Nermin AllamKellogg Visiting FellowAssociate Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University-Newark Allam's project examines how women’s participation in the 2011 Egyptian uprising has influenced their gender consciousness and feminist subjectivities in the afterlife of activism. The uprising, she argues, was an affective encounter that created affective attachments to gender equality and women’s bodily rights. Drawing from the literature on gender and the consequences of social movements, she shows how women’s encounters with gender-based violence in protests and exposures to new social and political networks influenced their personal and professional lives. Building on semistructured interviews with women protestors, she focuses on two examples from women’s biographies: women’s decision to remove the hijab-headscarf and to move out of the family, and the decision by some protestors to change their careers and work in the area of women’s rights. This book project is the first to document the afterlife of women’s engagement in the 2011 uprising. It expands understanding of movement’s impacts on participants following defeated protests and under nondemocratic regimes. More information here

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the OVI-UND seminar series, the Center for Italian Studies is pleased to host a seminar by Prof. Pietro Beltrami from the Università di Pisa: "Il Fiore (di chiunque sia) nei lavori del TLIO, e oltre” (The Fiore (by Whoever it May Be) in the Works of the TLIO, and Beyond)   La decima edizione dei seminari in rete condivisi fra l’OVI e l’Università di Notre Dame è un’occasione per ricordare gli inizi della costituzione del corpus testuale del TLIO, la prima pubblicazione in rete del corpus entro il progetto ARTFL, e le prime fasi della redazione del vocabolario. Il Fiore si presta bene per parlare di quei lavori, ma è anche un testo di tale interesse, e ancora tanto discusso, che è inevitabile cogliere l’occasione per ripensare ad alta voce alcuni dei problemi che presenta. Pietro Beltrami è stato professore incaricato a Parma, associato a Pisa e straordinario e ordinario nelle Università della Basilicata e di Siena, quindi ordinario di Filologia romanza a Pisa dal 1996 al 2018. Dal 1992 al 2013 è stato Direttore dell’Istituto “Opera del Vocabolario Italiano” del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. Please register here   Originally published at italianstudies.nd.edu.

Join the Notre Dame Law School Exoneration Justice Clinic and the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights  for a special fireside book talk event with Ben Spencer and Barbara Bradley Hagerty, author of Bringing Ben Home, as they discuss this powerful story and the ongoing fight for justice.Bringing Ben Home: A Murder, a Conviction, and the Fight to Redeem American Justice chronicles the wrongful conviction of Ben Spencer, a Black man who spent thirty years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. The book also explores how states are working to reform legal systems and implement new efforts to reduce wrongful convictions. It highlights Spencer's battle for justice and the broader push for reform in the criminal justice system. Books will be availble for purchase after the talk.The entire Notre Dame community and the public are welcome to attend. The event is sponsored by Notre Dame Law School and the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights and is co-sponsored by the Black Law Students Association, the Notre Dame chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Notre Dame Exoneration Project, and the Death Penalty Abolition Society.   Originally published at law.nd.edu.

The Office of Institutional Transformation, in partnership with the Initiative on Race and Resilience, invites students, faculty, and staff to gather weekly for support and fellowship. Wellsprings: A Time for Connection and Care provides a safe space for members of the campus community to discuss fears and concerns related to social divisiveness. Some sessions may feature presentations or information from campus resources. To suggest a topic, please contact Eve Kelly at ekelly11@nd.edu. Originally published at diversity.nd.edu.

Helen Zia by Bob Siang, BHP San Francisco. Photo provided.The Asian American Distinguished Speaker Series honors innovative, creative, and effective Asian American leaders and celebrates their contributions, especially as the visibility of Asian American leadership and success is often overlooked. This year, the Liu Institute will present "Helen Zia: A Life at the Intersection of Activism, Writing, and History" on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at 5 p.m. in the Smith Ballroom, Morris Inn. Jennifer Huynh, assistant professor of American Studies, will moderate the event, which is free and open to the public. Helen Zia is a writer, journalist and Fulbright Scholar who has been a trailblazing activist on issues ranging from human rights to countering gender and hate violence and homophobia. Her role in the national Asian American civil rights movement against anti-Asian violence and racism began after the racially motivated killing of 27-year-old Vincent Chin in Detroit in 1982. After a judge sentenced Chin's attackers to probation, Zia helped organize and lead a coalition of Asian Americans to stand up for justice and equality in the case. Her efforts are documented in the Academy-award-nominated PBS film “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” Zia is the founder of the Vincent Chin Institute, which works to build multiracial solidarity against hate. Zia is also an advocate for marriage equality and LGBTQ+ rights. In 2010, she testified as a witness in the federal case on marriage equality decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Her 2008 marriage to Lia Shigemura was featured in The New York Times. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Zia grew up in New Jersey. After graduating in Princeton’s first coeducational class, she quit medical school to work as a construction laborer, autoworker, and community organizer until she discovered her life’s work as a journalist and writer. Her 2019 book, "Last Boat out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese who Fled Mao's Revolution," was an NPR best book and shortlisted for a national PEN America award, while her first book, "Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People," published in 2000, is a foundational textbook in schools across the country. Zia served as executive editor of the iconic Ms. magazine, a feminist publication for which, among other stories, Zia went undercover in a New York garment factory to expose sweatshop conditions. Zia received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of San Francisco and an honorary Doctor of Laws from the City University of New York Law School for bringing important matters of law and civil rights into public view. In 2023, Hunter College in New York City named its first Helen Zia Distinguished Lecturer in Asian American Studies.Jennifer Huynh, assistant professor of American Studies and Liu Institute faculty fellow, will moderate the event.Zia was one of 79 people in North America who carried the 2008 Olympic torch in San Francisco, the only site in North America passed on the way to Beijing, China. She stated in an op-ed:"There is another vision: that a peaceful and better world is possible through friendly engagement and mutual understanding, not violent confrontation and polarization. It's an Olympic message, a possible dream that our global civilization and everyone who is a part of it can aspire to - and for which I am proud to carry a torch."The lecture is sponsored by the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies with the Department of American Studies, the Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics, and Democracy, and the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights at the University of Notre Dame. Originally published at asia.nd.edu.

Doug Marsh, vice president for facilities design and operations and University architect at Notre Dame, has shaped the campus during his 30 years of leadership. With projects like Campus Crossroads, the Arts Gateway, and global academic centers, he has overseen a 55% campus expansion while advancing sustainability and safety initiatives. This lecture highlights his career, from guiding Notre Dame’s Campus Plan to leaving a lasting legacy of beauty, functionality, and innovation. Register Here. Originally published at architecture.nd.edu.

Learn more and register here Signs of the Times: Interdisciplinary Responses to Religious Nationalism March 20-22, 2025   This 2025 CST conference will remember the 60th anniversary of two significant Vatican II texts, Gaudium et spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) and Dignitatis humanae (Declaration on Religious Freedom). Released on the final day of Vatican II, these texts together invited serious consideration of the role of the church and other religious communities in relation to the state. This year’s CST conference takes up Vatican II’s invitation to discern “the signs of the times” and to attend to the roles of church and state within civil society with a view toward the common good. These central CST themes warrant further exploration as Christian and other forms of religious nationalism represent a significant sign of the current time in particular national and international contexts. This interdisciplinary conference invites historical, constructive, and comparative approaches as we consider the ecumenical, interfaith, and transdisciplinary challenges of religious nationalism. For example, what is the history of Christian nationalism in the United States and how is it related to similar movements in other parts of the world? What are the scriptural and theological resources available to analyze these expressions of Christian and national identity? To what degree and under what forms are the academy and the Christian churches complicit with the history and recent expressions of white Christian nationalism? What are the possible connections between the reemergence of various forms of religious nationalism with economic changes, poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation? How has the rise of these political ideologies been facilitated by changes in laws and institutional structures? What are the implications of Christian and other forms of religious nationalism for the relationship of religious bodies and the state in civil society? What are the pedagogical challenges across the disciplines in addressing the significance of Christian and religious nationalism? Normatively, what options for constructive engagement and responses emerge from our shared consideration of these questions?

Please join the Department of Art, Art History, and Design for a highly anticipated open studio event hosted by the  MFA graduate students. Attendees can view and engage with the students' works, which represent the culmination of their artistic journeys. We look forward to welcoming you and showcasing the incredible talent of our MFA graduate students. The walkthrough critic is Rudy Shepherd, professor of art, Wake Forest University. Schedule of events: 9:00 am–10:00 am Lecture by Rudy Shepherd - 200 Riley Hall 10:30 am–12:30 pm - Second Year MFAsFranceska Alvarado, Painting – 315 RileyOlivia Koziel, Photo – 210 RileyHeidi Dargle, VCD – 1st Floor Installation RoomLucy Schultz, ID – 201 RileyLily Dorian, Sculpture– 110 Riley 2:00 pm–4:00 pm - First Year MFAsClaire Murphy, Painting – 315 RileySara Abdolmotallebi, VCD - 1st Floor Installation RoomEmma Brooks, VCD – 201 RileyGrace Gao, Photo – 210 RileyAlejandro Mejia Andrade, Ceramics – 1st Floor Hallway Gallery All studio and design classes are canceled in celebration of Department Day/MFA Walkthroughs. Free and open to the public. --- *Passport to the Arts Event Originally published at artdept.nd.edu.

The Kroc Institute has selected The Honorable Emilce Cuda as the featured speaker for the 26th Annual Dialogues on Nonviolence, Religion, and Peace. As Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America at the Holy See, Cuda is a renowned international speaker who has published extensively on moral social theology, democracy and Catholicism in liberal contexts, theology of the people and culture in a Latin American context, economic migration, the socio-environmental ecological crisis, and more. Cuda is a member of the research team, “The future work of labor after Laudato si,” at the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) and the Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church (CTEWC). She received a Ph.D. in theology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and specializes in social moral theology. Lunch and conversation will follow this lecture in C103, Hesburgh Center for International Studies. The Dialogues on Nonviolence, Religion, and Peace, which began in 1999, were established through a gift to the Kroc Institute from Mrs. Anne Marie Yoder and her family. Each year, the Kroc Institute invites a leading thinker, writer, scholar, and/or peace advocate to deliver a lecture related to nonviolence, religion, and peace. Following the lecture, audience members join in informal dialogue and discussion with the speaker and with each other. Originally published at kroc.nd.edu.

Learn more and register here 2025 Catholic Social Tradition Conference Signs of the Times: Interdisciplinary Responses to Religious Nationalism March 20-22, 2025 This 2025 CST conference will remember the 60th anniversary of two significant Vatican II texts, Gaudium et spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) and Dignitatis humanae (Declaration on Religious Freedom). Released on the final day of Vatican II, these texts together invited serious consideration of the role of the church and other religious communities in relation to the state. This year’s CST conference takes up Vatican II’s invitation to discern “the signs of the times” and to attend to the roles of church and state within civil society with a view toward the common good. These central CST themes warrant further exploration as Christian and other forms of religious nationalism represent a significant sign of the current time in particular national and international contexts. This interdisciplinary conference invites historical, constructive, and comparative approaches as we consider the ecumenical, interfaith, and transdisciplinary challenges of religious nationalism. For example, what is the history of Christian nationalism in the United States and how is it related to similar movements in other parts of the world? What are the scriptural and theological resources available to analyze these expressions of Christian and national identity? To what degree and under what forms are the academy and the Christian churches complicit with the history and recent expressions of white Christian nationalism? What are the possible connections between the reemergence of various forms of religious nationalism with economic changes, poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation? How has the rise of these political ideologies been facilitated by changes in laws and institutional structures? What are the implications of Christian and other forms of religious nationalism for the relationship of religious bodies and the state in civil society? What are the pedagogical challenges across the disciplines in addressing the significance of Christian and religious nationalism? Normatively, what options for constructive engagement and responses emerge from our shared consideration of these questions?

Innovation in Community Health is presented by Phil Newbold, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Beacon Health. Newbold has more than 50 years of experience as a multi-hospital executive, with 32 years as Chief Executive Officer. He has deep knowledge of executive leadership, innovation implementation, and population/community health initiatives. The Ten Years Hence speaker series explores issues, ideas, and trends likely to affect business and society over the next decade. The theme of the 2025 series is Innovation: The Process of Creation and Renewal. Ten Years Hence is sponsored by the Eugene Clark Distinguished Lecture Series endowment. This is one of seven lectures in the Ten Years Hence Lecture Series. See website for details and other lecture dates. Free and open to students, faculty, staff and public.

Tony Alvarez II is co-founder of Alvarez & Marsal—a global consulting firm that provides restructuring, performance improvement, and M&A transaction services. Alvarez has a proven track record as a restructuring and turnaround expert successfully guiding companies through complex financial and operating challenges. Alvarez has successfully led numerous engagements, including Resorts International, Warnaco, Levi Strauss, and Interstate Bakeries. Before co-founding Alvarez & Marsal, Tony spent 12 years at Coopers & Lybrand and two years at Norton Simon. He has an undergraduate degree in finance from De La Salle University in the Philippines and MBA from New York University, Stern School of Business. He serves on the Boards of NYU-Stern, Cancer Research Institute and Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation. The lecture is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. The Dean’s Speaker Series is sponsored by the Burns Family endowment.

Learn more and register here 2025 Catholic Social Tradition Conference Signs of the Times: Interdisciplinary Responses to Religious Nationalism March 20-22, 2025 This 2025 CST conference will remember the 60th anniversary of two significant Vatican II texts, Gaudium et spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) and Dignitatis humanae (Declaration on Religious Freedom). Released on the final day of Vatican II, these texts together invited serious consideration of the role of the church and other religious communities in relation to the state. This year’s CST conference takes up Vatican II’s invitation to discern “the signs of the times” and to attend to the roles of church and state within civil society with a view toward the common good. These central CST themes warrant further exploration as Christian and other forms of religious nationalism represent a significant sign of the current time in particular national and international contexts. This interdisciplinary conference invites historical, constructive, and comparative approaches as we consider the ecumenical, interfaith, and transdisciplinary challenges of religious nationalism. For example, what is the history of Christian nationalism in the United States and how is it related to similar movements in other parts of the world? What are the scriptural and theological resources available to analyze these expressions of Christian and national identity? To what degree and under what forms are the academy and the Christian churches complicit with the history and recent expressions of white Christian nationalism? What are the possible connections between the reemergence of various forms of religious nationalism with economic changes, poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation? How has the rise of these political ideologies been facilitated by changes in laws and institutional structures? What are the implications of Christian and other forms of religious nationalism for the relationship of religious bodies and the state in civil society? What are the pedagogical challenges across the disciplines in addressing the significance of Christian and religious nationalism? Normatively, what options for constructive engagement and responses emerge from our shared consideration of these questions?

Romero Days 2025: The Future of Romero Studies We stand at an exciting time in the study and reception of the witness of Óscar Romero. In the 1980s, 1990s, and the first decade of the 2000s, biographies, personal reflections, theological essays, devotionals, and collections of primary texts made Romero’s witness more accessible around the world. In the 2010s, we saw in increasing number of books that take Romero ever-more seriously as both bishop and a deep theological thinker: as someone, who in both life and word, offered a corpus worthy of critical engagement and creative reception, as someone who continues—if we would listen—to speak into the challenges we face today. All of this has set a foundation for the generative and open-ended time in which we find ourselves. Romero Days 2025 will gather leading scholars from around the world to discuss the most urgent needs and the field of Romero Studies going forward. What parts of his legacy remained underexplored by scholars? How can his vision of peace, justice, and Christian life speak into the problems we face today? What does it look like to move forward as a genuine community of scholars and practitioners? Presented by the Kellogg Institute with cosponsorship by the Cushwa Center and Department of Theology.   More information here

Part of the Romero Days 2025 Conference, this public session will launch the book Óscar Romero and Catholic Social Teaching (University of Notre Dame Press, 2024), which explores the life, mission, and writings of martyred Salvadorian archbishop St. Óscar Romero in the light of contemporary work for justice and human development. Edited by Kellogg faculty fellow Todd Walatka, the book brings together 14 leading scholars on both Romero and Catholic social teaching, combining essays that contextualize Romero’s engagement historically and focus on the challenges facing Christian communities today. Books will be available for purchase and signing by the editor and many chapter authors that will be present.   More information here

Romero Days 2025: The Future of Romero Studies We stand at an exciting time in the study and reception of the witness of Óscar Romero. In the 1980s, 1990s, and the first decade of the 2000s, biographies, personal reflections, theological essays, devotionals, and collections of primary texts made Romero’s witness more accessible around the world. In the 2010s, we saw in increasing number of books that take Romero ever-more seriously as both bishop and a deep theological thinker: as someone, who in both life and word, offered a corpus worthy of critical engagement and creative reception, as someone who continues—if we would listen—to speak into the challenges we face today. All of this has set a foundation for the generative and open-ended time in which we find ourselves. Romero Days 2025 will gather leading scholars from around the world to discuss the most urgent needs and the field of Romero Studies going forward. What parts of his legacy remained underexplored by scholars? How can his vision of peace, justice, and Christian life speak into the problems we face today? What does it look like to move forward as a genuine community of scholars and practitioners? Presented by the Kellogg Institute with cosponsorship by the Cushwa Center and Department of Theology.   More information here

Join in for an artist talk with acclaimed Chicago-based photographer Diana Solís. Since the 1970s, Solis has been documenting Mexican American families in Pilsen, as well as queer kinship and the fight for LGBTQ rights in Chicago.Reception to follow. A selection of Diana Solís's photographs will be on display.Sponsored by the Institute for Latino Studies, Department of American Studies, Department of Anthropology, and the Department of Art, Art History, and Design. Originally published at artdept.nd.edu.

In presenting this vision, our approach will be twofold: to reflect upon the past and to revitalize the present, to celebrate the feminine genealogy of the faith and to amplify the prophetic mission of women in our current moment. By illuminating the riches of the faith and reading the signs of the times, we hope to equip faithful Catholics and formators with a robust foundation for understanding and articulating the Church’s vision for women in our time. Register Here Originally published at mcgrath.nd.edu.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the OVI-UND seminar series, the Center for Italian Studies is pleased to host a seminar by Prof. Zygmunt Barański from the University of Notre Dame and Cambridge: ‘La Forma universal di questo nodo’ (Par. 33, 91): Le strutture dell’oltremondo dantesco (‘The universal form of this knot’ (Par. 33, 91): The Structures of Dante's Afterlife)   Gli studi danteschi da tempo sostengono che le strutture sia della Commedia che della sua rappresentazione dell'oltretomba cristiano siano caratterizzate dall'armonia e dall'ordine della loro organizzazione: un poema suddiviso in tre cantiche e cento canti, con ogni cantica dedicata a una parte dell'aldilà. Poema e oltretomba sono quindi modellati sulla creazione di Dio, sul "volume […] per l'universo" (Par. 33, 86–87). Tuttavia, negli ultimi anni, sono emersi dubbi su (i) quanto sia veramente corretto considerare la Commedia e il suo trattamento dell'oltreomba come equilibrati e armoniosi, e (ii) quali possano essere le implicazioni per la nostra comprensione del poema se, come anch'io credo, esso sia segnato da tensioni e presenti un oltretomba in cui i conflitti non sono affatto risolti. Zygmunt G. Barański è professore emerito di Italiano all’università di Cambridge e di Notre Dame. Ha pubblicato ampiamente su Dante, sulla letteratura italiana medievale, sulla ricezione di Dante nei secoli XIV e XX, e sulla letteratura, il cinema e la cultura italiana del XX secolo. Please register here Originally published at italianstudies.nd.edu.

Mark Gitenstein. Photo by the U.S. Department of State (Public Domain).With many elections in Europe being decided in the past year and more ahead in 2025, the topic of the future of democracy in Europe is timely. It is also a moment of evolving relations between the United States and the European Union. How might democracy and international diplomacy chart a path forward? To invite consideration of this and other pressing questions, the Nanovic Insitutute has partnered with the Notre Dame Democracy Initiative to present a public lecture and dialogue with Mark Gitenstein, former United States Ambassador to the European Union. Gitenstein will be on-campus for several weeks during the spring 2025 semester as the Nanovic Forum Diplomat in Residence. His presentation will also be part of the ND Democracy Talks series. The Nanovic Forum aims to bring Europe's leaders to Notre Dame to engage with students, faculty, and its wider scholarly community. Likewise, the Democracy Talks series creates opportunities for Notre Dame students to better understand current events and pressing policy issues. With these two inter-related goals, this presentation will spark dialogue on the European Union, its relationship with the United States, and where democracy goes from here on both sides of the Atlantic. All are invited and warmly encouraged to participate in this important conversation. A light lunch will be offered to participants beginning 30 minutes prior to the event (12:00 p.m.), while supplies last. This event is co-sponsored by the Nanovic Institute's Nanovic Forum and the Notre Dame Democracy Initiatitive. About the Speaker Mark Gitenstein served as United States ambassador to the European Union from January 24, 2022, through January 17, 2025. Before this post, Gitenstein served as partner and counsel for Mayer Brown LLP for more than 30 years. He also held previous government roles, including serving as U.S. Ambassador to Romania (2009-2012) and working with the U.S. Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees. Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.