Attilio Petruccioli, professor emeritus at the University of Rome, La Sapienza, will explore the profound connections between architecture, nature, and landscape in the context of the Islamic garden. Drawing from his extensive research in Islamic architecture and landscape design, he will examine the symbolic and structural elements that define these gardens, from their origins in historical sites like Samarra and Granada to their influence on European design. This lecture will highlight the Islamic garden’s role not only as an aesthetic expression but as a reflection of environmental philosophy, urban development, and cultural identity across time and geography. AIA CE credit may be available. Register here Originally published at architecture.nd.edu.

Reception with light refreshments to follow Free and open to the public Part of the Centenary Lecture Series celebrating 100 years of Biology at Notre Dame Stephen R. Carpenter, Ph.D. Stephen R. Carpenter is an American ecologist, best known for his research on lake ecosystems and the effects of pollution and climate change on freshwater systems. He is the former director of the Center for Limnology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is a professor emeritus. Carpenter is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received numerous awards for his research, including the Stockholm Water Prize and the G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award from the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. Carpenter has published five books and more than 450 scientific papers, book chapters, reviewed reports and commentaries. He received a bachelor's degree from Amherst College, a master's degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a doctorate from U.W. Madison. From 1979-1989 he served as assistant and then associate professor at the University of Notre Dame. He joined the U.W.-Madison faculty in 1989. Originally published at science.nd.edu.

The Ukrainian Studies Hub will host its first conference on March 6–8, 2025. This conference will feature academic discussions, lectures, and presentations centered around Ukraine and Ukrainian studies. For more information about this conference, please visit the conference page. Learn more about the conference The conference will convene leading academics, policymakers, faith leaders, and artists to examine how hope has shaped Ukraine through pivotal historical moments, including its independence in 1991, the Russian aggression of 2014, and the full-scale invasion, which began in 2022 and continues. Keynote speakers include:Ambassador Oksana Markarova, Ukraine Mission to the U.S.Archbishop Borys Gudziak, president of Ukrainian Catholic University and Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia;Rory Finnin, professor of Ukrainian studies, University of Cambridge, and recipient of the Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies in 2024;Olesya Kromeychuk, director, Ukrainian Institute London; andSerhii Plokhii, professor of Ukrainian history, Harvard University.For a complete list of panelists and speakers, view the conference schedule. The conference is supported and co-sponsored by:Department of German, Slavic, and Eurasian Studies;Kellogg Institute for International Studies;Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies;Notre Dame Democracy Initiative;Notre Dame Global;Office of the President at Notre Dame;Raclin Murphy Museum of Art; andUkrainian Catholic University.Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.

To open the first, biennial Ukrainian Studies Hub conference "Revolutions of Hope: Resilience and Recovery in Ukraine," join Archbishop Borys Gudziak, president of Ukrainian Catholic University, as he engages with Rory Finnin, professor of Ukrainian studies at the University of Cambridge and recipient of the 2024 Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies, on ways to cultivate hope in Ukraine. This event is part of the 2024-25 Notre Dame Forum “What do we owe each other?” and also looks ahead to the recently announced 2025-26 Notre Dame Forum theme “Cultivating Hope.” Opening remarks will be offered by Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., and a panel of distinguished guests:Ambassador Oksana MarkarovaUkraine Mission to the U.S.Bishop Kevin RhodesBishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend DioceseTaras DobkoRector of Ukrainian Catholic UniversityThis event is open to the public and part of the wider Ukrainian Studies Hub Conference (March 6-8, 2025), organized by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and co-sponsors across the University. Anyone may register to attend panel discussions at no cost, and other plenary sessions and cultural events will be open to the public without registration. See the full schedule and register for the conferenceOriginally published at nanovic.nd.edu.

The Institute for Social Concerns presents the 2025 Poverty Studies Distinguished Lecture with Andrea Elliott. Reception and book signing to follow. socialconcerns.nd.edu/elliott Andrea Elliott is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has documented the lives of poor Americans, Muslim immigrants and other people on the margins of power. She is an investigative reporter for The New York Times and the author of Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City, which won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. Invisible Child follows eight dramatic years in the life of Dasani Coates, a child with an imagination as soaring as the skyscrapers near her Brooklyn homeless shelter. Born at the turn of a new century, Dasani is named for the bottled water that comes to symbolize Brooklyn’s gentrification and the shared aspirations of a divided city. As Dasani grows up, moving with her tight-knit family from shelter to shelter, this story goes back to trace the passage of Dasani’s ancestors from slavery to the Great Migration north. By the time Dasani comes of age, New York City’s homeless crisis is exploding as the chasm deepens between rich and poor. In the shadows of this new Gilded Age, Dasani must lead her seven siblings through a thicket of problems: hunger, parental drug addiction, violence, housing instability, segregated schools, and the constant monitoring of the child-protection system. When, at age thirteen, Dasani enrolls at a boarding school in Pennsylvania, her loyalties are tested like never before. As she learns to “code switch” between the culture she left behind and the norms of her new town, Dasani starts to feel like a stranger in both places. Ultimately, she faces an impossible question: What if leaving poverty means abandoning the family you love?

The Ukrainian Studies Hub will host its first conference on March 6–8, 2025. This conference will feature academic discussions, lectures, and presentations centered around Ukraine and Ukrainian studies. For more information about this conference, please visit the conference page. Learn more about the conference The conference will convene leading academics, policymakers, faith leaders, and artists to examine how hope has shaped Ukraine through pivotal historical moments, including its independence in 1991, the Russian aggression of 2014, and the full-scale invasion, which began in 2022 and continues. Keynote speakers include:Ambassador Oksana Markarova, Ukraine Mission to the U.S.Archbishop Borys Gudziak, president of Ukrainian Catholic University and Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia;Rory Finnin, professor of Ukrainian studies, University of Cambridge, and recipient of the Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies in 2024;Olesya Kromeychuk, director, Ukrainian Institute London; andSerhii Plokhii, professor of Ukrainian history, Harvard University.For a complete list of panelists and speakers, view the conference schedule. The conference is supported and co-sponsored by:Department of German, Slavic, and Eurasian Studies;Kellogg Institute for International Studies;Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies;Notre Dame Democracy Initiative;Notre Dame Global;Office of the President at Notre Dame;Raclin Murphy Museum of Art; andUkrainian Catholic University.Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.