In memoriam: E. Jane Doering, professor emerita
E. Jane Doering, professor emerita in the Program of Liberal Studies at the University of Notre Dame, died Aug. 23. She was 91.
Born the third of four daughters in a family of Irish heritage in Bergenfield, New Jersey, Elizabeth Jane O’Connor Doering earned a bachelor’s degree at the New Jersey College for Women and a master’s of education degree from Goucher College in Towson, Maryland. To continue her study of the French language, she attended summer school at Laval University in Quebec, where she met Bernard Doering, a fellow Francophile.
The couple married in 1958 and moved to Helena, Alabama, where they taught at a private secondary school for boys. After Bernard earned his doctorate from the University of Colorado, the Doerings moved to South Bend, where Jane taught French at St. Mary’s Academy and St. Joseph High School and Bernard served on the faculty of Notre Dame’s Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.
The Doerings established the University’s study abroad program in Angers, France, two hours southwest of Paris by train, in 1966. They mentored six cohorts of Notre Dame students in a program that has offered more than 3,000 students the opportunity to become fluent in French and immerse themselves in French culture.
Jane earned a master’s degree from Notre Dame and a doctoral degree from Northwestern University, both in French literature. She joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1992, teaching 19th- and 20th-century French literature and specializing in the study of the French philosopher Simone Weil. She published three books and authored more than three dozen articles on Weil and was a member of the American Weil Society and the international Association pour l’étude de la pensée de Simone Weil. She taught in Notre Dame’s Teachers as Scholars program and the Forever Learning Institute of South Bend.
Doering was preceded in death by Bernard, her husband of more than 60 years. She is survived by four children and 10 grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Oct. 8 at the Church of Our Lady of Loretto at Saint Mary’s College.
Latest ND NewsWire
- Notre Dame Democracy Initiative hosts bipartisan conversation with Western state governorsTwo Western state governors known to work across the aisle on policy issues such as water, housing and energy will visit the University of Notre Dame for a fireside chat about how Western state pragmatism can serve as a model for the country to overcome polarization.
- In new research, Roy Scranton explores climate change and the limits of human progressIn his most recent book, “Impasse: Climate Change and the Limits of Progress,” Scranton, an associate professor of English, defines the impasse he sees as “not only political and institutional, but cognitive, existential and narrative” and asserts that the only path forward is through embracing what he terms ethical pessimism. “A lot of people confuse pessimism with nihilism, apathy and despair,” Scranton said. “But pessimism is actually about recognizing our limits, letting go of unrealistic goals, finding solidarity in the fact of human suffering and doing what you can now, not in some utopian future.
- Notre Dame MBA launches deferred admission programThe Notre Dame MBA Deferred Admission Program allows candidates with little or no work experience, including college seniors, to secure admission before reaching the recommended three years of work experience to enroll.
- ‘Prebunking’ false election claims may boost trust in electionsIn recent years, democracies worldwide have seen a growing erosion of trust in election outcomes and institutions, driven in part by fears of widespread fraud. New Notre Dame research finds that “prebunking” — providing accurate information before false claims spread — boosts trust in elections more effectively than traditional fact-checking.
- ND experts on the canonization of Carlo AcutisAs the Church awaits the ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, where Pope Leo XIV will formally declare Acutis a saint, University of Notre Dame experts Kathleen Sprows Cummings, Brett Robinson and Timothy O’Malley reflect on his life and his path to sainthood.
- MBA student and alumnus to take part in Fighting Irish flyoverNotre Dame MBA student Maximo Navarro takes flight for the Fighting Irish football season opener.
