In The News

Four years of student leadership at Notre Dame April 4, 2022 When seniors Elaine Carter, accounting, and Maddie Whitney, business analytics, registered for the Center for Social Concerns’ Advocacy for the Common Good seminar their freshman year, they had no idea the one-credit course would turn into a four-year campaign that would shape their entire…

Making science more accessible (and more fun) for children March 18, 2022 Professor Cara Ocobock saw an opportunity. It was August 2020 and her young niece had asked for an at-home science kit, but the materials Ocobock found too often seemed to treat science as if it were magic. “Science is cool enough,” she thought.…

Center student takes community organizing skills to hometown March 18, 2022 Erica Browne ‘22, a Neuroscience and Behavior major, first became involved at the Center for Social Concerns when she joined Organizing, Power, and Hope, one of numerous courses the center offers on current justice-related topics. In the course, students explore the field of community…

Working to create more diverse language arts curricula and more just communities March 4, 2022 Drs. Kati and Mike Macaluso know that everyone loves a good book. As faculty in the Institute for Educational Initiatives, they will tell you that it is hard to overstate the ways that literature can affect our emotional, intellectual, and…

Faculty exchange pilot program creates intercultural opportunities March 3, 2022 “What do I take for granted as universal, but is actually cultural? How do I ask the right questions or give the right answers so that my Mexican friends and colleagues and I can work well together? How can I learn to ‘unpack’ a misunderstanding…

Community impact grants support innovative approaches to lead reduction in South Bend February 18, 2022 A 2017 Reuters report found higher lead levels in some South Bend neighborhoods than Flint, MI, prompting Notre Dame faculty to partner with local neighborhood organizations to put research on safe housing into action. With a Community Impact Grant from the…

Community fellow considers applications of Just Wage Initiative for collective bargaining February 17, 2022 In 2021 the Center for Social Concerns started its Community Fellows Program to enhance research and teaching at the University by connecting community and campus on various social concerns. Community fellows are professionals in the local community with a strong history…

2022 Social Concerns Fair celebrates collaboration between the University and the community February 4, 2022 Residents of South Bend have long been critical parts of life and work at the University of Notre Dame, especially when it comes to the University’s work to advance social justice. Working toward the common good and a preferential option…

The memory project: Reweaving threads of loss, love, and hope February 4, 2022 For the past two years, Neeta Verma, associate professor of Visual Communication Design in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design, and faculty fellow with the Center for Social Concerns, has been leading “The Memory Project: Reweaving Threads of Loss, Love, and…

Center conducting research on how Catholic social teaching guides financial decision-making (or not) February 2, 2022 How do Gospel values impact the financial decisions of Catholic institutions? What difference can Catholic Social Teaching (CST) make in budgeting “on the ground?” These questions lie at the heart of the Center for Social Concerns’ Catholic Social Teaching…