College of Arts & Letters | Latest News

The University of Notre Dame’s Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government will commemorate the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, with a special edition of its annual Jeanie Poole O’Shaughnessy Memorial Lecture at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11…

Operation Midway Blitz was getting underway. Hundreds of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were being deployed in the Chicago region, apprehending thousands of people. Adriana Pérez ’22 was working her Sunday breaking news shift. The Chicago Tribune reporter normally writes about the environment and climate change, but as one of the newspaper’s native Spanish speakers, she was…

Notre Dame anthropologist Kristine Joy Chua and her research team asked the question: How do expectant mothers manage uncertainties and cope with sociopolitical stressors in their lives? The answer: They used creative coping strategies grounded in their culture and upbringing to reframe difficult circumstances and maintain a positive outlook, focusing instead on the things they could control and …

Paul Popiel, who became the Kenn and Pamela Ricci Director of Bands at the University of Notre Dame in July. Photo by Jon L. Hendricks…

“BTD has taught me that sometimes the best opportunities begin with being willing to send the email, make the ask, and put yourself out there. That is something I hope to encourage other students to do as well.”

On Tuesday (Aug. 18), Pope Leo XIV appointed two University of Notre Dame faculty members, Emmanuel Katongole and Clemens Sedmak, as consultors to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. University Trustee Kathryn “Katie” Koch, president and CEO of TCW, a global investment management firm, was also named a consultor.

Kyle Lauckner never wanted to stop being a Boy Scout. That’s why he’s working toward a career in the federal government focused on poverty alleviation. For Lauckner, a Notre Dame junior majoring in economics and political science, both pursuits are all about service. And a new program is helping him understand how being an economist can help him continue to live out his Scout Oath “to help other …

When Lipe Fernandes considered his education after high school, he wanted something more than career prep. He wanted the whole college experience — something that would develop him as a person, not just his resume. “Education shouldn’t be only a utilitarian thing,” he said. “In college, you have the opportunity to explore more than just what you think you’ll be doing in the future.” Fernandes’ ap…

With a growing focus on the political and policy dimensions of science and technology, the Science, Technology, and Values minor in the College of Arts & Letters has been renamed the Science, Technology, and Society…

Elizabeth Shewark’s lab looks more like a daycare than a research facility — but that’s kind of the point. The Childhood and Adolescence Resilience (CARE) Lab in Corbett Family Hall is where Shewark and her team observe families and children at play, hoping to learn how different factors impact children’s social, emotional, and academic development over time. “Their lives are happening outside of…

This summer, four doctoral students affiliated with the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government studied language, culture, and political thought abroad in France. First-year constitutional studies students Luke Thompson, Kody Richards, and Zachary Coddington, as well as political science student Matthew Arildsen, all received grants from the CCCG to make their summer programs possible.…

Essaka Joshua’s research has taken her from The New York Public Library to archives in Scotland, tracing the intersections of Romantic theatre and disability studies. Her next stop is a little closer to home. A professor of English at the University of Notre Dame, Joshua was recently named a 2026-27 long-term fellow at the Newberry Library. In January, she will begin six months of research at the…

This summer, America celebrated the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, widely recognized as the formal founding of our nation and one of the early stages of establishing a democratic government. Over the past two decades, however, democracies all over the world have struggled with a lack of clear support. Democracy scholars have referred to these challenges as ev…

In an age of artificial intelligence, rapid change, and global uncertainty, Kenneth Scheve ’90, the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts & Letters and Keough -Hesburgh Professor of Political Science, believes the liberal arts are not becoming…

Gilberto Cárdenas, professor emeritus of sociology and founding director of the Institute of Latino Studies (ILS) at the University of Notre Dame, died Sunday, July 26. He was 79. Cárdenas was born in post-World…

As the University of Notre Dame’s Democracy Initiative approaches its fourth year, Inaugural Director David Campbell, the Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy, is preparing to transition leadership of the initiative to renowned political scientist Ken Kollman, the Dr. William M. Scholl Professor of Politics in the Department of Political Science and the Keough School of Global Affairs. K…

The Library of Congress has named David Campbell, the Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy at the University of Notre Dame, to the Kluge Chair in American Law and Governance, a prestigious research appointment focused on legal, constitutional and political issues related to the institutions of American government.

Notre Dame economists William Evans and Ethan Lieber examined the prescription practices of physicians in the late 1990s and found that they had increased the frequency and extent to which they prescribed opioids for treating chronic pain, contributing to the overall increase in opioid use and subsequent overdose deaths across the country.

The Notre Dame Arts Initiative has awarded 38 grants to foster sustained growth in the arts through partner programming for the inaugural Notre Dame Arts Biennial, scheduled for January through…

Every year, the bishops of the Coptic Orthodox Church in North America meet for a consultation to discuss theological issues. This year, the University of Notre Dame hosted the discussion for the first time — a landmark moment in the history of Coptic and Catholic cooperation. Gathering under the auspices of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute, the 12 visiting bishops spent two balmy days in mid-June…