Liberal democracies rely on truth-seeking institutions insulated from, or capable of rising above, partisan politics: science, universities, and serious journalism. Each was politicized and degraded under COIVD-19, falling victim to the moral and epistemic tribalism that disfigures our politics and culture. Based on his book, In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us, co-authored with Frances Lee (Princeton University Press, 2025), Macedo will trace how leaders made policy during the worst pandemic in over a century. In so doing, he will contend that educated elites need to soberly examine their performance, assess their own biases and blind spots, and strive to be more worthy of the public’s trust.Stephen Macedo is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics at the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2014, and the American Academy of Sciences and Letters since October 2024, he is also immediate past-President of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy. He is author, with Princeton Professor Frances Lee, of In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us (Princeton University Press, 2025), a comprehensive examination of COIVD-19 policy and discussion around it as a window onto our political dysfunction. Other books include, Just Married: Same-Sex Couples, Monogamy, and the Future of Marriage (2015); Diversity and Distrust: Civic Education in a Multicultural Democracy (2000); Liberal Virtues: Citizenship, Virtue, and Community in Liberal Constitutionalism (1990); and 20 other co-authored, edited, or co-edited books. As vice president of the American Political Science Association, and the first chair of its Standing Committee on Civic Education and Engagement, he published Democracy at Risk: How Political Choices Undermine Citizen Participation, and What We Can Do About It (Brookings Institute Press 2005), co-authored with Robert Putnam, Margaret Levi, William Galston, and others. Current research concerns the pressures on social justice exerted by various forms of globalization, especially immigration, and the problems raised by social media companies and the dangers of government efforts to policy “misinformation.” ** Stephen Macedo writes and teaches on political theory, ethics, public policy, and law, especially on topics related to liberalism, democracy and citizenship, diversity and civic education, religion and politics, and the family and sexuality. From 2001–09, he was director of the University Center for Human Values. As founding director of Princeton’s Program in Law and Public Affairs (1999-2001), he chaired the Princeton Project on Universal Jurisdiction, helped formulate the Princeton Principles on Universal Jurisdiction, and edited Universal Jurisdiction: International Courts and the Prosecution of Serious Crimes Under International Law (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004). Originally published at constudies.nd.edu.

This drop-in tour will introduce you to your Raclin Murphy Museum of Art. Join a student gallery teacher or a member of the museum staff to explore the architecture of the building through some of its most unique spaces and discover works of art that are highlights of the collection. Meet at the Welcome Desk. All are welcome and no registration is required. This tour will explore all gallery levels of the museum. Although the tour will keep moving between spaces, gallery stools are available upon request. Originally published at raclinmurphymuseum.nd.edu.

The museum is excited to welcome back Brendan Fernandes for an encore presentation of his site-specific piece, Moving Through. Originally performed this past spring, this commissioned work will be reprised throughout the galleries. Fernandes’s piece dissolves the boundaries among visual art, dancers, and audience members. The performance will take place in the museum atrium and throughout the galleries; visitors can expect to see dancers in the galleries as they respond to a dynamic movement score composed collaboratively by students. Rather than stage a stationary performance, dancers will move through the museum, allowing visitors to watch the fluid performance and come and go as they wish. The work unfolds as a meditative act, inviting an extended, slow process of looking, sensing, and interpreting. Audience members may stumble upon a dancer by chance or follow their movement as they respond to an artwork—transforming observation into an immersive experience. By integrating movement, stillness, and sonic interplay, Fernandes reimagines the museum as a living, breathing space where art and dance converge, challenging how we see, experience, and interpret both art forms. The performance will invite audiences into an active, meditative process of seeing, experiencing, and engaging with art in new and transformative ways. Brendan Fernandes is the 2025 artist-in-residence in the Notre Dame Initiative on Race and Resilience. The site-specific commissioned piece Moving Through is made possible through collaboration among, and support from the Initiative on Race and Resilience, the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, and the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art. Brendan Fernandes (b. 1979, Nairobi, Kenya) is an internationally recognized Canadian artist working at the intersection of dance and visual arts. Rooted in collaboration and fostering solidarity, Fernandes’s projects take hybrid forms to address issues of race, queer culture, migration, protest, and other forms of collective movement. He is a graduate of the Whitney Independent Study Program (2007) and a recipient of a Robert Rauschenberg Fellowship (2014). In 2010, he was shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award and received a prestigious 2017 Canada Council New Chapters grant. Fernandes is also the recipient of the Platform Award (2024), the Artadia Award (2019), a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (2020), and a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant (2019). His projects have been shown at the 2019 Whitney Biennial (New York); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York); the Museum of Modern Art (New York); the Getty Museum (Los Angeles); the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa); MAC (Montreal), among a great many others. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University. Fernandes is represented by Monique Meloche Gallery in Chicago and Susan Inglett Gallery in New York. Recent and upcoming projects include performances and solo presentations at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation (St. Louis), MCA Denver, The Fabric Workshop (Philadelphia), and Prospect 6 (New Orleans). Originally published at raclinmurphymuseum.nd.edu.

Please join the Center for Italian Studies and the Devers Program in Dante Studies for its annual "Dante Now!" event, dedicated to a community recitation of Dante's Divine Comedy. Click here for more information on the event's history. Dante Now! Community Recitation • 2:00–2:30pm – Throughout the Notre Dame Campus: Selections from Dante’s Divine Comedy • 2:30pm – Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes: Dante’s Prayer to the Virgin (Paradiso 33. 1-21) Lecture 3:00–4:15pm: 104 Bond HallTheodore J. Cachey Jr., Pizzo Family Chair in Dante StudiesOriginally published at italianstudies.nd.edu.

Drop in to meet and speak informally with curator Giulia Maria Gliozzi, a Notre Dame Italian Studies doctoral candidate, about the new exhibit, Mapping Global Dante in Translation. Learn how translators, artists, and printers have popularized and reshaped the Divine Comedy over the centuries and across the world and discover the library’s many Dante editions. Free and open to the public.For more information, contact Holly Welch at rarebook@nd.edu or (574) 631-0290. About the Exhibit This exhibit traces the global journey of Dante’s masterpiece through rare and valuable printed editions, highlighting how translators, artists, and printers have popularized and reshaped the Commedia. These volumes reveal a dynamic dialogue between Dante’s poetry and the world. A global literary perspective transforms Dante from a monumental yet isolated figure of the European Middle Ages into a central presence in the ongoing international conversation about humanity, the universe, time, eternity, and the power of literature. This exhibit is co-sponsored by the Center for Italian Studies and the Devers Program in Dante Studies. It is curated by Salvatore Riolo, Notre Dame Italian Studies doctoral candidate, and co-curators Giulia Maria Gliozzi, Notre Dame Italian Studies doctoral candidate; Inha Park, Notre Dame Italian Studies doctoral candidate; and Peter Scharer, Yale Comparative Literature doctoral candidate. Theodore J. Cachey Jr., Notre Dame, and Jacob Blakesley, Sapienza Università di Roma, served as consultants on the exhibit. This and other exhibits within the Hesburgh Libraries are generously supported by the McBrien Special Collections Endowment. All exhibits are free and open to the public during business hours.Open to undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, postdocs, alumni, friends, and the public.

The Thomas H. Quinn Speaker Series presents, Conquering the Ultimate Disease Instigator: Reversing the Aging Process, by Ronald A. DePinho, M.D., a physician-scientist, serial entrepreneur and past president of MD Anderson Cancer Center. A member of the National Academies, his research has advanced our understanding of cancer and aging, showing that aging can be reversed. He launched high-impact initiatives in disease prevention and therapy, including the Cancer Moon Shots Program. In his talk, Dr. DePinho will share insights into the forces shaping scientific research and its impact on humanity. He will then dive into the mechanisms driving aging and the transformative potential of science to extend healthspan and combat age-related diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s. He will provide knowledge on how to live a healthier life. The talk is free and open to the public. No tickets or registration required. The Thomas H. Quinn Speaker Series is an annual event hosted by the Mendoza College of Business to honor the Notre Dame alumnus and former member and chair of Mendoza’s Business Advisory Council. Quinn earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Notre Dame in 1969 and was a football monogram winner and member of the 1966 national championship team. The speaker series is sponsored by Notre Dame alumnus and trustee John W. “Jay” Jordan II, Quinn’s college roommate, longtime friend and business partner.