THE INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL CONCERNS

The Institute for Social Concerns is the University of Notre Dame’s scholarly home for interdisciplinary responses to questions of justice. Committed to the normative proposition that a just world is a beautiful world, we engage the most urgent signs of the times through justice education, research for the common good, and collaborations with community.

JUSTICE
EDUCATION

Our approach to justice education develops students’ moral imagination, practical wisdom, and courage to act through academically rigorous coursework, immersive experiences, and critical reflection grounded in Catholic social tradition.

RESEARCH FOR
THE COMMON GOOD

Our approach to research focuses on the world’s most pressing social concerns and develops innovative, interdisciplinary, scholarly approaches to understand and address them.

COLLABORATIONS
WITH COMMUNITY

Our approach to community incubates democratic collaborations between community members and Notre Dame faculty, staff, and students that catalyze evidence-based sustainable interventions to local challenges.

INSTITUTE STORIES

David Martin in Pokagon dress at Foundry Field mural

Institute mural collaboration showcases longstanding relationship with Pokagon Band of Potawatomi

The Pokagon panel marks the culmination of a multi-year effort conceived, directed, and sustained by the Institute for Social Concerns. Over successive years, Institute faculty and staff brought together community historians, neighborhood residents, local artists, and Notre Dame faculty and students to reclaim forgotten athletic stories.

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Institute calls faculty from Christian colleges and universities to join a national social movement

This September, the Institute hosted the first-ever Christian faith-based Integrating Virtue Together workshop, welcoming nearly 30 faculty from 24 Christian colleges and universities across the country to the University of Notre Dame.

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Institute for Social Concerns names six students as recipients of 2026 Research for the Common Good Award

Selected from a pool of 206 entries, the honorees conducted original research during eight-week summer immersive experiences across the globe through the Institute’s justice education programming.

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