Bretherton addresses democracy conference
The Regius Professor of Moral & Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford, Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, and author of numerous publications on Christianity and democracy—including Resurrecting Democracy and Christ and the Common Life—Luke Bretherton shared his theological vision for participatory democracy in the opening keynote of the Everyday Democracy conference planned and hosted by the institute on September 4–6.
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Kyla Walker brings poetry to the institute
As the international justice poetry fellow at the Institute for Social Concerns, Kyla Walker is practicing what she learned from her grandfather as a child—using her art to create understanding and connection across differences of language, culture, and geography.
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RISE Hometown inspires incoming students
As Notre Dame’s 2,118 incoming first-year students were preparing to make the significant transition from the world they have known into the world of higher education, 63 of them prepared by exploring the complex demands of justice through the RISE program at the Institute for Social Concerns. These students were selected from a competitive pool of applicants to the program, which includes both a Hometown and a South Bend option.
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| Empowering People through Encounter
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The fourth volume of the institute's Enacting Catholic Social Tradition series is now available from Liturgical Press! In Empowering People through Encounter: Catholic Social Teaching and Community Organizing, Erin Brigham and Maureen H. O'Connell present Catholic social teaching as an embodied, practical, and inspiring way to connect faith and action. The book highlights the dispositions, skills, and methods of faith-based community organizing through a combination of interviews with Catholic organizers in the field and case studies of campaigns from a variety of national contexts.
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Social Impact Fair: Tonight!
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Hosted by the institute in collaboration with the Meruelo Family Center for Career Development, the Social Impact Fair connects students with representatives from organizations around the world offering roles in education, healthcare, government, faith-based work, public service, and more.
Wednesday, Sept 17, 2025
5:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Dahnke Ballroom
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CST & AI Reading Group: Tonight!
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Are you interested in Catholic Social Teaching (CST)? Are you thinking about AI? Join our fall CST and AI reading group! Professors working on CST and AI will lead a reading group of Antiqua et nova, a recent Vatican letter on artificial and human intelligence. The CST reading group will meet tonight, Sept. 24, and Oct. 1.
Wednesday, Sept 17, 2025
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Geddes Hall Coffee House
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MVP Fridays: Viet Thanh Nguyen
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This Friday, for the weekend of the Purdue game, we welcome Pulitzer Prize–winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen. Nguyen will be speaking on "POV: Writing as Other.”
Friday, Sept 19, 2025
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Geddes Hall, Andrews Auditorium
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V&V Webinar: Stanley McChrystal
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Join us for a conversation with Stanley McChrystal, a retired four-star general and former commander, about his recently released book, On Character: Choices that Define a Life.
Monday, Sept 22, 2025
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
On Zoom
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Engage South Bend Faculty Tour
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Notre Dame faculty: New to the community or looking to deepen partnerships? The institute invites you on a South Bend excursion with community partners to explore research and scholarship possibilities. Discover how your expertise can contribute to community flourishing.
Friday, Sept 26, 2025
11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Departing from Library Circle
Lunch will be provided
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Alumni Book Club: Oldfield's Fully Alive
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The institute is hosting an online book club for alumni of our programs and courses. Join us Oct. 1 to talk about Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times by Elizabeth Oldfield. Brain Lair Books, an independent bookstore in South Bend, sends a free book to the first 15 people who sign up!
Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025
7:00 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.
On Zoom
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Student Research Symposium
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The institute will celebrate the 200+ students who investigated research questions in the institute’s two signature summer programs: NDBridge and Social Concerns Summer Fellowships. Six students from these programs will present their research and receive awards to continue their work the following summer. All are welcome!
Thursday, Oct 2, 2025
5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
McKenna Hall 215/216
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MVP Fridays: Timothy Egan
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Join the institute on the weekend of the Boise State game to hear from Timothy Egan, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and award-winning author. His most recent book, A Fever in the Heartland, is a historical thriller that was an immediate New York Times bestseller. Drawing from the book, Egan will discuss “Historical Echoes and the Klan in Indiana."
Friday, Oct 3, 2025
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Geddes Hall, Andrews Auditorium
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V&V Webinar: David Sandberg, MD
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Brain and Heart is a medical memoir that explores the thoughts and emotions that accompany the responsibility of making complex choices with life-changing consequences. We look forward to a conversation with Dr. Sandberg on courage, love, compassion, hope and the other virtues that shape his vocation as a pediatric neurosurgeon.
Monday, October 6, 2025
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
On Zoom
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MVP Fridays: Elizabeth Oldfield
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For the weekend of the NC State game, the institute welcomes Elizabeth Oldfield, author of the alumni book club book Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times and host of The Sacred podcast, interviewing those who shape our common life about their deepest values. Reception and book signing to follow. Join us!
Friday, Oct 10, 2025
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Geddes Hall, Andrews Auditorium
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The 2025 Annual Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C., Lecture: "Hope and Healing" with Tom Catena
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For the 2025 Annual Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C., Lecture, the institute welcomes Tom Catena, who will be speaking on "Hope and Healing." Catena is an American physician who has been practicing in Gidel in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan since 2008. In 2017, he was awarded the second annual Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. He is chair of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2025
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Eck Center Auditorium
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Fall 2025 Graduate Institute
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The institute offers the Graduate Institute for Engaged Teaching and Research during the fall semester break, Wed., Oct. 22, to Fri., Oct. 24. Designed for graduate and professional students in all fields at all levels interested in applying their disciplinary lens and tools to issues of justice, the institute explores principles and effective models of public scholarship and community engagement. Participants experience a mix of dialogue with community and academic leaders, workshops, guided reflection, and community walking tours.
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Above: RISE South Bend students meet with Marguerite Taylor, Robinson Community Learning Center staff member emeritus, in South Bend. Below: Notre Dame students join Institute faculty and staff for the Welcome Back Bash on the lawn in front of Geddes Hall.
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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.
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Solbee Kang is an electrical engineering major with a minor in studio art and design from Seoul, South Korea. On campus, she works for Notre Dame’s Wireless Institute, which provides collaborative research and education to advance wireless technologies and radio spectrum access for the public good. She is one of 11 Notre Dame students selected for the 2024–25 cohort of McNeill Common Good Fellows at the Institute for Social Concerns and one of 22 Notre Dame student awardees for the 2025–26 cohort of the Naughton Fellowship. Through the fellowship, she researched surgical navigation using magnetic tracking technology for image-guided interventions at University College Cork, Ireland, this past summer.
What are you researching? And how do you see it advancing the common good?
As an electrical engineering student, I am researching wireless communications at Notre Dame’s Wireless Institute. Recently, I have focused specifically on the implications of satellite internet services like Starlink. While satellite internet is advertised to enhance connectivity for rural and marginalized communities without access to broadband internet, it still fails to meet the minimum standards for reliable internet set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In addition, the cheapest initial setup costs easily exceed a couple hundred dollars, with recurring fees of $120+ that further burden low-income users, making it out of reach and unsustainable for the communities it advertises to and intends to serve.
My research critically assesses the reliability of satellite internet and its potential to address digital equity. I also examine the ethical and safety concerns of privatizing internet access, as seen in situations like the war in Ukraine, where a single entity can control connectivity. In addition, there are concerns with satellite internet causing potential interference issues with airline tracking systems or GPS technology in vehicles. And at the same time, at the Wireless Institute, I explore the benefits and innovation that the new technology and investment can bring with satellite. By exploring both the potential and the concerns of satellite internet as well as potential safe and affordable alternatives, such as community broadband initiatives, my work aims to ensure that technological advancements serve marginalized communities effectively.
How did you become interested in this research?
My interest in wireless connectivity was sparked by my personal experiences as an international student relying heavily on wireless connectivity to talk with family every day. I then became interested in public policy questions around wireless technology when I attended a talk by Darrah Blackwater, a lawyer working with the Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance that focuses on Indigenous Data Sovereignty. Her talk highlighted the injustices faced by Indigenous communities regarding their rights to the radio spectrum.
Darrah connected me to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) who works on community broadband networks to promote locally rooted, democratically accountable broadband networks that provide fast, affordable, and reliable internet access to all Americans. In addition to working with ILSR last summer, I was also able to attend the EU Spectrum Management Conference, which focused on global digital equity challenges. I didn’t know anyone, and I think I was the only student there! But it was a fascinating experience, as I learned that, at the global level, there’s a push for satellite internet, despite the policy, economic, and social impact concerns I was researching in the United States.
What has it meant to be a McNeill Common Good Fellow?
Being a McNeill Common Good Fellow has profoundly enhanced my experience at Notre Dame. The fellowship has introduced me to a diverse cohort of peers, creating a supportive environment for discussing complex issues. One of my most memorable experiences was forming a team with fellow McNeill scholars for the CST Impact Competition, where we won first place and received $10,000 to implement our project supporting Afghani women in partnership with Catholic Charities San Antonio’s Sewing for Success program. This collaboration has opened doors to connect with local organizations in South Bend, allowing us to develop solutions that address community needs. Overall, the fellowship has empowered me to engage in meaningful projects, build lasting friendships, and deepen my commitment to advancing the common good through my research as an electrical engineer.
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