As a part of the ongoing series on how art and scholarship combine in academic storytelling, the Nanovic Institute is pleased to host a lunch presentation with Sarah Edmands Martin, assistant professor of design and a Nanovic Institute faculty fellow. Martin produced recently released A Fable of Tomorrows (2024), an artwork consisting of video projection, interactive sculpture, and video game design at the center of which is a fable from the future. It is experienced through multiple media forms. Created while on a 2024 research Fulbright in Norway, the work materializes how human memory, digital computation, and temporality are revealed through fables, riddles, and archives. As a phantasmagoric video panorama immerses viewers in visions of different temporalities (from deep time to a lifetime), a mysterious artifact poses Old English-inspired riddles, which take more than one human generation to solve. Curated into a solo exhibition in Manchester’s MediaCity which reached over 30,000 people on opening weekend, the work travels to South Korea in 2025 for a solo exhibition at the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of State, Notre Dame's Department of Art, Art History & Design, Nanovic Institute for European Studies, and the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts. Join the Nanovic Institute as well as Notre Dame students, faculty, staff, and the general public to learn more about this work, experience the interactive elements of this art, ask questions, and enjoy experiencing an innovative example of the art of academic storytelling. Lunch for participants will be provided beginning at 12:00 p.m., while supplies last. About the SeriesThe Art and Scholarship of Academic Storytelling series explores the connections between “The Arts” (music, theater, dance, poetry/creative writing, filmmaking, drawing, painting, photography, and sculpting) and “Scholarship” on the topic of storytelling. Story and narrative are critical in the transmission of human ideas and culture. Thus, the institute and its partners across campus seek to understand how these methods of transmitting ideas may be practiced within an academic context. To do so, it seeks out the expertise of practitioners of the arts who do this type of storytelling in their work. Students, faculty, staff, and the general public are all invited to join these events, which are sometimes scheduled in tandem with performances on campus or in the local community, to consider this fascinating topic that cuts across disciplinary lines and appeals to academic and general audiences alike. Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.

Join us as we welcome author Roman. R. Williams one of the authors of the book and founder of Interfaith Photovoice, which "combines amateur photography and structured dialogue" to promote interfaith understanding. About the BookSacred Snaps tells the story of a new approach to interfaith engagement. It is an invitation to see and engage religion, diversity, and inclusion through the lens of the mobile phone camera. These days, just about everyone owns a camera equipped smartphone. What if we recruited these cameras for the common good? When religion shows up in everyday life—at work, school, the mall, or the beach—often it is not welcome. At a time when so much of the public discourse is around equity, diversity, and inclusion, religion seems peripheral to important conversations about belief and belonging. Many embrace the wisdom that our workplaces, schools, and communities are enhanced when people can bring their whole selves into every aspect of their daily lives. But religion and spirituality are not gaining the same ground as other aspects of diversity such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and ability. To be more fully included in the cultural conversation about human flourishing, religion needs to be seen and heard in new ways. The old paradigm of interreligious dialogue is no longer adequate. A new paradigm focused on building relationships at the grass roots of daily life is emerging.About Roman R. Williams, PhDRoman Williams is the founder of Interfaith Photovoice, an organization that combines photography and sociology for intergroup and interfaith engagement. He holds a Ph.D. in the sociology of religion from Boston University and a Th.M. focused on global religions from Gordon-Conwell Seminary. Roman was a tenured associate professor of sociology at Calvin University (2012–2020) and served as the executive officer of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (2016–2021). His academic publications combine his interests in lived religion and participatory visual methodologies, which come together in his edited volume, Seeing Religion (Routledge, 2015). During his years in higher education, Roman experienced a shift in his personal and professional interests, one that led him into community-based participatory action research. The pandemic gave him the opportunity to step out of higher education and into his own consulting practice focused on belief, belonging, and human flourishing. Today, he fancies the idea that he is helping to make the world a better and more inclusive place one photo at a time.Roman Williams will be introduced by Chad Meister, an Ansari Institute faculty affiliate who is a scholar of global religion and is currently writing a volume on interfaith dialogue. Food and refreshments will be available following the formal portion of the event program. This is a free event and advanced registration is not required. Originally published at ansari.nd.edu.

As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities. Get Tickets This screening is co-hosted with Tetyana Shlikhar, teaching professor of Russian and a Nanovic Institute faculty fellow.This is a free but ticketed event. Tickets will be available for pick-up at the Ticket Office one hour prior to the performance. To guarantee your seat, please pick up your tickets at least 15 minutes prior to the show. In the event of a sell-out, unclaimed tickets will be used to seat patrons waiting on standby. Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.

In her new book Schoolishness: Alienated Education and the Quest for Authentic, Joyful Learning, published by Cornell University Press, Kellogg faculty fellow Susan D. Blum presents a a theory-based phenomenology of institutional education. She defines "schoolishness" as educational practices that emphasize packaged "learning," unimaginative teaching, uniformity, constant evaluation by others, arbitrary forms, predetermined time, and artificial boundaries, resulting in personal and educational alienation, dependence, and dread. Drawing on critical, progressive, and feminist pedagogy in conversation with the anthropology of learning, and building on the insights of her two previous books, Blum proposes less-schoolish ways of learning in ten dimensions, to lessen the mismatch between learning in school and learning in the wild. Join the Kellogg Institute for a book launch conversation between the author and special guests Jean Lave and Rev. Hugh R. Page, Jr. A reception will follow and books will be available for purchase and signing. Co-presented with the Department of Anthropology, with co-sponsorship by the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts and the Center for Educational Research and Action.   More information here. 

ND students, join us for the Nanovic Institute’s sixth annual EuroCup! Face off against dorms across campus, compete for prizes, and claim bragging rights in this trivia competition on all things European history, current events, geography, art, and beyond. Residence halls may field teams of 3–5 students; each hall may field as many teams as they wish. The Junior EuroCup will be awarded to the team with the most new hall referrals. Bonus points will be awarded for:The team with the best name;The team that recruits the most additional teams;The first five teams to register.And announcing our special round: Slovakia and Ukraine! Ahoj and привіт, fans of Eastern and Central European history and trivia! We are delighted to announce that this year’s EuroCup will feature a round testing your knowledge of all things Slovak and Ukrainian! Unsure of the difference between halušky and holubtsi? Brush up on your knowledge before the competition! Form your teams and let the games begin! Register Now Registration closes November 7, 2024, so sign up today! Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.

More than a year after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip continues, violence in the West Bank mounts, Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon are engaged in escalating confrontation, and Israel and Iran are on the brink of war. This panel will address ongoing dynamics of the Israel/Palestine conflict and its consequences for the broader Middle East. This event is open to Notre Dame faculty, staff and students. Notre Dame IDs will be required for entrance to this event, and backpacks and large bags will be checked.   Panelists: Asher Kaufman, John M. Regan, Jr. director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies; professor of history and peace studiesLisa Schirch, Richard G. Starmann, Sr. professor of the practice of peace studies  Atalia Omer, professor of religion, conflict and peace studies  Laurie Nathan, professor of the practice of mediation; Mediation Program director  Banafsheh Keynoush, Kroc Institute visiting research fellowDaniel Bannoura, Ph.D. student in the Department of Theology           Originally published at kroc.nd.edu.