Happy New Year from SOCO! 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse and promises passion, social energy, and strategic action. Keep an eye out for many opportunities to put your passions and energy into action at the institute this spring!
|
|
|
Announcing the Justice & Society Minor
The Justice & Society Minor bridges the gap between classical theoretical inquiry and contemporary practical application. As the global landscape faces increasingly complex challenges, students in the minor explore the ancient pursuit of discerning what is right, just, and fair while gaining the evidence-based research tools necessary to enact meaningful change.
|
|
|
Megan Levis Scheirer on Catholic social teaching in a digital age
As an engineer housed at the Institute for Social Concerns, Megan Levis Scheirer is bringing Catholic social teaching (CST) to bear on digital technology. By integrating CST at the software design level, she and her engineering colleagues are providing a framework for developers to move beyond the attention economy toward a more human-centered digital future.
|
|
|
Institute brings creative writing workshops into county jail
In partnership with the Notre Dame’s Department of English, the Institute for Social Concerns coordinated two six-week series of workshops, one for women and one for men—the first time Notre Dame has offered such programming in the county jail.
|
|
|
| Learning the Language of Creation, by Damien Marie Savino, FSE
The fifth volume in the institute's Enacting Catholic Social Tradition is now available! Join us Wednesday, February 11, 4:30—6:00 pm in the Geddes Hall Coffee House for a book launch!
“Sister Damien Marie's work helps us all to think more deeply about how we can work together to better care for one another and all of creation.”
— Rev. Robert A. Dowd, CSC
|
|
|
Miroslav Volf is the founder & director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. He will join us to discuss his most recent book, The Cost of Ambition: How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse.
Monday, January 26
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
On Zoom
|
|
This student-oriented simulation will immerse participants in the lived experience of individuals returning to our community from prison to develop a better understanding of the systemic barriers they face, as well as the resilience it takes to overcome them.
Friday, January 30
12:30 pm to 3:00 pm
Remick Commons, Visitation Hall
|
|
|
Encounter Lecture Series: Kate Ward
|
The 2026 Encounter lectures kick off on Friday, Jan. 30, with the lecture “Making a Life: Catholic Social Teaching's Inclusive Definition of Work” by Christian ethicist Kate Ward. Light reception to follow. Join us!
Friday, January 30
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Geddes Hall, Andrews Auditorium
|
|
Social Concerns Alumni Book Club
|
The alumni book club will discuss Ocean Vuong's The Emperor of Gladness, a brave epic about what it means to exist on the fringes of society and to reckon with the wounds that haunt our collective soul.
Tuesday, February 3
7:00 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.
On Zoom
|
|
|
Junior Parents Weekend Lecture
|
Mark your calendars for our Junior Parents Weekend Lecture by Ayana Mathis, author of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie and, most recently, The Unsettled.
Friday, February 20
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Geddes Hall, Andrews Auditorium
|
|
The 2026 Poverty Studies Distinguished Lecture will be delivered by Claudia Rowe, journalist and author of Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care.
Tuesday, April 21
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Geddes Hall, Andrews Auditorium
|
|
|
Launch Party: The Justice & Society Minor
|
Stop by Geddes Hall tomorrow, January 15, 5 to 7 pm, to learn more about the Justice & Society Minor. Roast marshmallows and sip hot chocolate around the fire on our patio! Enter a raffle to win great prizes! Lots of food, desserts, drinks, giveaways, and more!
|
|
|
Integrating Virtue Fellows
|
Notre Dame Integrating Virtues Fellows is an opportunity for faculty from the professional schools at Notre Dame to join a discipline-specific community of practice in integrating moral, intellectual, civic or performance virtues into a course they will teach in the 2026-2027 academic year. Apply by Wednesday, January 15.
|
|
McNeill Common Good Fellows
|
McNeill Common Good Fellows are a community of students from across all Notre Dame colleges committed to exploring life’s biggest questions through shared coursework, community engagement, faculty-mentored research, and adventure. First year students can apply for this paid, three-year fellowship. Apply by Sunday, February 15.
|
|
|
Last Chance to Register for Spring 2026 Classes at SOCO!
Notre Dame students: Still looking to add a course to your spring schedule? Check out all our 1- and 3-credit course offerings for the spring!
|
|
|
As an interdisciplinary academic institute, the Institute for Social Concerns leverages research to respond to the complex demands of justice and to serve the common good. This series, ReSearching for the Common Good, highlights some of the scholars in our community.
|
Madeline Ward is a J.D. candidate at Notre Dame Law School and 2025–26 Graduate Justice Fellow at the institute. She previously received her B.A. in political science and ACMS at Notre Dame with minors in peace studies from the Kroc Institute and Catholic social tradition from the Institute for Social Concerns, where she was also involved in a summer fellowship at Nazareth Farm in Doddridge County, West Virginia.
What is the focus of your current research?
As a law student, my research is primarily clinical and hands-on. I am currently working with the Exoneration Justice Clinic, where we represent individuals who have been wrongfully convicted. I am currently part of teams working on two of our cases in Elkhart, Indiana, involving individuals who were wrongfully convicted under the same prosecutor and police department. For cases like these in the post-conviction stage, we investigate applications from prison, determine if a claim of innocence has merit, and work to overturn the convictions.
In addition to clinic work, I am finishing a project on harm reduction as a response to drug use, and next semester I will begin a partnership with the Mass Incarceration Research Lab—one of the institute’s Justice Labs—and Professor Jimmy Gurulé to study the history of the death penalty in Indiana and what it means for the state going forward after it recently restarted executions for state-level offenses after a 15-year pause.
How did you get interested in pursuing justice through a law degree?
My path to Notre Dame began in middle school, inspired by a teacher from the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program. As an undergrad here, I became deeply involved in the programming at the Institute for Social Concerns and the Catholic Social Tradition (CST) minor. CST provided me with the language and framework to turn my faith into action.
After graduating, I spent two years at Nazareth Farm, a nonprofit Catholic community in West Virginia where I had previously done a summer fellowship through the institute. Living in an intentional community focused on justice taught me that change happens on the ground, through relationships. During this time, I realized I wanted to be more effective in my advocacy for justice, which for me meant returning to South Bend—a place where I already had a strong community—to study law at Notre Dame.
How do you see your research contributing to the common good?
I see my research as a lawyer as a tool for systemic change. My work with the Exoneration Justice Clinic has shown me the reward of helping individuals regain their freedom, but it has also highlighted the need for broader advocacy. We cannot only focus on the innocent; the legal system needs to provide quality representation for everyone. I want to use my understanding of how these systems function to actively dismantle their most unjust components. For me, the goal is not so much to end up at a prestigious law firm as it is to ensure that my legal education directly contributes to a more just and equitable world.
|
|
|
Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
|
Geddes Hall | Notre Dame, IN 46556 US
|
|
|
This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
|
|
|
|
