Is democracy dying, in America and abroad? Pundits say so, and polls show that most Americans believe that their country’s system of governance is being “tested” or is “under attack.” But is the future of democracy necessarily so dire? In The Civic Bargain, Brook Manville and Josiah Ober push back against the prevailing pessimism about the fate of democracy around the world. Instead of an epitaph for democracy, they offer a guide for democratic renewal, calling on citizens of democracies to recommit to a “civic bargain” with one another that guarantees political rights of freedom, equality, and dignity, but requires them to fulfill the duties of democratic citizenship.The talk will center on the key ideas raised in The Civic Bargain, specifically the long progression toward self-government through four key moments in democracy’s history: Classical Athens, Republican Rome, Great Britain’s constitutional monarchy, and America’s founding. Democracy isn’t about getting everything we want; it’s about having no “boss” other than our fellow citizens, and agreeing on a shared framework for pursuing our often conflicting aims. Crucially, citizens need to be able to compromise, and to treat one another not as political enemies but as civic friends. And we must accept imperfection; democracy is never perfect and never finished. If the civic bargain is maintained—through deliberation, bargaining, and compromise—democracy will survive and thrive. This lecture will be delivered by Josh Ober, the Constantine Mitsotakis Chair in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University. Ober specializes in the areas of ancient and modern political theory and historical institutionalism. His primary appointment is in Political Science; he holds a secondary appointment in Classics and courtesy appointments in Philosophy and the Hoover Institution. His most recent books are The Greeks and the Rational: The discovery of practical reason (University of California Press 2022) and Demopolis: Democracy before liberalism in theory and practice (Cambridge University Press 2017). The lecture is free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided beginning at noon.   Join us via our livestream on YouTube. Originally published at constudies.nd.edu.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the passing of Pope Francis, this event will be postponed; however, no date has yet been set. This event will no longer be taking place on this date, April 24, 2025. In September 2024, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences hosted a conference at the Vatican on the theme of “Sciences for a Sustainable Anthropocene: Opportunities, Challenges, and Risks of Innovations.” Invited scientists, scholars, and Church leaders delivered presentations and held discussions that considered the abundant scientific evidence for the human-caused alterations to Earth’s natural systems in tandem with the Catholic Church’s commitment to stewardship for God’s creation as exemplified in Pope Francis’s encyclical, Laudato Si’ (2015). Among the participants were geologist Francine McCarthy, historian of science Jürgen Renn, and Cardinal Peter Turkson, the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Notre Dame is pleased to continue the conversation with these three major contributors to the Vatican conference at this Keeley Vatican Symposium hosted in partnership with the Nanovic Institute for European Studies. History professors Julia Adeney Thomas and Brad Gregory will join and help lead this conversation at Notre Dame along with:Cardinal Peter Turkson, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences;Francine McCarthy, Geologist at Brock University, Canada, whose work is the foundation for the proposed Anthropocene “golden spike”; Jürgen Renn, Director of the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Jena, Germany.Clemens Sedmak, professor of social ethics and director of the Nanovic Institute, will serve as the event's host and moderator. A brief reception will follow. All are invited to attend. This event is part of the Anthropocene ND conference (April 23-25, 2025); other events include:"10 Years After Laudato si’: Faith, Anthropocene, and Justice in the Global South" (Friday, April 25, 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.), hosted by the Notre Dame Forum 2024-25 "What do we owe each other?" in the Smith Ballroom of the Morris Inn"Africa and the Anthropocene" (Friday, April 25, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.), held in C103 Hesburgh CenterThe Anthropocene The Anthropocene refers to the newly destabilized and still evolving state of our planet which is threatening the survival of many species, including our own. The concept arose in Earth System Science as a means of summing up Earth’s rapid mid- 20th-century lurch away from the relatively stable Holocene epoch of the past 11,700 years to today’s unpredictable planetary condition. Our dangerous predicament is not just a scientific and technological problem — it poses unprecedented political, economic, cultural, and ethical challenges. SpeakersCardinal Peter TurksonCardinal Archbishop of Ghana Since 2022, Cardinal Peter Turkson has been the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. He was ordained a priest in 1975 and consecrated as Archbishop of Cape Coast in 1992 by Pope John Paul II, who also made him the first Cardinal Archbishop of Ghana in 2003. He has been a member of multiple pontifical councils, including president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (2009-2017) and prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Human Development (2017-2021). He has served as a mediator in numerous politically volatile situations on the African continent and been a tireless champion of human rights and sustainable human development. In addition to his knowledge of Latin and Greek, he speaks six languages.Brad GregoryProfessor of History at Notre Dame Brad Gregory, professor of history at Notre Dame, specializes in Western Europe in the Reformation era. His scholarship has analyzed the effects of early modern religious disagreement and religio-political conflict, not only in the 16th and 17th centuries, but also in the long-term shaping of Western modernity down to the present. In recent years, the scope of his work has further expanded and takes the Anthropocene as its point of departure, while retaining an emphasis on the assumptions, ambitions, practices, and institutions of premodern Western Europeans that antedated the Industrial Revolution while fostering the anthropogenic trajectories that led our planet out of the Holocene. He is currently at work on a major project about the relationship between Western Christianity and the long-term formation of our current global environmental realities, the working title of which is "The Way of the World: Power, Wealth, and Civilization from the Last Ice Age to the Anthropocene."Francine McCarthyGeologist at Brock University, Canada Francine McCarthy is a micropaleontologist who is interested in paleoenvironmental reconstruction, primarily using acid-resistant organic-walled microfossils, including pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs. Her research has spanned small lake to abyssal marine environments and everything in between, primarily at mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. Her interdisciplinary research has been conducted in collaboration with several geologists, biologists, geographers, and archaeologists from government, university, and private sectors. She has been on the boards of several organizations, including current membership on the board of the International Association for Great Lakes Research. A leading member of the Anthropocene Working Group, her work on Crawford Lake served as the proposed “golden spike” of the new epoch.Jürgen RennFounding Director, Max Planck Institute for Geo-Anthropology, Jena, Germany Jürgen Renn’s research focuses on the long-term evolution of knowledge in consideration of the historical dynamics that led to the global changes encapsulated by the concept of the Anthropocene. In almost three decades as director at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, his numerous research projects have opened up new approaches, especially in the digital humanities. As founding director of the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, he investigates, together with his team, the structural changes in the technosphere that have given rise to the Anthropocene. His central research topics include the history of science from antiquity to the 21st century, the history of the globalization of knowledge, the role of knowledge in global change processes, and the recent history of scientific institutions, particularly the Max Planck Society from its foundation to the present day.Julia Adeney ThomasProfessor of History at Notre Dame Julia Adeney Thomas is professor of history at Notre Dame and a member of the Anthropocene Working Group. She is an intellectual historian of Japan, photography as a political practice, and the Anthropocene. Her books include "Reconfiguring Modernity: Concepts of Nature in Japanese Political Ideology" (winner of the AHA John K. Fairbank Prize), "Japan at Nature’s Edge: The Environmental Context of a Global Power," "Rethinking Historical Distance, and Visualizing Fascism: The Twentieth-Century Rise of the Global Right." Her recent work on the Anthropocene includes "Altered Earth: Getting the Anthropocene Right" (Cambridge University Press, 2022); "The Anthropocene: A Multidisciplinary Approach," co-authored with geologists Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams (Polity, 2020); and, with Jan Zalasiewicz, "Strata and Three Stories" (Rachel Carson Center, Munich, 2020). She’s currently at work on "The Historian’s Task in the Anthropocene," which will explore the experiences, limitations, and breakthroughs of historical practice on our transformed planet.About the Keeley Vatican Lecture series The Keeley Vatican Lecture, facilitated annually by the Nanovic Institute, provides a way to deepen Notre Dame’s connection to the Holy See by bringing distinguished representatives from the Vatican to explore questions surrounding the University’s Catholic mission. Established in 2005 through the generous support of alumnus Terrence R. Keeley ’81, lecturers typically spend several days on campus, joining classes, celebrating Mass with students, and conversing with faculty members. Past Keeley Vatican Lectures have included Sister Raffaella Petrini (secretary-general of the Vatican City State), Rev. Fr. Hans Zollner, Dr. Barbara Jatta, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, and Ukrainian Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak. This year, the Keeley Vatican Lecture series has also manifested as the Keeley Vatican Symposium to provide a space for reflections upon the Catholic Church's understanding and actions surrounding the Anthropocene. Earlier this year, the series also welcomed Rev. Msgr. Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, for a lecture in February titled "The Reform of the Roman Curia and the Promotion of Integral Human Development." Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.

Panelists will explore what drives migration at the southern border, the social and legal realities migrants encounter, and the theological foundations required to recognize that responding to migration is essential to building an integral culture of life. Learn More and Register Originally published at mcgrath.nd.edu.

Professor Cecilia TrifogliJoin the Medieval Institute for its final lecture of the semester, with Cecilia Trifogli, professor of Medieval philosophy at the University of Oxford, speaking on "Medieval Views on the Subject of Thought and the Intellectual Soul." About the Talk The general issue addressed in my talk is how deep the difference between human beings as rational animals and the other kinds of animals is. Are human beings fundamentally unlike the other animals or are they nothing more than the most complex animals? In the Aristotelian tradition, there are two major topics relevant to this issue: (i) the subject of thought and (ii) the nature of the intellectual soul. My main focus will be Aquinas's view on these topics. This is arguably Aquinas's most sophisticated contribution to the Aristotelian theory of human nature and was highly influential. It did not meet, however, universal consent. Remarkable objections were raised even by one of Aquinas’s closest followers, Giles of Rome, and later on, in the third decade of the 14th century by Thomas Wylton. These are the two opponents to Aquinas I shall consider in this talk. About the Speaker Professor of Medieval Philosophy at the University of Oxford (2008–present) and Fellow of All Souls College (1999–present), Professor Trifogli holds degrees from the Universities of Pisa (M.A. Philosophy, M.A. Mathematics) and Milan (Ph.D. Mathematics). A Fellow of the British Academy since 2014, her research centers on medieval Aristotelian philosophy, metaphysics, and epistemology. Recent work includes editing Questions on Aristotle's Physics by Geoffrey of Aspall and a forthcoming co-edited volume on medieval conceptions of space and time. Originally published at medieval.nd.edu.

“Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years. Yet we are called to be instruments of God our Father, so that our planet might be what he desired when he created it and correspond with his plan for peace, beauty and fullness.”This event has been cancelled due to the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis on April 21, which will prevent Cardinal Barreto and Cardinal Turkson from traveling to campus. Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical on care for our common home, Laudato si’, offers both a stark portrait of the current global environmental reality and an urgent call to action. Many Earth Science scholars describe our current geological epoch as the Anthropocene, a newly destabilized state of the Earth where human action has an overwhelming impact on the functioning of the planet, leading not only to scientific and technological problems but also to political, economic, cultural, and ethical challenges. Climate change and environmental devastation have an outsize impact on communities in the Global South, but many of these communities are also at the forefront of developing strategies for resilience. Join us for a conversation with Church leaders on how the Anthropocene epoch changes the way we think about justice, the planet, the Church, and what we owe one another.Featuring:Cardinal Pedro Ricardo Barreto Jimeno, S.J. Archbishop Emeritus of Huancayo, Peru Cardinal Barreto currently serves as the President of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), a new international body linked to the Holy See. In this role, he promotes the recognition and appreciation of the charisms of all members of the People of God with an Amazonian identity, fostering a more participatory and synodal Church. He was created cardinal by Pope Francis in 2018, after serving as Archbishop of Huancayo since 2004. A Jesuit priest since his ordination in 1971, he has dedicated his life to the defense of human rights, ecology, and pastoral service. As Archbishop Emeritus of Huancayo, Peru, his trajectory reflects a deep commitment to social justice and the care of our Common Home.Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson Chancellor, Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Since 2022, Cardinal Peter Turkson has been the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. He was ordained a priest in 1975 and consecrated as Archbishop of Cape Coast in 1992 by Pope John Paul II, who also made him the first Cardinal Archbishop of Ghana in 2003. He has been a member of multiple pontifical councils, including president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (2009-2017) and prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Human Development (2017-2021). He has served as a mediator in numerous politically volatile situations on the African continent and been a tireless champion of human rights and sustainable human development. In addition to his knowledge of Latin and Greek, he speaks six languages.In conversation with:Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. President, University of Notre Dame Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., serves as Notre Dame’s 18th president, having begun his tenure as president in June 2024. A faculty member in Notre Dame’s political science department since 2004, Fr. Dowd earned an undergraduate degree in psychology and economics from Notre Dame, and a Masters in African Studies and a doctorate in political science from UCLA. Prior to his election as president, Fr. Dowd served as vice president and associate provost for interdisciplinary initiatives. He was ordained a priest in the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1994 and has ministered to students on campus for many years as a priest-in-residence.Originally published at forum2024.nd.edu.

Lunch will be provided, but registration is required by Monday, April 21.  "Political Mobile Apps as Interactive Propaganda: Evidence from India and China" Peitong Jing is a Ph.D. candidate in political science and University Presidential Fellow at the University of Notre Dame. Her research explores the intersections of nationalism, emotion, and the use of media technology. She applies computational methods to study official nationalism as a co-optation strategy. She has published "Church and State in Contemporary China: Securing Christianity" in Politics and Religion (co-authored with Karrie J. Koesel). She holds an M.A. in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Notre Dame and an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Before coming to Notre Dame, she taught for the University of Chicago Writing Program and worked for Honoring the Future, a non-profit that engages the public on the issue of climate change through education and art. The event is sponsored by the Liu Institute's South Asia Group. Originally published at asia.nd.edu.

The Joint Memorial Day Ceremony, organized by Combatants for Peace and The Parents Circle Families Forum, is one of the largest Israeli-Palestinian jointly organized peace events in history.  According to Palestinian and Israeli Bereaved Families for Peace, the ceremony "provides a unique opportunity for Israelis and Palestinians to grieve together and stand strong in demanding an end to the occupation and ongoing violence." The memorial service, which occurs in Jerusalem, will be live-streamed on campus where members of the Notre Dame Community and beyond will gather to lament, to remember, and to imagine a different path forward. This event will precede the University President's forum. For this reason speakers Hussein Ibish and David Myers will be joining us for the service and participants are invited to interact with each of them in an informal manner following the livestream. Light refreshments will be provided.Hussein Ibish, Senior Resident Scholar, Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington        David Myers, Distinguished Professor and Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History, UCLA         Co-sponsored by the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Social Concerns and Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies along with the Student Voices for Palestine, Sunnyside Presbyterian Church, United Religious Community, Women's Interfaith Dialogue. Originally published at ansari.nd.edu.

What might a just peace look like for Israelis and Palestinians? Out of the many options that have been proposed over the decades—one-state, two-state, bi-national confederation, international peacekeeping missions—what seems most likely in the foreseeable future? Is an absence of war our last best hope, or can we keep hope alive for enduring peace that reconciles between the two peoples? Our Israel-Palestine event series concludes with another conversation with David Myers and Hussein Ibish about the range of futures for the region: the ideal, the possible, and the probable.  Notre Dame ID's will be required for entrance to this event. Featuring:Hussein Ibish, Senior Resident Scholar, Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington      David Myers, Distinguished Professor and Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History, UCLA       Originally published at forum2024.nd.edu.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the OVI-UND seminar series, the Center for Italian Studies is pleased to host a seminar by the Progetto CLIO team at the Opera del Vocabolario Italiano: “Due casi di studio e i corpora per lo studio integrato della poesia delle Origini. Il commento in volgare all’Aesopus attribuito a Gualtiero Anglico del ms. Vat. lat. 3216” (Two case studies and the corpora for the integrated study of early italian poetry. The vernacular commentary on the Aesopus attributed to Gualtiero Anglico in manuscript Vat. lat. 3216)   Tra le raccolte medievali di favole esopiche, quella in distici elegiaci attribuita a Gualtiero Anglico ha goduto di particolare fortuna. Nel 1951, Mario Pelaez dà notizia di un compendio in prosa latina dell’Aesopus accompagnato da un commento in versi in volgare italo-veneto di mano trecentesca conservato nel manoscritto miscellaneo Vat. lat. 3216. L’intervento intende ritornare sul testo a partire da tre prospettive di ricerca: 1. l’analisi macro-strutturale del codice Vat. lat. 3216, latore di altre opere latine e volgari, come i Trionfi e i Salmi penitenziali di Petrarca e il capitolo Re Carlo primo fu grande omo e fero di Franco Sacchetti; 2. l’indagine metrica delle sessanta unità strofiche che costituiscono il commento volgare; 3. lo studio stilistico e lessicale del testo. Carolina Borrelli è assegnista di ricerca presso l’Opera del Vocabolario Italiano (OVI-CNR) nell’ambito del progetto PRIN 2022 CLIO - Corpora per la Lirica Italiana delle Origini. Ha ottenuto il dottorato di ricerca in Filologia romanza presso l’Università degli Studi di Siena, in cotutela con l’EPHE–PSL, con una tesi dedicata allo studio codicologico, linguistico ed ecdotico del canzoniere trobadorico T (Paris, BnF, fr. 15211). I suoi principali interessi riguardano la tradizione manoscritta della lirica in lingua d’oc e la produzione in versi della letteratura italiana antica. Ugo Conti è assegnista di ricerca presso l’Università per Stranieri di Siena nell’ambito del progetto PRIN 2022 CLIO - Corpora per la Lirica Italiana delle Origini. I suoi interessi ruotano principalmente attorno alla poesia delle Origini e del primo Novecento, all’informatica umanistica, alla trattatistica metrica antica e alla metrica italiana, con particolare riguardo alla critica stilistica della terza rima, di cui ha studiato l’utilizzo nella Commedia e per la quale ha curato lo sviluppo del programma Triars - Terza Rima Informatizzata per l’Analisi Ritmica e Sintattica. Giulia Zava è assegnista di ricerca OVI-CNR nell’ambito del progetto PRIN 2022 CLIO -Corpora per la Lirica Italiana delle Origini. È stata borsista della Alexander von Humboldt Foundation alla Freie Universität Berlin, della Fondation Barbier-Mueller pour l’étude de la poésie italienne de la Renaissance de Genève e del Research Institute of the University of Bucharest. I suoi interessi riguardano principalmente la letteratura italiana dal XIV al XVI secolo, con particolare attenzione per Petrarca e la sua ricezione quattrocentesca, i meccanismi del riso nella prima età moderna, la relazione fra letteratura e arte. Please register here   Originally published at italianstudies.nd.edu.

The Office of Institutional Transformation, in partnership with the Initiative on Race and Resilience, invites students, faculty, and staff to gather weekly for support and fellowship. Wellsprings: A Time for Connection and Care provides a safe space for members of the campus community to discuss fears and concerns related to social divisiveness. Some sessions may feature presentations or information from campus resources. To suggest a topic, please contact Eve Kelly at ekelly11@nd.edu. Originally published at diversity.nd.edu.

The Office of Institutional Transformation, in partnership with the Initiative on Race and Resilience, invites students, faculty, and staff to gather weekly for support and fellowship. Wellsprings: A Time for Connection and Care provides a safe space for members of the campus community to discuss fears and concerns related to social divisiveness. Some sessions may feature presentations or information from campus resources. To suggest a topic, please contact Eve Kelly at ekelly11@nd.edu. Originally published at diversity.nd.edu.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the OVI-UND seminar series, the Center for Italian Studies is pleased to host a seminar by the Progetto CLIO team at the Opera del Vocabolario Italiano: “Due casi di studio e i corpora per lo studio integrato della poesia delle Origini. La Summa di Antonio da Tempo: problemi metrici e testuali” (Two case studies and the corpora for the integrated study of early italian poetry. The Summa of Antonio da Tempo: metrical and textual issues)   La Summa artis rithimici vulgaris dictaminis di Antonio da Tempo è il trattato sulla metrica volgare più noto e diffuso dal Trecento al Cinquecento. Si tratta di un’opera dall’impianto semplice, ma che presenta una tradizione testuale piuttosto intricata per via della proliferazione di interpolazioni che si trovano variamente distribuite in una larga porzione dei testimoni del trattato, senza considerare i problemi che a propria volta pongono i suoi quattro volgarizzamenti finora noti. A partire dalle due edizioni del testo (Grion, 1869; Andrews, 1977), l’intervento si svilupperà su tre direttive principali: 1. un’analisi della situazione testuale dell’opera e le diverse soluzioni editoriali adottate finora, in relazione ai molti problemi che il testo presenta; 2. uno studio dei metri affrontati da Antonio da Tempo e dei problemi che essi pongono in rapporto al panorama della lirica trecentesca; 3. un approfondimento sul lessico metrico e retorico di cui il testo e le sue interpolazioni sono estremamente ricchi. Carolina Borrelli è assegnista di ricerca presso l’Opera del Vocabolario Italiano (OVI-CNR) nell’ambito del progetto PRIN 2022 CLIO - Corpora per la Lirica Italiana delle Origini. Ha ottenuto il dottorato di ricerca in Filologia romanza presso l’Università degli Studi di Siena, in cotutela con l’EPHE–PSL, con una tesi dedicata allo studio codicologico, linguistico ed ecdotico del canzoniere trobadorico T (Paris, BnF, fr. 15211). I suoi principali interessi riguardano la tradizione manoscritta della lirica in lingua d’oc e la produzione in versi della letteratura italiana antica. Ugo Conti è assegnista di ricerca presso l’Università per Stranieri di Siena nell’ambito del progetto PRIN 2022 CLIO - Corpora per la Lirica Italiana delle Origini. I suoi interessi ruotano principalmente attorno alla poesia delle Origini e del primo Novecento, all’informatica umanistica, alla trattatistica metrica antica e alla metrica italiana, con particolare riguardo alla critica stilistica della terza rima, di cui ha studiato l’utilizzo nella Commedia e per la quale ha curato lo sviluppo del programma Triars - Terza Rima Informatizzata per l’Analisi Ritmica e Sintattica. Giulia Zava è assegnista di ricerca OVI-CNR nell’ambito del progetto PRIN 2022 CLIO -Corpora per la Lirica Italiana delle Origini. È stata borsista della Alexander von Humboldt Foundation alla Freie Universität Berlin, della Fondation Barbier-Mueller pour l’étude de la poésie italienne de la Renaissance de Genève e del Research Institute of the University of Bucharest. I suoi interessi riguardano principalmente la letteratura italiana dal XIV al XVI secolo, con particolare attenzione per Petrarca e la sua ricezione quattrocentesca, i meccanismi del riso nella prima età moderna, la relazione fra letteratura e arte. Please register here Originally published at italianstudies.nd.edu.

The Office of Institutional Transformation, in partnership with the Initiative on Race and Resilience, invites students, faculty, and staff to gather weekly for support and fellowship. Wellsprings: A Time for Connection and Care provides a safe space for members of the campus community to discuss fears and concerns related to social divisiveness. Some sessions may feature presentations or information from campus resources. To suggest a topic, please contact Eve Kelly at ekelly11@nd.edu. Originally published at diversity.nd.edu.