University of Notre Dame - College of Arts & Letters

At the University of Notre Dame, researchers meet big questions with big data. 📈 📊 That approach will fortify a new research initiative that responds to demographic realities, from rising inequality to declining health. Known as Notre Dame Population Analytics (ND Pop), this effort will convene scholars who tackle important population-level issues. Launched through a partnership between the University of Notre Dame - College of Arts & Letters and the Poverty Initiative, ND Pop will accelerate policy-relevant work while empowering social scientists with key tools: access to curated datasets, specialized staff and research associates, and other essential support services. Along with Notre Dame Research, the Notre Dame Center for Research Computing (CRC) and the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society, ND Pop aims to establish a Federal Statistical Research Data Center (RDC), bringing a secure research environment to campus for social science researchers to responsibly access sensitive data. “Notre Dame has long been a driving force behind some of the most significant research on poverty,” said Jeff Rhoads, vice president for research and professor of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering at Notre Dame. “Notre Dame Research is proud to partner with ND Pop to further enhance that strength by connecting it with the University’s expanding capabilities in advanced data and computational science.” In a new story, learn more about some of ND Pop's initial impacts and collaborations, including those at the University of Notre Dame - Keough School of Global Affairs: https://lnkd.in/e5xjhZzi

Professor Spotlight! Meet assistant teaching professor of French and Francophone Studies Claire Reising. She focuses on 20th and 21st-century Francophone Literature, teaching language through literature and film. Reising was awarded a Fullbright grant to research diasporic writers in Montreal, and wrote her dissertation analyzing how two authors resist characterization as migrant writers or exemplars of national identity. We asked Reising to reflect on her time at Notre Dame: “This is my fourth year teaching at Notre Dame, and it was very rewarding to return to campus as faculty exactly 10 years after I graduated. I teach French language and culture courses and also work in administration and advising for the French program. My main area of research is in contemporary Francophone literature and theater, with an emphasis on migration and literature. I’ve also researched strategies and methods for teaching the French language. Before coming to Notre Dame, I had the opportunity to research and teach in Paris, Montreal, and Belgium!” “My interest in French language and literature actually took shape at Notre Dame when I was a student. As a freshman, I thought that I would take a few classes and stop with a minor, but all of that changed after I took seminars with Notre Dame’s French faculty and studied abroad in Angers. I loved these experiences and knew that I wanted to continue learning and working with the French language. It’s been a joy to be 'on the other side' as faculty and to give back to the Notre Dame community. The best part of working here is seeing my students’ energy, dedication, and progress with French and facilitating their engagement with Francophone cultures.” - - - #studyeverything #doanything #liberalarts

The College of Arts & Letters has launched the Notre Dame Population Analytics (ND Pop), a data-focused research effort that will foster and advance multidisciplinary work on a wide range of pressing demographic issues. Let by William Evans, the Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Economics and co-founder of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities at Notre Dame, ND Pop will catalyze policy-relevant research by creating an ecosystem of scholars on campus who strive to tackle important population-level issues in their work. "Many of the problems facing the U.S. and other nations are demographic issues — the aging of the population, declining fertility, heavy concentration of the opioid crisis in at-risk populations and disparities in education outcomes across groups,” Evans said. “Driven by its Catholic mission, Notre Dame is uniquely positioned to provide a voice on these key issues.” https://lnkd.in/gqk2dvMG

The University of Notre Dame's inaugural Democracy Catalyst Fund will support research and education projects led by Notre Dame faculty and students and convenings that will bring together prominent democracy scholars from around the world. The fund is part of the University's Democracy Initiative, which aims to establish Notre Dame as a leader in the study of democracy in the U.S. and worldwide, as a convenor for conversations about and actions to preserve democracy, and as a model for the formation of civically engaged citizens and public servants. Together, 40 projects will be supported through this new endeavor — 29 of which will be led by Arts & Letters scholars. https://lnkd.in/gU5tcKnd

Each Advent, the Notre Dame Alumni Association shares reflections from the ND Family on where we find the sacred in our lives — in mundane moments and extraordinary experiences. For Heather Reynolds, managing director of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities at Notre Dame, meeting her daughter and her daughter’s birth mom changed everything—and brought her life clear purpose: https://lnkd.in/gzcsbgfG You can text “Advent” to 51555 to receive a special daily video throughout the season featuring Notre Dame alumni, students, faculty, and staff, or visit https://lnkd.in/gmiAZ_iJ.

🫓 What does a vat of hummus have to do with theology? Rev. Kevin Grove, C.S.C., uses it as a way to further connection and engagement with students. Three times a semester, Fr. Grove hosts his "hummus office hours" in South Dining Hall, where he makes the blended chickpeas, and about a hundred of his students attend to eat the snack with pita bread and discuss classwork with the University of Notre Dame associate professor of theology. Fr. Grove's passion for connecting with students in multifaceted ways has generated campus cultural phenomena — from standing-room-only crowds in lecture halls for discussions of St. Augustine’s Confessions to discussion groups competitively recreating iconic cultural works — that reveal how eager students are to engage meaningfully with theology. Fostering that engagement is among the reasons Fr. Grove has won the 2024 Sheedy Award for Excellence in Teaching, the University of Notre Dame - College of Arts & Letters’ highest teaching honor. https://lnkd.in/gAhZDdgG

Today we give thanks to our vibrant liberal arts community, comprised of those who have shaped our mission of cultivating informed, innovative leaders and who contribute meaningfully to society. Have a restful and thoughtful day! 🦃 ☘️ #thanksgiving #goirish #studyeverthing #doanything #liberalarts

The University of Notre Dame Democracy Initiative is launching a new round of multi-year investments to support research and educational projects led by Notre Dame faculty and students. These projects aim to position Notre Dame as a global leader in the study of democracy — both in the U.S. and worldwide. Notably, 29 of the 40 funded projects are led by scholars from the University of Notre Dame - College of Arts & Letters, including historians, philosophers, economists, theologians, designers, and more. https://lnkd.in/gU5tcKnd

Faculty spotlight ✨ Meet Paul Weithman, the Glynn Family Honors Professor of Philosophy, who has been with the philosophy department for 35 years. In addition to overseeing the minor in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, he has received numerous awards in acknowledgment of his exceptional teaching. We asked Weithman to reflect on his time at Notre Dame: “One of the privileges of working at a research university is the freedom faculty are allowed to follow their curiosity where it leads. Mine has led me to medieval political theory, religious ethics, and contemporary political philosophy, among other places. Right now, I am spending a lot of time thinking and writing about the stability of liberal democracies, which is obviously of current importance. A privilege of teaching at a research university that also attracts bright students is that teaching contributes to research. My own work would be unimaginably different if I had not gotten involved with the great students in PPE 20 years ago, but that’s a long story for another occasion. "Perhaps the greatest satisfaction of my working life has come from watching the University improve around me. Notre Dame is a far, far better University than it was when I started to teach here, and incomparably better than when I entered as a first-year undergraduate. I only wish that I could work here another 35 years to see how much better Notre Dame is in 2059 than it is now. But I’ll be 100 then and I doubt anyone would want to take my classes, so I’ll have to cheer the University on from the sidelines!”

Each year, more than 3 million children are part of an investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect. Two psychologists at the University of Notre Dame are working together to lower that number. Professors Laura Miller-Graff and Kristin Valentino have each developed a program to help prevent or reduce child maltreatment at a critical point for development — Miller-Graff during pregnancy, and Valentino during early childhood. Now, the two are bringing their programs together with a $3.1 million grant from the The National Institutes of Health. “This project represents, more broadly, ways that researchers like us could collaborate to really create some exciting synergies around things that have been developed independently,” Miller-Graff said. “Now, it can be brought together in an interesting way.” https://lnkd.in/gStKHUtG