Notre Dame Forum to present ‘Fr. TED Talks’ on Catholic social tradition, featuring President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., and Dr. Jim O’Connell
Honoring the legacy of legendary University of Notre Dame President Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., the 2024-25 Notre Dame Forum will host “Fr. TED Talks: Ideas from the Catholic Social Tradition That We Find Inspiring,” a two-night festival on Oct. 28 and 29.
The event will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. both days on the Library Lawn and will feature a series of short talks exploring how the pillars of Catholic social tradition animate our lives together, as part of this year’s Notre Dame Forum theme, “What Do We Owe Each Other?”
“Catholic social thought gives us robust tools to think about how to engage with people whose perspectives are different from our own, and how we might promote healing in the midst of suffering, division and injustice,” said University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. “I look forward to hearing the various talks as we reflect on our responsibilities to one another as individuals and as part of the Notre Dame community.”
Co-sponsored by the Office of the President, in partnership with the Notre Dame Ethics Initiative and the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good, the talks are free and open to the public.
“The Catholic social tradition is the beating heart of Notre Dame’s community, and we’re thrilled to partner with Fr. Dowd and the Notre Dame Forum on a two-day festival to celebrate all of the ways this spirit inspires us,” said Meghan Sullivan, the Wilsey Family College Professor of Philosophy and director of the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good and the Notre Dame Ethics Initiative.
“We hope that this will become another chapter in Notre Dame’s tradition of building up our hearts alongside our minds.”
The idea for the event originated with the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good’s undergraduate core team, explained Adam Gustine, associate director of signature course fellowships, education and formation. “I was impressed with the students’ commitment to highlighting voices from every corner of campus, bringing unique perspectives to the question of what we owe each other.”
Each night will feature four 10-minute Fr. TED Talks, ending with addresses by Notre Dame alumnus Dr. Jim O’Connell on Monday and Father Dowd on Tuesday.
O’Connell, the president of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, has dedicated his career to caring for the homeless population. He has served as the national program director of the Homeless Families Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is the editor of “The Health Care of Homeless Persons: A Manual of Communicable Diseases and Common Problems in Shelters and on the Streets.”
In addition to Father Dowd and O’Connell, six speakers were selected through an application process open to all members of the Notre Dame community. The speakers include alumni Nathaniel “Nano” Burke and Alex Sedinaj; undergraduate students Toni Akintola, Meera Bhakta and Monica Caponigro; and Cecilia Lucero, director of the University’s Balfour-Hesburgh Scholars Program.
The event will be emceed by Iliana Contreras, the young alumni/student program director in Notre Dame’s Alumni Association. A short reception will follow on both nights, including refreshments and performances by student bands.
Contact: Carrie Gates, associate director of media relations, 574-993-9220, c.gates@nd.edu
Latest Faith
- Con todo el corazón (With all our heart)Coro Primavera celebrates Latino community on campus Enter the Basilica of the Sacred Heart during the 3:30 Sunday Mass, and you’ll hear a choir singing the tunes of the same church songs you remember—except the lyrics are in Spanish. Or you may hear some different melodies that bring new…
- de Nicola Center presents 24th annual Fall Conference, ‘Ever Ancient, Ever New: On Catholic Imagination’More than 1,200 scholars, students and guests from around the world will attend the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture’s 24th annual Fall Conference, “Ever Ancient, Ever New: On Catholic Imagination.” The conference features more than 175 papers, panels and performances across three days of conversation on the enduring and inexhaustible nature of the Catholic imagination.
- Sister Draru Mary Cecilia, LSMIG, receives Notre Dame Award for Outstanding Contributions to Catholic EducationThe Notre Dame Award for Outstanding Contributions to Catholic Education, awarded by the Alliance for Catholic Education, honors those who have made generous, lifetime commitments to sustain and strengthen Catholic schools. As executive director of the African Sisters Education Collaborative, Sister Draru oversees the education for Catholic sisters in 10 African countries. She has spent much of her life working to expand women’s education in Uganda and elsewhere on the African continent.
- Notre Dame receives Lilly Endowment grant to support development of faith-based frameworks for AI ethicsThe University of Notre Dame has been awarded a $539,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support Faith-Based Frameworks for AI Ethics, a one-year planning project that will engage and build a network of leaders in higher education, technology and a diverse array of faith-based communities focused on developing faith-based ethical frameworks and applying them to emerging debates around artificial general intelligence.
- de Nicola Center to award 2025 Evangelium Vitae Medal to Anthony and Phyllis LauingerThe de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture will award the 2025 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal — awarded to heroes of the pro-life movement — to Anthony J. and Phyllis W. Lauinger of Tulsa, Oklahoma, at a Mass and dinner on May 3, 2025, at the University of Notre Dame.
- Notre Dame theologian to receive 2024 Ratzinger Prize from VaticanCyril O’Regan, the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, has been selected to receive the 2024 Ratzinger Prize in Theology, widely regarded as the most prestigious award in the field. Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, will present the award to O’Regan and to sculptor Etsurō Sotoo during a ceremony at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on Nov. 22. Both winners will also have an audience with Pope Francis earlier that day.