Notre Dame Integrating Virtue Fellows – Call for Proposals

Notre Dame Integrating Virtues Fellows is an opportunity for faculty from the professional schools at Notre Dame to join a discipline-specific community of practice in integrating moral, intellectual, civic and/or performance virtues into a course they will teach in the 2026-2027 academic year. 

Overview
Whole-person education that cultivates “the virtues necessary for living a good human life” is foundational to Notre Dame’s mission; however, that effort is often a siloed pursuit confined to the core curriculum.
Integrating Virtue Together provides a mission-based and developmental approach to cultivating character as an essential component of personal and professional identity. Consistent with Notre Dame’s mission, we emphasize the cultivation of character for the common good. We view ethics as not just about analysis, but about developing the practical wisdom necessary to make good decisions. This wisdom is foundational to the professions and what it means to be a good engineer, good architect, good scientist, and good leader. We want our students to graduate with moral purpose – a commitment to something that transcends their own self-interest – and with character traits such as honesty, compassion, and justice that help them live into their purpose and navigate their work. Cultivating this kind of character can happen as students study particular subjects rather than through supplemental programs, and the Integrating Virtue Fellowship empowers faculty to do this work through the courses they already teach.
Through this initiative, we will work with faculty to build 2-3 virtues into their course, integrating experiences, reflections, and frameworks that use the material of the particular discipline to build and practice character. We are not looking for experts in virtue ethics. Rather, we are looking for faculty who share a vision for investing in students as full people, and who would like to develop the tools to be more intentional about the ways their courses shape students. This community of practice will provide background in possible virtues to cultivate, pedagogical expertise, and ongoing support toward this work. 
Faculty in Notre Dame’s Schools/Colleges of Business, Architecture, Engineering, and Science are welcome to apply. The Notre Dame Integrating Virtues Fellowships is funded through a grant from the Educating Character Initiative at Wake Forest University.

Chosen Faculty Will:
● Receive a $3500 stipend, contingent on full participation in the working conference and follow-up meetings, along with revision of a course to be taught during the 2026-2027 academic year.
● Participate in a working conference at Notre Dame on March 19-21, 2026. 
● Receive feedback and support from experts in pedagogy as they work to integrate virtues into a syllabus. 
● Be expected to integrate 2-3 virtues into a course that they will teach in the 2026-2027 academic year. 
● Be expected to participate in monthly meetings with a discipline-specific community of practice in the months following the working conference. 
● Be expected to share their revised syllabus to be posted on the Virtues & Vocations website. 

To Apply:
Submit an application by following this link. You will be asked to submit a description of the course you would like to workshop, a list of virtues you want to include in a revised course, and your CV. To learn more, you can consult the Virtues in Engineering webpage or read about the labors of a pilot group of engineering faculty to incorporate virtue into their program of study. At this preliminary stage, we ask that you think about which virtues make sense for your course/discipline. You will have the opportunity to learn more about different virtues at the workshop. 

Complete your application by January 15, 2025, at midnight. Award recipients will be notified by the end of January.