Catholicism in Arts and Letters
Service and Social Justice
Making a Difference | Catholic Intellectual Traditions | Service and Social Justice | Spirituality and Ministries | From Our Faculty and Students
Both within and beyond the classroom, Notre Dame students and faculty strive to advance social justice and to serve church, community, and world
Departments, Institutes, and Centers
A variety of Institutes, Centers, and Programs within and beyond the College of Arts and Letters are devoted to understanding and addressing social problems and needs:
The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures runs the Liu Cultural Ambassadors Program, a student-run and faculty directed outreach program for local parochial schools. > http://www.nd.edu/~eall/
The Higgins Labor Research Center at the University of Notre Dame has as its central purpose the study of the economic and social consequences of different systems of work organization and the relationships between management and workers.> http://www.nd.edu/~hlsp/
The University's John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values is commited to promoting research on science and technology as human, knowledge producing institutions. > http://www.nd.edu/~reilly/
The Center for Social Concerns facilitates community-based learning, research and service informed by Catholic Social Tradition. Through the Center, learning becomes service to justice. In addition to coordinating student service and community-based learning, the Center assists faculty to develop service-learning courses, offers course-development grants, and sponsors several faculty fellows. > http://socialconcerns.nd.edu/
The Institute for Church Life (ICL) exists as an integral component of the University's larger mission of teaching, research, and service to society and to the Church. Through its resources, projects, and affiliate centers the Institute reaches out to the whole spectrum of Church leaders--its bishops, clergy, religious, and laity--to provide training and service as well as opportunities for spiritual rejuvenation and personal growth. > http://www.nd.edu/~icl/index.shtml
Holy Cross Associates, with houses attached to Holy Cross parishes in the United States and Chile, exists to engage lay people to grow in the life of Christ through Christian service, spirituality, simple living and community. > http://www.nd.edu/~hcassoc/
"To grow in understanding is to grow in love, in selflessness, in self-sacrifice. So love is not only the key to teaching, it is really the subject, the substance of teaching: it is what is taught. "Christian Moevs, Associate Professor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, Sheedy Teaching Award recipient, 2006
Interdisciplinary Programs
Undergraduate students can choose among an array of interdisciplinary minors and programs that equip them to understand and address vital concerns within Church and society.
- Minor in Catholic Social Tradition > http://www.nd.edu/~cstprog/
- Minor in Education, Schooling, and Society > http://www.nd.edu/~edss/
- Peace Studies supplementary major and minor > http://kroc.nd.edu/programs/undergraduate
- Liturgical Music Ministry undergraduate minor http://theology.nd.edu/undergraduate-program/minors/documents/msm_brochure.pdf
- The Hesburgh Program in Public Service > http://www.nd.edu/~hesprg/
Graduate Programs
The College houses several graduate programs devoted to preparing students to serve the Church in meaningful ways:
The Master of Sacred Music program prepares students for pastoral liturgical music ministry > http://theology.nd.edu/graduate-program/master-of-sacred-music/
The Master of Divinity is a professional theological degree designed to prepare students for learned and effective ministry in the Roman Catholic Church. > http://theology.nd.edu/graduate-program/master-of-divinity/
The Alliance for Catholic Education is a two-year service program offering college graduates the opportunity to serve as full-time teachers in under-resourced Catholic schools across the southern United States while earning a master’s degree in education. > http://ace.nd.edu/
ECHO: Faith Formation Leadership Program offers participants the opportunity to engage for two years in on-going academic, professional-ministerial, communal, and spiritual formation while serving at a parish and earning a master’s degree in theology from Notre Dame. > http://echo.nd.edu/
Special Initiatives
The College supports conferences and other initiatives that examine and apply Catholic social teaching or that allow students to unite service with learning in mutually enriching ways:
- A Call to Solidarity With Africa: Americans and Africans in Dialogue About Africa’s Promise, Needs, and Image
- Uncommon Faithfulness: The Witness of African American Catholics
- “To Serve an Ancient Village in China: Historical Preservation, Religious Life, and Teaching English”—students taught English to village children, helped villagers reconstruct a Catholic church, and learned how religion is lived in China today.The Edith Stein Project http://newsinfo.nd.edu/content.cfm?topicid=21307
