SOCO celebrates undergraduate summer research
Last summer through the Institute for Social Concerns’ NDBridge program, Maya Tello spent eight weeks at Dismas Farm in Oakham, Massachusetts, pursuing research on how programs for returning citizens such as theirs could be expanded and replicated across the United States. Maya was one of six research award recipients, joined by fellow NDBridge participants and Social Concerns Summer Fellows who were among the 283 students who participated in the institute’s programs across 149 partner organizations in 36 countries last summer.
|
|
|
Postbaccalaureate fellows research reentry
Each week, Wonu Fasasi and Hayden Kirwan are teaching three-hour workshops in the St. Joseph County Jail called Jails to Jobs, using curriculum developed in California prisons and adapted to the Indiana context. They are also conducting mock interviews at the South Bend Community Re-entry Center to assist returning citizens with career preparation. And together they are doing research to develop a digital literacy curriculum for a course they will teach at the reentry center to returning citizens who have limited experience with newer technology.
|
|
|
University faculty engage South Bend
On September 26, a group of nearly 20 faculty from across the University participated in the 2025 Engage South Bend tour, visiting locations in the Kennedy Park, Near West, Near Northwest, Northeast, and Southeast neighborhoods, as well as downtown South Bend. At each stop, they spoke with Notre Dame faculty or community members about ways the institute is engaging with neighborhoods.
|
|
|
| You Dreamed of Empires
by Álvaro Enrigue
|
One morning in 1519, conquistador Hernán Cortés enters the city of Tenochtitlan–today’s Mexico City. Later that day, he will meet the emperor Moctezuma in a collision of two worlds, two empires, two languages, two possible futures. You Dreamed of Empires brings Tenochtitlan to life at its height, and reimagines its destiny. The incomparably original Álvaro Enrigue sets afire the moment of conquest and turns it into a moment of revolution, a restitutive, fantastical counterattack, in a novel so electric and so unique that it feels like a dream.
Join us for the next Social Concerns Book Club as we read Enrigue's You Dreamed of Empires!
|
|
|
Alumni Honor Award Recipient
|
Congratulations to our very own Connie Snyder Mick on receiving the 2025 Alumni Honor Awards at her alma mater, Manchester University. Connie was honored at a ceremony during Manchester's homecoming weekend on October 10.
The award recognized Connie's work as senior associate director, academic affairs, and director of the Poverty Studies Interdisciplinary Minor at the institute, as well as her research that has appeared in several academic journals and her publication of two textbooks with Oxford University Press.
|
| |
|
First-year students, learn more about the institute's courses, programs, minors, and research opportunities at the 2025 Exploration Fair!
A partnership between the Center for University Advising, Meruelo Center for Career Development, and Student Government, the Exploration Fair brings together academic programs from across campus into one room for an evening of conversation and exploration. Free Chik-Fil-A!
Monday, October 27, 2025
6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Dahnke Ballroom, Duncan Student Center
|
|
The Labor Café convenes the Notre Dame community for casual yet critical conversation on contemporary questions about work, workers, and workplaces. Participants choose the concrete topics, all people are welcome, and all opinions are entertained.
The coffee is hot, the treats are sweet, and the conversation is inviting.
Friday, Oct 31 and Nov 14, 2025
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Geddes Hall Coffee House
|
|
|
V&V Webinar: Jennifer Szalai
|
Jennifer Szalai recently published a piece in the New York Times about several recent books that view empathy negatively. We will have a conversation with her about these books and the role of empathy in this cultural moment.
Monday, Nov 3, 2025
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
On Zoom
|
|
Dismas Hub Mural Dedication
|
Join us as we dedicate the new mural at The Dismas Hub, developed in the institute’s Art and Social Change class alongside residents of Dismas House of Indiana to tell the story of resilience and hope through the voices of those returning from incarceration.
Wednesday, Nov 5, 2025
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
402 E. South St., South Bend
|
|
|
The 2025 Annual Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C., Lecture: "Hope and Healing" with Tom Catena
|
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
|
|
|
Social Concerns Spring Courses
|
Notre Dame students: check out all our 1- and 3-credit course offerings for the spring! Many courses include travel over spring break. Some courses have applications due in November, so check out all our courses and apply today!
|
|
The McNeill Winter Plunge for Mendoza College of Business students consists of a three-day immersive experience that takes place over winter break, followed by a 1-credit S/U course in the spring semester. Apply today!
|
|
|
Are you a current first year student? Looking for a summer justice opportunity? Then NDBridge may be for you! NDBridge is a 1-credit graded course and an 8-week immersive summer experience where students think hard about injustice, work with communities around the world that face it, and consider their responsibility to the common good while at Notre Dame and beyond.
Info session Monday, Nov 10, 2025
6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Geddes Hall Coffee House
|
|
Social Concerns Summer Fellowships
|
Are you a current sophomore or junior? Looking for a summer justice opportunity? Then apply for the Social Concerns Summer Fellowship! The Summer Fellowship is a 1-credit S/U course that prepares students for an 8-week immersive summer experience where they work alongside a community organization, explore vocational aspirations, consider the dynamics of injustice, and conduct research.
Info session Wednesday, Nov 17, 2025
6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Geddes Hall Coffee House
|
|
|
Want to go deeper? The institute offers two minors: the Catholic Social Tradition Minor and Poverty Studies Interdisciplinary Minor. Each provides an excellent complement to any major by drawing from the expertise of our world-class, interdisciplinary faculty to explore how scholarship informs and intersects with the most pressing signs of the times.
|
|
|
Above: More than 30 non-profit organizations gathered outside Geddes Hall for the Community Engagement Fair, connecting with students interested in getting more involved in the South Bend community. Below: Research for the Common Good Award recipients speak with members of the Andrews family at the Andrews Scholars Reception.
|
|
|
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.
|
Jenifer Guadalupe Solano Becerra ’27 is a neuroscience and behavior major with a minor in chemistry. A winner of the 2024 Research for the Common Good Award, Jenifer was a summer 2024 NDBridge participant and now serves on the institute’s Genesis team.
What research did you conduct for your NDBridge experience?
Through NDBridge and my experience in Columbus, Ohio, at Accompanying Returning Citizens with Hope (ARCH), I was introduced to the lived realities and moved by the stories and struggles of returning citizens. My previous research focused on the pervasive issue of food insecurity among incarcerated individuals and its detrimental effects on their health and well-being. That project revealed how systemic neglect in basic provisions—such as consistent access to nutritious food—not only worsens physical health outcomes but also deepens the psychosocial vulnerabilities of marginalized populations. It underscored that food insecurity is not merely about hunger; it’s a critical social determinant of health that perpetuates cycles of disadvantage and recidivism. That experience expanded my understanding of what healing truly requires and deepened my commitment to medicine as a vehicle for justice.
What research did you conduct with your Researching for the Common Good Award funding?
Last summer, I focused on how trauma-responsive, bilingual social work interventions impact socioemotional resilience and family stability in immigrant households. Grounded in the Center for Immigration and Refugee Advancement’s three-tiered service model, my research examined how clinical case management and linguistically aligned therapeutic support foster trust, emotional well-being, and long-term engagement among Spanish-speaking families navigating the immigration process.
To deepen this work, I conducted interviews with social workers across Nebraska, whose insights revealed urgent and often overlooked needs. Housing insecurity emerged as a dominant concern—many families arrive without the means to pay rent or deposits, and shelters are often at full capacity. Access to medical and dental care, mental health services, and basic necessities like clothing are frequently limited by documentation requirements, language barriers, and fear tied to legal status. Social workers emphasized the importance of trauma-informed legal advocacy, culturally attuned communication, and transportation support—especially in building trust and independence. They also shared that community engagement efforts like toy drives, summer camps, and family-centered school events are most effective when they’re fun, free, and held in welcoming spaces.
How do you see your research contributing to the common good?
In parallel with my research last summer, I led an eight-week Spanish-language summer learning program for newly arrived immigrant students, running from June through July. I designed and taught curriculum across elementary, middle, and high school levels, focusing on reading, writing, and core subjects to help students maintain continuity in their education. The program was conducted entirely in Spanish to ensure accessibility and comfort for students adjusting to life in the United States, many of whom were navigating significant transitions. This classroom experience allowed me to witness firsthand how trauma-informed teaching can foster confidence, curiosity, and connection—especially when students feel seen and supported in their native language.
This work directly informed my broader outreach initiative, which aims to identify and respond to the evolving needs of immigrant families in the Lincoln community. Rather than relying solely on traditional outcome metrics, I’m piloting multilingual questionnaires and collaborating with local organizations to gather insights rooted in lived experience. Based on these findings, I’m developing accessible materials—including infographics, resource directories, and pamphlets—that amplify community voices and clarify which interventions are most effective in promoting family well-being and long-term stability.
I’m currently developing a Google Site that not only shares trauma-informed, culturally responsive resources for families and service providers but also includes an overview of my summer research and the key insights that shaped this work. The site will highlight the origins of the project—from my time at ARCH to my interviews with social workers—and present findings in a visually accessible format that centers community voices. Through research, education, and outreach, I hope to continue to walk alongside the communities I hope to serve in my future career as a healthcare professional—grounding each step in trust, responsiveness, and care.
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
