The concept of persons is, historically, a vexed one. What is a person? Who counts as a person? What is owed to persons in justice, or friendship, or solidarity? How do persons stand in relation to the created order, to God, to one another? Is the concept of persons (as distinct from human beings) valid or coherent in itself, or is it a term that serves only to exclude members of the human family? Developments in biotechnology and the biosciences, artificial intelligence, legal doctrine and practice, the social sciences, theological reflection, ethics, art, architecture, and beyond raise distinctive questions of their own, as well as challenges to our understanding of persons, their place in the world, and what they—we—owe to one another. At our 23rd annual Fall Conference, the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture will consider the concept of persons. More than 140 presentations will explore the ethical, legal, and social concept of personhood; persons with disabilities; artificial intelligence; divine persons and the Trinity; the role of personalism in the thought of John Paul II; bioethics and environmental ethics; and the broader concept of persons as engaged across the disciplines, including philosophy, theology, political theory, law, history, economics, and the social sciences, as well as the natural sciences, literature, and the arts. At this year’s Fall Conference, the de Nicola Center is honored to once again partner with Stanford University’s “Boundaries of Humanity” project, which seeks to advance dialogue on “human place and purpose in the cosmos.” View the full conference schedule at the Fall Conference homepage. Originally published at ethicscenter.nd.edu.

Register to attend the lecture >>> On October 7, Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,400 people and taking at least 240 hostages. Israel responded by declaring war on Hamas, and has launched military strikes on the Gaza Strip that so far have killed more than 8,000 people. On October 26, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the escalating crisis in Gaza, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire. The resolution condemns all acts of violence aimed at Palestinian and Israeli civilians, including all acts of terrorism and indiscriminate attacks, as well as all acts of provocation, incitement and destruction. It calls for an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities, and demands that all parties immediately and fully comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. The resolution passed with 121 votes in favor, 14 against, and 44 abstentions. The webinar will focus on the urgent humanitarian need for a ceasefire and the challenging operational implications of establishing a cessation of hostilities. Panelists include:Kristian Berg Harpviken, Research Professor, PRIONadim Khoury, Associate Professor, Department of Law, Inland Norway University of Applied ScienceBen Majekodunmi, Chief of Staff, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)Sarit Michaeli, International Advocacy Lead, B'TselemModerated by Laurie Nathan, Professor of the Practice of Mediation, Kroc Institute for International Peace StudiesRegister to attend the lecture >>> This event is cosponsored by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Photo credit: Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images. Originally published at kroc.nd.edu.

In Nicaragua, the authoritarian regime is shuttering universities. In India, nationalist leaders undercut the rights of the Muslim minority. In Niger, the military overthrew the elected president a few months ago. In many parts of the world where democrats once had hope, backsliding is becoming the norm. What is the current state of democracy in different parts of the world? Why is democracy at risk? Should we care? And what can be done? This event will consider these questions and explore how the University, the Keough School, and the Kellogg Institute can address the important issues surrounding democratic governance today. We will also discuss the Kellogg Institute's role in the University of Notre Dame's new Democracy Initiative. Speakers: Jaimie BleckAssociate Professor of Political ScienceSenior Research Advisor, Ford ProgramKellogg Faculty Fellow Juan Sebastián ChamorroEconomist, Businessman, PoliticianHewlett Visiting Fellow for Public Policy Susan OstermannAssistant Professor of Global AffairsKellogg Faculty Fellow David CampbellPackey J. Dee Professor of American DemocracyDirector, University of Notre Dame Democracy Initiative Scott ApplebyMarilyn Keough Dean, Keough School of Global AffairsProfessor of History Moderator: Aníbal Pérez-LiñánProfessor of Political Science and Global AffairsDirector, Kellogg Institute

About the Talk Homilies, or church sermons, formed an indispensable part of European medieval rhetoric, East and West. Throughout the millennial existence of the Byzantine Empire (AD 330–1453), they carried the burden of the classical Greek tradition of rhetoric, which they continued in varying forms. In changed political circumstances and the Christian religious context of the Hellenized Eastern Roman Empire, sermons served as a crucial vehicle of mass communication. Although their primary purpose was to convey Christian dogmas and morals to the congregation, homilies were not only about religion. They spread ideology, propagated political allegiance or opposition to the Emperor, and formed and expressed the people’s multiple identities (religious, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic). This Mathews lecture will present these usually unacknowledged functions of the genre, focusing on the post-Patristic era, the Middle and Late Byzantium.  About the SpeakerTheodora Antonopoulou is professor of Byzantine literature at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She received her D.Phil. from the University of Oxford, UK, and has been awarded several competitive international fellowships. She has published extensively on Byzantine Greek literature. She has authored five books, including The Homilies of the Emperor Leo VI (Brill, 1997), Leonis VI Sapientis imperatoris Byzantini Homiliae (Brepols, 2008: Excellence award, Academy of Athens, Greece), and Mercurii grammatici Opera iambica (Brepols, 2017). She has co-authored two more books, including Vitae et Miracula Sancti Christoduli Patmensis (Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2021), and co-edited another two. She is currently chair of the faculty of philology of her university, secretary general of the Greek Committee of Byzantine Studies, secretary general substitute of the International Committee of Byzantine Studies, and a member of the supervisory board of the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies in Venice, Italy. About the Series The Mathews Lectures bring a distinguished scholar of Byzantine studies to campus each year to deliver a talk, supported by the Rev. Constantine Mathews Endowment for Excellence in Byzantine Christianity in the Medieval Institute. Vasilios Mathews and Nikiforos Mathews established the endowment to honor their father, the Reverend Constantine Mathews, who earned a masters degree in Liturgical Studies at Notre Dame in 1977. During a half-century of dedicated ministry, Father Mathews served as presiding parish priest at St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Church in South Bend, followed by the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Stamford, Connecticut. Originally published at medieval.nd.edu.

Join ILS and co-sponsor Latinx Student Alliance, for a Transformative Latino Leaders Lecture with a three-person celebrity panel featuring Mark Consuelos, Nicholas Gonzalez, and Wilmer Valderrama. The event Transformative Latino Leaders in Hollywood: Actors, Directors, Change-makers, is a free but ticketed event (one registration per person). See you there!   Click here to register for the event!  On April 17, 2023, Mark Consuelos joined his wife, Kelly Ripa, as co-host of “Live with Kelly & Mark.” Consuelos and Ripa previously worked together for seven years on the soap opera, "All My Children." For five consecutive seasons, Consuelos portrayed Hiram Lodge in the hit CW series, "Riverdale." Next up, he is set to play a recurring role in HBO Max's upcoming political drama series "The Girls on the Bus." Most recently, Consuelos appeared in Season 2 of Hulu’s hit comedy "Only Murders in the Building" in the role of Mabel’s (Selena Gomez) father.    Nicholas Gonzalez burst onto the Hollywood scene after a critically acclaimed three-season turn as medical student turned boxer, Alex Santiago, in Showtime’s groundbreaking series, "Resurrection Boulevard." He very quickly began to amass a slew of credits in both TV and film. Best known for his portrayal of the charming and exacting Dr. Neil Melendez in ABC's global hit, "The Good Doctor”, Texas native and Stanford University graduate, Gonzalez, is no stranger to audiences who recognize him from a dense resume of some of TV's hottest shows. He can currently be seen starring as ‘Capt. Levi Delgado’ on NBC’s Sci-Fi hit, “La Brea.”   Wilmer Valderrama can be seen in and is currently filming the 20th season of "NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service," in which he has starred for the past six season. He can also be seen as a guest role on NCIS Hawaii. He will be reprising his iconic role of "Fez" in "That 90's Show." He recently voiced a terrific role in Disney's original animated feature Encanto, with original music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, that won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Motion Picture. He also voices a role in Netflix's animated feature "Dog Gone Trouble."   Originally published at latinostudies.nd.edu.

It has been an entrenched tradition to narrate the history of the European continent as a sequence of bloody conflicts that culminated in two World Wars and continued into the Cold War. Today the Russian-Ukrainian War seems to confirm that narrative as a dominant one. Breaking with that enduring historiographical trend, this lecture boldly takes the opposite approach, by focusing instead on Europe’s peaceful cycles between wars, over three centuries. It will explore two questions: “What is lasting peace?” and “How is it possible to achieve it?” The lecture embraces the intellectual and political history of Europe, both in space (including the Balkans and Russia) and in time (going as far back as the eighteenth century) to consider European history as the struggle of rational attempts to ensure lasting peace, against short-sighted instincts of self-destruction. About the speaker Stella Ghervas is professor of history and the Eugen Weber Chair in Modern European History at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her primary interests are in the intellectual and international history of Europe, with special reference to the history of peace and peace-making, and in Russia’s intellectual and maritime history. She received the 2023 Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies for her book, "Conquering Peace: From the Enlightenment to the European Union," recently published by Harvard University Press. The lecture is free and open to the public. Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.

The Center for Italian Studies is pleased to host a lecture by Professor Elizabeth Coggeshall (Florida State) titled: The Dilemmas of Friendship in Dante's Italy   In late medieval Italy, amicizia was not an unequivocal moral or affective good. Instead, it was an ambiguous term to be deployed strategically, describing a wide range of social relationships: allies, collaborators, servants, patrons, rivals, and enemies. Drawing on the tactical uses of the term “amico” in the correspondence poems, dedications, narratives, and treatises composed by Dante and his interlocutors, Elizabeth Coggeshall's lecture examines the way they skillfully negotiated around the dilemmas friendship raised in the spheres of medieval Italian literary society. Employing sociological theory, Coggeshall traces Dante’s innovative justifications of friendship within the landscape of his peers’ complex negotiations around the term. Dante presents amicizia as simultaneously unifying and exclusive, transactional and yet morally legitimate, and equalizing while retaining social hierarchies. This new definition, Coggeshall argues, paves the way for the expansive possibilities of and unqualified reliance on amicizia that we see in the writings of the early humanists who follow. Elizabeth Coggeshall (PhD, Italian, Stanford University) is assistant professor of Italian in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics at Florida State University. Her research centers on late medieval Italian literature and culture, especially Dante, as well as the transmedia reception of Dante’s works in the 20th and 21st centuries. She has published in Bibliotheca Dantesca, Italian Culture, Italianistica, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching, ACMRS’s The Sundial, and several edited volumes. With Arielle Saiber, she is editor of the site Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante’s Works in Contemporary Culture, a digital archive cataloguing Dante’s sustained presence in the 20th- and 21st-century culture. She recently served as the vice president of the Dante Society of America (2021-2023) and currently as the DSA's Director of Education and Outreach (2023-). Her presentation derives from her first book, On Amistà: Negotiating Friendship in Dante’s Italy, published by the University of Toronto Press (spring 2023).  The event is co-sponsored by the Medieval Institute.The Italian Research Seminar, a core event of the Center for Italian Studies, aims to provide a regular forum for faculty, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and colleagues from other universities to present and discuss their current research. The Seminar is vigorously interdisciplinary, and embraces all areas of Italian literature, language, and culture, as well as perceptions of Italy, its achievements and its peoples in other national and international cultures. The Seminar constitutes an important element in the effort by Notre Dame's Center for Italian Studies to promote the study of Italy and to serve as a strategic point of contact for scholarly exchange. Originally published at italianstudies.nd.edu.

Contemplation. Creativity. Compassion. Erik Ehn is an American playwright and director whose work includes The Saint Plays, an ongoing cycle of plays loosely based on the lives of the saints and biblical characters, and Soulographie: Our Genocides, series of 17 plays that examine the relationship of 20th century America to genocide in the United States, Central America, and East Africa. A recent graduate of the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California, Ehn is the former dean of theatre at the California Institute of Arts and the former head of playwriting and professor of theatre and performance studies at Brown University. He currently teaches playwriting at the University of New Mexico.  This is a free but ticketed event. Tickets will only be available for pick-up one hour prior to the performance. To guarantee your reservation please pick-up your Will Call tickets at least 15 minutes prior to the performance.  Sponsored by the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts.   Originally published at ftt.nd.edu.