Center for Social Concerns Newsletter | August 2024
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The fall semester is here, and we’re excited for what’s coming up at the Center for Social Concerns.
We’re welcoming a group of dynamic new faculty and scholars to the center, teaming up with community partners to put Notre Dame’s research to work in South Bend in new ways, and gearing up for a packed events schedule that includes bestselling authors, a showcase of our students’ summer research, and the inspiring civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, who will deliver this year’s Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C., Lecture.
It all starts Monday with our annual Welcome Back Bash outside Geddes Hall.
We’ll see you there!
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Four new faculty members and scholars join center
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The Center for Social Concerns is growing its capacity to do research that advances the common good.
Two new faculty members — Ryan Juskus and Suzanne Mulligan — along with senior research associate Samantha Deane and practitioner in residence Monalisa are bringing their expertise to the center this fall.
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| Research around the Bend with community partners
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Regina Williams-Preston, community partnerships program director at the Center for Social Concerns, is rolling out a variety of events and initiatives this fall. The goal is to leverage ND’s faculty research in collaboration with community partners to respond to local issues.
The list of opportunities includes a South Bend bus tour for faculty on September 27.
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Higher education
and formation
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Join our conversation with Chris Higgins, chair of the Department of Formative Education at Boston College and author of “Undeclared: A Philosophy of Formative Education.”
Monday, Aug. 26, noon–1:00 p.m.
online via Zoom
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| Kick off the new school year with us
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Celebrate the new academic year with lots of free food, giveaways, and even a mechanical bull! Learn about our programs, courses, and minors, and get one of our new T-shirts.
Monday, Aug. 26, 3:00–5:00 p.m.
Outside Geddes Hall
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Is there hope for America’s future?
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Ross Douthat, a political analyst and columnist for the New York Times, will speak on Friday afternoon of the Notre Dame-Northern Illinois football weekend. Reception to follow.
Friday, Sept. 6, 4:00–6:00 p.m.
Geddes Hall, Andrews Auditorium
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| Labor Café is back for another year!
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Stop by at this fall’s first installment of the Labor Café for casual conversation about work, workers, and workplaces. All are welcome, and all opinions are entertained.
Wednesday, Sept. 11, 5:00–6:00 p.m.
Geddes Hall, McNeill Gallery
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Character and moral purpose in education
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Angel Adams Parham, an associate professor of sociology and a senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Virginia, will talk about educating for good.
Monday, Sept. 16, noon–1:00 p.m.
online via Zoom
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Celebrating students’ summer research
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We’ll recognize students for notable research projects they completed during NDBridge and Center for Social Concerns Summer Fellowships. Reception to follow.
Thursday, Sept. 19, 5:00–7:00 p.m.
McKenna Hall, Room 215
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What can immigrant stories teach us?
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Javier Zamora recounted his childhood journey from El Salvador to the U.S. in his memoir, “Solito.” He will speak the day before the Miami (Ohio) game. Reception to follow.
Friday, Sept. 20, 4:00–6:00 p.m.
Geddes Hall, Andrews Auditorium
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| ‘Virtue in Virtual Spaces’ book launch
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Celebrate the publication of the latest book in the Enacting Catholic Social Tradition Series with authors Louisa Conwill, Megan Levis, and Walter J. Scheirer.
Thursday, Sept. 26, 4:00–6:00 p.m.
Geddes Hall, Coffee House
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‘Just Mercy’ and
‘The Sun Does Shine’
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Bryan Stevenson’s “Just Mercy” and Anthony Ray Hinton’s “The Sun Does Shine” will be discussed at the center book club’s next meeting. You can read both or either to participate.
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 7:00–8:15 p.m.
online via Zoom
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| Save the date for Bryan Stevenson
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Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of “Just Mercy,” will deliver the 2024 Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C., Lecture.
Tuesday, Oct. 15, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Morris Performing Arts Center, downtown South Bend
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Register for center’s fall 2024 courses
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Cultivate your moral imagination, practical wisdom, and courage to act through Center for Social Concerns courses. The list of options includes one-credit courses (like the iconic Appalachia Seminar) as well as three-credit courses to fit into your fall schedule.
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| Call for papers and panel proposals
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This conference will examine two significant Vatican II texts, Gaudium et spes and Dignitatis humanae, which together invited serious consideration of the Church’s role in relation to the state.
Deadline: Tuesday, Oct. 1
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Virtues & Vocations: Essays on generosity
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The fall 2024 issue of Virtues & Vocations: Higher Education for Human Flourishing focuses on generosity.
Essays in the magazine offer insights on the virtues of giving and receiving, generous medicine, the generosity of work worth loving, and more.
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As an interdisciplinary academic institute, the Center 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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Georgina Agyei, MBChB, was a physician in her home country of Ghana and worked in hospitals there during the COVID-19 pandemic before coming to Notre Dame in 2022 to pursue a Ph.D. in biology. She works as a researcher in the Santiago-Tirado Lab, where she studies a pathogen called Cryptococcus neoformans that causes infection in the brain and affects people who are immunocompromised. She was a Graduate Justice Fellow at the Center for Social Concerns during the 2023-24 academic year.
How does your research as a biologist advance the common good?
Public health is for the common good. As scientists, we want to see people live well. Doing this research means I can make an impact in the long term, and that gives me so much joy.
What has it meant for you to be a Graduate Justice Fellow?
The talks we had at the Center for Social Concerns really opened my eyes. The fellowship made me think about the questions we must ask about the ethical challenges and justice issues surrounding how science is applied in the world. This helped me think about the best way to apply my research and experience to make a difference. That’s the beauty of the Center for Social Concerns.
How did the interdisciplinary composition of the group factor into your experience?
I had a chance to learn from a lot of people from different disciplines. I also realized that I needed to improve my science communication. The Graduate Justice Fellows come from science, engineering, business, law, the humanities. Having to describe and explain my biology research to Ph.D. students from different fields helped me become a better communicator.
Is there a work of art that inspires you?
The local dialect version of Ghana’s unofficial national anthem, “Yen Ara Asaase Ni,” inspires me. It says, “This is our native land. What a priceless heritage, acquired with the blood our ancestors shed for us. It is now our turn to continue what our ancestors started and make it well.” My long-term goal is to be a physician-scientist applying my experience and knowledge to vaccine research in sub-Saharan Africa. This is my way of helping make well the land given to us by God and the sacrifices of our ancestors.
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