Celebrating Diversity and Internationalism
Creating Community
Immersion in diversity - in diverse ideas, in diverse experiences, and in diverse ways of approaching life's great questions - is central to the idea of a liberal arts education. The College of Arts and Letters not only invites its students to encounter varying perspectives but empowers them to create challenging dialogue and fosters within them a richer sense of community.
At a glance:
- The percentage of students from an ethnic minority background in Notre Dame’s entering first-year class has risen in four of the past five years, reaching an all-time high of 24 percent for the class of 2010.
- Of the African-American students admitted to Notre Dame for Fall 2006, 53.4 percent enrolled, the fifth highest percentage among U.S. News’ top 30 universities. The University accepted 48.4 percent of its African-American applicants in 2006, a rate tied for second in this group.
Broadening Perspectives
Similarly, international experience transforms study of the liberal arts. International study programs give students the opportunity to develop proficiency in another language or to expand their view of the English-speaking world, while interdisciplinary area studies minors provide an academic context for understanding the regions they emphasize.
At a glance:
- Notre Dame stands sixth among research universities in terms of the percentage of undergraduates who study abroad. Of U.S. News and World Report’s top 20 national universities, Notre Dame ranks number one.
- The number of Notre Dame students pursuing a major or supplementary major in a foreign language rose approximately 40 percent from Spring 2001 to Spring 2006.
- In addition to our more established language offerings, Romance Languages and Literatures has started a program in Quechua, the language of the Inca Empire and one still spoken by millions in South America.
- Notre Dame’s annual Asian Film Festival and conference brings together movie professionals and scholars to discuss the featured films as well as issues related to Asian cinema.
- The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and the Center for Asian Studies recently hosted an international conference centered on the dissident Chinese journal Today and honoring Bei Dao, a visiting faculty member who is one of the journal’s founders.
University Institutes and Centers
- Center for Asian Studies
- Institute for Latino Studies
- Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies
- Nanovic Institute for European Studies
Academic Programs
- Department of Africana Studies
- Department of Classics
- Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures
- Department of German and Russian Languages and Literatures
- Department of Irish Language and Literature
- Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
