The Keough-Naughton Institute invites you to a conversation on literary biography with Professor Frank Shovlin, University of Liverpool, and Professor Brian Ó Conchubhair, University of Notre Dame. Shovlin and Ó Conchubhair will discuss their respective work on the biographies of writers John McGahern and Flann O'Brien, the research and creative processes involved in biography writing, and resonances between writers' lived worlds and the worlds they bring to life on the page. The conversation will be moderated by Gráinne McEvoy, assistant director of research programs at KNI. Speaker BiographiesBrian Ó Conchubhair is a professor of Irish language and literature at the University of Notre Dame and currently serving as interim chair of the Department of Irish Language and Literature. His research focuses on cultural nationalism; Irish-language fiction; the European fin de siècle; and modernism. He is currently editing a collection of Flann O'Brien Irish-language essays and articles. Recent publications include a co-edited (with Philip O'Leary) a special issue of Éire-Ireland on the contemporary Irish-language short story, and an article on Brendan Behan in Litteraria Pragensia. Forthcoming articles will appear in Cambridge History of the Irish Novel; The Cambridge History of Irish Poetry; and The Revival in Irish Literature and Culture.    Frank Shovlin is a native of the west of Ireland who was educated at the Universities of Galway and Oxford before taking up a position at the University of Liverpool where he is now professor of Irish literature in English. He has published a wide range of books, chapters and articles on a range of subjects revolving around the development of literature in 20th-century Ireland, with his most recent book The Letters of John McGahern winning widespread critical acclaim. He is currently the M. H. Abrams Visiting Research Fellow at the National Humanities Center, North Carolina where he is completing his authorized biography of John McGahern.   Originally published at irishstudies.nd.edu.

The Institute for Social Concerns presents the 2025 Junior Parents Weekend Lecture with Eliza Griswold. Introduction by Rev. Hugh R. Page, Jr., vice president for institutional transformation. Reception to follow. socialconcerns.nd.edu/griswold Pulitzer Prize-winner Eliza Griswold is a journalist, poet and translator. “[Writing] with a reporter’s shrewdness and a poet’s grace (Princeton Humanities Council)”, her work centers on the complex nexus of religion, politics, human rights, and the environment. Director of Princeton University’s vaunted Program in Journalism, Griswold has been a contributing writer for The New Yorker for over two decades and has written and translated several volumes of poetry. Her newest book, Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church, a finalist for the 2024 National Book Award, provides a timely reflection on a growing pattern of fracture and polarization across foundational American institutions. An intimate chronicle of a close-knit church in Philadelphia as it dissolves amidst idealistic crises, it traces the drift away from traditional organized religion and churchgoing in the wake of modern society’s increasingly divergent belief systems. Deeply committed to journalism’s role in sustaining a healthy democracy, Griswold has been hailed for humanizing divisive social and political issues through compassionate portrayals of the people and communities most affected. Her exacting and immersive journalism teases out the stories behind fraying institutions and communities, offering us urgently needed perspectives on a rapidly evolving world—one of ever greater divides—between the have and have nots, rural and urban disparities, the perception of environmental issues, shifting political identities, and the sea-changes within contemporary faith and spiritual communities.

Register here Nathan Hatch served as the president of Wake Forest University for 16 years and previously served as provost at the University of Notre Dame. He recently published The Gift of Transformative Leaders(link is external). We will discuss this book and his lifelong commitment to making character central in higher education. We hope you will join the Institute for Social Concerns each month for the Virtues & Vocations lunchtime webinar series, Conversations on Character & the Common Good. There is always time for audience questions. Virtues & Vocations is a national forum for scholars and practitioners across disciplines to consider how best to cultivate character in pre-professional and professional education. Virtues & Vocations hosts faculty workshops, an annual conference, and monthly webinars, and engages issues of character, professional identity, and moral purpose through our publications.

Rachel SchwartzKellogg Visiting Fellow Amid increasing global concern with corruption, policymakers and civil society organizations have urged the adoption of international anti-corruption commissions (IACCs) to assist in strengthening the rule of law where politicians lack the will and capacity to crack down on corruption themselves. Under what conditions are IACCs granted the autonomy to investigate and prosecute corruption, and when do domestic elites succeed in constraining their authority and capacity? Drawing on comparative analysis of IACCs in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, this lecture will unpack the domestic and transnational determinants of IACC design, offering policy insights on the possibilities and limits of international support for strengthening the rule of law in fragile contexts.   Click here for more information

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.

Join the Medieval Institute as we host a special celebration of the 65th year of collaboration with the Ambrosiana Library of Milan, Italy. Our first event is an evening lecture with Reverend Canon Doctor Federico Gallo . More details will be added closer to the lecture. About our Speaker Rev. Can. Dr. Gallo, of the Archdiocese of Milan, studied Classics at the Università Cattolica del S. Cuore di Milano. He went on to serve in the Vatican Secret Archives, working in Latin and Greek Paleography, Diplomatics, and Archival Studies, and in the Archivio Storico Diocesano di Milano. Since 2008 he has been a Doctor of the Ambrosiana Library, where he is director and a faculty member. There, he organizes conferences, publications, and research and is responsible for the daily life of the Library and its readers. His publications focus on the history of libraries, manuscripts, ancient collections in libraries and archives, and the history of the Ambrosiana Library. He is also an adjunct faculty member at the State Archive of Milan and the State University of Milan. He is a regular visitor and lecturer here at the Medieval Institute. Originally published at medieval.nd.edu.