Centers, Institutes & Special Programs

Institutes

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  Institute for Latino Studies

  The Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) advances understanding of the fastest-growing and youngest population in the United States and the U.S. Catholic Church. It strengthens the University of Notre Dame’s mission to prepare transformative leaders in all areas of society, including the arts, sciences, business, politics, faith, and family life.

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  Medieval Institute

  Notre Dame’s Medieval Institute, with fifty faculty fellows from thirteen different departments and an unparalleled library and growing manuscript collection, is the nation’s largest and most prestigious center for understanding the Middle Ages. Our conferences and lecture series bring the world’s leading scholars to campus.

Centers

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  Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government

  Notre Dame’s Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government seeks to cultivate thoughtful and educated citizens by supporting scholarship and education concerning the ideas and institutions of constitutional government. The Center aims to explore the fundamental principles and practices of a free society so that citizens and civic leaders are equipped to secure our God-given natural rights, exercise the responsibilities of self-government, and pursue the common good.

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  Center for Italian Studies

  The Notre Dame Center for Italian Studies organizes and supports research, education, and outreach initiatives in Italian Studies, including those of the Devers Family Program in Dante Studies, together with partners on campus, in Rome, and around the world.

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  Center for Philosophy of Religion

  The Center for Philosophy of Religion's primary mission is to promote work on topics in the philosophy of religion and philosophical theology, and to encourage the development and exploration of specifically Christian and theistic philosophy. We also aim to foster dialogue between the disciplines of philosophy and theology on topics of mutual interest, and to disseminate the results of scholarly research on these issues both within the academy and to a wider, non-academic audience.

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  Center for Research Computing

  Modern cyberinfrastructure — research environments connecting advanced instruments, laboratories, data, computers, and people — involves the multi-layered integration of services and resources. At the Center for Research Computing (CRC), personnel with various expertise form multi-disciplinary science teams that span the layers of cyberinfrastructure required for a research project.

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  Center for the Study of Religion and Society

  The Center for the Study of Religion and Society at Notre Dame is dedicated to advancing social scientific understanding of religion in society through scholarly research, training, and publications. Activities facilitated by the Center include major data collection projects, seminars, colloquia, lectures, conferences, grant writing, and the building of an infrastructure for survey, interviews-based, and participant-observation social research. The Center combines an emphasis on the insight and richness of cultural analyses with the strength of large-scale survey research.

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  Center for the Study of Social Movements & Social Change

  The Center for the Study of Social Movements (CSSM) is a vibrant community of faculty and graduate students at the University of Notre Dame, dedicated to promoting our understanding of social movements and social change.

   

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  Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism

  Cushwa Center seminars, conferences, research projects, and publications engage a national body of scholars from disciplines including history, theology, women’s studies, sociology, American studies, religious studies, and English. The center also provides resources and critical commentary to the media reporting on U.S. Catholicism, and collaborates with Church leaders to enhance the vitality of Catholic life in the United States.

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  deNicola Center for Ethics and Culture

  The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture is committed to sharing the richness of the Catholic moral and intellectual tradition through teaching, research, and public engagement, at the highest level and across a range of disciplines – both on campus at the University of Notre Dame, and as Notre Dame in the public square. Our director, fellows, and affiliated scholars publish cutting-edge research, including the de Nicola Center’s various book series with the University of Notre Dame Press, which each feature first-rate scholarship that brings a distinctive voice to the most important conversations in elite academia.

   

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  Devers Program in Dante Studies

  The Devers Program at the University of Notre Dame supports teaching and research about Dante across the Arts & Letters curriculum, in particular in the Medieval and Italian Studies areas, through the sponsorship of publications, grants and scholarships, conferences, lecture series, seminars, visiting professorships, and class visits, as well as rare book acquisitions in the Zahm Dante Collection.

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  Rooney Center for Study of American Democracy

  The mission of the Francis and Kathleen Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy is to examine politics and policymaking in the United States—leaving Notre Dame’s distinctive imprint on the study of American democracy. With a grounding in Notre Dame’s Catholic mission, the Center facilitates research on the critical issues facing America’s democratic system and encourages Notre Dame’s students to be engaged in both civic and political life. The Center sponsors a variety of activities for both faculty and students, including a bi-weekly seminar series, conferences, graduate research grants, and other support. 

   

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  William J. Shaw Center for Children and Families

  At the University of Notre Dame’s William J. Shaw Center for Children and Families, we conduct innovative research to understand and support healthy development across the lifespan. Our affiliated faculty and students are from the departments of psychology, anthropology, sociology, as well as other units within the University. The Shaw Center facilitates research by providing shared laboratory space as well as staff assistance for grant-writing, management, and participant recruitment.

   

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  Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO)

  We believe that academic researchers, service providers, and policymakers all play a critical role in ending poverty. LEO matches top researchers with passionate leaders in the social service sector to conduct impact evaluations that identify the innovative, effective, and scalable programs and policies that help people move permanently out of poverty.

Special Programs