A peaceful presidential election in Kenya would bolster efforts to promote economic growth, human development and security not only in Kenya, but throughout East Africa, according to University of Notre Dame political scientist Rev. Robert Dowd, C.S.C., who specializes in African politics with particular expertise in Kenya.
“What I love about the English major is that it challenges you in a completely unique way,” says Michael Fronk, a senior English and math major at the University of Notre Dame. “Just the critical dialogue that you’re able to have about these esteemed works of literature that have survived throughout the ages, discussing the human condition, and the way you’re required to just think critically about these and to form your own novel intelligent thoughts and formulate them into writing, has just been an experience that I’ve found tremendous and invaluable.”
Paul Weithman, professor in Notre Dame’s Department of Philosophy, has won the 2012 David and Elaine Spitz Prize for his book Why Political Liberalism? On John Rawls’ Political Turn. Awarded by the International Conference for the Study of Political Thought, the award recognizes the best book in liberal and/or democratic theory published two years earlier.
Five of the world’s preeminent development economists are visiting Notre Dame this spring as part of the series “New Frontiers in Economic Development,” sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies in collaboration with the Department of Economics in the College of Arts and Letters.
Melanie A. Howard, a graduate of the University of Notre Dame’s Master in Theological Studies (MTS) program, has won the 2011-12 Word & World Essay Prize for Doctoral Candidates. The prize is sponsored by Word & World: Theology for Christian Ministry, a quarterly journal published by Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minn. Joseph S. Khalil, a current Ph.D. student in the department, won the prize last year.
University of Notre Dame History Professor Thomas F.X. Noble has been chosen as president-elect of the American Society of Church History (ASCH) for 2013 and will become its president the following year.
Deborah Tor, an assistant professor in Notre Dame’s Department of History, has recently been awarded fellowships from the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, N.J., and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Both awards recognize her research on the reign of the Great Seljuq Dynasty in the Islamic heartlands.
Notre Dame faculty member Stephen Dumont, a professor in the Department of Philosophy and a fellow of the Medieval Institute, has been awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for his book project, The Two Affections of the Will: From Anselm of Canterbury to John Duns Scotus.
Finding and publishing long-forgotten musical compositions by classical composers is usually a project reserved for Ph.D. and master’s students. But don’t tell Samantha Osborn that. Last summer the Notre Dame music and pre-med major spent two weeks in Rome at the Conservatory of Saint Cecilia, where she was able to locate and duplicate eight of Baroque composer Alessandro Scarlatti’s handwritten cantatas. She will perform one of them this spring as part of her senior thesis recital.
Frederic Winkler Syburg, professor emeritus of the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Film, Television, and Theatre, died Friday (February 15) at Zilber Hospice in Wauwatosa, Wis. He was 88 years old. Syburg’s teaching career at Notre Dame spanned five decades.
Beginning in fall 2013, Notre Dame undergraduate students interested in pursuing international economics as a major can choose from among five new language options: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, German, and Russian. These are in addition to the three Romance languages—French, Italian, and Spanish—already available.
Daniel Philpott, associate professor of political science and peace studies at Notre Dame, and Alvin Plantinga, John A. O’Brien Professor emeritus in the Department of Philosophy, were awarded 2013 book awards by Christianity Today. The magazine reviewed more than 450 entries to determine the best new book in each of 10 categories.
With sports injuries a growing concern, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) decided last year to create a centralized medical office to improve safety in college sports nationwide. And they hired a Domer to do it. In October, the NCAA named Dr. Brian Hainline ’78 as the NCAA’s first ever chief medical officer. At Notre Dame, Hainline took the Arts and Letters pre-med track, which allowed him to study philosophy, too.
The Spider-Man series, The Avengers, the X-Men series—these films, produced by Marvel Comics’ production company, Marvel Studios, are some of the highest-grossing films of the 21st century. All are based on characters and stories from Marvel comic books, and it’s the job of Bill Rosemann ’93 to keep those characters and stories coming. Rosemann, an editor at Marvel Comics’ New York office, read comics in his youth and majored in English at Notre Dame.
“I wanted to learn how to think and to challenge my beliefs and to learn about the world, and then learn how to engage that world when I got out of college—that’s what anthropology does,”" says Sarah McGough, a junior anthropology major in Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters and a student in the Glynn Family Honors Program.
University of Notre Dame Sociologist Elizabeth McClintock studies the impacts of physical attractiveness and age on mate selection and the effects of gender and income on relationships. Her research offers new insights into why and when Cupid’s arrow strikes.
For the 13th year in a row, the University of Notre Dame has earned a spot on Peace Corps’ annual list of the top volunteer-producing midsized colleges and universities across the country. With 23 alumni currently serving overseas as Peace Corps volunteers, the University ranks No. 18 and remains a solid source of individuals committed to making a difference at home and abroad. Since the agency was created in 1961, 865 Notre Dame alumni have served as Peace Corps volunteers.
University of Notre Dame theologians are reacting to the announcement by Pope Benedict XVI that he intends to resign from the papal post at the end of this month.
The University of Notre Dame will celebrate Valentine’s Day with the fourth annual SonnetFest—a communitywide public reading of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets as interpreted by members of the Notre Dame and Michiana communities. The event will be streamed live online for the first time this year at www.shakespeare.nd.edu.
Sylvester Schieber, who received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Notre Dame in 1974, was recently recognized by TIAA-CREF for his work on the history of the U.S. retirement system and the ways in which it could be improved. Schieber won the 17th annual TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security for his book The Predictable Surprise: The Unraveling of the U.S. Retirement System.
“The day of studying the New Testament text alone is over—as well it should be,” says John Fitzgerald, a professor in Notre Dame’s Department of Theology. “As important as the New Testament text is, it comes to life only when it is placed within a community and a society of other people.” In this video, Fitzgerald discusses his research on early Christian society, including issues such as unemployment and domestic violence.
University of Notre Dame alumnus and NASA shuttle veteran Kevin A. Ford spoke with his alma mater from his command post on the International Space Station. “I took a Russian class at Notre Dame. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would fly someday in a Russian spacecraft with two cosmonauts, speaking only Russian,” he says.
The Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States has selected MurphyKate Montee as a Churchill Scholar for the academic year 2013-2014. Montee, a senior mathematics and music (voice) double major in the Glynn Family Honors Program, is one of just 14 students in the United States to receive this honor.
There’s nothing quite like dipping one’s foot into the Dead Sea or speaking with participants of the 1965 Freedom Marches to bring perspective to classroom learning. Over fall break 2012, students in Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters took advantage of the week off to expand their educational experiences through travels abroad, around the nation, and across campus.
Thirteen design majors in the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Art, Art History & Design used their fall break to engage the local community with a “social design blitz.” In a single week, the students brainstormed, conceptualized, created, and exhibited three public, interactive art projects designed to help bridge the gap between downtown South Bend and the Notre Dame campus.