The Labor Café recognizes Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s commitments to human dignity, equality of opportunity, and decent work for all as we devote a special session to the place of immigrants in the labor market, economy, and social fabric of the American nation. Facilitator: Z Zavala (POLS & HIST ’27) A dozen short pieces to get the conversation started (non-required reading; feel free to dip into any or all):“Explainer: Immigrants and the U.S. Economy,” Migration Policy Institute, Oct. 2024 “The U.S. benefits from immigration but policy reforms needed to maximize gains,” Economic Policy Institute, Oct 4, 2024 “Tax Payments by Undocumented Immigrants,” Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, July 30, 2024 “The H-1B Visa Program and Its Impact on the U.S. Economy,” American Immigration Council, Jan 3, 2025 “Immigrants drive Nebraska’s economy. Trump’s mass deportations pledge is a threat,” NPR, Jan 22, 2025 “Don’t Call Trump’s Plan 'Mass Deportation',” City Journal, Jan 21, 2025 “Pope Francis calls Trump’s plans of mass deportation of immigrants ‘a disgrace’” AP News, Jan 20, 2025 “Which industries are most vulnerable to Trump’s immigration crackdown?” CBS News, Jan 23, 2025 “These immigrant workers shined a light on labor abuse. Will Trump let them stay?” NPR, Jan 15, 2025 “As President Trump declares a border emergency on Day 1, California’s targeted immigrants lie low,” CalMatters, Jan 20, 2025 “Immigrants Are a Vital Part of Kentucky Communities,” Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, Jan 17, 2025 “Escaping Oklahoma: A Worker’s Story From Inside an Illegal Marijuana Operation,” ProPublica, Aug 16, 2024-- Labor curious? Visit the Labor Café — where ND talks work! The Labor Café convenes the Notre Dame community for casual conversation on contemporary questions about work, workers, and workplaces. What rights and protections should those who work for others have? What’s the proper role for government in the economy? How should we address enduring problems of inequality, poverty, and lack of opportunity? And what does Catholic social tradition have to say about these labor questions? Participants choose the concrete topics, all people are welcome, and all opinions are entertained.

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.

Resilience is presented by Elliott Parker, CEO, and Matt Brady, general manager of the Build team, of High Alpha Innovation, a venture builder that co-creates companies directly in partnership with organizations to drive tangible growth and transformation. The Ten Years Hence speaker series explores issues, ideas, and trends likely to affect business and society over the next decade. The theme of the 2025 series is Innovation: The Process of Creation and Renewal. Ten Years Hence is sponsored by the Eugene Clark Distinguished Lecture Series endowment. This is one of seven lectures in the Ten Years Hence Lecture Series. See website for details and other lecture dates. Free and open to students, faculty, staff and public. The original date was February 21. It will now be held February 7.

The Dignity of Human Life in the Digital Age is presented by Paolo Carozza, professor of law, Notre Dame Law School as part of the Dean’s Speakers Series. Paolo Carozza joined the Notre Dame Law School faculty in 1996. His expertise is in the areas of comparative constitutional law, human rights, law and development, and international law. From 2012-22 he served as the director of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, an interdisciplinary, university-wide institute focusing primarily on the themes of democracy and human development, where he was also the principal investigator of the Notre Dame Constitutionalism and Rule of Law Lab (CAROLL). Professor Carozza is also a Faculty Fellow of the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, the Institute for Educational Initiatives, the Pulte Institute for Global Development, and the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Initiative. Carozza currently serves as a member of the Oversight Board, an independent expert body created by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to render binding decisions and policy recommendations regarding difficult content moderation questions on Meta’s platforms.  

Join the Institute for Social Concerns on Friday afternoons for Encounter: lectures by distinguished scholars in the field of Catholic social teaching, who will share their insights and provide critical conversation on matters of justice and the common good. Reception to follow. Anna Rowlands is the St. Hilda Chair in Catholic Social Thought and Practice at Durham University, England. She is a political theologian who works at the interface of political and social theory and Christian theology. Her original training was in the social and political sciences, followed by postgraduate degrees in theology. She has worked for two decades on the political philosophy of Gillian Rose, with additional interests in Hannah Arendt and Simone Weil. These interests coincided with research over the last 15 years in two other areas: the study of forced migration and the ethics of migration, and the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching. She has published in all these areas. Her key publications include: Towards a Politics of Communion: Catholic Social Teaching in Dark Times (Bloomsbury, 2021) and The T&T Clark Reader in Political Theology, edited with Elizabeth Phillips and Amy Daughton (Bloomsbury, 2021) and The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Contemporary Migration (forthcoming 2024) edited with Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh. She is currently working on a new book on Hannah Arendt, Simone Weil and Gillian Rose.

Rev. Msgr. Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo is the undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. He will join the Keough School of Global Affairs during the Nanovic Institute for European Studies' Keeley Vatican Lecture, the latest in this series that seeks to connect the University of Notre Dame with the Vatican. His message, titled "The Reform of the Roman Curia and the Promotion of Integral Human Development," will focus on integral human development, a critical component of Catholic Social Teaching that emphasizes supporting the growth of each person as a holistic human being. This powerful calling inspires the mission of the Keough School of Global Affairs. We invite all students, faculty, staff, and the general public to attend this timely event. Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., will introduce Rev. Msgr. Ekpo.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. Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.