Prisons of our own perceptions
Zip! Zap! Zoom!
About a dozen students at Westville Correctional Facility stand in a circle and trade finger points while saying these words in a competitive game that doubles as a warm-up for an acting class.
Zip! The mood is jovial. Zap! Aaron takes the energy from Shakka and turns to send it to Antwan. Zoom! Anyone who hesitates accepts their loss and steps out of the circle without complaint.
A prison is a setting where any vulnerability can lead to physical attack. Yet the students in Scott Jackson’s Acting Shakespeare class—part of Holy Cross College's program at Westville—are willing to follow along with his funky warm-ups and dramatic breathing exercises.
“We’re going to be vulnerable, take the hard focus out of our eyes and be trusting,” says Jackson, the Mary Irene Ryan Family Executive Artistic Director of Shakespeare at Notre Dame. “We’re breathing out from our core, the seat of impulse and instinct.”
Latest ND NewsWire
- Gen. Martin Dempsey to speak at Notre Dame Forum event on ‘Hope, Global Stability and the Role of the United States’Gen. Martin Dempsey, the retired 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will join University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., for a fireside chat at 4 p.m. Friday (Oct. 10), as part of the 2025-26 Notre Dame Forum. The discussion, titled “Hope, Global Stability and the Role of the United States,” is part of the exploration of this year’s Notre Dame Forum theme, “Cultivating Hope.” It will take place in Rooms 215/216 of McKenna Hall and will also be livestreamed. The event is free and open to the public.
- University of Notre Dame joins the Global Coalition of Ukrainian StudiesThe University of Notre Dame has joined the Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies after signing a memorandum of cooperation, formalized Sept. 24, at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York City. Notre Dame joined four other American institutions that were also publicly welcomed to the coalition at this event: Arizona State University, Columbia University, Manor College and the Shevchenko Scientific Society.
- One year later, Inauguration Build a ‘dream come true’ for Habitat familiesOne year later, work on Inauguration Build 2024 is complete, offering shelter and so much more to five local families.
- Alumni Association and YoungND honor 2025 Domer DozenThe Notre Dame Alumni Association announced its 2025 Domer Dozen cohort, honoring 12 graduates ages 32 and younger for excellence in their contributions in learning, service, faith and work — the core pillars of the association’s mission.
- Faculty receive prestigious early career awards from National Science FoundationDuring the 2024-25 academic year, four researchers in the University of Notre Dame’s Colleges of Engineering and Science received early-career awards from the National Science Foundation.
- Notre Dame School of Architecture poised for global leadership through historic investmentThe $150 million gift represents an unprecedented commitment in the 160-year history of American architectural education. In recognition of this landmark gift, the school will be renamed the Matthew and Joyce Walsh School of Architecture at Notre Dame.
