Aligned with the University goal to provide superb graduate and professional programs that, in addition to disciplinary excellence, foster multidisciplinary connections and advance knowledge in the search for truth, the Institute for Social Concerns supports a variety of initiatives for graduate and professional students.

Graduate Justice Fellowship

This selective year-long fellowship provides graduate and professional students with the opportunity to develop moral purpose in their discipline, gain an understanding of how their work can be a force for justice, and provide an interdisciplinary community to enhance their education.

Graduate Institute for Engaged Teaching and Research

Designed for graduate and professional students in all fields at all levels interested in applying their disciplinary lens and tools to issues of justice, the institute explores principles and effective models of public scholarship and community engagement.

Justice Labs

Justice Labs provide opportunities for graduate students to work alongside faculty members and community partners to conduct research on questions and needs identified by communities. By bringing together experts in the field with community members and students, these year-round, multidisciplinary, community-based research programs provide cutting-edge solutions to issues such as housing, just wages, and mass incarceration. 

Grad Student Award ($1,000): Two spots for Fall 2025!

Graduate students are eligible to apply for a $1,000 Justice Lab Grad Student Award! Students selected for this award will work on a project informed by both the lab’s field of inquiry and their own discipline, ideally one connected to their dissertation or primary research agenda. While doing so they will attend the lab weekly, sharing their expertise with students and contributing to the engaged research being undertaken with community partners. They will receive support from the faculty member affiliated with the lab, and by the end of the semester will produce a research deliverable that can be submitted for publication or presentation at conferences.

The application for Fall 2025 has closed. Please check back in December to apply for Spring 2026.  For questions, please contact Emily Garvey, associate director, justice education, at garvey.32@nd.edu.