The Institute for Social Concerns presents the 2025 Junior Parents Weekend Lecture with Eliza Griswold. Introduction by Rev. Hugh R. Page, Jr., vice president for institutional transformation. Reception to follow. socialconcerns.nd.edu/griswold Pulitzer Prize-winner Eliza Griswold is a journalist, poet and translator. “[Writing] with a reporter’s shrewdness and a poet’s grace (Princeton Humanities Council)”, her work centers on the complex nexus of religion, politics, human rights, and the environment. Director of Princeton University’s vaunted Program in Journalism, Griswold has been a contributing writer for The New Yorker for over two decades and has written and translated several volumes of poetry. Her newest book, Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church, a finalist for the 2024 National Book Award, provides a timely reflection on a growing pattern of fracture and polarization across foundational American institutions. An intimate chronicle of a close-knit church in Philadelphia as it dissolves amidst idealistic crises, it traces the drift away from traditional organized religion and churchgoing in the wake of modern society’s increasingly divergent belief systems. Deeply committed to journalism’s role in sustaining a healthy democracy, Griswold has been hailed for humanizing divisive social and political issues through compassionate portrayals of the people and communities most affected. Her exacting and immersive journalism teases out the stories behind fraying institutions and communities, offering us urgently needed perspectives on a rapidly evolving world—one of ever greater divides—between the have and have nots, rural and urban disparities, the perception of environmental issues, shifting political identities, and the sea-changes within contemporary faith and spiritual communities.

Get ready to groove again to more of that unforgettable Motown music! Bigger and better each time, your ticket guarantees a concert packed with the biggest hits sung by talented vocalists and backed by a smokin’ band known for bringing the Motor City sound to life. A Gammage Solutions and Bishop’s House Music have this tribute to the timeless Motown era down. Dance all night long to a catalog that includes legends like Stevie, Teena Marie, Smokey, The Isley Brothers, those Tempting Temptations, and hits written by Ashford and Simpson that you know every word by heart. Don’t wait for another sell-out. This show is a must-see for all fans of the pioneers who led a musical and cultural revolution that continues today. GET TICKETS  

About the Music Contest Using at least one pre-1925 sound recording and any other free or original music, create a musical project highlighting some of the new material available in the public domain. Some examples of projects include:Mash-ups Remixes Oral histories over one or more songs Original music with public domain sampling Playlists around a themeSee additional contest guidelines and resources. See 2024 Music Contest winners. Submit your project Submit your project using this Google Form. The project deadline is Sunday, February 16. Note: Please remember as you are looking through the public domain that historical sound recordings may include harmful, biased, prejudiced, and outdated views. Related LibGuide: Public Domain Day Music ContestOpen to undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, faculty, staff

Register here Nathan Hatch served as the president of Wake Forest University for 16 years and previously served as provost at the University of Notre Dame. He recently published The Gift of Transformative Leaders(link is external). We will discuss this book and his lifelong commitment to making character central in higher education. We hope you will join the Institute for Social Concerns each month for the Virtues & Vocations lunchtime webinar series, Conversations on Character & the Common Good. There is always time for audience questions. Virtues & Vocations is a national forum for scholars and practitioners across disciplines to consider how best to cultivate character in pre-professional and professional education. Virtues & Vocations hosts faculty workshops, an annual conference, and monthly webinars, and engages issues of character, professional identity, and moral purpose through our publications.

In his three-person song cycle “A Visit With Emily,” Tom Cipullo sets both poems and letters by Emily Dickinson and her correspondent Thomas Wentworth Higginson to explore the nature of friendship, love and loss. Department of Music faculty members Stephen Lancaster and Anne Slovin collaborate with Matthew Giallongo and Jonathan Young of Purdue University-Fort Wayne to perform this fascinating piece. This event is free and not ticketed.  Originally published at music.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.