Catholicism in the College of Arts and Letters
From Our Faculty and Students
Darcia Narvaez
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
Coming to Notre Dame felt like stepping into a deep river of Christian life. The rich heritage of Catholic scholarship, integrating faith and reason, is enlivening. I resonate with Notre Dame’s desire to nourish and integrate the spiritual as well as intellectual lives of students. Unlike at a public university, one may discuss with students issues of values and faith inside and outside of class as they consider how to construct a good life. For example, I heartily embrace Catholic Social Teaching and have my students discuss it in every course. Thus teaching becomes truly integrative. Moreover, scholarship can broaden to include questions of value without being disparaged. My scholarship in the realm of moral development fits perfectly with the mission of Notre Dame.
Although I was raised as a Lutheran, I had multiple encounters with Roman Catholicism growing up, living in different Spanish speaking countries. I spent 8th grade in a Catholic girls’ school in Pamplona, Spain. The nuns were very kind. In Minnesota where I spent the other half of my childhood, social justice initiatives were led by Catholics. These experiences deeply impressed me. From a young age, I felt called to the ministry and after a brief music career attended Luther Seminary, earning a Masters of Divinity. During seminary, I became interested in scholarship and was scheduled to study systematic theology in graduate school-- until I learned about moral development research. But that is another story.
What I most value is that the Notre Dame community converses openly about cultivating a life of faith and reason. We co-create our community in light of the Imago Dei each carries. We support one another in the call to social justice, concern for the disadvantaged and care for God's creation. We prepare students for future leadership by helping the cultivate lives of compassion. What place could be better?
