultation draws on the school’s experience partnering with universities and civil society organizations that deal with the legacy of conflicts.

Josefina Echavarría Álvarez, director of the Peace Accords Matrix.

The work addressed a critical issue with the United Kingdom’s Legacy and Reconciliation Act of 2023, the most recent step in a series of proposals dealing with the Troubles. Since the conflict ended in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement, no formal measures included larger issues of memory and reckoning with the past. The act created the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, which was widely criticized for offering de facto amnesty for crimes that occurred during the conflict. Notre Dame experts emphasized the need to provide opportunities for victims and their families to participate in designing strategies to help the country move forward.

“We told the commission that if you want to address the concerns of the population, it is vital to put victims at the center of your work, and this will ensure decisions and policies are more sustainable,” said Josefina Echavarría Álvarez, professor of the practice and director of the Peace Accords Matrix.

Sharing lessons from Colombia

Experts drew on lessons from the historic 2016 Colombian peace accord when crafting their recommendations, Echavarría said. The agreement ended more than 50 years of armed conflict. The Peace Accords Matrix has had primary responsibility for technical verification and for monitoring the implementation of the accord through its Barometer Initiative.

Notre Dame experts recommended that the Northern Ireland commission:

Engage with wider family members to understand individual preferences and circumstances (recognizing victims’ chosen family, not just blood relatives).
Prioritize the needs of victims and their families and publish a clear guide on how both individuals and groups could participate in its processes.
Hold briefing meetings with requesting individuals and families to share information before publishing final reports.
Handle draft publications with more transparency and respect individual preferences and needs when finalizing reports.

In response to the consultation, the commission published an operational design framework, which outlines what to expect from the commission, the standards it has set for itself and how it can be held accountable by people who engage with it.

From left, Notre Dame graduate students Maria Camila Salamandra Arriaga and Nicolás E. Buitrago Rey participate in a transitional justice workshop in Northern Ireland along with Roberto Vidal of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia.

The consultation was part of ongoing work organized by the Clingen Center and the Peace Accords Matrix. This past summer, they convened a workshop with Corrymeela Community, Northern Ireland’s oldest peace and reconciliation organization. The gathering was part of Notre Dame’s Legacy Project, which shares lessons from the Colombian transitional justice program with peacebuilders in other contexts.

The workshop convened experienced transitional justice and peacebuilding practitioners, policymakers and scholars to discuss innovative approaches to the field, and was followed by a conference on addressing human disappearance.

Emma Murphy, a postdoctoral research associate with the Clingen Family Center for the Study of Modern Ireland and the Peace Accords Matrix, said the work represented an important step forward.

“While Northern Ireland is often upheld as a successful case in the field of transitional justice, ongoing issues related to the legacy of the conflict show the need to engage more deeply with the underlying dynamics that led to the outbreak of violence in the first place,” she said. “Colombia offers so many lessons on that front.”

Inclusive approach seeks broad input

Ultimately, Echavarría said, the consultation helped influence policy, nudging the commission to be more responsive to the needs of conflict victims by presenting evidence from Notre Dame’s work in Colombia.

“Restorative justice means that the process, as well as the outcomes, entail listening to all stakeholders involved in the truth-seeking process — and that includes witnesses, victims and offenders,” Echavarría said.

“We know from studying the conflict in Colombia that when policymakers include the people who would benefit from a measure in its design, you see greater transparency, participation and engagement, and the measures adopted are more effective. When people feel they have ownership in the process of seeking justice, that has a significant impact on the outcome.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on Nov. 25.

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

Student research strengthens State Department’s global conflict prevention work

2024-11-14T08:00:00-05:00

Momodou B. Bah, left, a Master of Global Affairs student, discusses his conflict prevention research with Maura Policelli, executive director of the Keough 91��Ƶ Washington Office and professor of the practice.

Momodou B. Bah wants to help prevent atrocities across coastal West Africa, a region at risk for violent conflict. He has interviewed local leaders in Guinea and experts in Washington, D.C., to support this work.

Ishika Sharan is also helping to promote peace and stability in the region, which includes the countries of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Togo. She has studied the bureaucratic hurdles that limit donors’ ability to work together in funding conflict prevention.

Bah, a second-year Master of Global Affairs student, and Sharan, a 2024 Master of Global Affairs graduate, have completed two of the four Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs student projects so far that support the Academic Centers of Conflict Anticipation and Prevention (ACCAP). This collaboration includes the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) and several university partners, including the Keough 91��Ƶ.

Input from student research projects will inform the CSO’s ability to anticipate, prevent and respond to global conflict. Undergraduate and graduate students at the Keough 91��Ƶ will have continued opportunities to conduct research with impact.

“Our students have seized the opportunity to engage with State Department officials and produce research that is based on specific policy priorities of the U.S. government,” said Maura Policelli, executive director of the Keough 91��Ƶ Washington Office and professor of the practice at the Keough 91��Ƶ. Policelli has advised and facilitated student projects for ACCAP.

Pursuing policy-relevant research

Students say they appreciate the opportunity to inform the work of policymakers who address global challenges.

“I analyzed drivers of conflict and resilience factors that contribute to atrocity prevention,” said Bah, who is pursuing a concentration in international peace studies. “My research provided me with an opportunity to study coastal West Africa and recommend the necessary actions for the short, medium and long term to help policymakers take a holistic approach to peacebuilding.” For countries such as Guinea, Bah said, that includes monitoring the transition to elections that the ruling military junta has promised, as well as facilitating dialogue to help bridge ethnic and political divides and strengthen social cohesion.

Bah’s research supports the implementation of the Global Fragility Act of 2019, a whole-of-government approach to strengthening fragile states that are at risk for violent conflict. Policymakers have prioritized coastal West Africa as they focus on preventing the spread of extremism from nearby countries in the Sahel region of Africa.

Ishika Sharan, left, has conducted conflict prevention research for ACCAP, drawing on the skills and background she developed as a Master of Global Affairs student working with the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Integration Lab.

Sharan’s research also supports regional conflict prevention. The Keough 91��Ƶ graduate, who pursued a concentration in governance and policy, began her project during her final semester as a student, working with classmate Yaryna Pysko on donor mapping. They analyzed how often-overlooked processes related to bureaucracy, funding mechanisms and coordination among government agencies can affect policy outcomes in the field.

“As a governance and policy student, this experience has been imperative to understanding the nuances and intricacies of policymaking as well as their unintended consequences, despite the best intentions,” Sharan said. “Often, we think of policy in terms of the rigor of the policy intervention itself, not realizing how back-end bureaucratic processes, as well as contextual factors, affect the outcomes. To be working on these intricacies in the sphere of foreign policy was a particularly enlightening and rewarding experience.”

Lexi Koplas, right, discusses her conflict prevention research with Brad Kent, left, and Keith E. Noble, center, of the State Department. Koplas analyzed how non-state actors such as the terrorist group Hamas are adapting to do more with less.

Both Bah and Sharan will present their research findings to policymakers at the inaugural ACCAP conference, which will take place Nov. 18-19 at the Keough 91��Ƶ Washington Office.

Undergraduate global affairs students have also contributed to ACCAP research. Lexi Koplas, who graduated in 2024, studied the strategic ability of non-state actors to do more with less. Her case study of Hamas found that the terrorist group successfully transformed its drone warfare capabilities, in part by capitalizing on basic technologies and access to various drone components in open markets.

Koplas recommended that the United States work with other countries to enhance proliferation prevention capabilities, regulate commercial sales of drone technology and encourage information sharing and international coordination.

“After conducting my research, I appreciated the opportunity to provide policy recommendations in my final paper as an opportunity to comment on U.S. interests in connection with this issue,” Koplas said. “I was able to contribute to conflict prevention research from the perspective of an undergraduate interested in national security and foreign policy.”

Building skills for policy careers

Alexandre Lacaze, a senior from France majoring in global affairs, is working on another research project as part of his global affairs policy capstone seminar with Steve Reifenberg, teaching professor of international development for the Keough 91��Ƶ. Lacaze’s team is helping Global Affairs Canada and the Department of State’s CSO understand how climate change impacts security dynamics in coastal West Africa.

Senior Alexandre Lacaze, left, talks with classmate Tavin Martin during professor Steve Reifenberg's global affairs policy capstone seminar. Lacaze has appreciated contributing to a team research project analyzing how climate change affects security dynamics.

Lacaze, who also serves as a captain for the Notre Dame fencing team, has used his French language skills to help translate interviews. He’s found the project has provided opportunities to develop a variety of skills including leadership, communication, adaptability, teamwork and design thinking.

The project, he said, has been helpful for his professional development. Lacaze plans to pursue a career in international development with a focus on Africa.

“As a French national, I feel compelled to contribute to efforts in countries affected by the legacy of colonization, which I see as a significant factor behind underdevelopment, especially in Africa,” Lacaze said. “Additionally, these countries face severe impacts from climate change despite being some of the least contributors to the issue. This motivates me to play a role in fostering sustainable and long-term development in the region.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on Nov. 11.

Keough 91��Ƶ invites members of the community to join in International Day of Peace events

2024-09-18T16:25:00-04:00

The Our Lady of the Lake World Peace Plaza includes a prayer for peace, inscribed in six languages, that can be understood by an estimated 97 percent of the world’s population.

The Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs will observe the International Day of Peace with two campus events: a prayer service featuring University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., on Friday (Sept. 20) and a talk by a Notre Dame graduate who serves in the Sierra Leone government on Tuesday (Sept. 24). Both events are free and open to the public.

Established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly, the International Day of Peace is on Saturday (Sept. 21) this year, and this year’s theme is “cultivating a culture of peace.”

University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., will join the Keough 91��Ƶ for a prayer service on Sept. 20.

At 2 p.m. Friday, Father Dowd will join the Keough 91��Ƶ for a prayer service at the Our Lady of the Lake World Peace Plaza, which is located west of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes (view on map). Guests can use this link for visitor parking.

The plaza was made possible through the legacy of William J. Pulte, a master builder and community member, who had a passion for world peace. It includes a fountain that displays a prayer for peace in six languages: English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese and French. It is estimated that the inscribed prayer can be understood by 97 percent of the world’s population.

The event is hosted by the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Pulte Institute for Global Development. Mary Gallagher, the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough 91��Ƶ, will speak at the service, which will include prayers in multiple languages and from multiple faith traditions. Tracy Kijewski-Correa, the William J. Pulte Director of the Pulte Institute, will offer a reflection.

The Honorable Chernor Bah, Sierra Leone’s minister of information and civic education, will speak on campus on Sept. 24.

At 4 p.m. Tuesday, the Honorable Chernor Bah, Sierra Leone’s minister of information and civic education, will speak in the Hesburgh Center Auditorium (view on map). Bah is a 2011 graduate of Notre Dame who earned a master’s degree in international peace studies. His talk is organized by the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ, and he will also receive the institute’s Distinguished Alumni Award while on campus.

As a child, Bah faced displacement multiple times during Sierra Leone’s 11-year civil war. At the end of the war, at age 15, he founded and led the Children's Forum Network, a mass movement of children who organized and mobilized to demand their voices be included in peace and reconciliation efforts. He was invited to present a report on the experience of Sierra Leonean children to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2002. Since then, Bah has worked with youth in Liberia, Lebanon, Haiti, Uganda and other emergency settings, leading efforts to strengthen youth voices in development and policy processes.

Bah has twice been appointed by the United Nations secretary-general to high-level steering committees and has spoken at the White House, the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union, the African Union and the World Bank. He has also lectured at universities around the world.

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on Sept. 18.

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

As chief contributor to pollution, business will also be crucial to addressing it and protecting human health

2024-08-12T15:49:00-04:00

A factory smokestack in New Jersey emits pollutants into the atmosphere. (Photo by John Isaac / United Nations Photo via Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons)

Toxic pollution is the single largest cause of death and poor health, killing up to 9 million people each year — about 100 times more than war and terrorism combined. Business produces the bulk of this deadly pollution, but can also play a critical role in addressing it and mitigating its effects, according to new research by University of Notre Dame expert Richard (Drew) Marcantonio.

Marcantonio, whose study was recently published in Business Horizons, is assistant professor of environment, peace and global affairs in Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs.

His new research underscores the importance of promoting access to a safe, clean and healthy environment as a human right, as well as the need for business to help protect that right, both of which the United Nations has advocated for in recent years.

“Business is the top cause of pollution,” Marcantonio said. “But it is also one of the most potent tools for countering it and equitably restoring affected communities and ecosystems.”

Pollution, whether in the air, water or soil, harms health and well-being in multiple ways, Marcantonio said, noting that it causes respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and contributes to malnutrition, chronic stress and disability.

Importantly, the risks are not evenly distributed, Marcantonio said. Most of the people harmed by pollution are neither producing it nor participating in the overconsumption that causes it. About 92 percent of toxic pollution deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, he said. And within more developed countries, the people who are most harmed by pollution live in lower-income and marginalized communities.

Policymakers have called for action to address the global health consequences. In 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution that recognized access to a healthy environment as a human right. In 2022, the United Nations General Assembly reaffirmed the resolution, declaring that a healthy environment is a human right.

In addition, the United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights say that businesses should respect human rights. The principles specify that business must avoid infringing on the human rights of others and should further address any adverse impacts they have on human rights.

Richard (Drew) Marcantonio’s latest research examines how business contributes to and can help address toxic pollution, which kills up to 9 million people each year. (Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame)

Marcantonio’s study builds upon this human rights perspective of environmental damage and harm to health, leveraging his expertise as an environmental peacebuilder who has conducted research on five continents.

As an environmental peacebuilding expert at Notre Dame, Marcantonio is affiliated with the Business Ethics and Society Program and the Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership in the Mendoza College of Business; with the Environmental Change Initiative and Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society; and with the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ and Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ. His study received funding from the Meyer Business on the Frontlines Program, part of the Mendoza College of Business, and from the Environmental Change Initiative.

The research describes toxic pollution as a contributor to “environmental violence,” a form of structural violence that, although less dramatic than armed conflicts, is nevertheless more deadly and debilitating. It calls for business to help address the systemic and structural health inequalities that come with pollution.

“Businesses can take much-needed steps to curb pollution, in part by embracing innovations like adaptive construction, which reuses existing structures, as well as alternative energy options that cut emissions,” Marcantonio said. “In addition, they can provide health services to the communities in which they operate, ensuring that residents are healthier and less vulnerable to pollution.”

“The goal is to protect health as a human right.”

Marcantonio said policymakers can help businesses protect the human right to health by adopting regulations that push companies to innovate and mitigate. For instance, he said mandatory carbon damage disclosures encourage companies to reduce their carbon footprint, and similar disclosures for toxic pollutants might have a similar impact.

“To ignore the role of business in producing the environmental violence of toxic pollution is immensely dangerous and naive,” Marcantonio said. “But to ignore its role as a primary solution would be equally unwise. Policymakers, researchers and business leaders should embrace both realities and work together toward policies and practices that sustainably prioritize human health by reducing toxic pollution and doing more to mitigate its effects. The goal is to protect health as a human right.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on Aug. 12.

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

COVID-19 pandemic tied to low birth weight for infants in India, study shows

2024-07-02T09:00:00-04:00

A mother and her newborn child are pictured in Odisha, India. Photo by Pippa Ranger via Flickr.

The incidence of low birth weight rose sharply in India amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research from the University of Notre Dame.

Globally, 1 in 4 newborns has a low birth weight (less than 5.5 pounds), and the problem disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries — particularly in South Asia, home to approximately one-fourth of the world’s population.

Santosh Kumar, associate professor of development and global health economics at Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, co-authored the study published in Communications Medicine, a Nature series journal.

“This research shows that low birth weight became more common in India during the pandemic,” Kumar said. “We saw the exacerbation of a global health problem that affects educational outcomes and poverty rates.

“Children who have lower birth weight as infants often go on to struggle with school, and this limits their capacity to develop what economists often call ‘human capital’ — the key knowledge and skills that will affect their ability to earn a good living and support themselves and their families.”

The study found that babies born between April 2020 and April 2021 had lower birth weights than previous birth cohorts (those born before the pandemic), Kumar said. Researchers analyzed data from more than 200,000 infants, Kumar said, including a pandemic cohort that included almost 12,000 infants and a pre-pandemic cohort of approximately 192,000.

The prevalence of low birth weight was 20 percent in the pandemic group, up from 17 percent in the pre-pandemic group, Kumar said, and infants in the pandemic group weighed about four-tenths of an ounce less than those in the pre-pandemic group.

Santosh Kumar is associate professor of development and global health economics at Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs. His research explores the intersection of global health and poverty reduction.

Multiple factors related to the pandemic may have affected the health behaviors of pregnant women and contributed to lower birth weights, Kumar said, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus, stress related to social distancing, economic upheaval and the disruption of maternal and neonatal care.

The study’s co-authors were Clare Hill, a Notre Dame undergraduate student majoring in political science and global affairs with a minor in data science, and Timothy J. Halliday, an economist at the University of Hawaii. The study received funding from the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ.

Kumar said this latest research, which expands on his work at the intersection of poverty and global health, highlights the need for targeted policies that reduce the incidence of low birth weights — for instance, ensuring that women from low-income populations have adequate nutrients and caloric intake during pregnancy and also have access to quality prenatal care.

“Our research underscores the need for targeted policies to reduce the risk of low birth weight,” Kumar said. “This will help create greater educational and economic opportunity and, ultimately, reduce poverty.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on July 1.

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

Rigorous new study debunks misconceptions about anemia, education

2024-06-18T10:25:00-04:00

A math teacher explains concepts to a high school class in Hajipur, India. Photo by TESS-India via Flickr.

In low- and middle-income countries, anemia reduction efforts are often touted as a way to improve educational outcomes and reduce poverty. A new study, co-authored by a global health economics expert from the University of Notre Dame, evaluates the relationship between anemia and school attendance in India, debunking earlier research that could have misguided policy interventions.

Santosh Kumar, associate professor of development and global health economics at Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, is co-author of the study, published in Communications Medicine. Kumar’s research explores the intersection of global health and poverty reduction. His latest work evaluates the relationship between anemia and school attendance in India.

The study investigated whether there was a link between anemia and school attendance in more than 250,000 adolescents ages 15 to 18. Earlier observational studies have shown a link between anemia and attendance, even after accounting for variables such as gender and household wealth, according to Kumar. But the new study, which applied more rigorous econometric statistical analysis, did not find such a link, he said.

Santosh Kumar’s research explores the intersection of global health and poverty reduction. His latest work evaluates the relationship between anemia and school attendance in India.

“Most previous research on this topic has used conventional study designs or focused on small geographical areas, which limits its policy relevance,” Kumar said. “Earlier estimates may have been distorted by unobserved household factors related to both anemia and school attendance. So in this study, we focused on the relationship between anemia and attendance among adolescents who were living in the same household.

“Ultimately,” Kumar said, “we found that the link between anemia and schooling is more muted than previously suggested by studies that did not consider household-level factors.”

The findings have important implications for policymakers seeking to improve education in low- and middle-income countries like India, Kumar said. India has widespread school attendance issues and struggles with health conditions such as anemia caused by iron deficiency, particularly in children and adolescents. The country has pushed to improve educational outcomes, in keeping with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, Kumar said. But to achieve that, he said, more research is needed to pinpoint an evidence-based intervention.

This study is part of an ongoing project to do that work and was co-authored with Jan-Walter De Neve of the University of Heidelberg, Omar Karlsson of Lund University in Sweden, Rajesh Kumar Rai of Harvard University and Sebastian Vollmer of the University of Göttingen. The project received funding from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Swedish Research Council and the West Bengal State Department of Health and Family Welfare in India.

The latest study builds on an earlier one in which Kumar and fellow researchers helped evaluate the results of an iron fortification school lunch program for students ages 7 and 8 in India. That study showed that fortification reduced anemia but did not affect students’ performance in school. A forthcoming study, set to launch in summer 2024, will look at iron fortification for children ages 3 to 5. The research hypothesis is that an early-age nutritional intervention among preschoolers would make a significant impact on physical and cognitive development.

“Our findings have implications for policymakers who want to improve educational outcomes and reduce poverty,” Kumar said. “Effective policies are based on evidence. We need more rigorous statistical analysis to examine the causal relationship between anemia and education.

“This work ties into my larger research agenda, which explores the intersection of global health and poverty reduction. I want to use my academic research to support human dignity by helping to identify evidence-based health policies that will make a tangible difference in people’s lives.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on June 12.

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

'Hybrid’ disaster response shows how localization saves lives

2024-06-13T16:22:00-04:00

A responder surveys damage following Haiti’s 2021 earthquake.

In August 2021, an earthquake struck southwest Haiti, killing thousands of people and leaving more than half a million seeking help. Assessment of this disaster and its response can serve as a model for evaluating future disasters and making life-saving improvements, according to new research from a University of Notre Dame professor.

Tracy Kijewski-Correa, professor of engineering and global affairs and the William J. Pulte Director of the Pulte Institute for Global Development, part of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, was the lead author for the study, published in the Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering.

“This research shows how the 2021 earthquake response in Haiti leveraged both local data collection and remote expertise on a large scale to quickly assess the damage and inform local decision makers,” Kijewski-Correa said. “This hybrid approach shows how we can proactively embrace localization, empowering affected populations to play a significant role in generating solutions.”

A hybrid disaster assessment approach

This building was damaged by the 2021 earthquake in Haiti, which killed thousands of people and left more than half a million seeking help.

Kijewski-Correa, partners at GeoHazards International and students at Notre Dame helped coordinate the assessment, which she said unfolded amid travel constraints following the assassination of the Haitian president in July 2021. But going hybrid turned out to be an advantage: Small teams of Haitians used smartphones to share data and images with remote engineers.

This divide-and-conquer approach allowed responders to cover more ground more quickly than they could have with a conventional arrangement where engineers traveled to see damage sites firsthand, Kijewski-Correa said. And after any disaster, she said, gathering forensic information quickly, before debris shifts, is critical to determining what caused the damage.

Responders captured a representative sample of different building classes, including residential, educational, commercial, government and medical facilities, Kijewski-Correa said, facilitating a rapid assessment that assigned global damage ratings to more than 12,500 buildings.

Next, remote engineers used machine learning to analyze approximately 40,000 collected images and to identify some 200 homes that were built using traditional Haitian construction, Kijewski-Correa said. This, in turn, enabled data collectors in Haiti to conduct forensic documentation of 30 of these homes that performed well in the earthquake using another mobile app.

Leveraging traditional building techniques

The results were surprising, Kijewski-Correa said: Structures built using traditional Haitian construction fared better than those built with contemporary concrete and masonry approaches that experts had been touting in Haiti. She said the traditional homes’ bracing scheme, which determines how buildings distribute and support the shock imparted by the earthquake, made all the difference.

“This was a crucial takeaway,” Kijewski-Correa said. “Our data showed that traditional Haitian building techniques performed better than poorly implemented modern construction approaches we had recommended in the past. This has key implications for how we should build in Haiti, which has widespread informal construction, lacks mortgages or well-documented land rights, and experiences higher poverty rates.

“In this cultural context, these traditional Haitian approaches are more sustainable on every front,” Kijewski-Correa said. “They use local materials and skill sets, are easier to repair when damaged, and have lower costs and smaller carbon footprints. We absolutely need to promote more of this approach.”

Strengthening disaster resilience

Tracy Kijewski-Correa’s research helps vulnerable communities improve disaster resilience. Her latest study shares a model that empowers local actors in life-saving disaster assessments.

Kijewski-Correa has shared takeaways from the earthquake assessment with researchers and humanitarian responders, including those at the World Bank, to help better support housing recovery after major disasters.

The resulting study received funding from the National Science Foundation, the United States Geological Survey and USAID through the partnership with GeoHazards International, and from the International Scholars Program at the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ.

Kijewski-Correa co-authored the study with Eric Canales and Lamarre Presuma (graduates of the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Master of Global Affairs program), Notre Dame engineering graduate student Rachel Hamburger, and former Kellogg International Scholars Angelique Mbabazi and Meredith Lochhead. The research is part of the Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering’s special issue on remote data collection and analysis methods for disaster reconnaissance.

The study has implications for building more sustainably in low-income countries and for promoting localization in disaster assessments, Kijewski-Correa said.

“For years, organizations such as USAID have increasingly emphasized localization, or empowering local people to take a leadership role in programs,” Kijewski-Correa said. “But there has been real reticence to extend that to life safety professions such as engineering because the assessments, if they’re wrong, could have deadly consequences.

“Our model shows that you can have a best-of-both-worlds approach that pairs local knowledge and remote networks with highly specialized engineering expertise. This innovative hybrid approach to localization helped us respond more effectively and ultimately uncovered a key finding that will improve housing recovery recommendations by leveraging local insights. This model can help vulnerable communities worldwide more swiftly learn from disasters and ideally build back better to reduce future risk.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on June 11.

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

Keough 91��Ƶ and Organization of American States partner to protect democracy and human rights

2024-06-06T16:00:00-04:00

From left, Scott Appleby, the Marilyn Keough Dean of the University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, and Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro celebrate the announcement of a new partnership to protect human rights and democracy.

The University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs and the Organization of American States (OAS) have launched a new partnership to strengthen democracy and defend human rights efforts across Latin America. To that end, the institutions will collaborate on joint research and policy projects, exchange faculty experts and train undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers who work in development, human rights and democracy.

The partnership, outlined in a cooperation agreement, deepens the existing relationship between the Keough 91��Ƶ and OAS, which share a focus on defending democracy and human rights. It will facilitate additional opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration among researchers, students and policymakers, with the ultimate goal of fighting poverty, building peace and strengthening democracy in an era of backsliding.

Andrés Mejía Acosta, the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Kuster Family Associate Dean for Policy and Practice, and OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro praised the agreement.

“We salute our partnership with the OAS, an organization committed to strengthening democracy, the protection of citizens’ rights and social inclusion,” Mejía Acosta said. “We look forward to making our research knowledge more accessible, exchanging policy lessons and offering students practical experiences by working with OAS colleagues in Washington, D.C., and the region.”

Almagro agreed. “This partnership marks a significant step forward in our shared commitment to upholding the principles of democracy and advancing the well-being of our hemisphere,” he said.

“The University of Notre Dame’s dedication to excellence in education and research is renowned, and we are honored to partner with such a distinguished institution,” Almagro said. “By joining forces, we strengthen our capacity to promote cooperative research and to facilitate the exchange of ideas on issues related to democracy, development and human rights in the OAS member states.”

The collaboration draws on the expertise of faculty and researchers in the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ, which specializes in democracy; in its Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ; and in its Pulte Institute for Global Development. In addition, it leverages the experiential learning opportunities available across the school and its nine institutes and centers. Finally, it enables Keough 91��Ƶ students to learn from the real-world experience of professionals at OAS.

The arrangement will facilitate dialogue among faculty, staff and administrators who translate research for policy impact; strengthen postgraduate training at the Keough 91��Ƶ; encourage joint conferences and meetings on key issues of shared interest; facilitate the exchange of academic materials; and provide experiential learning opportunities for Keough 91��Ƶ students who can help support OAS goals.

The agreement is the latest development in an ongoing relationship since the school and OAS have worked closely together for years. In 2023, the Keough 91��Ƶ partnered with the OAS’ Department of Social Inclusion to host a training for diplomats that explored migration, asylum and forced displacement in the Americas. And in 2021, the school partnered with the OAS’ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for a series of panel discussions on promoting human rights.

Mejía Acosta said the partnership will also enable the Keough 91��Ƶ to influence policy by leveraging expertise from its core research programs.

“Our experts will share rigorous academic research that has clear takeaways for policymakers and practitioners,” Mejía Acosta said. “This evidence-based approach will ensure that policy design and implementation is effective and impactful. We are honored to work with our friends and colleagues at the OAS to help support their mission. We share their belief that one of the best ways to support human dignity is by defending human rights, and we look forward to strengthening and deepening our partnership in the coming years.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on May 29.

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

Political elites take advantage of anti-partisan protests to disrupt politics

2024-05-23T09:00:00-04:00

Occupy protesters are pictured in Oakland, California, in 2011. The movement, known for its slogan “We are the 99 percent,” criticized mainstream political parties for representing only the interests of the rich. It was part of a global wave of anti-partisan protests that have disrupted politics in recent years. (Photo by Brian Sims via Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.)

Protest movements that reject political parties have an unintended consequence, according to new research from the University of Notre Dame: They empower savvy politicians who channel them to shake up the status quo.

The findings provide a framework for understanding recent global political realignments and offer lessons for activists who want to make a meaningful impact. They are particularly relevant in an era when mass protests have become an increasingly common tool to voice dissent with powerful institutions and draw attention to overlooked issues ranging from climate and conflict to inequality and human rights.

Ann Mische, associate professor of sociology and peace studies at the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs at Notre Dame, and Tomás Gold, a Notre Dame doctoral candidate and doctoral fellow at the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ, co-authored the study, published in the American Journal of Sociology. The authors received funding from the Kellogg Institute and the Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ, as well as Notre Dame’s Graduate 91��Ƶ.

“Despite protesters’ strong rejection of parties, political parties have not ignored the protesters,” Mische said. “In fact, many partisan actors have found ways to use this hostility to their advantage, disrupting ‘politics as usual’ and contributing to political reconfigurations that surprised both actors and spectators.”

Mische and Gold analyzed data from the Varieties of Democracy Project, which provides several authoritative ways to measure democracy. The international project, widely cited by scholars, is affiliated with the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Kellogg Institute.

Using the data, Mische and Gold analyzed 12 case studies across Europe, Asia, and North and South America between 2008 and 2016, amid the fallout of the global financial crisis and the ongoing rejection of parties that were seen as unable or unwilling to confront it.

Ann Mische’s research focuses on communication, deliberation and leadership in social movements and democratic politics.

They found that in response to massive anti-partisan protests, these countries generally experienced one of four outcomes: internal factional challenges within highly established parties (e.g., Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in the United Kingdom); the emergence of new or renovated parties (Podemos, or “We Can,” an anti-austerity Spanish party); the formation of new anti-incumbent party coalitions (the Broad Front UNEN and Cambiemos coalitions in Argentina); and the rise of extreme populist leaders (such as Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil).

Mische and Gold said these varied outcomes could be explained by looking at the project’s data measuring parties’ institutional strength, the degree to which parties were cohesive or fragmented, and the overall numbers of viable political parties competing for power.

They used a comparative approach that bridged insights from sociology and political science, drawing on datasets to determine how the combination of these three variables generated different opportunities for political actors to navigate the challenges to the status quo. They complemented this analysis with a process-oriented account of how party-movement interactions contributed to these diverging pathways.

“We focused on how political elites can take advantage of the fact that they are rejected by protesters,” Gold said. “That paradox lies at the heart of this paper.”

Ultimately, Mische and Gold said, the study could serve as a cautionary tale to protesters who reject political parties rather than trying to negotiate with them. This rejection can paradoxically undermine activist goals by amplifying distrust in institutions and paving the way for populist demagogues.

“Sometimes you need social movements to challenge entrenched systems and respond to the needs and aspirations of the people,” Mische said, adding that further research could help explore the dynamics of insider-outsider coalitions for enacting reforms.

“But if you reject working with the state, then you cannot influence the development of policies that are important for the things that you care about. You may, instead, empower autocrats who don’t share your values but are adept at weaponizing institutional distrust. Understanding this dynamic is important to working for change and to strengthening global democracy at a time when institutions are increasingly under attack.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on May 21.

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

Disadvantaged entrepreneurs often fear success, but new research can help

2024-05-07T10:55:00-04:00

Michael H. Morris, professor of the practice in Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs and director of the Urban Poverty and Business Initiative, a program offered by the school’s McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business.

When low-income entrepreneurs start their own businesses, they frequently fear failure — a well-documented phenomenon. But over time, they may also fear success, given the costs and unknowns it can bring, and this barrier to growth is under-studied and underappreciated. A new study from a Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs expert breaks new ground by explaining this fear and offers five recommendations to help entrepreneurs overcome it and move out of poverty.

Michael H. Morris, a professor of the practice in the University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ and director of the Urban Poverty and Business Initiative, a program offered by the school’s McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business, is lead author of a journal article where these recommendations are outlined, as recently published in Business Horizons.

“This study is one of the first to deepen our understanding of the fears that poor entrepreneurs commonly face, in particular the unexpected and counterintuitive fear of success,” Morris said. “We believe it’s crucial to address these fears, or they can become a behavioral roadblock that prevents individuals from navigating the uncertainties of creating a new business. We have identified several key priorities that policymakers and support organizations can focus on in order to work more effectively with them.”

Five key priorities

Morris and his co-authors documented the fears experienced by many disadvantaged entrepreneurs by conducting six focus groups with participants from the Urban Poverty and Business Initiative program.

Notre Dame students consult with local entrepreneurs as part of the McKenna Center’s South Bend Entrepreneurship and Adversity Program. The program helps people facing hardships, providing guidance so they can start and grow their own businesses.

More than 90 percent of participants were people of color and 68 percent were women. Approximately 4 percent were formerly incarcerated, 2 percent were refugees and 1 percent were women who lived in shelters. All came from underprivileged backgrounds. The research was funded with support from WorkRise, a research-to-action network hosted by the Urban Institute.

Disadvantaged entrepreneurs face specific obstacles that mid- and higher-income businesspeople generally do not, Morris said, including lower literacy levels, a scarcity mindset, significant non-business distractions and lower access to finance.

Fear is a common occurrence for people in this group, Morris said, whether it is at the start of a new venture or as a business gains traction and encounters new challenges. And fear of success — while less studied — can have damaging outcomes, Morris said, because it can lead to procrastination, self-sabotage and failure to make key decisions that could help a business grow.

Ultimately, Morris and his co-authors issued five recommendations to help address these fears:

Providing entrepreneurial role models to help individuals recognize different paths to, and outcomes from, a successful enterprise
Teaching entrepreneurship early, with an emphasis on experiential learning, where success is made more tangible and manifested in different ways beyond just profitability
Providing mentorship, where experienced entrepreneurs help business founders understand and address the costs versus benefits of different types and degrees of success
Positioning venture creation as an option in workforce development programs (These programs traditionally focus on training participants to work for others.)
Developing more flexible and holistic microfinance programs where investments are tied to incremental progress in meeting success goals and targets

A playbook for policymakers and support organizations

Morris co-authored the study with Donald F. Kuratko of Indiana University, Susana C. Santos of Florida State University and Sohab Soleimanof of Louisiana State University. The authors drew on their deep experience to create a playbook they believe can assist policymakers and people who work with disadvantaged entrepreneurs.

Ultimately, Morris said, while success might seem scary and costly to underprivileged businesspeople, identifying a handful of key priorities can focus and sharpen initiatives aimed at helping them succeed.

“We hope that educators, policymakers and the various stakeholders who work with poor entrepreneurs will apply these recommendations,” he said, “and, in so doing, help them overcome their fears and embrace entrepreneurship as a viable pathway out of poverty."

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on May 2.

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

Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz addresses inequality with a people-centered economy

2024-04-25T08:00:00-04:00

Economist Joseph Stiglitz met with students during his campus visit, answering questions about policies that could help address inequality.

Inequality is a policy choice — not an inevitable outcome — and can be addressed through economic approaches that prioritize human dignity, economist and Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz said during a recent visit to the University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs.

Stiglitz, a Columbia University professor and former chief economist at the World Bank, met with faculty and students as well as Keough 91��Ƶ and Notre Dame leadership during his April 15 visit to campus, during which he delivered the inaugural Joseph E. Stiglitz Lecture on Inequality and the Good Society.

The new lecture series, made possible with support from the Ford Foundation, was organized by Ray Offenheiser, director of the Keough 91��Ƶ’s McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business. The series is dedicated to bringing outstanding scholars to Notre Dame to share groundbreaking scholarship and policy insights on inequality and is a part of larger strategic efforts by the school and the University to address global poverty.

Watch a discussion between Joseph Stiglitz and Ray Offenheiser on global inequality here.

Rules create structural inequality

During his public remarks, Stiglitz outlined the ways inequality is written into the rules of the U.S. and global economies by powerful interests that prioritize profit.

“Markets don’t exist in a vacuum,” Stiglitz said. “We structure our market with rules and regulations. Rules matter for creating inequality. [In the United States], we’ve frankly made a choice to have more inequality than other countries.”

In the United States, some 40 years of neoliberal — or free-market-oriented — economic policies have bolstered corporations and lowered the living standards of everyday people, Stiglitz said. In particular, rules have weakened antitrust protections and permitted monopolies; weakened worker bargaining power, ensuring that wages haven’t kept pace with profits; crafted bankruptcy laws that favor companies while forcing bankrupt consumers to repay student loans; and allowed corporations to pay low taxes while enjoying massive profits.

A student listens as Joseph Stiglitz answers questions during his campus visit. Stiglitz also met with faculty as well as Keough 91��Ƶ and Notre Dame leadership.

As a result, Stliglitz said, the United States has less economic mobility than peer countries — meaning that for U.S. residents, life outcomes are more dependent on their parents’ income and education levels than they are for people in other wealthy countries.

These regressive policy choices are reinforced by the United States’ political system, Stiglitz said, where Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United have given corporations more power to make political donations and shape the rules in their favor. And inequality remains a problem globally as well, he said: Multinational corporations lobby to keep their tax rates low, and the international debt architecture favors wealthy creditors over cash-strapped countries that slash public spending in order to afford high debt payments.

Ultimately, the inequality created by these systems and structures threatens the future of democracy, Stiglitz said, adding that widespread dissatisfaction leaves voters vulnerable to demagogues who mislead the public and discard democratic norms.

Prioritizing human dignity: Policy and practice

While Stiglitz was unsparing in his critique of the status quo, he also expressed optimism that voters and policymakers could make different choices and reframe how they think about and discuss the concept of freedom. He urged audience members to think of freedom not as fewer government regulations but rather as the opportunity for everyday people to live a good life.

“Freedom should be about human dignity and human flourishing,” Stiglitz said.

Such an approach — one that prioritizes the needs of marginalized people and communities — made Stiglitz a natural fit to inaugurate the Keough 91��Ƶ’s new inequality lecture series, said Scott Appleby, the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough 91��Ƶ.

“Confronting inequality can make us uncomfortable because it may challenge us personally to face some hard facts about our economic system and who it benefits at the expense of others,” Appleby said.

“But such moral and intellectual discomfort may be just the challenge we all need. Indeed, commitment to human dignity and intellectual development challenges us to examine those social structures and systems that explain and sustain the marginalization of the poor, and to pursue policies and practices that would create a more equitable and just world.”

Watch the full lecture here.

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on April 22.

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

Notre Dame researcher explores how technology can defend democracy

2024-04-16T09:00:00-04:00

Growing public disenchantment with social media often highlights how it has poisoned political discourse. Critics say its business model leverages negative emotions to maximize user engagement, fueling mistrust and polarization.

But Lisa Schirch, the Richard G. Starmann Sr. Professor of the Practice of Peace 91��Ƶ at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, sees opportunity in a new class of deliberative technologies she finds can facilitate dialogue and generate workable policy solutions, strengthening democratic institutions that are increasingly under attack. Her recent research explores these tools and their implications for democracy.

“The algorithms on major social media platforms like Meta and X are divisive and emphasize disagreement,” said Schirch, who is part of the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ.

“But the design of deliberative technologies is different,” Schirch said. “They use algorithms and artificial intelligence to synthesize large-scale public dialogues and highlight areas of agreement. This can bridge divides, build trust in public institutions and ultimately help strengthen democracy in an era of democratic backsliding.”

Analyzing benefits, policy implications of new tech

In a new policy brief, Schirch argues that deliberative technologies can foster more robust civic engagement, build trust in public institutions by better aligning governance with public opinion, improve understanding of policy issues, synthesize large qualitative inputs, depolarize policy debates, generate new policy options offering opportunities for collective intelligence, and transform the polarizing qualities of social media conversations.

Schirch’s research found that these technologies have important implications for the future of democracy because they can increase participation and civic engagement, foster attention to accuracy to address misinformation and disinformation, reduce toxic polarization toward people in opposing groups, encourage critical thinking to weigh complex issues and policy trade-offs, shift perspectives and curb groupthink as people engage with diverse points of view, test assumptions and reduce perception gaps on what participants think others believe, and incentivize finding and articulating consensus.

Researching and promoting pro-social tech

A crucial aspect of these new technologies is their design — something Schirch had in mind when she helped found the Council on Technology and Social Cohesion. This group of peacebuilders and technology experts seeks to address rising polarization and violence by fostering trust and collaboration.

Rather than taking a harm reduction approach to new technologies, the council wants to reimagine how they are designed and deployed. During 2024, it is convening a series of global meetings with computer engineers, business leaders and peacebuilding experts. The idea, Schirch said, is to collaboratively design a digital infrastructure that supports social cohesion and the human dignity of marginalized groups.

The deliberative technologies needed to build such an infrastructure don’t rely on social media’s negative-emotion algorithms, journalism’s bias for drama or politicians’ fear-mongering, Schirch said.

Instead, they are built to gather and synthesize large amounts of public input on policy preferences. This allows reformers — governments, nonprofits, think tanks and tech-savvy volunteers — to both identify consensus and also find potential solutions that could help move the needle on policy debates.

Importantly, Schirch said, these tools can pair artificial intelligence with collective intelligence — the wisdom of crowds. Diverse inputs and robust data synthesis offer the possibility of solutions that may scale for larger populations, Schirch said, adding that over the past decade or so, dozens of countries around the world have used these technologies to make progress on policy debates.

Studying tech and the future of democracy

Schirch is continually exploring these issues. In March, she helped organize a digital democracy symposium in Washington, D.C., for the Keough 91��Ƶ and its Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ. The gathering included a keynote address by Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, a Filipino American journalist who is a prominent critic of digital disinformation, and drew the support of several prominent democratic think tanks.

In April, Schirch was part of a convening in New York City hosted by Google. In May, she will host two workshops in San Francisco on designing and funding pro-social technology. And in June, with support from the Toda Peace Institute, the Kroc Institute will host an international workshop to help peacebuilding organizations learn how to use deliberative technologies in war zones.

“These technologies are coming at an important moment,” Schirch said. “They are powerful tools to help human beings talk with and listen to each other at scale, find common ground and collaborate on creative new policy solutions.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on April 4.

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

Through experiential learning, students explore poverty solutions in Nigeria

2024-03-05T08:00:00-05:00

Communities across northern Nigeria are chronically stressed by conflict and climate change. In 2018, for instance, 40 percent of residents lived below the international poverty line, making less than $2 per day, and another 25 percent were vulnerable to poverty. How can policymakers help them prepare for economic shocks?

University of Notre Dame students have researched answers, providing insights that can empower households and communities and inform global poverty-fighting policies.

Emma Hokoda, Colleen Maher and Nancy Obonyo recently completed a project through the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs’ Integration Lab, in partnership with Catholic Relief Services. In June and July of 2023, these Master of Global Affairs students, who are pursuing concentrations in sustainable development, surveyed more than 1,000 households to evaluate the impact of the $17.6 million USAID-funded Feed the Future Nigeria Livelihoods Project.

The program, which aimed to strengthen agricultural-based livelihoods, was implemented by Catholic Relief Services from 2013 to 2018. Team members finished their project in February by presenting key findings and recommendations at the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Washington Office. They briefed an audience that included representatives from Catholic Relief Services, USAID and the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Ultimately, the team found that some interventions were more successful than others, and the program can make improvements through strategic investments.

Key recommendations included:

Embracing a holistic, systems-strengthening approach focused on foundational interventions that facilitate the success of future interventions.
Incorporating resilience measurement in development projects and future resilience studies in Nigeria.
Strengthening monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning systems for future projects.

The team evaluated program interventions, which focused on four areas: 1) agriculture and livelihoods, 2) income diversification, 3) government-strengthening activities and 4) nutrition alongside water, sanitation and hygiene.

As part of their project, Nancy Obonyo, Colleen Maher and Emma Hokoda worked with Catholic Relief Services partners in northern Nigeria to study and strengthen household resilience.

Students found that during economic shocks, program beneficiaries relied most heavily on agriculture and income activities to survive. Additionally, they confirmed that diversifying income streams beyond agriculture helped households better weather adversity. And they found that government-strengthening activities had the most substantial and statistically significant positive effect on household resilience.

Ultimately, students said the experience helped prepare them for policy-relevant careers.

For Hokoda, it was a window into how development projects unfold. “We wrote a proposal, prepared the institutional review process, created a financial plan, conducted field research and wrote recommendations based on our findings,” she said. “Being an active contributor from start to finish helped me understand the big picture and gain insight into how humanitarian projects are developed and assessed.”

For Maher, it was a master class in qualitative research. “Through this project I discovered a really deep appreciation and enjoyment of qualitative research,” she said. “This past fall, I went on to attend the American Evaluation Association’s conference in Indianapolis, where I had the opportunity to network and discuss this kind of research in depth.”

And for Obonyo, the experience reinforced the importance of holistic thinking in solving problems.

“Through my experience in Nigeria, I learned that people struggle or succeed as part of larger, interconnected communities, and there are many factors that help them prepare for and adapt to economic shocks,” she said. “So we can’t talk about household resilience without talking about foundational interventions such as education and health care as well as peace and security. And we can’t talk about household resilience without talking about community resilience. Having access to things like good roads and adequate drainage in these communities affects each person’s ability to thrive as well as the success of future interventions.”

Notre Dame literacy research can improve learning outcomes and fight global poverty

2024-02-29T14:00:00-05:00

A new study by a team of University of Notre Dame researchers makes a significant contribution to understanding the factors that influence how young elementary school students respond to reading interventions in fragile and low-income contexts.

The study, published in the Comparative Education Review, evaluated an early-grade literacy intervention in Catholic schools in Haiti. The study has important implications for addressing educational inequities and improving learning outcomes to create opportunity and lift millions of children globally out of poverty.

“This research brings greater attention to questions of educational equity in the acquisition of foundational skills,” said lead author TJ D’Agostino, assistant professor of the practice with the Pulte Institute for Global Development, part of the University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs. “Which populations are being well served, which can we serve better, and how do we accomplish that? These findings can help guide future research and policy to expand literacy rates in low- and middle-income countries.”

Past research has shown that achieving reading comprehension by the end of second grade is crucial to progressing in school, which impacts future life opportunities, D’Agostino said. Some studies suggest achieving universal literacy could reduce global poverty by more than 10 percent.

91��Ƶs participating in the study received specialized teacher training as well as a curriculum in Haitian Creole and French that included a collated library. The curriculum included time for teachers to read aloud to students as well as time for students to read on their own. A group of coaches regularly visited participating schools to share best practices and evaluate what worked.

The study identified several factors that affected outcomes, including:

Instructional time (which suffered in some schools because of high rates of student and teacher absenteeism)
Curriculum uptake (whether teachers adhered to the new curriculum or instead mixed and matched it with more familiar resources)
91��Ƶ leadership (which was crucial to protecting time for learning, encouraging teacher buy-in to the program and providing extra support for students)

Researchers found that rural schools faced particular challenges, D’Agostino said, since they were more remote, received fewer coaching visits, tended to serve more marginalized populations and often experienced higher rates of student absenteeism.

A Haitian boy reads at school as part of a literacy intervention evaluated by Notre Dame researchers. The team’s work can inform the global work of major literacy donors such as USAID.

D’Agostino worked with fellow co-authors Danice Brown Guzmán and Paul Perrin of the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Pulte Institute; Anasthasie Liberiste-Osirus, a training and technical assistance consultant who previously worked with Notre Dame’s Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC), part of the University’s Institute for Educational Initiatives; and Kate Schuenke-Lucien of the GC-DWC.

The literacy intervention and research to evaluate its impact was supported by the GC-DWC Haiti in collaboration with Catholic Relief Services, the Catholic Church in Haiti, USAID, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and an anonymous foundation. The program served more than 100,000 first- through third-grade students in nearly 350 schools between 2016 and 2020.

Ultimately, the study helped the Notre Dame team identify questions for future research, the co-authors said, and can inform future literacy interventions by organizations such as USAID, which is the largest bilateral donor of basic education assistance and works in more than 50 countries.

“Improving literacy skills in the school environment is an important part of a broader, deeper set of outcomes needed to address poverty,” Schuenke-Lucien said, noting that researchers sought to engage students holistically using home and church resources as well.

D’Agostino agreed. “It is deeply rewarding to contribute to programs that help people in marginalized communities develop life-changing skills,” he said, “and it is energizing to be a part of Notre Dame’s larger work to fight poverty.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on Feb. 21.

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

Keough 91��Ƶ partners with US Department of State on conflict prevention research initiative

2023-11-09T16:00:00-05:00

The University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs will work closely with the U.S. Department of State on a new initiative that will enable students to conduct cutting-edge global conflict prevention research.

As part of the new Academic Centers of Conflict Anticipation and Prevention partnership, the department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) has engaged several universities to provide supplemental research, analysis and data to enhance its ability to anticipate, prevent and respond to global conflict. CSO is charged with leading the formulation and implementation of conflict prevention and stabilization strategies, policies and programs.

The innovative partnership will provide undergraduate and graduate Keough 91��Ƶ students with access to the Department of State’s various databases and research tools, including its Instability Monitoring and Analysis Platform. Officials use the tool to monitor conflict risks and implement evidence-based policies to prevent conflict.

Students will work with Keough 91��Ƶ faculty advisers as they conduct research projects on conflict-related issues requested by CSO. They will also develop professional skills and contacts to help prepare for future global policy careers.

“This partnership is a fantastic opportunity for our students to engage in proactive conflict prevention and make an impact on real-world policy by using their skills to analyze real-time data,” said Maura Policelli, executive director of the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs’ Washington Office and associate professor of the practice. “It reflects the Keough 91��Ƶ’s ongoing focus and commitment to policy-relevant work that addresses critical global challenges.”

Keough 91��Ƶ students will begin their research in spring 2024 as part of a forthcoming class that will deal with conflict prevention issues, Policelli said.

Notre Dame was selected, in part, because of the Keough 91��Ƶ’s proven track record of policy-relevant conflict prevention work, most notably through the Peace Accords Matrix (PAM), a key initiative of the school’s Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ.

PAM houses the world’s largest existing collection of implementation data on intrastate peace agreements. Its database serves as a valuable source for analysis, which the Kroc Institute uses to support the negotiation and implementation of peace accords, including the historic Colombian peace accord.

The Keough 91��Ƶ has also helped support the implementation of the Global Fragility Act, a whole-of-government approach to prioritize conflict prevention and transform partnerships to focus on peacebuilding and stabilization in fragile states. The school has long supported implementation of the act by arranging faculty briefings for the Department of State, convening expert panels and supporting student research that informs policymakers’ work.

“CSO is thrilled to expand and deepen its engagements with the Keough 91��Ƶ through this partnership,” said Keith Noble, CSO’s chief data officer. “This partnership represents a first-of-its-kind opportunity for students to work on real-world, conflict-related requirements to help the department address existing and emerging policy opportunities.

“Moving forward,” Noble said, “contributions from the Keough 91��Ƶ will help further CSO’s ongoing efforts to support key U.S. government priorities in the conflict space to include the women, peace and security and climate agendas.”

Other partners in the initiative include Florida International University, Georgetown University, George Mason University, the University of Alabama, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Utah.

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

Tyson Yunkaporta, Indigenous Australian scholar and Nasr Book Prize winner, to visit campus

2022-09-28T14:34:00-04:00

The Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion at the University of Notre Dame will honor Tyson Yunkaporta, an Indigenous Australian scholar and the author of “Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World,” as the winner of its Nasr Book Prize.

Funded thanks to the generosity of Drs. Sherif Nasr and Randa Nasr, co-founders of siParadigm Diagnostic Informatics in Pine Brook, New Jersey, the prize highlights the work of scholars who reimagine the connection of religion and global affairs.

Yunkaporta's book, which has earned widespread acclaim, raises important questions and brings Indigenous ways of knowing to the critical examination of global systems. In so doing, it enriches the larger public conversation.

Yunkaporta will visit the University of Notre Dame’s campus this Sunday and Monday (Oct. 2-3) for several public events, including a multi-faith symposium, that will explore his work and allow the Notre Dame community and the public to hear his insights.

“We are all refugees, severed from the land, disconnected from the genius that comes by being in symbiotic relationship with it,” Yunkaporta said. “Yet rarely do we see the sustainability of our world analyzed by the Indigenous peoples whose patterns still flow with the movement of the earth.”

Indigenous perspectives on global challenges

Yunkaporta’s book aims to bridge that gap, drawing on his background as a member of Apalech Clan in far north Queensland. In the work, he dialogues with others in the collaborative style of Aboriginal “yarning” between two people, using the term “us-two” for a pronoun that has no English equivalent. “I have built every chapter on oral cultural exchanges,” Yunkaporta writes, “a series of yarns with diverse peoples who all make me feel uncomfortable.”

One of the problems with today’s world, Yunkaporta argues, is linear and formulaic thinking, in contrast to traditional ways that are complex and dynamic. Writing — the fixing of elusive thoughts onto paper — by its very form runs counter to Aboriginal epistemology. Yunkaporta wrote the book anyway as an attempt to build a bridge between cultures: “For each chapter, I carved the logic sequences and ideas arising from these yarns into traditional objects before I translated them into print.” Representing thoughts on sand is sand talk: The patterns are there for a moment, before reuniting with the patterns of eternity whence they emerged.

Through practices like these, he shows how Indigenous traditions can inform sustainable approaches to global problems: “I’m not reporting on Indigenous knowledge systems for a global audience’s perspective. I’m examining global systems from an Indigenous knowledge perspective.”

Mahan Mirza, executive director of the Ansari Institute, said the institute wanted to recognize and amplify Yunkaporta’s voice, which translates age-old wisdom accessibly for contemporary audiences.

“As we confront urgent global challenges such as climate change, conflict and inequality, we can learn much by incorporating under-appreciated perspectives,” he said. “Indigenous insights can strengthen humankind’s shared work to build a sustainable future that promotes dignity and flourishing. Tyson invites us — rather, he challenges us — not only to take indigenous thinking seriously, but to take it to heart, to change not just what we do, but to rethink who we are.”

This year, more than 30 works were nominated for the award. A selection committee chose five finalists before unanimously selecting “Sand Talk.” The committee included Mirza; Carolyn T. Brown, board chair of the Fetzer Institute; Clair Brown, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley; and Anantanand Rambachan, professor of religion, philosophy and Asian studies at St. Olaf College and co-president of Religions for Peace. The Ansari Institute’s faculty committee provided input in the early stages of the selection process; faculty members Alexander Hsu and Charles Powell participated in the committee’s deliberations on the finalists.

Ultimately, committee members said, “Sand Talk” stood out for its distinctive perspective.

“Yunkaporta’s explication of Indigenous wisdom and ways of being in our world is a powerful challenge and contribution to our search for a sustainable life for all beings and just relationships on our planet,” Rambachan said.

Enriching the conversation

When Yunkaporta learned he was the winner of the Ansari Institute’s Randa and Sherif Nasr Book Prize on Religion and the World, he responded with disbelief: “It’s just a little book.” But the work makes important contributions to the public conversation. It does so in the spirit of the book prize, which aims to amplify the work of scholars who reimagine the connection of religion and global affairs. The goal is to stimulate broader discussion about how ancient wisdom, as transmitted in the form of the major religious and philosophical traditions of the world, can inform and even transform current debates.

Yunkaporta’s visit will include a range of activities to help facilitate further discussion of the ideas discussed in “Sand Talk.” Events will include:

A public “yarning” session with Indigenous scholars from the U.S., moderated by Ashlee Bird, Moreau Postdoctoral Fellow for the University of Notre Dame’s Department of American 91��Ƶ.
A conversation on the literary genre of “Sand Talk.”
A public multi-faith symposium featuring insights from respondents from various religious and philosophical traditions. Respondents will include more than a dozen scholars and other experts (a full list of speakers is available on the Ansari Institute's website).

“The Ansari Institute is a ‘crossroad of religions,’ a place where people from different traditions can respectfully engage with each other and learn from each other,” Mirza said. “We look forward to engaging with Tyson Yunkaporta and with others in deep and fruitful dialogue. We hope that our gathering represents a kind of fellowship of faiths that strengthens over time, generating badly needed perspectives for addressing some of today’s most pressing global challenges.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at ansari.nd.edu on May 25.

Ansari Institute will help change the conversation about religion with new grant

2020-07-16T14:00:00-04:00

Thanks to a generous grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion will host a series of workshops that will help change the conversation about religion by bringing journalists, scholars and faith practitioners together to learn from each other and better communicate their perspectives.

The Ansari Institute is partnering with the University of Notre Dame’s John W. Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics, and Democracy to host the workshops, which will facilitate a “trialogue” among the three groups, said Mahan Mirza, executive director of the Ansari Institute. This will enable the groups to learn from one another and build partnerships that will improve public discourse, he said.

“The grant conceptually brings together the notions of dialogue and religious literacy and addresses the public conversation about religion,” Mirza said. “It aims to get three groups of people who don't always appreciate each other — faith practitioners, journalists and academic scholars — to better understand each other's vocations in order to improve the ways in which we think and talk about religion in our congregations, in the classroom and in public forums.”

The Ansari Institute will host the workshops in spring 2021, fall 2021 and summer 2022, said Alexander Hsu, adjunct assistant teaching professor for the Ansari Institute and the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian 91��Ƶ.

Each year, the institute will hold a three-day workshop focusing on an important topic with which religion intersects, and will welcome a new cohort of five journalists, five scholars and five faith practitioners, Hsu said. The 2021 workshop will explore religion’s connections to race, public health and political polarization. Following the workshops, the institute plans to host a conference in 2023 that will allow participants to share lessons learned during the experience, he said.

By bringing together these different groups, the workshops will help participants make important connections, build trust, and improve communication, understanding and coverage of religion, said Richard G. Jones, the Walter H. Annenberg-Edmund P. Joyce Director of the Gallivan Program. Discussions will also help participants understand the ways in which faith touches a wide variety of issues, including politics, public health and business, he said.

“That’s an important part of this project: opening people’s eyes to that and just recognizing how broadly these issues of faith shape so many parts of our lives, and how crucial it is for all of us that journalists write about them in a thoughtful and constructive manner,” Jones said.

Ultimately, Mirza said, the endeavor will generate a more nuanced public discourse about religion that will enable people to move past popular misconceptions and a fragile culture of mistrust to a resilient one where differences are seen as a source of strength rather than weakness.

“All of this will go, we believe, toward a better self-understanding, a better understanding of each other, a better public conversation and a better world,” he said, “in which religion has a positive role to play.”

Contact: Josh Stowe, senior content specialist, Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, jstowe1@nd.edu

Catholic and Muslim leaders champion interfaith dialogue, learning at Notre Dame event

2019-11-25T08:00:00-05:00

Members of different faith traditions can learn from each other through civil discourse that respects real differences, prominent Catholic and Muslim leaders said during a Nov. 20 interfaith dialogue at the University of Notre Dame.

The conversation, which featured Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, and Daoud Casewit, president of American Islamic College, continued a meaningful dialogue begun by a pair of pioneering religious figures some 800 years ago, Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil of Egypt and St. Francis of Assisi. The two met during the conflict of the Fifth Crusade. After each initially attempted to convert the other, they instead committed to listening and forging a friendship with each other.

The campus conversation also echoed the peaceful sentiments voiced in a recent joint declaration signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb.

“Let us tonight take as our inspiration both the meeting of Francis and the Sultan, and the words of the Pope and the Grand Imam to gather as sisters and brothers engaged in respectful dialogue,” said University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. “Tonight’s event allows us to fulfill our mission of being a place of dialogue and learning, a Catholic institution where all sincerely held religious beliefs are respected, and a place where we seek ways to build peace and deepen understanding.”

Cardinal Cupich said the conversation, and the dialogue it commemorated, came at an important time.

“We now live in an era when the idea of a clash of civilizations is shaping the understanding of international relations for many, particularly in terms of the encounter between Islam and the West in our own time,” he said. “The event we are remembering challenges that description instead with a message of hope.

“The message that I want you to take with you this evening is that dialogue should not simply aim at understanding,” Cardinal Cupich said. “Dialogue should foster relationships that are mutually enriching, especially as those encounters can help us come to a fuller understanding of our own traditions and inspire us to be faithful to them.”

Casewit said he frequently engages in interfaith collaboration in his role as president of American Islamic College and draws inspiration from Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil and St. Francis, “two deeply pious persons who showed respect for one another despite the differences of their religious identities,” and leaders who could see beauty, truth, wisdom and goodness in one another.

“While such an appreciation of the religious other has generally been the exception rather than the rule in the world of today, so prone to exclusivism and bigotry,” Casewit said, “there is a solid basis for it in the Quran.”

And in today’s environment, Casewit added, he has come to appreciate such an approach.

“Allow me to express my respect for and appreciation of the Catholic Church in this time of heightened Islamophobia, of possessing the moral compass under his Holiness, Pope Francis, to seek to humanize Muslims,” he said.

The Notre Dame conversation was hosted by the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, which is part of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs. Attendees included faith leaders from the greater South Bend area as well as Chicago.

“Our mission is to advance integral human development,” said Scott Appleby, the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs. “Although that concept comes from Catholic social teaching, it has great resonance and affinities with many of the values and principles of Islam, of other world religions, and indeed of many secular wisdom traditions in its emphasis on human dignity as the center of our efforts to advance human flourishing.”

The evening’s conversation was moderated by Mahan Mirza, the Ansari Institute’s executive director. Mirza talked with Cupich and Casewit about their own experiences of interfaith dialogue and the important role it plays in shaping a better world. He said the conversation was a helpful reality check at a time when fast-moving media cycles emphasize division and conflict.

“I want us all to pause for a brief moment to think about what’s happening here,” Mirza said. “We have in our midst leaders and practitioners from many of the world’s diverse faith traditions. With all the tensions and conflicts that exist in the world today, this is good.

“Reading the daily headlines, listening to round-the-clock pundits and media firebrands, or hanging out on social media networks that speak to conspiracies and reinforce prejudices, many of us tend to forget just how much good there is all around us every day.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at ansari.nd.edu on Nov. 22.