tag:research.nd.edu,2005:/newsNotre Dame Research | News2022-05-20T11:00:00-04:00tag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1457292022-05-20T11:00:00-04:002022-05-20T11:03:08-04:00Of Faith and Reason: Reflecting on Sr. Kathleen Cannon's 32 years at Notre Dame<p>As she plans for her retirement in June 2022, her passion for everything—from advising to preaching to championing women and diversity—shines as brightly as her faith.</p><p>Sr. Kathleen Cannon’s teachers in elementary and high school were supportive and excellent educators, fostering her love of mathematics – especially geometry – which she carried into college as she pursued a major in mathematics.</p>
<figure class="image-right"><img alt="Sr. Kathleen Cannon gives award at Dean's Luncheon" height="546" src="https://science.nd.edu/assets/472784/34886729075_04315f5f50_o_wecompress.com_.jpg">
<figcaption>Sister Cannon presents award to a Collegiate Sequence student</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But her teachers, Dominican sisters, were so much more than simply skillful. <a href="https://science.nd.edu/about/office-of-the-dean/cannon/">Sister Cannon, O.P., D. Min, now associate dean of in the University of Notre Dame’s College of Science</a>, whose duties include advising students in the science-business, science-education, and science-computing majors, saw how they made such an important contribution to the world. From watching and learning from them, she realized from the time she was in second grade that her vocations would be in teaching and religious life.</p>
<p>“I remember thinking that this was a lot bigger than just teaching second grade,” said Sister Cannon, who held the position of associate provost at Notre Dame from 1990-1997 before moving into the College of Science as an associate dean. “They were changing the world in some way.”</p>
<p>Sister Cannon grew up in Pittsburgh, Pa., as the oldest girl and the oldest of 11 children. Like any child with a dream, she practiced for her future job, and began with her brothers, whom she implored to “play school” with her as the teacher. But although they all majored in mathematics like she did, she was the only one who entered religious life, choosing to join the Dominican Sisters of Peace as a religious sister.</p>
<p>As she plans for her retirement, her passion for everything—from advising to preaching to championing women and diversity—shines as brightly as her faith.</p>
<p>“Her background, not just in science but also in theology, means she has brought sensitivity to the ways that faith and reason complement each other and are necessary,” said <a href="https://science.nd.edu/about/office-of-the-dean/foster/">Rev. James Foster, C.S.C, M.D, associate dean of health sciences advising</a>—who himself was a physician with board certification in internal medicine and infectious diseases before entering Congregation of Holy Cross to become a priest.</p>
<p>Sister Cannon’s father, a conductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and her mother, a budding journalist who became a homemaker after Sister Cannon was born, didn’t treat her any differently from her brothers. When she was a junior in high school, her father told her, “you may not believe this, but it is really important for you to go to college.”</p>
<p>His advice was highly unusual at the time. But she listened, and after college she taught high school mathematics and religion at an all-girls academy in New Haven, Connecticut. Later, she taught at Albertus Magnus College, an all-women’s Dominican college also in New Haven. She taught men how to preach for years in her role as a Dominican—the O.P., after all, stands for Order of Preachers. Before arriving at Notre Dame, she served as a faculty member at Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union, where she taught preaching, and held visiting positions in preaching at Princeton Theological Seminary and Wesley Methodist Seminary.</p>
<p>In lectures recorded in 1987 and 2000, Sister Cannon strongly makes the case for the importance of women’s preaching. She engages her audience with a conversational, humble, and even humorous tone, despite the serious discussion of her stance on female and lay involvement in the liturgy. Involving more groups into the liturgy can only benefit all members of the Church, she stressed, and her language was inclusive of men and women, laypeople and ordained clergy. </p>
<p>Her measured pace, steady voice, and consistent eye contact give the audience confidence in her position. She takes into account theological and practical concerns, grounding her detailed-oriented argument both in its historical context and its relevance to the faithful today. </p>
<p>“I have a storage unit, and I actually kept her notes from 35 years ago,” said <a href="https://fathermauricejnutt.com/about-father-maurice/">Rev. Maurice Nutt, </a>one of Sister Cannon’s former students and the first Black American to have earned a Catholic doctorate degree in preaching. “Kathleen was very particular about diction and enunciation, and was very critical of that with me, but she was kind and highlighted that I had a gift for preaching, and told me she knew I would be a good preacher.”</p>
<p>All Christians realize that their very first preachers were women—their mothers, Father Nutt said. It was previously common for women to teach preaching, even to Catholic priests, despite not preaching homilies in their parishes.</p>
<p>“Reflecting on this, I realize what a gift she gave me by teaching me to do something she couldn’t, which is the Eucharistic liturgy,” Father Nutt said. “She loved the church so much that she made that sacrifice; there is no greater love for the Church than to give the best of your gifts.”</p>
<p>Cannon may have been the first—and perhaps only—woman in the United States to be granted canonical faculties to preach whenever necessary. In 1976, while on the staff at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut, she approached then-Archbishop John Whelan about preaching because there was no priest chaplain. Whelan allowed the exception.</p>
<p>The exception was a big deal, said <a href="https://theology.nd.edu/people/mary-catherine-hilkert/">Sr. Mary Catherine Hilkert</a>, O.P., professor in the Department of Theology department at Notre Dame, who, like Sister Cannon, is a Dominican Sister of Peace. She explained that while women or lay persons were increasingly involved in a variety of preaching ministries in the decade after the Second Vatican Council, it was rare for an archbishop to grant official authority to preach whenever needed. </p>
<p>Always a champion for women in academia, Sister Cannon more fully understood some of the differences in learning styles between men and women after being hired at Notre Dame. For instance, an engineering professor once asked for her guidance because he wanted more women to pursue advanced degrees.</p>
<p>“The women are doing better than the men, but the men have no hesitation; they say they are good enough for advanced degrees,” Sister Cannon recalls him saying. “The women don’t believe they are.”</p>
<p>Though the number of women in engineering and computing has increased, at the time, Sister Cannon noticed that some of the issues are ingrained and reinforced; when people told women they are not good at computing, for example, women internalized those comments. And on tests, men who did poorly moved past their disappointment more quickly, deciding they would do better next time.</p>
<p>“But if a woman did poorly on a test, she’d say, ‘oh, I’m not meant to be a mathematician, or an artist, or an engineer,’” Sister Cannon continued, adding that women are not internalizing critique as much as they did 25 years ago. “I found that women needed more check-ins along the way to assure them that they are on the right track.”</p>
<p>Similarly, Sister Cannon has been attentive to promoting diversity, even before many people discussed the importance of inclusion, Foster said, which led her to continually push for hiring and championing faculty members who are historically underrepresented in the sciences.</p>
<p>“Diversity is really important— it triggers or stimulates ideas when people who don’t think the same way that I do come together,” she said. “It sparks something. It’s also so important for both men and women to do science and engineering.”</p>
<figure class="image-left"><img alt="Kathleen Cannon 275" height="275" src="https://science.nd.edu/assets/197168/kathleen_cannon_275.jpg" width="275"></figure>
<p>To assure diversity, Sister Cannon, in her role as associate provost, stressed that staff and faculty families needed to be supported, and that there was a work-life balance for everyone.</p>
<p>Sister Cannon had also been serving on the board for the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Saint Mary’s College, which was open to Notre Dame staff and faculty but had a hopelessly long wait list. She set up a committee with faculty and staff at Notre Dame and investigated how other universities handled daycare, with the goal of providing the best service possible to the community.</p>
<p>“It was very important that it not be a place only for faculty children,” Sister Cannon said. “We developed a sliding scale, so that people who were administrators, or their salaries were higher, were required to pay more.</p>
<p>“When we unveiled this, people said ‘that will never work; people will never want to pay different prices,’ but we had a waitlist that first year.”</p>
<p>The committee decided it was important to build the center on campus for more than simple convenience. Sister Cannon wanted students to see both men and women dropping their children off, or stopping by to have lunch with their children, or teaching an art class, “so that everyone can see that fathering is just as important as mothering.”</p>
<p>The doors of Notre Dame’s ECDC opened in 1997, and about a year later, Sister Cannon moved into the College of Science and took the reins of the science-business, science-computing and science-education sequence, which had fewer than 20 students. Students majoring in science business enroll in 64 credit hours of science, and take introductory business courses in accounting, finance, marketing and management, along with microeconomics and an upper-level elective. Students may decide to go into business at a health care agency, but many students also pursue physical therapy, physician assisting, global or public health, or health care consulting, Sister Cannon said.</p>
<p>During her tenure, Sister Cannon grew the majors from 20 students to more than 250.</p>
<p>“Some students’ parents who are physicians have said they would give anything to have had a curriculum like this, so they wouldn’t have had to have taught themselves everything,” she said.</p>
<p>In her role, Sister Cannon has exhibited a kind, empathetic response to students and enjoys getting to know them beyond their academic needs. Fr. Foster, the associate dean of health science advising, said she even taught him—a priest and physician who already understood a holistic notion of engaging with people to determine their true needs—a different level of mentoring.</p>
<p>As an advisor, Sister Cannon, known as “Pastor Cannon” among her friends, has always shown a desire to know the students on a deeper level. Often, students will visit with an advisor with one question, but in truth have a deeper issue or just feel like venting.</p>
<p>“It’s not like she will probe, but she invites people into a relationship to be who they are,” Father Foster said. “She’s also very good at finding out connections she has with people, and is very sensitive to issues related to finding ways to provide opportunities equitably, so that all people feel welcomed and supported.”</p>
<p>The supportive environment Cannon created was important to Rahul Ramani ’18, who is now in medical school at Kansas City University in the doctor of osteopathic medicine program. Sister Cannon helped him navigate through a circuitous path, rife with average grades primarily because he took on too many responsibilities. Ramani was a tour guide, a physics lab teaching assistant, a member of the Notre Dame Glee Club and Notre Dame Undertones acapella group, a student union board member, and worked at WVFI Radio.</p>
<p>He’s someone who relies heavily on the advice of others, he said, so whenever he struggled, he visited Sister Cannon’s office to chat.</p>
<p>“I remember her always laughing because my nature in undergrad was very disorganized, and I would come into her office like a tornado,” he said. “And she would tell me, ‘you’re doing so much, and that’s really impressive, but I think you’re doing too much.’</p>
<p>Sister Cannon helped him navigate his path to medical school since she knew he was a student who would not immediately be admitted, he said.</p>
<p>“She was always calm and centered, and faith plays a huge role there, but she also had many years of experience dealing with pre-med majors and that probably also lent her to having a calming presence.”</p>
<p>Before his cohort’s science-business degree ceremony, Sister Cannon reached out to him to perform a solo for the graduates. Ramani wasn’t the only musician, but she knew that many of the other students had already been accepted to medical school and had other victories to celebrate that day.</p>
<p>“That was really important to me,” he said. “She valued that I was accomplished outside of academics alone and saw commencement as an opportunity to celebrate and showcase my other successes."</p>
<p>Sister Cannon also has a surprisingly wry sense of humor, Ramani said, but that’s well known to her friends, including Hilkert and <a href="https://anthropology.nd.edu/people/faculty/susan-sheridan/">Susan Sheridan</a>, associate professor of anthropology. Sheridan met Hilkert and Cannon through connections she made while completing research at a Dominican monastery in Jerusalem.</p>
<p>Sheridan, in her lab surrounded by skulls and drawers with every type of bone fragment possible, shared that she, Hilkert and Cannon—two Dominican sisters and herself, a Methodist —joked that Cannon and Hilkert were her spiritual mothers.</p>
<p>In part because of the coronavirus pandemic, their friend group hasn’t had a chance to get together. But Sheridan saw Sister Cannon recently during one of the lectures in a series Sister Cannon started —the Distinguished Women’s Lecture Series (which now bears her name, the Kathleen Cannon, O.P., Distinguished Women’s Lecture Series). </p>
<p>“She sponsored somebody that we brought in as a department and I was just sitting there waiting for the lecture to begin, and she came in and just literally walked right up to me and gave me a Kathy equivalent of a bear hug,” she said.</p>
<p>Sheridan found it interesting that even though Sister Cannon established the series, she didn’t tout that fact to the speakers, and they had know way of knowing that her efforts paved the way for their lecture on campus. </p>
<p>“She doesn’t take credit, and maybe this is my Protestantism coming out, but I know I was always taught to make donations anonymously…you do good works without having to bring a lot of attention to yourself,” Sheridan continued, “And she certainly embodies that.”</p>
<p>In addition, Cannon also embodies the qualities needed in an effective facilitator. <a href="https://mendoza.nd.edu/mendoza-directory/profile/?slug=carl-ackermann">Carl Ackermann</a>, Nolan Professorship for Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction and teaching professor in the Mendoza College of Business, joked that he gauges the importance of a meeting on whether Sister Cannon is attending.</p>
<p>Several years ago Ackermann was gearing up for a potentially contentious meeting, and wondered how the issue would be handled. Relief washed over him when he noticed Sr. Cannon in the room to facilitate.</p>
<p>“I just laughed at myself because I thought, you know, whatever issues might be contentious to people at the moment, they're just going to disappear,” he said. “The skill set with which she facilitated that meeting and built consensus and community is something that I'll always remember.”</p>
<p>Though Cannon said she believes her facilitation of the ECDC development is the most important mark she’s left at the University, it’s the little things—from writing prayer cards to advising students, to listening to colleagues and ushering guidance with a calm, steady hand—that others say are their fondest memories with her.</p>
<p>Sister Cannon, in her role as associate provost, shepherded Carolyn Woo, who served as dean of the Mendoza College of Business from 1997 to 2011, through Woo’s interview process in 1996. Sister Cannon’s warmth and hospitality put Woo at ease, and also gave her a sense of the culture and tone of the University, Woo said.</p>
<p>“When i got ready to leave, she realized that I had hardly eaten because the meetings during meals were taken up with conversation,” Woo said. “She was concerned about me, and I did not want to delay my return trip—and out of her desk drawer came some crackers.</p>
<p>“They provided sustenance not only as food, but the first of many gracious acts of support just when I needed.”</p>
<p>The example is just one of many that people shared when describing Sister Cannon’s overall demeanor; in fact, the list of people whose behavior Ackermann said he tries to emulate is short, and Cannon is on that list. Father Foster agreed.</p>
<p>“She is a very good friend to everyone; very attentive. Very loyal. Very thoughtful. Very supportive,” he said as he looked back over Cannon’s career at Notre Dame. “She is the voice of the integration of faith and reason, and how that informs our Catholic mission.”</p>
<p><em>Naya Tadavarthy ‘22 contributed to this report.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Deanna Csomo Ferrell</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://science.nd.edu/news/of-faith-and-reason-reflecting-on-sr-kathleen-cannons-32-years-at-notre-dame/">science.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 19, 2022</span>.</p>Deanna Csomo Ferrelltag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1457312022-05-20T11:00:00-04:002022-05-20T11:03:25-04:00Twenty-seven Notre Dame students named 2022-23 Fulbright US Student Program finalists<p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Twenty-seven University of Notre Dame students have been selected as finalists, and another seven as alternates, for the 2022-23 Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Established in 1946, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program, assisting graduate and undergraduate students with pursuing graduate study, teaching English or researching abroad.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Twenty-seven University of Notre Dame students have been selected as finalists, and another seven as alternates, for the 2022-23 Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The number of finalists, including 23 undergraduate students and four graduate students, is one more than last year despite 13 fewer applicants. Results are pending for one Notre Dame student. Awards are contingent upon host country approvals, medical clearance and submission of all required grant documents.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Established in 1946, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program, assisting graduate and undergraduate students with pursuing graduate study, teaching English or researching abroad.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Notre Dame had 26 Fulbright finalists last year and 29 the year before that. It had a record 39 for the 2017-18 academic year. It has been among the top-producing Fulbright institutions for eight years running, alongside other top research institutions in the U.S.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">In applying for the program, undergraduate students work closely with the </span></span><a href="http://cuse.nd.edu"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none"><span style="text-decoration-skip-ink:none">Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal"> (CUSE) and graduate students with the </span></span><a href="https://graduateschool.nd.edu/graduate-training/research-communication/the-office-of-grants-and-fellowships/"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none"><span style="text-decoration-skip-ink:none">Office of Grants and Fellowships</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Jeffrey Thibert is the Paul and Maureen Stefanick Director of CUSE.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">“Congratulations to the 27 finalists and seven alternates for the 2022-23 Fulbright U.S. Student Program. And congratulations, too, to all of the 96 students and alumni who applied this year,” Thibert said. “Hopefully you all learned something about how to prepare applications from the process, whether or not this particular one was successful. I would like to thank all of the Notre Dame faculty and staff who formally serve on our campus committee and who informally serve as mentors to our applicants. Finally, I’d like to especially thank this year’s CUSE Fulbright advisers: Elise Rudt, Mathilda Nassar, Jenny Smith and </span></span>Noémi Toroczkai<span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">. Our advisers play a crucial role in ensuring that applicants learn something from this process, and their work can’t be valued enough.”</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><a href="https://www.nd.edu/about/leadership/council/laura-carlson/"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none"><span style="text-decoration-skip-ink:none">Laura Carlson</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">, vice president, associate provost and dean of the Graduate School, said, “</span></span><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">As an academic institution, Notre Dame is committed to having a global impact. The continued success of our students in obtaining competitive Fulbright grants confirms that our students have a role to play as ambassadors who bring international experience. Our students want to be a force for good in the world, and the Fulbright program gives them the resources to make that happen. The Graduate School’s Office of Grants and Fellowships is delighted to play an ongoing role in facilitating access to those resources.” </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">The 27 finalists are:</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Cristian Araujo, class of 2022, political science and Latino studies (supplementary), English teaching assistantship to Brazil.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Isabel Barnidge, class of 2022, honors English, Spanish (supplementary) and pre-health (supplementary), English teaching assistantship to Spain.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Jaylexia Clark, doctoral candidate in sociology, study and research grant to Ghana.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Julia Cogan, master’s student in education (Alliance for Catholic Education), English teaching assistantship to Spain.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Alena Coleman, class of 2022, honors English and honors Spanish, English teaching assistantship to Uruguay.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Theodora D’Eramo, class of 2022, English and mathematics (supplementary), English teaching assistantship to South Korea.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Devin Diggs, class of 2022, neuroscience and behavior, study and research grant to the United Kingdom.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Duncan Donahue, class of 2022, sociology and peace studies (supplementary), English teaching assistantship to Germany.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Olivia Dopheide, class of 2022, honors anthropology, English teaching assistantship to Colombia.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Cassidy Ferrell, class of 2022, political science and global affairs (supplementary), English teaching assistantship to Belgium.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Rachel Ingal, class of 2021, honors political science, English teaching assistantship to Spain.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Sophia Kics, class of 2022, Spanish and pre-health (supplementary), English teaching assistantship to Mexico.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Megan Ludke, class of 2022, preprofessional studies and psychology, English teaching assistantship to Poland.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Elizabeth Maxwell, class of 2022, business analytics and Spanish (supplementary), English teaching assistantship to Spain.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• James Moster, class of 2022, Program of Liberal Studies and political science, English teaching assistantship to Belgium.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Abigail Patrick, class of 2022, anthropology and honors English, English teaching assistantship to the Czech Republic.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Margaret Rauch, class of 2022, computer science and Chinese (supplementary), English teaching assistantship to Taiwan.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Cristina Ruiz, class of 2022, anthropology and sociology, English teaching assistantship to Mexico.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Carissa Salamatin, class of 2022, science-business, English teaching assistantship to Kazakhstan.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Lauren Sinnock, master’s student in education (Alliance for Catholic Education), English teaching assistantship to Botswana.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Marinella Stollenwerk Cavallaro, class of 2022, political science, English teaching assistantship to Mexico.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Emma Strouse, class of 2021, applied and computational mathematics and statistics and psychology, English teaching assistantship to Spain.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Naya Tadavarthy, class of 2022, honors art studio and German, study and research grant to Austria.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Maria Teel, class of 2022, political science and French, English teaching assistantship to Senegal.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Zoe Tulauskas, class of 2021, honors biochemistry and Chinese (supplementary), English teaching assistantship to Taiwan.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Mabry Webb, class of 2022, science-business and Spanish (supplementary), English teaching assistantship to Spain.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">• Anna Zappa, master’s student in education (Alliance for Catholic Education), English teaching assistantship to Spain.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:13px"><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">The application window for the 2023-24 Fulbright U.S. Student Program is currently open. For more information or to apply, visit cuse.nd.edu/fulbright (undergraduate/ACE) or graduateschool.nd.edu/graduate-training/research-communication/the-office-of-grants-and-fellowships (graduate).</span></span></p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Erin Blasko</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://news.nd.edu/news/twenty-seven-notre-dame-students-named-2022-23-fulbright-us-student-program-finalists/">news.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 20, 2022</span>.</p>Erin Blaskotag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1457322022-05-20T11:00:00-04:002022-05-20T11:03:57-04:00Paolo Carozza named to Meta Oversight Board<p><a href="https://law.nd.edu/directory/paolo-carozza/">Paolo G. Carozza</a>, professor of law and concurrent professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, has been added as a member of the Oversight Board for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, among the most valuable firms in the world with the social media and messaging apps Instagram and WhatsApp among its properties.</p><p class="BasicParagraph"><a href="https://law.nd.edu/directory/paolo-carozza/">Paolo G. Carozza</a>, professor of law and concurrent professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, has been added as a member of the Oversight Board for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, among the most valuable firms in the world with the social media and messaging apps Instagram and WhatsApp among its properties.</p>
<p class="BasicParagraph">The board is composed of 23 members, including Nobel Peace Prize Laureate <a href="https://www.oversightboard.com/meet-the-board/tawakkol-karman/">Tawakkol Karman</a>, Internet Sans Frontières Executive Director <a href="https://www.oversightboard.com/meet-the-board/julie-owono/">Julie Owono</a> and former prime minister of Denmark <a href="https://www.oversightboard.com/meet-the-board/helle-thorning-schmidt/">Helle Thorning-Schmidt</a>.</p>
<p class="BasicParagraph">In addition to Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, Meta also owns the virtual reality platform Reality Labs (formerly Oculus VR), which produces virtual reality and augmented reality hardware and software.</p>
<p class="BasicParagraph">“The work of the Oversight Board is a fascinating and trailblazing effort to foster responsible corporate self-regulation in the world today,” said Carozza, who served for a decade as the director of Notre Dame’s <a href="https://kellogg.nd.edu/">Kellogg Institute for International Studies</a> at the <a href="https://keough.nd.edu/">Keough School of Global Affairs</a>. “I am grateful to have this opportunity to collaborate with such an exceptional group of colleagues to secure freedom of expression in the challenging and complex context of global online media.”</p>
<p class="BasicParagraph">The Oversight Board addresses a variety of issues related to freedom of expression and human rights. The complexity and real-world implications of these cases is why the board is composed of diverse, global leaders with expertise in a range of areas. Board members bring with them experiences and perspectives that enrich the board’s work and help it improve how Meta treats people and communities around the world.</p>
<p class="BasicParagraph">In making its decisions, the board reviews whether content is consistent with Facebook and Instagram’s policies and values, as well as a commitment to upholding freedom of expression within the framework of international norms of human rights. The board makes decisions based on these principles, and the impact on users and society, without regard to Meta’s economic, political or reputational interests. Meta must implement the board’s decisions, unless implementation could violate the law.</p>
<p class="BasicParagraph">Carozza founded and directs the <a href="https://kellogg.nd.edu/constitutionalism-and-rule-law-lab">Notre Dame Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law Lab</a>, and he is currently the U.S. member of the <a href="https://www.venice.coe.int/WebForms/pages/?p=01_Presentation">European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission</a>). His scholarly books and articles in the areas of comparative constitutional law and human rights law have been published widely in four languages. Formerly he served as president of the <a href="https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/">Inter-American Commission on Human Rights</a> and as a member of the U.S. State Department’s independent, nonpartisan advisory <a href="https://2017-2021.state.gov/commission-on-unalienable-rights/index.html#:~:text=The%20commission%2C%20composed%20of%20academics,Universal%20Declaration%20of%20Human%20Rights.">Commission on Unalienable Rights</a>.</p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Colleen Sharkey</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://news.nd.edu/news/paolo-carozza-named-to-meta-oversight-board/">news.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 19, 2022</span>.</p>Colleen Sharkeytag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1457042022-05-19T16:00:00-04:002022-05-20T08:19:13-04:00Thomas Fuja to serve as interim vice president and associate provost for graduate studies and interim dean of the Graduate School<p>Thomas Fuja, professor of electrical engineering and faculty director of iNDustry Labs at the University of Notre Dame, has been appointed interim vice president and associate provost for graduate studies and the interim dean of the Graduate School, effective June 1.</p>
<p>A member of the Notre Dame faculty since 1998, Fuja conducts research addressing the reliable transmission of information over inherently unreliable and/or constrained communication channels, especially in the context of wireless systems. As faculty director of iNDustry Labs, he plays a vital role in Notre Dame’s collaboration with local industry partners as they seek to thrive in the digital age of manufacturing.…</p><p>Thomas Fuja, professor of electrical engineering and faculty director of iNDustry Labs at the University of Notre Dame, has been appointed interim vice president and associate provost for graduate studies and the interim dean of the Graduate School, effective June 1.</p>
<p>A member of the Notre Dame faculty since 1998, Fuja conducts research addressing the reliable transmission of information over inherently unreliable and/or constrained communication channels, especially in the context of wireless systems. As faculty director of iNDustry Labs, he plays a vital role in Notre Dame’s collaboration with local industry partners as they seek to thrive in the digital age of manufacturing.</p>
<p>Fuja’s leadership experience also includes a two-year assignment as interim dean of the College of Engineering and 12 years as chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering.</p>
<p>“Tom has a proven record of success as an instructor, researcher and administrator,” said Christine Maziar, interim provost at Notre Dame. “He is uniquely suited to guide the Graduate School during this transitional period, and his appointment was enthusiastically endorsed by University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., and Provost-elect John McGreevy. My sincere thanks to Tom for, once again, answering the call to serve the University in such a capacity.”</p>
<p>“I’m thrilled to have this chance to work with the great team in the Graduate School,” Fuja said. “As a former director of graduate studies and someone who has witnessed firsthand the tremendous growth in research and graduate education at Notre Dame over the last 20 years, I feel privileged to be given the opportunity to help advance such a critical part of the University’s mission.”</p>
<p>Prior to joining Notre Dame, Fuja was on the faculty of the University of Maryland in College Park, and he served as program director for communications research at the U.S. National Science Foundation. He is past president of the Information Theory Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a former member of its board of governors. Fuja earned two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Michigan as well as a master’s degree and doctorate from Cornell University.</p>
<p>“Having worked with Tom so closely over the years in his roles as department chair and interim dean of the College of Engineering, I know how deeply committed he is to graduate education. He will be an outstanding interim dean,” said Laura Carlson, vice president, associate provost and outgoing dean of the Graduate School, who will depart the University at the end of May.</p>
<p>The search for Carlson’s successor will follow the process outlined in the University’s Academic Articles.</p>
<p>Established in 1918, the Notre Dame Graduate School has four divisions — engineering, humanities, science and social sciences — as well as programs in the Keough School of Global Affairs, totaling more than 30 departments and programs that offer master’s or doctoral degrees. There are over 2,500 graduate students, from all 50 states and more than 100 nations, and more than 200 postdoctoral fellows at Notre Dame.</p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Cidni Sanders</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://provost.nd.edu/news/thomas-fuja-to-serve-as-interim-vice-president-and-associate-provost-for-graduate-studies-and-interim-dean-of-the-graduate-school/">provost.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 19, 2022</span>.</p>Cidni Sanderstag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1457052022-05-19T16:00:00-04:002022-05-20T08:20:22-04:00New discoveries from Baker laboratory may help usher in new era of cancer immunotherapy<p>Scientists at the University of Notre Dame contributed to research published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01786-3" target="_blank">Nature Medicine</a> outlining the identification of a long-sought-after class of molecules that may lead to the development of widespread and less expensive new cancer therapies that engage the immune system.</p><p>Scientists at the University of Notre Dame contributed to research published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01786-3" target="_blank">Nature Medicine</a> outlining the identification of a long-sought-after class of molecules that may lead to the development of widespread and less expensive new cancer therapies that engage the immune system.</p>
<figure class="image-right"><img alt="Brian Baker Feature" src="https://science.nd.edu/assets/336919/brian_baker_feature.jpg"></figure>
<p><a href="https://chemistry.nd.edu/people/brian-m-baker/" target="_blank">Brian Baker,</a> Coleman Professor of Life Sciences and Chair, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, was a primary investigator on the paper with <a href="https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/doctors/christopher-klebanoff" target="_blank">Christopher Klebanoff</a> from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer. In addition to announcing the discovery of a new “public” neoantigen—a peptide resulting from a gene mutation common in many people with cancer— the paper also reveals the underlying immunological and biochemical principles behind the discovery. The paper also describes the new platform that detected it. </p>
<p>Baker’s lab contributed research showing how the new neoantigen stimulates the immune system, and also demonstrated how and why T cell receptors can target it in a highly specific way. T-cell receptors are responsible for recognizing fragments of antigens and activatingT-cells, which are cells designed to fight infections. Baker and collaborators provided a way to visualize the neoantigen and the receptors that recognized it in three dimensions with atomic-level detail. This provided insight into the immune recognition process.</p>
<p>“These are just the components you would need to identify in order to develop an effective T-cell therapy that could be used with very large numbers of patients,” said Baker, who specializes in cancer immunology, the research field focused on understanding the role of the immune system in reducing the spread of cancer. “Most T-cell therapies proposed so far have been much more restrictive.”</p>
<p>Cancer occurs because of mutations within cells, called driver mutations, that alter protein function. The same mutation can reappear in different patients, most often in “hotspot” regions within key protein. Just a few, or even one, amino acid substitutions can alter the cell’s function and lead to cancer. </p>
<p>If a peptide containing one of these common hotspot mutations is bound by a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) protein (the HLA system is a crucial part of the immune system in people), then the protein is considered “public.” “Private” neoantigens that are different between people have been considered for personalized cancer treatments, but the discovery of more public ones shared between people could lead to new therapies. Some consider these to be the Holy Grail of cancer immunology, Baker said.</p>
<p>As part of the research for this discovery, the team at Memorial Sloan Kettering developed a discovery platform to find out whether one of the most common driver mutant genes, PIK3CA, was immunogenic. They began by using healthy donor T cells, and looked for T-cell receptors that target the mutated gene without attacking the one that doesn’t contain the mutation.</p>
<p>Cancer immunotherapy works in part because the immune system recognizes and destroys the few cancer cells that healthy people develop. Most everyone develops cancerous cells from time to time, and the immune system often eliminates these before people are even aware, Baker said.</p>
<p>“If therapies such as peptide vaccines or genetically engineered T cells can help the immune system target the cancer through our identification of neoantigens, we can help kickstart the immune system to reboot, or even re-arm it,” Baker said. “And so there's been a large interest in identifying neoantigens for exactly those reasons.”</p>
<p>Baker said he was thrilled with the way the Notre Dame collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering has worked. While the Notre Dame team does not work directly with patients, the basic research they perform is instrumental in this type of research. Baker likens cancer research to a pyramid, where a clinician treating a patient is perched at the top, while the basic biochemistry and structural immunology performed in his laboratory is closer to the base.</p>
<p>“And then you've got all these layers in between, and every now and then, by asking the right questions and forming the right partnerships, you’re able to reach up closer to the top and extend your impact,” said Baker, who is also affiliated with the <a href="https://harpercancer.nd.edu/people/" target="_blank">Harper Cancer Research Institute,</a> the <a href="https://precisionhealth.nd.edu/" target="_blank">Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health</a>, and the <a href="https://transgene.nd.edu/people/" target="_blank">W.M. Keck Center for Transgene Research</a>. </p>
<p>Researchers in his lab spend most of their time thinking about the fundamental question of how T cells recognize their targets And that question has become relevant for several important topics within the field, including cancer immunology and immunotherapy</p>
<p>“More fundamentally beyond the obvious translational components of this paper, what I really get excited about is the way students and postdocs in the lab were able to translate what we’ve developed at Notre Dame, which is our expertise in the interface between structural biology, protein biophysics, and immunology, to have an influence on potential new therapies for cancer,” Baker said. “Excitingly, more is coming.”</p>
<p>The research was supported in part by grants from National Institutes of Health grants, the Breast Cancer Alliance, the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, the Damon Runyon Center Research Foundation, The Cancer Research Institute, the Functional Genomics Initiative, the Manhasset Women’s Coalition Against Breast Cancer, and the Emerson Collective Cancer Fund.</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Deanna Csomo Ferrell</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://science.nd.edu/news/new-discoveries-from-baker-laboratory-may-help-usher-in-new-era-of-cancer-immunotherapy/">science.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 19, 2022</span>.</p>Deanna Csomo Ferrelltag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456662022-05-18T15:00:00-04:002022-05-20T11:01:15-04:00The Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study Announces Call for 2023-2024 Faculty Fellows on “The Long Run”<p><a href="https://ndias.nd.edu/">The Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study</a> (NDIAS) has selected “The Long Run” as the organizing research theme for its 2023-2024 fellowship program, and researchers from around the globe can now apply for a faculty fellowship.</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dBFAp27vcLE?rel=0" width="800"></iframe></p>
<p><a href="https://ndias.nd.edu/">The Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study</a> (NDIAS) has selected “The Long Run” as the organizing research theme for its 2023-2024 fellowship program, and researchers from around the globe can now apply for a faculty fellowship.</p>
<p>The NDIAS aims to bring together 8-10 faculty from across the disciplines—including the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, legal studies, and the arts—for a year of collaboration and accelerated research on questions that help us understand, manage, and respond to events that lie in the distant future or past, or challenges that unfold over long periods of time.</p>
<p>“We work closely with our faculty advisors and Notre Dame networks each year to identify a theme that ignites curiosity across our many different departments and promises to attract leading researchers to campus for the fellowship year,” said <a href="https://ndias.nd.edu/people/staff/meghan-sullivan/">Meghan Sullivan</a>, Director of the NDIAS and the Wilsey Family College Professor of Philosophy. “A consistent theme we have heard over the past two years is an interest in time and the innovative ways researchers play with that variable in their work. We could not be more excited to convene this Long Run project and cannot wait to see the projects and collaborations that emerge.”</p>
<p>Faculty fellows live and work at the University of Notre Dame and pursue their research in the NDIAS’s residential interdisciplinary research community. In addition to a generous fellowship stipend, fellows receive a housing subsidy, a research allowance of $500 per semester, and a private office at the NDIAS.</p>
<p>The NDIAS organizes robust programming each year to further explore its chosen research theme and cultivate collaboration, such as work-in-progress seminars, book workshops, guest lectures, film viewings, and social events. Fellows also participate in communications training workshops designed to help them reach broad audiences with their NDIAS-sponsored research.</p>
<p>The faculty fellows will be joined by a cohort of graduate and undergraduate researchers from Notre Dame who are pursuing their own research projects related to The Long Run. The graduate students will collaborate with the faculty fellows during weekly research seminars and other NDIAS events, with the undergraduates serving as research assistants as the need arises.</p>
<p>Faculty fellows typically have a faculty appointment at their home institution, but the fellowships are also open to independent researchers, public practitioners, postdoctoral scholars, those who have recently received their Ph.D. (or equivalent terminal) degree, and those who are pursuing the creative arts. Scholars from outside the U.S., as well as faculty from Notre Dame, are welcome to apply.</p>
<p>Each applicant will be required to submit a research proposal that addresses the designated 2023-2024 research theme. A representative list of research questions related to The Long Run can be found at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBFAp27vcLE">ndias.nd.edu/fellowships/faculty</a>.</p>
<p>The application period for faculty fellowships on The Long Run is now open and will continue until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Monday, October 3, 2022.</p>
<p>To learn more about the Faculty Fellowship Program at the NDIAS, please visit <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBFAp27vcLE">ndias.nd.edu/fellowships/faculty</a>.</p>
<p>The NDIAS convenes an interdisciplinary group of faculty fellows, top doctoral candidates, and undergraduate scholars to study questions that require a joint focus, benefit from sustained research and discussion, and advance our understanding of core issues that affect our ability to lead valuable, meaningful lives. To learn more, please visit <a href="http://ndias.nd.edu">ndias.nd.edu</a>.</p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Kristian Olsen</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://ndias.nd.edu/news-publications/news/the-notre-dame-institute-for-advanced-study-announces-call-for-2023-2024-faculty-fellows-on-the-long-run/">ndias.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 18, 2022</span>.</p>Kristian Olsentag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456672022-05-18T15:00:00-04:002022-05-18T15:38:00-04:00Center affiliates learn about potential semiconductor funding opportunities and research on harvesting “hot electrons” at April NDnano network lunch<p>NDnano served up "hot electrons" and research opportunities at the center's April networking lunch for faculty and staff affiliates.</p><p><br>
The April NDnano networking lunch meeting featured updates on potential funding opportunities in semiconductors and microelectronics, and a presentation on a previously awarded NDnano Seed Grant. </p>
<p>NDnano’s associate director <a href="https://nano.nd.edu/about/staff/?id=derek-lake">Derek Lake</a> and director <a href="https://nano.nd.edu/faculty/?dept=&program=&id=alan-seabaugh">Alan Seabaugh</a>, professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, discussed potential semiconductor funding that is being debated in Congress as well as recent NDnano-led responses to Department of Commerce and Department of Defense “Requests for Information.” Additionally, Professor Seabaugh reviewed the connections Notre Dame is building within the region to collaborate on future funding opportunities, and Notre Dame’s involvement with the American Semiconductor Academy Initiative. </p>
<p>The remainder of the meeting featured a presentation on an NDnano-funded seed grant project. <a href="https://nano.nd.edu/faculty/?dept=&program=&id=svetlana-neretina">Svetlana Neretina</a>, professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and <a href="https://nano.nd.edu/faculty/?dept=&program=&id=gregory-hartland">Gregory Hartland</a>, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, reviewed their project, “Harvesting Hot Electrons for Plasmonic Photochemistry and Photovoltaics.” The aim of the project was to discover how to effectively use “hot electrons” before their energy is transformed into heat. Hot electrons, ideal for catalyzing chemical reactions and for energy conversion within photovoltaics, are created when certain metals reduced to the nanoscale focus light energy into small volumes and subsequently impart this energy to the electrons within the metal.</p>
<p>In mid-2021, Professor Neretina was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation, “Tailoring the Nanophotonic and Nanoelectronic Properties of Nanometals using Oxide-Directed Syntheses,” to continue related research.</p>
<p>NDnano sponsors monthly networking meetings year-round to provide a forum for faculty and staff to discuss recent research, probe new ideas, and connect with new collaborators. Visit the <a href="https://nano.nd.edu/news-events/events/">NDnano Events page</a> to learn about future networking sessions, or contact <a href="mailto:deethardt.1@nd.edu">Heidi Deethardt</a> to receive meeting invitations.</p>
<figure class="image-left"><img alt="April 2022 NDnano Network" height="123" src="https://nano.nd.edu/assets/472487/april2022_ndnano_network.jpg" width="600">
<figcaption>Alan Seabaugh, Svetlana Neretina, Greg Hartland, and NDnano center affiliates</figcaption>
</figure>
<p> </p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Heidi Deethardt</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://nano.nd.edu/news-events/news/center-affiliates-learn-about-potential-semiconductor-funding-opportunities-and-research-on-harvesting-hot-electrons-at-april-ndnano-network-lunch/">nano.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 18, 2022</span>.</p>Heidi Deethardttag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456682022-05-18T15:00:00-04:002022-05-18T15:40:17-04:00Visit from the Heroes Foundation Highlights Cancer Research in Indiana<p>Thank you to the Heroes Foundation for visiting Harper and learning more about what we do!</p>
<p>Check out their recent Summits podcast featuring Sharon Stack, Director of the Harper Cancer Research Institute and Kleiderer-Pezold Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry.</p>
<p>The Heroes Foundation focuses on empowering individuals to make real change within the Indiana cancer community.…</p><p>Thank you to the Heroes Foundation for visiting Harper and learning more about what we do!</p>
<p>Check out their recent Summits podcast featuring Sharon Stack, Director of the Harper Cancer Research Institute and Kleiderer-Pezold Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry.</p>
<p>The Heroes Foundation focuses on empowering individuals to make real change within the Indiana cancer community.</p>
<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3tU3xFWI5cU?rel=0" width="640"></iframe></p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Aviva Wulfsohn</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://harpercancer.nd.edu/news-events/news/visit-from-the-heroes-foundation-highlights-cancer-research-in-indiana/">harpercancer.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 18, 2022</span>.</p>Aviva Wulfsohntag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456692022-05-18T15:00:00-04:002022-05-18T15:44:14-04:00Aerodynamic forcing models for compressor aeromechanics<p><span style="text-autospace:none">Blade vibration in turbomachinery components may lead to unwanted acoustic noise and material fatigue. The vibration is often caused by unsteady aerodynamic pressure forces on the surface of the blades. These pressure forces can be related to a wide variety of different physical mechanisms. Hence, predicting blade vibration at the design stage of a compressor or turbine is challenging. As a result, turbomachinery components are often tested over their anticipated operating range in order to investigate potential blade vibration issues.</span>…</p><p><span style="text-autospace:none">Blade vibration in turbomachinery components may lead to unwanted acoustic noise and material fatigue. The vibration is often caused by unsteady aerodynamic pressure forces on the surface of the blades. These pressure forces can be related to a wide variety of different physical mechanisms. Hence, predicting blade vibration at the design stage of a compressor or turbine is challenging. As a result, turbomachinery components are often tested over their anticipated operating range in order to investigate potential blade vibration issues. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-autospace:none">The proper interpretation of vibration test data is important for providing feedback in the design cycle. However, our understanding of forcing mechanisms and their relationship to vibration characteristics is often limited. The literature often uses ambiguous vocabulary without a specific mathematical representation to describe these characteristics.</span></p>
<p><span style="text-autospace:none">Investigators at the Notre Dame Turbomachinery Laboratory (NDTL) have recently developed a unique description of the different forcing mechanisms relevant to blade vibration in compressors. The physical mechanisms were grouped into three main categories, as shown in Figure 1: a) external forcing, b) blade-row aerodynamic forcing, and c) motion-dependent forcing. Next, mathematical models were proposed for each category. Simulation results were obtained for each model and the results were compared to experimental data, as shown in Figure 2. A key result is that each category’s distinct mathematical form results in distinct temporal characteristics of the vibration response. Therefore, this framework enables the use of temporal characteristics of measured blade vibration to identify the aerodynamic forcing mechanism(s) causing the vibration. </span></p>
<p><span style="text-autospace:none">Additional information can be found in the forthcoming IGTI conference paper: “Aerodynamic Forcing Models for Compressor Aeromechanics”, in Turbo Expo: Power for Land, Sea, and Air, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, expected Summer 2022 (GT2022-80481). Please send inquiries to ndturbo@nd.edu.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<figure class="image-default">
<p><img alt="Picture1" src="https://turbo.nd.edu/assets/472536/fullsize/picture1.png"></p>
<p><span style="text-autospace:none">Figure 1: Schematic representation of the unsteady pressure field for three categories of aerodynamic forcing. Bar graph right of contours represents the net integrated blade force, or lift, for each pressure field.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<figure class="image-default">
<p><img alt="Picture2" src="https://turbo.nd.edu/assets/472537/fullsize/picture2.png"></p>
<p><span style="text-autospace:none">Figure 2: Temporal response for each category of forcing functions. Top: Simulations using the forcing function models proposed in this paper. Bottom: Experimental data from a) NDTL b) Kane [1] c) Holzinger et al. [2].</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="text-autospace:none">[1] Kane, M., 2017. “Aeromechanical response of an axial compressor in stall”. Master’s thesis, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="text-autospace:none">[2] Holzinger, F., Wartzek, F., Jϋngst, M., Schiffer, H.-P., and Leichtfuss, S., 2016. “Self-excited blade vibration experimentally investigated in transonic compressors: Rotating instabilities and flutter”. Journal of Turbomachinery, 138(4).</span></p></figure>
<p> </p></figure>
<p> </p>
<p>By Valerie Hernley, Aleksandar Jemcov, Scott C. Morris</p>
<p>Published by Jasmin Avila-Sacco </p>
<p> </p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Jasmin Avila</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://turbo.nd.edu/news/aerodynamic-forcing-models-for-compressor-aeromechanics/">turbo.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 18, 2022</span>.</p>Jasmin Avilatag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456702022-05-18T15:00:00-04:002022-05-18T15:45:36-04:00Three Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Members Honored with Joyce Teaching Awards<p>Professor Masaru Kuno, Campbell Family Associate Professor Laurie Littlepage, and Associate Teaching Professor Kelley Young have been selected as recipients of the 2022 Rev. Edmund P. Joyce C.S.C. Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.</p><figure class="image-right"><img alt="Kyoungsquare" height="150" src="https://chemistry.nd.edu/assets/286666/kyoungsquare.jpg" width="150">
<figcaption>Kelley Young</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="image-right"><img alt="Laurie Littlepage" height="150" src="https://chemistry.nd.edu/assets/112443/littlepagesquare.jpg" width="150">
<figcaption>Laurie Littlepage</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="image-right"><img alt="M. Ken Kuno" height="150" src="https://chemistry.nd.edu/assets/112451/kunosquare.jpg" width="150">
<figcaption>Masaru Kuno</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Professor Masaru Kuno, Campbell Family Associate Professor Laurie Littlepage, and Associate Teaching Professor Kelley Young have been selected as recipients of the 2022 Rev. Edmund P. Joyce C.S.C. Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. The department is proud of their accomplishments and is grateful for their excellence in educating undergraduate students both in our department and across the university.</p>
<p>The Joyce Awards honor faculty members who “have had a profound influence on the undergraduate learning experience, elevated students’ intellectual engagement, and fostered students’ ability to express themselves effectively within a disciplinary context.” Faculty members are nominated by peers and students.</p>
<p>These professors join 17 other faculty members from across the university as this year’s honorees.</p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Rebecca Hicks</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://chemistry.nd.edu/news/three-chemistry-biochemistry-faculty-members-honored-with-joyce-teaching-awards/">chemistry.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 18, 2022</span>.</p>Rebecca Hickstag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456712022-05-18T15:00:00-04:002022-05-18T15:46:04-04:00CCI Presents at 2022 Andrews Research Conference<p>CCI's Research Associate, Michelle Sawwan, presented a paper, "Building a Scalable Model of the Community-Engaged Educational Ecosystem: Self-Determination Theory, STEM Identity, and Place Attachment," at the 2022 Andrews Research Conference. The Andrews Research Conference is organized by the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship at Andrews University. The purpose of the conference is to provide Adventist graduate students and early career researchers at non-Adventist universities with the opportunity to share their research with one another and with Andrews University. …</p><p>CCI's Research Associate, Michelle Sawwan, presented a paper, "Building a Scalable Model of the Community-Engaged Educational Ecosystem: Self-Determination Theory, STEM Identity, and Place Attachment," at the 2022 Andrews Research Conference. The Andrews Research Conference is organized by the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship at Andrews University. The purpose of the conference is to provide Adventist graduate students and early career researchers at non-Adventist universities with the opportunity to share their research with one another and with Andrews University. </p>
<p>CCI's Internship Program Manager - South Bend, Lauren Lounsbury, and Internship Program Manager - Elkhart, Madison Ward, presented posters on CCI's work with the Food Information Networks and dataMichiana projects at the conference. </p>
<p> </p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">CCI Staff</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://civicinnovation.nd.edu/news/cci-presents-at-2022-andrews-research-conference/">civicinnovation.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 18, 2022</span>.</p>CCI Stafftag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456462022-05-17T16:00:00-04:002022-05-17T17:14:07-04:00Seminar Series – Climate Wars <p>In the final NDISC Seminar Series event for the 2021-22 school year, the Notre Dame International Security Center welcomed Boston University political science professor and department chair Dr. Neta Crawford to campus.</p><p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{171}" paraid="738692707">In the final NDISC Seminar Series event for the 2021-22 school year, the Notre Dame International Security Center welcomed Boston University political science professor and department chair Dr. Neta Crawford to campus. In addition to her role at Boston University, Dr. Crawford is also a co-director of the Cost of War Project at Brown University. Her research covers a wide range of subjects including responsibility for collateral damage in war, decolonization, sanctions, humanitarianism, and even Soviet aircraft. When she joined us, Dr. Crawford discussed how conflict causes climate change and how climate change causes conflict. </p>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{177}" paraid="27093525">Dr. Crawford’s current book project, “Pentagon, Climate Change, and War;” her talk was focused a specific chapter about the relationship between climate change and war. </p>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{187}" paraid="1253341026">“One of the things I did as co-director of the Cost of War Project was I decided to write a paper based on a lecture I gave at Boston University for a class I teach,” Dr. Crawford said, “As a social scientist, I wanted to use my expertise in security. I gave a simple lecture about military’s greenhouse gas emissions. In looking for data, I wanted to give students an idea of changes since World War II.” </p>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{201}" paraid="1561870277">In analyzing the data, which was later confirmed by the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense, Dr. Crawford found that the military is the single largest greenhouse gas emitter in the US. Her next question was “how did we get here?” </p>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{207}" paraid="1624882631">“I wrote the book in six weeks, which is the fastest I’ve ever written anything. What I discovered was amazing!” she said. </p>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{213}" paraid="1072290708"><br>
She continues, “US emissions correlate with war. No surprise there. Then I estimated US military-industrial greenhouse gases. I did that by using available emissions data from the top companies in the US’ military-industrial complex. It turns out that military-industrial emissions are about equal to Department of Defense emissions. That tells you that the military-industrial sector emits a lot of greenhouse gases. Per capita, there are more greenhouse gas emissions in that sector than any other.” </p>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{213}" paraid="1072290708"> </p>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{219}" paraid="1018884183">This led Dr. Crawford to ask three questions: </p>
<figure class="image-right"><img alt="Crawford" height="248" src="https://ndisc.nd.edu/assets/437540/400x/crawford.jpeg" width="400"></figure>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{219}" paraid="1018884183">1. What’s the relationship between war and climate change? </p>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{219}" paraid="1018884183">2. Does climate lead to war?</p>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{219}" paraid="1018884183">3. What are the causal casualties if there is a causal relationship?</p>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{237}" paraid="222624486"> </p>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{243}" paraid="1703142067">The three questions led her to three potential hypotheses as the answer to her questions: </p>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{249}" paraid="480409188">1. War causes or contributes to climate change. </p>
<p paraeid="{29d2eb06-961b-4262-9299-6d77dec27959}{255}" paraid="2146715867">2. Climate change causes or contributes to conflict. </p>
<p paraeid="{11760a14-d6fc-4856-8e1e-8e16cbc0e520}{6}" paraid="375785140">3. There’s a complex recursive relationship that’s dialectical. </p>
<p paraeid="{11760a14-d6fc-4856-8e1e-8e16cbc0e520}{6}" paraid="375785140"> </p>
<p paraeid="{11760a14-d6fc-4856-8e1e-8e16cbc0e520}{16}" paraid="1940515162">Dr. Crawford: “I think it’s the third. There’s lots of reasons for this. The White House and branches of the military have all published documents on climate change's impact on national security. This issue has been addressed for years, but only recently is it gaining notoriety.” </p>
<p paraeid="{11760a14-d6fc-4856-8e1e-8e16cbc0e520}{30}" paraid="1729455577">Dr. Crawford also presented a history of how the military uses fossil fuels, starting from the US Navy’s White Fleet—an ironic name considering the coal burned on the vessels made them visible from 60-80 miles away—followed by steam and to today with the use of oil and gas. The dependency on fossil fuels leads to relationship with countries in the Persian Gulf, which Congressional Staffer <a href="https://ndisc.nd.edu/news-events/news/seminar-series-the-progressive-equity-in-the-restraint-coalition/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Matt Duss</a> also elaborated upon during his visit to campus. </p>
<p paraeid="{11760a14-d6fc-4856-8e1e-8e16cbc0e520}{41}" paraid="1590471920">“In war,” Dr. Crawford says, “you don’t want the other guy to have access to fuel—we try to take out our enemy’s fuel. In World War II, the Allies would target Nazi fuel production, the Nazis would rebuild, and the Allies would attack again. This limited the Nazi mobility.” </p>
<p paraeid="{11760a14-d6fc-4856-8e1e-8e16cbc0e520}{47}" paraid="19922719">In sum, Dr. Crawford says, “The argument here is that the problem of climate change is exacerbated by war. The analysis is that societies which mobilize their military-industrial base emit more greenhouse gases. This cycle to climb the ladder causes more emissions.” </p>
<p paraeid="{11760a14-d6fc-4856-8e1e-8e16cbc0e520}{59}" paraid="911345660">In addition to this event wrap-up, we also have coverage of the talk itself and of the following question and answer session available on our <a href="https://twitter.com/ND_ISC/status/1518999599658287104" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Twitter</a> account. </p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Notre Dame International Security Center</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://ndisc.nd.edu/news-events/news/seminar-series-climate-wars/">ndisc.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 17, 2022</span>.</p>Notre Dame International Security Centertag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456472022-05-17T16:00:00-04:002022-05-17T17:14:38-04:00A Q&A with Karl Berg ’22 on the Early Christian Studies program, coordinating a new graduate conference, and why Notre Dame is a great place for classics and theology research<p>Karl Berg ’22, who earned an M.A. in Early Christian Studies from Notre Dame’s Department of Classics, is co-organizing the Inaugural Graduate Conference on Early Christian Studies, to be held May 23–25 in Jenkins Nanovic Halls and on Zoom. The conference, which will be the first of its kind in the United States, is free and open to the public. Berg will present a paper, “Augustine of Hippo and Late Roman Slavery.” Next up for the Littleton, Colorado, native: pursuing a D.Phil. in ancient history at the University of Oxford.</p><figure class="image-right"><img alt="Karl Berg Headshot" height="732" src="https://al.nd.edu/assets/472385/400x/karl_berg_headshot.jpg" width="600">
<figcaption>Karl Berg</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>This Q&A is part of an ongoing series with Arts and Letters graduate students. </em><a href="https://al.nd.edu/news/latest-news/category/q-and-a-2/"><em>Read more Q&As with graduate students and faculty members here.</em></a></p>
<p><a href="https://classics.nd.edu/graduate-students/students/karl-berg/">Karl Berg</a> ’22, who earned an <a href="https://classics.nd.edu/graduate-students/ma-in-early-christian-studies/">M.A. in Early Christian Studies</a> from Notre Dame’s <a href="https://classics.nd.edu/">Department of Classics</a>, is co-organizing the <a href="http://classics.nd.edu/ecsgradconference/">Inaugural Graduate Conference on Early Christian Studies</a>, to be held May 23–25 in Jenkins Nanovic Halls and on Zoom. </p>
<p>The conference, which will be the first of its kind in the United States, is free and open to the public. It is co-sponsored by the <a href="http://al.nd.edu/">College of Arts & Letters</a>, the <a href="http://isla.nd.edu/">Institute for the Scholarship in the Liberal Arts</a>, the <a href="http://medieval.nd.edu/">Medieval Institute</a>, the Department of Classics, the Department of Theology, and the <a href="http://nanovic.nd.edu/">Nanovic Institute for European Studies</a>. Berg will present a paper, “Augustine of Hippo and Late Roman Slavery<em>.</em>” Next up for the Littleton, Colorado, native: pursuing a D.Phil. in ancient history at the University of Oxford.</p>
<p><strong>Tell us about the M.A. in Early Christian Studies. Why did you choose to pursue it and what makes it distinctive?</strong></p>
<p>Notre Dame’s M.A. in Early Christian Studies is really quite unique among master’s programs in the United States. It unites two departments: <a href="https://classics.nd.edu/">Classics</a> and <a href="https://theology.nd.edu/">Theology</a>, and this arrangement helps its students to better engage early Christian literature on its own terms — that is, by examining early Christian texts within the ambient context of the classical and late-antique worlds. </p>
<p>In this program, students are offered an opportunity to take theology courses, while further strengthening their facility in the classical languages (<a href="https://classics.nd.edu/course-descriptions/greek/">Greek</a> and <a href="https://classics.nd.edu/course-descriptions/latin/">Latin</a>). At first, it was this opportunity which attracted me to the program. However, as early as my first term here, I quickly realized that the Department of Classics offered me far more than mere language instruction. I now feel comfortably embedded in the classical world and classical thought, and I would consider myself as much a classicist as a scholar of early Christianity. </p>
<p><strong>What are your research/academic interests and why are you inspired to explore this topic(s)?</strong></p>
<p>My research interests are quite broad, and during my time at Notre Dame, they have certainly expanded. I entered the ECS program with a strong desire to research early Christian apologiae and the scope and nature of second- and third-century Roman persecutions of Christian communities. I am still keenly interested in these topics. However, I have also developed strong research interests in ancient historiography (particularly Herodotus, Thucydides, Tacitus, and Cassius Dio), the imperial propaganda of the Augustan age, and the development and evolution of the Roman imperial cult. </p>
<p>In particular, I am fascinated by how Christians negotiated and renegotiated their relationship to the cult (and to the emperor) over the course of the Roman Empire’s Christianization. Over the next few years, I plan to devote my attention to this last topic as I write my doctoral thesis.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Equally important for the success of the conference is bringing some of the best scholarship of postgraduate students at other universities to our campus to establish Notre Dame as an international hub of early Christian scholarship.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>How do you intend for your research to contribute to knowledge or benefit others? </strong></p>
<p>One thing I’ve found particularly rewarding in my study of early Christianity is how many people I’ve encountered who are deeply invested in what I’m researching. Christians make up around 30% (~2.5 billion people) of the world’s population, and since Christianity is a faith so inextricably linked to historical figures and the history of the late-ancient Mediterranean, I’ve found that Christians are typically quite interested in learning more about how their faith spread from the backwaters of Roman Judea to become the leading religion of the Mediterranean world — all within the relatively short span of a few centuries. </p>
<p>Studying early Christianity and the Christianization of the surrounding Mediterranean has also given me the opportunity to examine the roots of issues which remain critically important to our society today. Some of the earliest and most eloquent cases for the freedom of religion and the equality of all people were made by Christian authors. The marriage of Christianity to the Roman state in the fourth century CE also presents an interesting case study of the pitfalls that the politicization of a religion can bring. </p>
<figure class="image-left"><img alt="Karl Berg" height="324" src="https://al.nd.edu/assets/472386/450x/karl_berg.jpg" width="450">
<figcaption>Berg in front of a gate that survives from Hadrian's Wall in northern England.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Why did you choose Notre Dame? </strong></p>
<p>I chose to come to Notre Dame because of the University’s strong academic reputation and the congruity of my interests with the Early Christian Studies program made it stand out as the ideal environment — where I wanted to be. When I applied, I was completing an M.A. in classical and Roman archaeology at Durham University in the United Kingdom. This program gave me the opportunity to study early Christian communities from a material (archaeological) perspective, but I knew there was far more to be gleaned by approaching these communities through their texts. The ECS program at Notre Dame gave me the opportunity to do this and to synthesize both textual and material approaches to early Christianity and the Christianization of the ancient Mediterranean world. </p>
<p>Notre Dame’s faculty has been terrific to study under, and I have thoroughly enjoyed courses on Augustine of Hippo, St. Paul’s Letters, Greek and Roman archaeology, and Herodotus. The highlight that stands out most vividly, though, is a course which I took on Greece under Roman rule that gave me the opportunity to really dig into my research interest in the Roman imperial cult and its expansion throughout the Mediterranean world. </p>
<p><strong>Tell us about the conference you’re coordinating with </strong><a href="https://classics.nd.edu/graduate-students/students/rachel-edney/"><strong>Rachel Edney</strong></a><strong>. What inspired it?</strong></p>
<p>The field of early Christian studies is relatively small. Because of this, there are limited opportunities to discuss our research with other graduate students examining similar topics. The Inaugural Graduate Conference on Early Christian Studies aims to amend this and will provide postgraduate students in Notre Dame’s ECS, classics, and theology programs with a venue to present their best scholarship to a broader audience of peers and academics. Equally important for the success of the conference is bringing some of the best scholarship of postgraduate students at other universities to our campus to establish Notre Dame as an international hub of early Christian scholarship. </p>
<p>As we started receiving abstracts for the conference, we were very pleasantly surprised by how much interest it generated — both in the U.S. and abroad. We received submissions from students studying early Christianity and late antiquity at universities around the world. </p>
<p>I hope that this conference will provide a helpful networking opportunity for these students to learn from each other’s research and gain a broader exposure to the rich diversity of the field. I am very excited to be participating in the conference and co-coordinating the event. </p>
<p><strong>Tell us about the research you are presenting at the conference.</strong> </p>
<p>I will be presenting a paper on <em>Augustine of Hippo and late Roman Slavery</em>. I became quite interested in this topic last year after reading a letter of St. Augustine which was rediscovered relatively recently (by historical standards) by Johannes Divjak in 1969. </p>
<p>What is remarkable about this letter (Ep. 10*) is that Augustine provides a rather detailed picture of human trafficking networks in the ancient Mediterranean and laments the prevalence of slavers in his native North Africa. He calls upon imperial authorities to pass legislation to curb these slavers’ activities, and, even more remarkably, he recounts a dramatic incident in which his own congregation forcibly liberated 120 enslaved people in a raid on a slave ship, docked at Hippo-Regius. I think that it is not only remarkable that this letter survives, but also that in one of the most seminal figures of the western intellectual and religious tradition, we find such fierce opposition to the institution of slavery. </p>
<p><strong>What’s next for you?</strong></p>
<p>After Notre Dame, I will be traveling with my wife to Oxford, England, where I have accepted a <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/clarendon">Clarendon Scholarship</a> to pursue a D.Phil. in ancient history at the University of Oxford. In the U.K., I look forward to continuing my research and the proximity which I will enjoy to the Ashmolean Museum and the British Museum. </p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Beth Staples</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://al.nd.edu/news/latest-news/a-q-a-with-karl-berg-22-on-the-early-christian-studies-program-coordinating-a-new-graduate-conference-and-why-notre-dame-is-a-great-place-for-classics-and-theology-research/">al.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 17, 2022</span>.</p>Beth Staplestag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456482022-05-17T16:00:00-04:002022-05-17T17:16:50-04:00Q&A: Four Students on Majoring in Romance Languages and Literatures<p>There are many ways to globalize your education through programs at Notre Dame. Choosing a major within the <a href="https://romancelanguages.nd.edu/">Department of Romance Languages and Literatures</a> is one of them.</p>
<p>Through this department, you can major in French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, International Economics, and, for the student who wants to major in two programs, there is the major in romance languages and literature. <a href="https://romancelanguages.nd.edu/undergraduate/">Check out all the romance languages and literatures majors here.</a>…</p><p>There are many ways to globalize your education through programs at Notre Dame. Choosing a major within the <a href="https://romancelanguages.nd.edu/">Department of Romance Languages and Literatures</a> is one of them.</p>
<p>Through this department, you can major in French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, International Economics, and, for the student who wants to major in two programs, there is the major in romance languages and literature. <a href="https://romancelanguages.nd.edu/undergraduate/">Check out all the romance languages and literatures majors here.</a> </p>
<p>The four students below chose majors in this department and have benefited in a variety of ways from their language study. From study abroad to research to language clubs, learn how their majors and other resources at Notre Dame have helped them to gain a global perspective. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="image-right"><img alt="Irmaibarra" src="https://admissions.nd.edu/assets/472367/400x/irmaibarra.jpg"></figure>
<h2>Irma Ibarra '22</h2>
<p><strong>Majors:</strong> Accountancy and Italian </p>
<p><strong>Why did you choose to major in a Romance language/literature? </strong></p>
<p>I didn’t come into college intending to major in Italian; it just sort of happened. I wanted to learn Italian and French and I told my academic advisor this on the course selection form that we had to fill out prior to first semester freshman year.</p>
<p>I grew up speaking Spanish at home, so I also told him this and asked that he put me in whatever language he thought would be easier to start with. He put me in the Intensive Beginning Italian class with Professoressa Serafini and I loved that class so much, I decided to keep taking Italian classes. I liked the pace of the intensive class, so I continued with Intensive Intermediate the following semester.</p>
<p>At the end of my first year, I went to declare a minor in Italian and was convinced by Professor Shauna Williams to do the supplementary major instead. I studied abroad in Rome my sophomore fall and took another Italian language class plus a class on Rome’s history that counted towards the minor/supplementary major/major.</p>
<p>Coming back from Rome, I knew that I wanted to keep taking as many Italian classes as possible, so I upgraded to the full major. Since then, I have taken some of the most fun and interesting classes on Italian cinema, literature, history, and culture.</p>
<p><strong>Were you always interested in topics related to this major? </strong></p>
<p>Yes, ever since I watched Roberto Begnini’s La vita è bella (Life is Beautiful) in the ninth grade and fell completely in love with the way the Italian language sounded. The first phrase I learned was, of course, "Buongiorno, principessa!" After that, I decided that I would learn more Italian, and so I downloaded Duolingo and started using it. I learned acqua, panne, donna, uomo, ragazzo/a, and bambino/a. And then I gave up on Duolingo.</p>
<p>My Italian journey took a pause for the next three years until I got to college and had a more structured environment in which to learn the language. This time, I stuck to it and I’ve fallen more in love with the language and Italian culture than I thought was possible.</p>
<p><strong>What has been your favorite class in the program and why? </strong></p>
<p>It’s so hard to pick a favorite class because the Italian department at Notre Dame is full of so many amazing professors who curate some of the most fun and interesting classes. I was especially a fan of Zyg’s Italian Cinema class, though. This class had a focus on neorealist cinema, and our homework, along with some readings, was literally to watch some of the most well-known Italian films (e.g., Ladri di biciclette, Roma città aperta, Paisà, Miracolo a Milano, La Strada). We learned primarily about what makes a film neorealist and about some of the most famous directors, from Rossellini to De Sica, as well as about the symbolism in each of the films we watched. My favorite film was De Sica's Miracolo a Milano, and I did my final presentation on how the film tells the story through the lens of fantastic neorealism, like a fairytale.</p>
<p><strong>Have you conducted any related research or independent study?</strong></p>
<p>Not really, but I studied abroad in Rome my sophomore fall. I got super lucky because it isn’t common to study abroad your sophomore year at ND—I only went because I saw that the program was open to sophomores and my advisor encouraged me to apply. It was the last semester before COVID, so I ended up being the only person in my class who got to study abroad through an ND program for a full semester before COVID.</p>
<p>As part of the All Roads Lead to Rome Community-Based Learning (CBL) curriculum, I had a group project on education in Italy. To conduct first-hand research and gain insight into how education functions in Italy, each of the students in my group was paired up with a different professor at the Istituto S. Orsola, a private bilingual elementary school in Rome. We had to spend a certain amount of hours in the classroom observing and teaching the class. I was paired up with an elementary physical education teacher, so I got to observe the games that the kids played as well as their swimming lessons. On some days when I arrived early and the kids were still in a classroom waiting for the gym teacher to come get them and take them to the gymnasium, I was able to see how they behaved in a regular classroom. Not only that, but I was able to see what a regular classroom looks like in general, as well as some examples of student homework planners.</p>
<p><strong>What makes the Italian program at Notre Dame stand out among programs like it at other schools? </strong></p>
<p>No idea because I know nothing about Italian programs at other schools. However, I DO know that the Italian faculty at ND is absolutely amazing as are study abroad opportunities and I doubt that anybody can match that.</p>
<p><strong>Do you have any advice for prospective students who are considering a major in a romance language/literature? </strong></p>
<p>Just do it! Learning a language and learning about the cultures in which the language is spoken is so fulfilling. Languages make for great second majors as well, especially if you study accounting and are aiming to attain the 150 credit hours required for CPA licensure. </p>
<p>Take classes in and explore all four of the Romance languages—try to learn a little bit of each and pick one that you want to learn really in-depth. Though I already speak Spanish and am majoring in Italian, I also took Beginning French 1 and I really wish I had taken a Portuguese class.</p>
<p><strong>What are your career plans/post-graduation plans? </strong></p>
<p>After graduation, I will be returning home to North Carolina and I will be working as audit staff at Ernst & Young in Winston-Salem. I know this doesn’t relate to Italian at all, but I dream of one day combining the two. EY has a “study abroad” type program for its employees, and I hope that in a few years I am able to do accounting in Italy.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="image-right"><img alt="Kyledorshorst" src="https://admissions.nd.edu/assets/472372/400x/kyledorshorst.jpg"></figure>
<h2>Kyle Dorshorst '22</h2>
<p><strong>Majors:</strong> International Economics (French concentration) and Political Science</p>
<p><strong>Minors:</strong> <span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Constitutional Studies</span></span></p>
<p><strong>Why did you choose to major in a romance language/literature? </strong></p>
<p>I chose to major in a Romance language/literature because I wanted to gain the concrete skill of mastering a foreign language during my time at college. The world is becoming increasingly interconnected, and so I thought it would be a useful skill to have and would open a lot of doors in my future.</p>
<p>Not only that, but learning a second language helped me to gain a much deeper appreciation of French music, literature, art, and culture, which has really enriched my life. The international economics major provided an ideal way to incorporate these types of cultural studies with a similarly firm grounding in economics. </p>
<p><strong>Were you always interested in topics related to your major? </strong></p>
<p>I started studying French in middle school, so I knew that I wanted to continue those studies in college. The strength of the program, though, propelled me to keep taking classes past the proficiency requirements and really attempt to gain a higher level of French ability. </p>
<p><strong>So far, what has been your favorite class in the program and why? </strong></p>
<p>My favorite class in this program has been French Female Filmmakers, taught by Professor Morel. I’ve always been interested in learning more about film, and France obviously has a rich tradition of filmmaking as the birthplace of cinema.</p>
<p>One of the really great aspects of majoring in a language is that the upper level courses can cover a variety of topics. As such, within my French classes I’ve been able to study not just film but also history, literature, and graphic novels, which I otherwise may not have been able to do.</p>
<p><strong>Have you conducted any related research or independent study?</strong></p>
<p>As part of my international economics major, I completed a senior research project which compared aspects of French competition law with U.S. antitrust enforcement, specifically as it relates to Big Tech. While not being able to study abroad derailed my initial research plans a bit, it opened me up to this whole other topic which I may not have otherwise considered or even been aware of.</p>
<p>I also was asked by an economics professor to assist with translating a data set from French into English, which was a cool opportunity that I definitely wouldn’t have expected to do when I first started studying the language. </p>
<p><strong>What makes your program at Notre Dame stand out among programs like it at other schools? </strong></p>
<p>As I was looking at other colleges, the international economics major seemed really unique to Notre Dame. It looked like a great way to incorporate study in two seemingly different areas—economics and a foreign language—yet, they combined to form an interesting and engaging major. It definitely was a factor in my ultimate decision to attend ND. </p>
<p><strong>Do you have any advice for prospective students who are considering a major in a romance language/literature? </strong></p>
<p>Do it! While I never would have expected that my study abroad plans would be cancelled, hopefully that won’t be a problem going forward. Additionally, I’m really happy that I took the time to keep studying a language over the past four years. If I would’ve just stopped after high school, I likely would have lost a lot of my French ability by now. Instead, as long as I keep practicing (which I intend to do by traveling to France this summer after graduation), I hope to have gained a skill which will last a lifetime.</p>
<p><strong>What are your career plans/post-graduation plans? </strong></p>
<p>Next year, I’ll be moving to Chicago to work full-time at Cornerstone Research, an economic and financial consulting firm. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="image-right"><img alt="Mariateel" src="https://admissions.nd.edu/assets/472376/400x/mariateel.jpg"></figure>
<h2>Maria Teel '22</h2>
<p><strong>Majors:</strong> Political Science, French</p>
<p><strong>Minor:</strong> International Development Studies</p>
<p><strong>Why did you choose to major in a romance language/literature? </strong></p>
<p>I chose the French major because it allows me to apply my other areas of study (political science and international development studies) to a broader international scale.</p>
<p>Since I want to work in international development after graduation, speaking another language is a true asset.</p>
<p>My language skills have already supplemented my work on international development projects through the <a href="https://pulte.nd.edu/">Pulte Institute for Global Development</a>, where my role as a research assistant includes translation and interpretation for our partners in Senegal (a Francophone West African country).</p>
<p><strong>Were you always interested in topics related to this major? </strong></p>
<p>I started taking French classes as a first-year student since it was required for the <a href="http://al.nd.edu">College of Arts and Letters</a>. After taking a few classes, I first decided to declare the supplemental major and later scaled up to a full major.</p>
<p>I also was convinced to declare the French major once I saw the applications of my French knowledge; I interned for the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders the summer after my first year at Notre Dame and was able to communicate with Fellows from francophone African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritius, and Côte d’Ivoire. I loved seeing how my language skills could bridge gaps between people internationally. </p>
<p><strong>What has been your favorite class in the program and why? </strong></p>
<p>My favorite class has been Francophone Peace Studies: Worldwide Activism in Literature and Film with Professor Alison Rice. In this class, we engaged with literature and film from around the Francophone world, from countries like Rwanda and Haiti. My previous courses had focused almost entirely on France, so this broader scope of French language materials was very enlightening. I found it really valuable to learn about the international French-speaking world, especially as my interests lie in international development. </p>
<p><strong>Have you conducted any related research or independent study?</strong></p>
<p>I completed a capstone for the international development studies minor titled, “A Benchmark Analysis of Multilingual Education Policy and Practice in Senegal.” This project sought to evaluate the status of multilingual education in Senegal.</p>
<p>I created a conceptual framework that identifies three contributing factors to multilingual education success: 1) teacher qualifications and training; 2) accessible supply of first language teaching and learning materials; and 3) language environment. I then used an in-depth literature review and interviews with stakeholders to measure Senegal’s status in these three factors. My French knowledge allowed me to communicate with interviewees, to read sources in French from Senegalese scholars, and to generally integrate myself into the topic. </p>
<p><strong>What makes the French program at Notre Dame stand out among programs like it at other schools? </strong></p>
<p>The opportunity for qualified undergraduate students to take courses at the graduate level makes Notre Dame’s French program stand out. I have taken two graduate-level courses during my time at Notre Dame and really enjoyed the challenge of both. I’ve also felt really welcomed by both the professors and my graduate student classmates. I’m grateful to the professors of these classes, who are eager to open their classroom to undergraduate students who want to learn at a higher level. </p>
<p><strong>Do you have any advice for prospective students who are considering a major in a romance language/literature? </strong></p>
<p>I would encourage students to push themselves to take more internationally-focused French courses. There is so much more to the Francophone world beyond France, and classes that engage with content drawn from the wider Francophone world have been so eye-opening. As a French major, I really feel it’s important to engage with Francophone literature and culture worldwide, not just in the West. </p>
<p><strong>What are your career plans/post-graduation plans? </strong></p>
<p>I’m still waiting on decisions from most programs, but one option I’m excited about for next year is the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program in Senegal. I hope to use my French skills to work in a Senegalese education setting teaching English.</p>
<p>Two other great opportunities I applied to are the Boren Scholarship, where I would study French in Senegal, and the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF), where I would teach English in France. With these options in mind, I think it’s clear that my language skills are really central to my career path.</p>
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<figure class="image-right"><img alt="Fouad El Zoghbi" src="https://admissions.nd.edu/assets/472387/400x/fouad_el_zoghbi.jpg"></figure>
<h2>Fouad El Zoghbi '22</h2>
<p><strong>Major: </strong>International Economics (Spanish concentration)</p>
<p><strong style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:700; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Why did you choose to major in a romance language/literature?</span></strong><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal"> </span></span></p>
<p>My upbringing in Lebanon was incredibly rich and diverse linguistically. Ever since the French mandate in the first half of the twentieth century, the language has been taught, spoken, and part of broader Lebanese culture as a whole. Learning French, English and Arabic gave me three separate ways of seeing and interpreting the world around me.</p>
<p>I never understood the pedagogical merit of knowing different languages until I moved to Notre Dame. As an international economics major, I was planning on using Arabic or French as my concentration for the “Easy A.” My decision to learn Spanish and develop a whole new way of understanding the world around me is one that I do not regret at all. </p>
<p>I chose to major in international economics with a concentration in Spanish because I wanted to accumulate good quantitative skills and combine them with my love for languages. I did not see myself becoming an academic specializing in languages, but still had a deep passion for understanding other cultures and people’s experiences as authentically as I can.</p>
<p><strong>Were you always interested in topics related to your major? </strong></p>
<p>I was always interested in gaining a deeper understanding of how the world works on a theoretical and practical level. The economics part of the major was definitely something that helped me conceptualize everything I saw in my everyday life and in the news. The Spanish part helped me buy into and understand a whole new set of cultures in the world. </p>
<p><strong>What has been your favorite class in the program and why? </strong></p>
<p>My favorite class was Economics 43810: Explaining an Unequal World: Empirical Methods in Development with Nilesh Fernando. This class truly encompasses what studying economics is about—considering all possible explanations for economic, political, and sociological phenomena across the world, and having the academic humility to abstain from making concrete assumptions about them. The class taught me to enjoy econometric and quantitative analysis, whilst Professor Fernando’s refreshing teaching style cemented my appreciation of economic concepts. </p>
<p><strong>Have you conducted any related research or independent study?</strong></p>
<p>In my first and sophomore years, I assisted Professor Emilia Powell in the process of gathering and filtering information and data for her 2020 publication Islamic Law and International Law: Peaceful Resolution of Disputes. My tasks included comparative research on different legal systems of interest and their relevance to Professor Powell’s work. I also compiled information and research about prominent trends in Civil and Sharia legal systems implemented at state and community levels across Europe.</p>
<p><strong>Do you have any advice for prospective students who are considering a major in a romance language/literature? </strong></p>
<p>I would highly recommend pursuing a major in a romance language program for various reasons. Firstly, even if you are not planning on focusing your entire future plans on language, learning a new language at a higher level is incredibly important, rewarding and attractive for employers across all industries. Secondly, learning a new language expands your mind in unimaginable ways. Go for it!</p>
<p><strong>What are your career plans/post-graduation plans? </strong></p>
<p>I had initially accepted an offer in Chicago to work in healthcare consulting, but have had my plans change dramatically in the last few months. I will be pursuing a startup project called Maet: “Maet is a marketplace and a community for athletic competitions. It is designed for tournament organizers to seamlessly reach out to athletes, collect payment and track tournament results, all on one platform. Athletes of all levels can track their progress on the app through their Maet Ratings, a numerical score based on a PHD backed algorithm.”</p>
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<figure class="image-right"><img alt="Nd Backpack In Rome 1" src="https://admissions.nd.edu/assets/472381/300x/nd_backpack_in_rome_1.jpg"></figure>
<h2>Learn More</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://romancelanguages.nd.edu/undergraduate/">Explore a major in romance languages and literatures at Notre Dame.</a></li>
<li><a href="https://express.adobe.com/page/uPS2sHkkRnK6B/?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fromancelanguages.nd.edu%2Fundergraduate%2F&embed_type=overlay&context=lightbox-expand">Foreign Languages: Good for Your Brain. Great for Your Career.</a></li>
<li><a href="https://romancelanguages.nd.edu/undergraduate/student-opportunities/">Romance language clubs, research, internships, and more!</a></li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Shannon Rooney</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://admissions.nd.edu/visit-engage/stories-news/gain-a-global-perspective-students-four-students-on-majoring-in-romance-languages-and-literatures/">admissions.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 17, 2022</span>.</p>Shannon Rooneytag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456492022-05-17T16:00:00-04:002022-05-17T17:17:44-04:00Standing in solidarity: Notre Dame expands partnership with Ukrainian Catholic University <p>University of Notre Dame President <a href="https://president.nd.edu/about/">Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.</a>, and Metropolitan-Archbishop Borys Gudziak, organizer and president of Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), entered into an agreement today to significantly expand the existing academic, religious and cultural partnerships between the two universities.</p><p>University of Notre Dame President <a href="https://president.nd.edu/about/">Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.</a>, and Metropolitan-Archbishop Borys Gudziak, organizer and president of Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), entered into an agreement today to significantly expand the existing academic, religious and cultural partnerships between the two universities. The enhancements come in advance of Notre Dame conferring an honorary degree on the archbishop Sunday in its 177th University Commencement Ceremony, where he will also serve as the principal commencement speaker.</p>
<p>“The war in Ukraine is a great global tragedy,” Father Jenkins said. “We stand in solidarity with the courageous people of Ukraine and with our longtime partners at UCU. Notre Dame has for many years, through its <a href="https://nanovic.nd.edu/">Nanovic Institute for European Studies</a>, hosted visiting scholars from UCU here on campus, and in turn our scholars have spent time there.</p>
<p>“Now, as the Ukrainians resist the Russian invasion of their country, the role of UCU and of all Ukrainian universities has never been more important, both in sustaining the work of Ukrainian scholars and researchers and in preparing for the eventual rebuilding of their war-ravaged nation. In dialogue with our colleagues at UCU, we have arrived at a set of initiatives aimed at providing substantive support and deepening our partnership through a wide range of collaborative initiatives.”</p>
<p>The new programs center on engaging with UCU students and faculty at Notre Dame’s campus in South Bend, Indiana, and its Global Gateways worldwide, as well as providing opportunities for Notre Dame faculty and administrators to collaborate with UCU colleagues on their campus in Lviv.</p>
<p>“We believe that having a cohort of UCU students and faculty on campus each semester will be mutually beneficial,” Father Jenkins said. “There is a shared desire to advance both existing academic partnerships between our institutions and new areas of inquiry that emerge as a direct result of the war and that would have a positive impact on civil society in Ukraine.”</p>
<p>“Notre Dame has offered a bold and seminal response to the Russian invasion and devastation of Ukraine. It is a sign of the capacity of the University’s leadership and faculty to love generously, to embrace the hounded, to serve, bless and lift up,” Archbishop Gudziak said. “I deeply appreciate our friendship with Notre Dame which has been fostered for 18 years first under the guidance of (former director of the Nanovic Institute) Jim McAdams and continues with the present director, Clemens Sedmak, and his wonderful team. We were honored by the Notre Dame Award and Father Jenkins’ visit in 2019 and hope that our academic and personal relations will continue evolving on all levels.”</p>
<p>The partnership expansion, which will cost up to $2 million in the first year, will begin in the upcoming 2022-23 academic year and includes five primary components modeled on similar partnerships Notre Dame has with other colleges and universities worldwide. In addition to providing a cohort of undergraduate UCU students the opportunity to study at Notre Dame each semester, a similar program will be established for graduate students, and UCU post-doctoral students will be able to apply for the opportunity to study at one of Notre Dame’s five Global Gateways in Beijing, Dublin, Jerusalem, London and Rome. The University will also offer research grants for collaborations between its faculty and UCU scholars and sponsor two UCU faculty fellows to be in residence on campus each year. Finally, the University will offer grants to support collaborations between Notre Dame administrators and UCU administrators. Notre Dame and UCU will evaluate these initiatives annually and adapt as needed, especially given rapidly changing conditions in Ukraine.</p>
<p>Archbishop Gudziak, the highest-ranking Ukrainian Catholic prelate in the United States, founded UCU in Lviv in 2002 as the first Catholic university established in territory of the former Soviet Union. Father Jenkins presented him with the Notre Dame Award in 2019 for his work as the leader of UCU as a center for cultural thought, for his Christian witness, and for his commitment to the formation of a Ukrainian society based on human dignity.</p>
<p>Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on Feb. 24, Notre Dame has demonstrated solidarity with Ukraine in numerous ways, including a forceful statement from Father Jenkins at the start of the war, a prayer service for peace in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Feb. 28, weekly liturgies in the Basilica offered for the intention of an end to the war in Ukraine, creation of a <a href="https://international.nd.edu/solidarity-with-ukraine/">website </a> dedicated to educating the Notre Dame community about the war, faculty panel presentations, conversations between Notre Dame and UCU students, and the lighting of the “Word of Life” mosaic on the Hesburgh Library in Ukraine’s national colors of blue and yellow.</p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Dennis Brown</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://news.nd.edu/news/standing-in-solidarity-notre-dame-expands-partnership-with-ukrainian-catholic-university/">news.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 13, 2022</span>.</p>Dennis Browntag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456502022-05-17T16:00:00-04:002022-05-17T17:18:20-04:00Jean Marcos Custodio: Using Small Molecules to Solve Big Problems<p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Jean Marcos Custodio is hoping to make an impact in the field of immunology during his postdoctoral research at the University of Notre Dame. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Jean Marcos Custodio is hoping to make an impact in the field of immunology during his postdoctoral research at the University of Notre Dame. </span></span></p>
<figure class="image-right"><img alt="1200x800 Postdoc Spotlight Custodio" height="400" src="https://science.nd.edu/assets/465137/1200x800_postdoc_spotlight_custodio.jpg" width="600"></figure>
<p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">After receiving his doctoral degree in chemistry at the Federal University of Goiás, Custodio knew he wanted to connect his work on small molecules and crystallography to important applications. After a one-year internship working with Research Professor Allen Oliver, he met Brian Baker, Coleman Professor of Life Sciences in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and department chair. Custodio liked Baker’s work on molecular recognition in the cellular immune system, and began his time as a postdoctoral researcher in the Baker Lab. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Custodio’s research at Notre Dame focuses on how the immune system molecules operate to fight infections, cancer, and, in the case of autoimmune diseases, its own body. He noted that this is different from the research he did to complete his Ph.D, which examined synthetic small molecules. However, his research background inspired him to seek a different approach to using small peptides. “I have always been curious about how I could use those molecules to do something important,” he said. “Something that can be used to solve problems more efficiently.”</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Custodio is deciding on his career plans after completing his postdoctoral research. While he had always envisioned himself going on the academic job market for a tenure-track position, he is also considering entering the industry to work for a pharmaceutical company, like Pfizer. This, he said, would be “applying what I’ve been learning to solve problems, not only to teach.” The options excite Custodio, who feels that his past three years in the College of Science have been critical to his career discernment. “Being here, I can see that there are other paths, other fields, and other things I can do,” he said. “Talking to people here about different possibilities has been really good for me.”</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">For Custodio, being at Notre Dame has given him the opportunity to work in high-caliber research spaces with advanced facilities and equipment.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">“The kind of research that I can conduct here depends on what I want to do, because I have access to do basically everything I want here with my research,” he said.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Outside of his lab, Custodio’s hobbies include photography, traveling, and playing instruments such as the guitar. He estimates that he will be at Notre Dame for one to two more years. </span></span></p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Lily Brouder</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://science.nd.edu/news/jean-marcos-custodio-using-small-molecules-to-solve-big-problems/">science.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 12, 2022</span>.</p>Lily Broudertag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456512022-05-17T16:00:00-04:002022-05-17T17:18:44-04:00Danielle Wood Receives 2021-22 Joyce Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching<p>CCI's Associate Director for Research was one of twenty University of Notre Dame faculty members to receive the 2021-2022 Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.</p>
<p>Original story published at <a href="https://news.nd.edu/news/faculty-awards-honor-undergraduate-teaching-and-advising-5/">https://news.nd.edu/news/faculty-awards-honor-undergraduate-teaching-and-advising-5/</a>…</p><p>CCI's Associate Director for Research was one of twenty University of Notre Dame faculty members to receive the 2021-2022 Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.</p>
<p>Original story published at <a href="https://news.nd.edu/news/faculty-awards-honor-undergraduate-teaching-and-advising-5/">https://news.nd.edu/news/faculty-awards-honor-undergraduate-teaching-and-advising-5/</a>.</p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">CCI Staff</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://civicinnovation.nd.edu/news/danielle-wood-receives-2021-22-joyce-award-for-excellence-in-undergraduate-teaching/">civicinnovation.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 17, 2022</span>.</p>CCI Stafftag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456522022-05-17T16:00:00-04:002022-05-17T17:20:52-04:002022 Berthiaume Institute Summer Graduate Research Fellowship recipients announced<p style="padding:0pt 0pt 12pt 0pt">The Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health (BIPH) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022 Summer Graduate Research Fellowships. <br>
<br>
The Berthiaume Institute supports several programs and research experiences for student researchers during a key part of their education, both on campus and with clinical collaborators.<br>…</p><p style="padding:0pt 0pt 12pt 0pt">The Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health (BIPH) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022 Summer Graduate Research Fellowships. <br>
<br>
The Berthiaume Institute supports several programs and research experiences for student researchers during a key part of their education, both on campus and with clinical collaborators.<br>
<br>
The 2022 Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health Summer Fellowship recipients are as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">
<strong>Laura Alderfer</strong>, Bioengineering; advisor: <a href="https://engineering.nd.edu/faculty/donny-hanjaya-putra/">Donny Hanjaya-Putra</a>
</li>
<li aria-level="1">
<strong>Kirk Atkinson</strong>, Chemistry & Biochemistry; advisor: <a href="https://chemistry.nd.edu/people/bradley-d-smith/">Brad Smith</a>
</li>
<li aria-level="1">
<strong>Nathan Dominique</strong>, Chemistry & Biochemistry; advisor: <a href="https://chemistry.nd.edu/people/jon-camden/">Jon Camden</a>
</li>
<li aria-level="1">
<strong>Harrison Hill</strong>, Chemistry & Biochemistry; advisor: <a href="https://chemistry.nd.edu/people/brandon-ashfeld/">Brandon Ashfeld</a>
</li>
<li aria-level="1">
<strong>Tiffany Huwe</strong>, Biological Sciences; advisor: <a href="https://biology.nd.edu/people/cristian-koepfli/">Cristian Koepfli</a>
</li>
<li aria-level="1">
<strong>Chinedu Madukoma</strong>, CEEES; advisor: <a href="https://engineering.nd.edu/faculty/joshua-shrout/">Josh Shrout</a>
</li>
<li aria-level="1">
<strong>Sihan Yu</strong>, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; advisor: <a href="https://engineering.nd.edu/faculty/matthew-webber/">Matt Webber</a>
</li>
<li aria-level="1">
<strong>Yuting Zhang</strong>, Integrated Biomedical Sciences; advisor: <a href="https://biology.nd.edu/people/xin-lu/">Xin Lu</a>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>
<br>
The Leiva Graduate Fellowship in Precision Medicine<br>
</h3>
<p>The Leiva Graduate Fellowship in Precision Medicine awards summer funding to one outstanding Notre Dame student showing promise in the area of precision medicine research, acknowledging academic achievement, character, and qualities of leadership.</p>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">
<strong>Alicia Wei</strong>, Bioengineering; advisor: <a href="https://engineering.nd.edu/faculty/thomas-osullivan/">Tom O’Sullivan</a>
</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<h3>The O’Brien Family Endowment for Excellence Fellowship<br>
</h3>
<p>The O’Brien Family Endowment for Excellence Fellowship awards summer funding to one Notre Dame graduate student researching the development of biomedical tools and techniques, with a preference for research that addresses Parkinson’s disease or other neurodegenerative diseases.</p>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">
<strong>Francisco Huizar</strong>, Bioengineering; advisor: <a href="https://engineering.nd.edu/faculty/jeremiah-zartman/">Jeremiah Zartman</a>
</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>Congratulations to all of this year’s recipients.</p>
<p>For more information on the fellowships and other BIPH research opportunities, please visit <a href="https://precisionhealth.nd.edu/opportunities/">precisionhealth.nd.edu/opportunities/</a>. </p>
<p> </p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Karen Dickerson</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://precisionhealth.nd.edu/news-events/news/2022-berthiaume-institute-summer-graduate-fellowship-recipients-announced/">precisionhealth.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 17, 2022</span>.</p>Karen Dickersontag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456052022-05-16T13:40:00-04:002022-05-16T13:40:42-04:00Video: 2022 Arts and Letters seniors reflect on their liberal arts education<p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Congratulations to the Class of 2022! This video, screened at the Arts and Letters Diploma Ceremony, features several seniors reflecting on their time at Notre Dame and in the College of Arts and Letters. “Your peers, your professors, everybody wants you to be the best version of yourself that you can be,” said political science and Latino studies major Matheo Vidal. “There is no place like Notre Dame, and I'm just so thankful that I was blessed to be able to experience it.”</span></span></p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="507" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IAx-JaMA2LQ?rel=0" width="900"></iframe></p>
<p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">Congratulations to the Class of 2022! This <a href="https://youtu.be/IAx-JaMA2LQ">video</a>, screened at the Arts and Letters Diploma Ceremony, features several seniors reflecting on their time at Notre Dame and in the College of Arts and Letters.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">“A liberal arts education prepares the mind for anything,” said psychology and Spanish major Sam Malloy. “It's so diverse and so customizable and so flexible for anything that you're interested in.”</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">“Classes that promote discussion really allow you to understand other people's perspectives,” said Caroline Pineda, a film, television, and theatre major. “You know how to analyze a text and you know how to communicate effectively with people, skills that really do translate to anything.”</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-variant:normal; font-weight:400; white-space:pre-wrap"><span style="font-style:normal">“Your peers, your professors, everybody wants you to be the best version of yourself that you can be,” said political science and Latino studies major Matheo Vidal. “There is no place like Notre Dame, and I'm just so thankful that I was blessed to be able to experience it.”</span></span></p>
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<p> </p>
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<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Todd Boruff</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://al.nd.edu/news/latest-news/video-2022-arts-and-letters-seniors-reflect-on-their-liberal-arts-education/">al.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 16, 2022</span>.</p>Todd Borufftag:research.nd.edu,2005:News/1456032022-05-16T13:00:00-04:002022-05-16T13:38:57-04:00Standing in solidarity: Notre Dame expands partnership with Ukrainian Catholic University <p>University of Notre Dame President <a href="https://president.nd.edu/about/">Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.</a>, and Metropolitan-Archbishop Borys Gudziak, organizer and president of Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), entered into an agreement today to significantly expand the existing academic, religious and cultural partnerships between the two universities.</p><p>University of Notre Dame President <a href="https://president.nd.edu/about/">Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.</a>, and Metropolitan-Archbishop Borys Gudziak, organizer and president of Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), entered into an agreement today to significantly expand the existing academic, religious and cultural partnerships between the two universities. The enhancements come in advance of Notre Dame conferring an honorary degree on the archbishop Sunday in its 177th University Commencement Ceremony, where he will also serve as the principal commencement speaker.</p>
<p>“The war in Ukraine is a great global tragedy,” Father Jenkins said. “We stand in solidarity with the courageous people of Ukraine and with our longtime partners at UCU. Notre Dame has for many years, through its <a href="https://nanovic.nd.edu/">Nanovic Institute for European Studies</a>, hosted visiting scholars from UCU here on campus, and in turn our scholars have spent time there.</p>
<p>“Now, as the Ukrainians resist the Russian invasion of their country, the role of UCU and of all Ukrainian universities has never been more important, both in sustaining the work of Ukrainian scholars and researchers and in preparing for the eventual rebuilding of their war-ravaged nation. In dialogue with our colleagues at UCU, we have arrived at a set of initiatives aimed at providing substantive support and deepening our partnership through a wide range of collaborative initiatives.”</p>
<p>The new programs center on engaging with UCU students and faculty at Notre Dame’s campus in South Bend, Indiana, and its Global Gateways worldwide, as well as providing opportunities for Notre Dame faculty and administrators to collaborate with UCU colleagues on their campus in Lviv.</p>
<p>“We believe that having a cohort of UCU students and faculty on campus each semester will be mutually beneficial,” Father Jenkins said. “There is a shared desire to advance both existing academic partnerships between our institutions and new areas of inquiry that emerge as a direct result of the war and that would have a positive impact on civil society in Ukraine.”</p>
<p>“Notre Dame has offered a bold and seminal response to the Russian invasion and devastation of Ukraine. It is a sign of the capacity of the University’s leadership and faculty to love generously, to embrace the hounded, to serve, bless and lift up,” Archbishop Gudziak said. “I deeply appreciate our friendship with Notre Dame which has been fostered for 18 years first under the guidance of (former director of the Nanovic Institute) Jim McAdams and continues with the present director, Clemens Sedmak, and his wonderful team. We were honored by the Notre Dame Award and Father Jenkins’ visit in 2019 and hope that our academic and personal relations will continue evolving on all levels.”</p>
<p>The partnership expansion, which will cost up to $2 million in the first year, will begin in the upcoming 2022-23 academic year and includes five primary components modeled on similar partnerships Notre Dame has with other colleges and universities worldwide. In addition to providing a cohort of undergraduate UCU students the opportunity to study at Notre Dame each semester, a similar program will be established for graduate students, and UCU post-doctoral students will be able to apply for the opportunity to study at one of Notre Dame’s five Global Gateways in Beijing, Dublin, Jerusalem, London and Rome. The University will also offer research grants for collaborations between its faculty and UCU scholars and sponsor two UCU faculty fellows to be in residence on campus each year. Finally, the University will offer grants to support collaborations between Notre Dame administrators and UCU administrators. Notre Dame and UCU will evaluate these initiatives annually and adapt as needed, especially given rapidly changing conditions in Ukraine.</p>
<p>Archbishop Gudziak, the highest-ranking Ukrainian Catholic prelate in the United States, founded UCU in Lviv in 2002 as the first Catholic university established in territory of the former Soviet Union. Father Jenkins presented him with the Notre Dame Award in 2019 for his work as the leader of UCU as a center for cultural thought, for his Christian witness, and for his commitment to the formation of a Ukrainian society based on human dignity.</p>
<p>Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on Feb. 24, Notre Dame has demonstrated solidarity with Ukraine in numerous ways, including a forceful statement from Father Jenkins at the start of the war, a prayer service for peace in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Feb. 28, weekly liturgies in the Basilica offered for the intention of an end to the war in Ukraine, creation of a <a href="https://international.nd.edu/solidarity-with-ukraine/">website </a> dedicated to educating the Notre Dame community about the war, faculty panel presentations, conversations between Notre Dame and UCU students, and the lighting of the “Word of Life” mosaic on the Hesburgh Library in Ukraine’s national colors of blue and yellow.</p>
<p class="attribution">Originally published by <span class="rel-author">Dennis Brown</span> at <span class="rel-source"><a href="https://news.nd.edu/news/standing-in-solidarity-notre-dame-expands-partnership-with-ukrainian-catholic-university/">news.nd.edu</a></span> on <span class="rel-pubdate">May 13, 2022</span>.</p>Dennis Brown