Around the turn of the fifth century, Hypatia was a prominent philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician living in the Roman Empire.

Today, she’s the figurehead of the Hypatia Scholars Program at the University of Notre Dame.

Housed in the Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values, the Hypatia Scholars Program is a yearlong experience that offers first-year science and engineering students a unique opportunity to explore big ideas about humanity and technology. With a close-knit cohort of other curious students, scholars enjoy stimulating discussions and cultural experiences in and out of the classroom.

While the program was established in 2025, it was a passion project years in the making.

Supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Teagle Foundation, Reilly Center leaders worked with faculty to figure out how they could get STEM students more engaged with the liberal arts. They explored different models of core education and teaching strategies, and the Hypatia Scholars Program was the final product.

“The arts and literature should be part of any well-rounded person’s life. When the students leave this University, I hope they are the kinds of scientists and engineers who go to the opera and the theater and read a novel — who do all these things that they did in Hypatia Scholars.”

— Robert Goulding, Reilly Center director and associate professor in the Program of Liberal Studies

“Science students sometimes see Arts & Letters core courses as a series of boxes they can check off to fulfill their requirements,” said Robert Goulding, an associate professor in the Program of Liberal Studies and director of the Reilly Center. “We wanted to give them a yearlong experience that would be transformative — that they’ll continue to think back on when they’re juniors or seniors doing their science and engineering research.”

The foundation of the program is two related humanities courses — one each semester of a scholar’s freshman year — that fulfill several University Core requirements, including the University Seminar. The class of 40 students meets twice a week, first for a lecture, then split into three groups for a discussion session.

Each semester, the class has a different theme. For the Fall 2025, students examined “Artificial Intelligence and the Soul,” and in the spring, it was “The Costs of Technology.”

The program doesn’t teach students how to use technology, but rather asks how it might change them. With the help of classic books like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Hypatia Scholars learn and discuss the nature of the mind and the origins of AI. In one assignment, students wrote an autobiographical essay and gave it to a chatbot to see how much it could and could not understand.

“They really began to see that there’s a difference in the way we tell our own stories versus what an AI agent is able to generate out of a statistical average of texts,” Goulding said. “We’re not saying that technology’s a bad thing, but we have to understand that every new technical breakthrough in some way changes what it is to be human. We have to keep in mind: What are we willing to lose? What are we willing to augment and gain from technology?”

These questions are increasingly difficult to answer, but scholars are encouraged to meet the challenge head-on.

They’re reading complex texts by Plato and Saint Augustine, as well as key articles in the modern philosophy of mind. They’re running experiments with their own technology use. And they’re already debating how the philosophical and ethical concepts they’re learning will impact the decisions they make as future scientists, engineers, and doctors.

“The amount of reading we’re doing — I’m learning to love it,” said Duncan Lefever, a first-year student majoring in civil engineering. “It’s important that I establish that love now because at the end of the day, my technical education is only four years, but a love of this style of learning is forever.”

Lefever applied for the program because, while he wants to be an engineer, he’s interested in everything in the liberal arts. Hypatia classmate Sissy Page said she applied knowing she wanted to study more humanities than she could get in her neuroscience major.

“A lot of my science classes are big lectures — just the professor giving information,” she said. “This class is more focused on what your opinion is and how we can look at life seeing the big picture, coming at it from different perspectives.”

Page is helping plan a Hypatia Scholars formal for the inaugural cohort, one of many cultural experiences that have been built into the program. Other opportunities include film screenings at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center’s Browning Cinema and trips to the Art Institute of Chicago and an opera.

While the formal isn’t an official piece of the program’s curriculum, it is evidence of how students have made their cohort into a community. Goulding said discussion groups bonded so much that, when given the opportunity to switch to a different group in the second semester, nobody opted to.

“I turned up on the first day of the spring semester with the same 14 faces in front of me,” he said. “They were so excited to be back together.”

While Hypatia Scholars are classmates only during their first year at Notre Dame, the personal connections they make will last far longer. The program offers older Hypatia Scholars opportunities to attend ongoing events and take additional classes with their professors. And while the program is still in its early stages, the program’s leaders are continually brainstorming new ways for students to stay involved.

Goulding said that studying the humanities turns Hypatia Scholars into strong writers, but he notes there are many ways to learn to write. The true value of engaging with the humanities, he said, is how courses open and stretch the mind.

Bringing that to more students is why the Reilly Center is committed to making the program the best it can be.

“The arts and literature should be part of any well-rounded person’s life,” Goulding said. “When the students leave this University, I hope they are the kinds of scientists and engineers who go to the opera and the theater and read a novel — who do all these things that they did in Hypatia Scholars.”

First-year students interested in the Hypatia Scholars program can visit reilly.nd.edu/undergraduate/hypatia-scholars.

Originally published by Adah McMillan at al.nd.edu on May 22, 2026.

The event began in the Jordan Hall Galleria with poster presentations by students enrolled in this semester's Contemporary Concerns in Medicine course as well as capstone projects by HHS seniors. Each student used their time to explain their research projects on health and medicine. Thank you to this year's poster judges: Laurel Daen, Marie Donahue, Andrew Evans, Kyle Karches, and Pyar Seth!

The evening continued with a keynote address from STV alumna Rachel Lovejoy who outlined her career at tech companies such as SpaceX and IBM and how her experiences as both a Notre Dame and STV graduate prepared her to tackle real world problems in relation to major topics such as space exploration, artificial intelligence, and healthcare.

Finally, the event concluded with an award ceremony to highlight the accomplishments of the Center's students and faculty alike, including the honoring of the first cohort of the Hypatia Scholars and the presenting of annual awards such as the Reilly Prize, the Storozynski Student Award, and the HHS Teaching Award.

The first day was organized around the judiciary, giving students an opportunity to learn about the ways that technical knowledge is integrated into the activities of federal courts as well as the role these courts play in deciding controversies pertaining to science and technology. Students visited the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit—a federal appeals court with subject matter jurisdiction over patents, international trade, government contracts, Veterans Affairs, and vaccine injury—where they visited the Center for Innovation and Law and learned about the history of American science and technology; attended oral arguments; and visited with the chief judge in her chambers. The day concluded with a visit to the Environmental Law Institute, a nonprofit organization that conducts research on and educates lawyers and judges about environmental science. The students learned about careers in environmental law and policy, from climate change to international conflict resolution concerns natural resources.

The second day focused on the legislative branch, beginning with a visit to the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, a congressional committee with jurisdiction over the federal government’s non-defense-related scientific research, including the National Science Foundation, the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Students heard from senior policy staff about the role of the committee—and Congress more generally—in formulating federal policy for science and technology. This was followed by a panel discussion with Notre Dame alumni who discussed careers on Capitol Hill, and concluded with a Capitol Tour, both in coordination with Notre Dame’s Washington Office.

The third and last day shifted the focus to the executive branch and international relations. It began with breakfast with Notre Dame staff and alumni at the University’s Washington Office from which the students proceeded to a visit to the embassy of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States. There the students met with EU officials, including Florent Bernard, the Counsellor for Research and Innovation at the delegation, and learned about the historical origins of the EU, international relations, and the importance of science diplomacy. Next, the group met with the director of the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, a new unit within the NSF that is experimenting with new ways of linking scientific research to societally beneficial outcomes.

After the NSF, the student visited the American Enterprise Institute, a leading “think tank” in Washington, where they heard from AEI staff about careers in public policy and met with senior fellow Christine Rose, author of The Extinction of Experience, who discussed the ethics of technology and the importance of being human in a digital age. Next the students visited the Department of Energy where they met with staff from the Office of Science, who discussed the DOE’s role in funding and conducting scientific research as well as public service careers in science. For the capstone dinner students had the opportunity to hear from Joseph Chapa, a U.S. Airforce officer and moral philosopher who works on the ethics of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence. The discussion ranged from philosophical questions about the nature of AI and the human person to recent controversies between leading AI companies and the Trump administration.

Hypatia students also enjoyed dinners together in Chicago, an overnight stay at the beautiful Beaux-Arts style Palmer House hotel, and a midnight excursion to the Bean, where we began our Fall field trip.

Each year, the Reilly Center hosts a public lecture on or about the birthday of the Victorian critic John Ruskin (February 8), asking the question, "How can the arts and humanities address our current crisis?"

This year's Ruskin Lecture was given on February 12 by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Mona Chalabi. In recent years, she has devoted her attention to the ongoing human disasters in Gaza, Sudan, and the Congo, and has used her professional skills as a data journalist and visual artist to turn the terrible, but mind-numbing statistics of death and casualty, into vivid images that allow the humanity of the victims to be seen again. In this lecture, she gave the audience a sense of her work over the last few years; but also reflected frankly on the frustrations she feels as a journalist: in particular, to watch the continuing destruction of the Palestinian people even in the face of such vividly presented evidence.

Her lecture was followed by a lively discussion, led by

Notre Dame professor Atalia Omer. After the lecture, Mona was very generous with her time both to faculty and undergraduate students, continuing a fascinating and provocative conversation about the ways that writing and art can break through the noise, and remind us of our common humanity with those who suffer in distant places. The Center is very grateful to Mona for another very memorable installment in the Ruskin Birthday Lecture series.

"I started boxing in the third week of school this semester. My older sister is a manager for the boxing club and she recommended that I join. From my first practice, I found the community to be incredibly supportive and the practices super fun. Boxing became a huge part of my life and something I looked forward to doing almost every day. Sparring was unlike anything I had ever done before. I consider myself to be a civilized person, so being put in a situation where it is acceptable to punch someone as hard as I could was crazy to me. Then came the tournament, the most terrifying three nights of my life. Each round would bring a new level of nervousness and anticipation, and then a wave of joy after I won. Boxing has been one of the biggest but most rewarding challenges I have faced thus far. I am so proud to be a 2025 Baraka Bouts Champion, and I look forward to participating again in the coming years! I absolutely recommend anyone considering it to try it out, especially if they’ve never done anything like it before. Who knows, you might win the whole thing!" -Lucy Graceffo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kio6n9InDhs&t=9776s

At the beginning of November, the Hypatia Scholars took its first field trip to the Art Institute of Chicago, where the students engaged in the process of “slow looking” at works of art.

“Slow looking” is a term coined by Shari Tishman, a researcher at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, in which viewers “move beyond a first impression and create a more immersive experience.”

Each Hypatia Scholar was asked to choose two works from the Art Institute’s massive collection and sit with it for ten minutes, before answering a series of questions about what they see, think, and feel.

This kind of patient and deliberate approach to seeing and thinking is one that the Hypatia Scholars program seeks to engender in its scholars. It is a habit of mind that is a radical act in a world in which AI and other technologies present us with convenient time-saving shortcuts.

Fundamentally, Dr. Gamez inquires into what the prospects of AI are for human, or posthuman, liberation. Posthumanists tend to think that new and emerging technologies are valuable tools for escaping the constraints of our cultural, political, and evolutionary histories. To the contrary, Dr. Gamez argues that the use of AI in the practices of contemporary surveillance capitalism reveals a striking nihilism, raising deep questions about how we construe minds at all.

Published in the Palgrave Studies in the Future of Humanity and Its Successors series, this work is sure to spark debate about the limits of artificial intelligence and human self-understanding well into the future.

The Species Catalogue is an online database where members of the Notre Dame community can submit flora and fauna found across ND’s campuses. Beyond providing information on how to experience the various species around campus, the catalogue also features poems inspired by encounters with each species written by the Notre Dame community. 

Each species also includes a Resident Expert on campus and their contact information if one wants to learn more about them. 

Submissions are open for findings or poetry - all ages and abilities are welcome to submit. 

The Species Catalogue can be found here.

The Franco Institute Dissertation Fellows Program aims to help outstanding graduate students make significant progress on their dissertations.

After retiring from the Air Force in 2006, Maj. Gen. Latiff - who also received his PhD in material science from Notre Dame - returned to the Reilly Center to develop the course in order to provide students with the resources to think carefully about the moral choices that armed conflict makes so difficult, but so necessary. Since its inception, it has been a cornerstone of the Reilly Center's course offerings, serving students, for example, in the Science, Technology, and Values program, the Notre Dame International Security Center, exploring how contemporary technologies should be viewed through the lens of Just War Theory. At the time, it was one of the only such courses in the country, and Dr. Latiff's work was noted by national media, which ultimately led to the publication of his first book, Future War: Preparing for the New Global Battlefield (Knopf, 2017); a later fellowship at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study led to a second, Future Peace: Technology, Aggression, and the Rush to War (University of Notre Dame, 2022).

The conference featured keynote speeches from John R. Emery (University of Oklahoma), Claire Finkelstein (Penn Carey Law School), Christian Enemark (University of Southampton), covering issues from the continuing transformation of drone warfare in the Russia-Ukraine conflict to thorny issues around the assignment of responsibility for autonomous weapons. With closing reflections on a lifetime of service both military and academic from Maj. Gen. Latiff ending the event on a high note, the conference was not only a successful celebration,but a showcase of cutting edge research around contemporary challenges to Just War Theory and the Laws of Armed Conflict, and a lively occasion to develop and refine work in progress.

Just Future Wars was supported by the College of Arts & Letters, the Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Public Good, the Notre Dame International Security Center, the Department of Physics, and the Department of Philosophy.

Joe Alcock MD

University of New Mexico, Department of Emergency Medicine

Did you know that the bacteria and microorganisms in our bodies are just as numerous—if not greater—than our own human cells? Or that modern, industrialized people sleep less than our ancestors? These are familiar facts, but the real question is: how do they connect?

Dr. Joe Alcock, an emergency medicine physician and researcher at the University of New Mexico, visited Notre Dame to explain how our microbiome and circadian rhythms are intertwined, and its associations with various health consequences.

These are some key takeaways:

1. Gut Microbiome and Human Health

• Our microbes equal or outnumber human cells and carry 100 times more genes.

• The gut microbiome has its own circadian rhythm, regulating digestion, immunity, and metabolism.

• Sleep and eating disruptions interfere with microbial cycles.

2. Sleep and Circadian Rhythms

• People today sleep 5–7 hours on average, less than pre-industrial humans.

• Compared to other primates, humans sleep less, on average. However, REM sleep makes up a greater share in humans than in other primates.

• Sleep supports immunity, metabolism, and microbial stability.

• Maybe we aren’t sleep deprived? Current hunter-gatherer communities sleep, on average, 5-7 hours (less than CDC recommended) and are healthy.

3. Consequences of Sleep Disruption

• Night shifts and late nights are linked to:

• Metabolic issues, weight gain, and pre-diabetes.

• Higher risks of breast and prostate cancer.

• Reduced sleep efficiency and chronic sleep deprivation.

• How does shift work impact microbial oscillations?

• Day-shift workers show strong microbial rhythms.

• Night-shift workers show weakened rhythms.

• Germ-free mice study suggest that disrupted microbial cycles promote weight gain.

4. Evolutionary Perspective – Gene–Environment Mismatch

• Humans evolved under natural light-dark cycles; artificial light and irregular schedules cause a mismatch between genes and environment.

• Group safety once influenced sleep architecture; difficulty sleeping in new places (“first night effect”)

• Falling asleep instantly may indicate sleep deprivation, not health.

• Eating at night worsens circadian misalignment; microbes may even drive food cravings via satiety hormones.

• GLP1 drugs (i.e Ozempic) have an interesting association with sleep apnea, sleep quality.

In the paper, Dr. Evans challenges what qualifies a condition of the mind to be considered a "mental disorder" by examining the current theoretical approaches used to define mental disorders - naturalism, normativism, and hybridism.

Evans raises the following questions: 

"Are biological and social norms the only sorts of norms relevant to mental disorder?  Should addressing norm deviations continue to be a major focus of mental healthcare?"

Link to the full article can be found here.

Congratulations Josh Tonkel, the 2025 HPS Sloan Prize recipient. The Sloan Prize is presented to an advanced HPS graduate student who is thought to embody the values of scholarship and service exemplified by one of the founders of our Program, emeritus professor Phil Sloan.