Latest News

Political scientist Karrie Koesel to testify before Congressional-Executive Commission on China

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Faculty News

The associate professor will discuss the People’s Republic of China’s strategies for asserting party control over religion, especially through sinicization, which calls on religious believers to integrate party loyalty into all aspects of religious life. She'll offer recommendations for how Congress and the Biden administration can effectively advocate for freedom of religion in China.

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Political scientist Jeff Harden co-authors book detailing how government transparency benefits special interest groups, not citizenry

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research and Faculty News

“There are more groups that register to lobby in states with open meetings and they donate more to incumbent politicians," said the Andrew J. McKenna Family Associate Professor of Political Science. "This leads to an ironic conclusion: The laws don’t make citizen representation better, they make it better for interest groups, which aren’t representative of the general public. Because citizens are not fulfilling their role in that relationship, lobbyists are coming in.”

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Assistant professor Chloe Gibbs to serve on Council of Economic Advisers

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research and Faculty News

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve in this capacity, and hope I can use my skills and expertise to solve problems that affect people’s daily lives, particularly those of children and families." Gibbs' one-year tenure begins this month on the council charged with offering the president of the United States objective economic advice based on data, research, and evidence to support the formulation of both domestic and international policy.

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Economists' first multigenerational study of Head Start shows significant gains for second generation

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research and Faculty News

It's important to understand how programs affect the cycle of poverty, said Chloe Gibbs, assistant professor of economics. “Head Start set the first-generation kids on a different trajectory, and now their kids are better off. I think this is exactly what we hope to do through these kinds of social programs.”

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Lee Gettler's multi-decade research links fathers’ testosterone production to their adolescent experiences with their own dads

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, Faculty News, and Alumni

Fathers remain understudied when it comes to contributions they make to their children's health and well-being. “There’s a lot of interest in how dads and other caregivers can help shape the future health of children, and this new work provides insights about the biology that may contribute to those outcomes,”

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Psychologists research how COVID pivot affected students and faculty at more than 80 universities

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Undergraduate News, Research, General News, and Faculty News

Even after accounting for demographic variables (gender, race/ethnicity, parental educational attainment), researchers found that undergraduate students who reported greater pandemic-induced stress tended to have greater test anxiety and were less confident in their computer skills.

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Sociologist Anna Haskins testifies at National Academies session on intergenerational poverty

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, and Faculty News

Anna Haskins, the Andrew V. Tackes Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame, was one of eight experts asked to testify at a public information-gathering session on policies and programs to reduce intergenerational poverty. The webinar, sponsored by the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, was centered on outcomes resulting from current child welfare and justice systems. Haskins is a former elementary school teacher, and much of her academic work focuses on the intersection of family and the educational and criminal justice systems and how these institutions preserve and mitigate social inequality. 

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Ukrainian Byzantine priest and theology Ph.D. candidate leads prayer service at Basilica of the Sacred Heart in solidarity with Ukraine

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Graduate Students, General News, and Catholicism

In a show of solidarity with Ukraine, a prayer service for the people of Ukraine was held Monday evening at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. The Basilica was filled to capacity for the vigil, led by Father Andrij Hlabse, S.J., a theology doctoral candidate and Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic priest. Father Hlabse welcomed the congregation in English, Ukrainian, and Russian, expressing solidarity with the people of Ukraine. He then reflected on his time as an undergraduate at Notre Dame when he would look to the Golden Dome and pray. He noted the numerous golden domes that likewise adorn many churches in Ukraine. 

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Psychologist's study finds supportive early childhood environments can help decrease effects of trauma

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, Graduate Students, General News, and Faculty News

Researchers know that experiencing a high number of adverse events in childhood correlates with worse health outcomes in adulthood. These studies have led to an emphasis on trauma-informed practice in schools and workplaces in an attempt to mitigate the harm of early adversity. At the other end of the spectrum, focusing on wellness, Darcia Narvaez, emerita professor of psychology, has helped identify humanity’s baseline for childhood care. In a first-of-its-kind study conducted by Narvaez and doctoral student Mary Tarsha and published in the journal Anxiety, Stress and Coping, results show that positive childhood experiences can help buffer the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on physiological health in adult women.

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Sociologist's research shows gay men earn undergraduate and graduate degrees at the highest rate in the U.S.

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, and Faculty News

Using new data, Notre Dame sociologist Joel Mittleman analyzed how sexuality shapes academic performance in unprecedented detail. Mittleman found that gay men’s academic success doesn’t just subtly outshine straight men’s. Roughly 52 percent of gay men in the U.S. have a bachelor’s degree, while the overall national number for all adults in the U.S. is 36 percent. Six percent of gay men in the U.S. have an advanced degree (J.D., M.D., or Ph.D.), which is about 50 percent higher than that of straight men. 

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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to deliver Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government’s 2021 Tocqueville Lecture

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: General News and Centers and Institutes

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas will deliver the 2021 Tocqueville Lecture for the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government on Sept. 16. As part of his visit, Thomas will co-teach a one-credit undergraduate course with Vincent Phillip Muñoz, who is also the founding director of the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government. 

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Federal government commitment necessary to protect voting rights for historically marginalized people, ILS director and political scientist tells Congress

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: General News and Faculty News

Luis Fraga, the Rev. Donald P. McNeill, C.S.C., Professor of Transformative Latino Leadership at the University of Notre Dame, testified via Zoom at the House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties hearing on “The Need to Enhance the Voting Rights Act: Practice-Based Coverage.” The hearing took place as Congress is considering amending section 4 of the Voting Rights Act via the John Lewis Voting Rights Act (also known as H.R. 4) that would revive and strengthen parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act addresses a 2013 Supreme Court decision that eliminated preclearance rules.

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Dashboard developed by Notre Dame economists could serve as early warning system for state-level recessions, other economic shocks

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, and Faculty News

The spread of COVID-19 was rapid and relentless, and so were its effects on economies worldwide. Knowing how state economies withstand economic shocks in near-real time can be beneficial for policymakers who have the power to enact strategies to counteract the negative impact. Notre Dame researchers developed the first near-real-time dashboard that tracks weekly state-level economic conditions.

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Fraga to testify before House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, and Faculty News

Luis Fraga, the Rev. Donald P. McNeill, C.S.C., Professor of Transformative Latino Leadership at the University of Notre Dame, was invited to testify at the House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties hearing on “The Need to Enhance the Voting Rights Act: Practice-Based Coverage.” Fraga, who is an expert in Latino politics, politics of race and ethnicity, urban politics and voting rights policy, also provided a report to the subcommittee on “Vote Dilution and Voter Disenfranchisement in United States History.” In the report, Fraga chronicles myriad attempts to keep different minority groups from voting beginning with the founding of the country, through the 1975 expansion and renewal of the Voting Rights Act. 

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Political science professors sign statement warning of threats to US democracy

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, and Faculty News

Five Notre Dame professors who specialize in different areas of democracy studies recently signed a strong statement of concern issued by the think tank New America warning of the serious threats to democracy in the U.S. Notre Dame is a longtime leader in research on democratization in comparative perspective through a number of campus institutes, and the American politics subfield that is part of the Department of Political Science emphasizes research on inclusion.

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New study by Sarah Mustillo, A&L dean and sociologist, analyzes parent permissiveness of teen drinking during quarantine

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, and Faculty News

A new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health by Sarah Mustillo, the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the University of Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters and a professor of sociology, and colleagues reveals one in six parents allowed teens to drink during quarantine.

 

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Economist Jim Sullivan to testify on successful anti-poverty programs at US House committee meeting

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, Faculty News, and Centers and Institutes

The Worker and Family Support Subcommittee at the Ways and Means Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives invited Jim Sullivan, the Gilbert F. Schaefer College Professor of Economics and co-founder of the Wilson Sheehan Lab For Economic Opportunities at the University of Notre Dame, to testify at its upcoming hearing “Health Profession Opportunity Grants: Past Successes and Future Uses.”

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Sociologist finds that ‘mom guilt’ and work hours rise in pandemic parenting, but so does quality family time

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, and Faculty News

Notre Dame sociologist Abigail Ocobock has interviewed 80 parents with at least one child in elementary or middle school. All of the parents work full time and are expected to facilitate e-learning for their children. Popular media and academic studies have highlighted how working moms experience significant guilt. Ocobock found that the effects of COVID-19 increased the level of guilt.

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Anthropologist's study becomes first to define link between testosterone and fathers’ social roles outside the family

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, Internationalism, General News, and Faculty News

Most of the research on the biology of fatherhood has focused on fathers in the U.S., Europe and some Asian countries. In these settings, levels of some hormones, such as lower testosterone and higher oxytocin, have been linked to more nurturing fathering. A Notre Dame research team wants to take a wider view. The role of fathers can vary greatly across cultures, and the researchers aimed to test whether the biology of fatherhood did, too. To get a more complete picture of hormones and fatherhood that includes different cultures, social support systems, and social hierarchies, Lee Gettler, associate professor of anthropology, led a team that worked with the BaYaka and Bondongo societies in the Republic of the Congo. The team’s paper was published this week in Nature magazine’s Scientific Reports.

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First gender parity review of psychological science shows some successes amid persistent problems

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, and Faculty News

Women in the academic field of psychology are overrepresented at the undergraduate level but, ultimately, underrepresented at senior levels. No gender parity reviews of the discipline had been conducted until a group of scholars, including Lee Anna Clark, the William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Professor of Psychology, decided to take on the task. Clark and the other researchers found that women are less likely to apply for tenure-track positions; however, those who do apply are equally if not more likely to be hired than men.

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Americans actively engaging in collectivism as financial buoy, Institute for Latino Studies scholar finds

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, and Faculty News

The economic effects of the coronavius in the U.S. have brought Americans’ preexisting financial precarity into stark focus. Karen Richman, director of undergraduate studies at Notre Dame's Institute for Latino Studies, found in a recent study that many people in the U.S. are relying on informal networks of family and friends to stay afloat.

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Economists conclude opioid crisis responsible for millions of children living apart from parents

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, Faculty News, and Centers and Institutes

A recent study by University of Notre Dame economists Kasey Buckles, William Evans, and Ethan Lieber — all affiliated with Notre Dame’s Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) — found that greater exposure to the opioid crisis increases the chance that a child’s mother or father is absent from the household and increases the likelihood that he or she lives in a household headed by a grandparent.

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Economists find that most productive workforce may require indefinite affirmative action

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, and Faculty News

Assistant Professor of Economics Michèle Müller-Itten and her co-author, Aniko Öry from Yale University, created a model to investigate what workforce compositions would naturally emerge in a labor market and which would maximize total productivity. Their results show it is often best for optimal efficiency if the minority group is overrepresented in the workforce relative to the majority — a conclusion that flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that affirmative action will eventually be obsolete.

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Most comprehensive study yet of Latinx U.S. immigration agents shows economic self-interest drives decisions to join ICE

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, Internationalism, General News, and Faculty News

Research by David Cortez, assistant professor of political science, found that Latinxs — regardless of their preferred national/ethnic identity, their identification with the immigrant experience or their attitude toward immigrants — choose to work in immigration for their own economic interest.

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Self-regulation prime reason for slowed mobility during coronavirus lockdown, economists find

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, and Faculty News

To get a clearer picture of people’s mobility in the U.S. during the lockdown period, William Evans and Christopher Cronin, economics researchers at Notre Dame, gathered and analyzed all U.S. coronavirus-related state and local orders and compared them with geolocation data collected across 40 million cellular devices that have opted-in to location sharing services.

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Shaw Center continues community work with virtual outreach

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, Faculty News, and Centers and Institutes

At Notre Dame’s William J. Shaw Center for Children and Families, psychology experts address and study other aspects of health that contribute to healthy family life. Having to turn a physical space that is normally bustling with moms and dads and their children into a virtual environment that preserves research continuity and continues to provide services is not easy, but that’s exactly what the Shaw Center researchers and staff are doing. Several programs at the center have been converted to a telehealth model, including the child and family therapy clinic and a number of parenting programs such as the Notre Dame Families & Babies Study (ND-FABS). 

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Study of Earth Day at 50: Good weather increases commitment to environmental activism, can lower birth defects

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research and Faculty News

In a first-of-its-kind study, released by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) today, economics professor Daniel Hungerman and graduate student Vivek Moorthy investigated the long-term effects of that momentous eco-celebration, studying how the event and the weather that day affected people’s attitudes toward conservation and their health years later.

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James Webb, former senator and secretary of the Navy, named inaugural distinguished fellow at Notre Dame International Security Center

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, Faculty News, and Centers and Institutes

Notre Dame’s International Security Center (NDISC) has named James Webb its first distinguished fellow. Webb — a Vietnam Marine combat veteran, former senator, and former secretary of the Navy — is a national security and foreign policy specialist and the author of 10 books. “It is an honor and a distinct pleasure to be working with the leadership and students of Notre Dame,” Webb said. “I look forward to both teaching and learning through my interactions over the coming months.”

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Sociologist finds teachers’ biases when rating first-graders’ academic skills based on learning behavior

Author: Colleen Sharkey

Categories: Research, General News, and Faculty News

A recent study, co-authored by a Notre Dame sociologist, shows how educators’ racial and gender biases affect their assessments of students’ academic skills based on noncognitive skills, which include behavior, class participation, self-discipline and interpersonal skills. Using a national dataset, Calvin Zimmermann examined how first-grade teachers’ perceptions of students’ approach to learning can affect how they rate those students’ academic skills. 

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