MVP Fridays
Hosted by the institute on Friday afternoons of select home football weekends, MVP Fridays tackle big questions by inviting national leaders, journalists, and writers to speak on questions of meaning, values, and purpose. Each lecture takes place at 4:00 p.m. in the Geddes Hall Andrews Auditorium or Coffee House.
The 2026 Lineup
Mark your calendar for our fall 2026 series and check out the confirmed speakers immediately below. See the archive far below for more on previous years’ speakers.
Imbolo Mbue: “Every Story Is a Love Story”
Friday, September 18 (Michigan State game)
Mbue is a Cameroonian American New York Times bestselling novelist, short story writer, and author of the novel Every Story Is a Love Story, which tells a story of hurt, regret, forgiveness, and healing.
Mbue will be introduced by Francisco Robles, associate professor in the English Department, faculty fellow at the Institute for Latino Studies, concurrent professor of the Gender Studies Program, and faculty affiliate of the Initiative on Race and Resilience.
This event is co-sponsored by the Creative Writing Program, Department of Africana Studies, Department of English, Franco Family Institute for the Liberal Arts and the Public Good, and Notre Dame Initiative on Race and Resilience.
Anand Gopal: “Days of Love and Rage”
Friday, October 9 (Stanford game)
Gopal is an American writer who contributes to The New Yorker and the author of Days of Love and Rage: A Story of Ordinary People Forging a Revolution, a work of narrative nonfiction about a group of revolutionaries who overthrew a dictator.
This event is co-sponsored by the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, Creative Writing Program, Department of English, Franco Family Institute for the Liberal Arts and the Public Good, Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics, and Democracy, Keough School of Global Affairs, Liu Institute for Asia & Asian Studies, and Notre Dame Initiative on Race and Resilience.
Christopher Beha: “Why I Am Not an Atheist”
Friday, November 6 (Miami game)
Beha is an American writer, former editor-in-chief of Harper’s Magazine, and author of Why I Am Not an Atheist: The Confessions of a Skeptical Believer.
This event is co-sponsored by the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, and Franco Family Institute for the Liberal Arts and the Public Good.
Susan Choi: “Memory, Truth and Fiction”
Friday, November 13 (Boston College game)
Choi is an American novelist and author of several acclaimed novels, including The Foreign Student, American Woman, and Trust Exercise, which won the National Book Award for Fiction.
This event is co-sponsored by the Creative Writing Program, Department of English, Franco Family Institute for the Liberal Arts and the Public Good, Liu Institute for Asia & Asian Studies, Notre Dame Initiative on Race and Resilience.