News

Julia Douthwaite, professor of French in the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, is organizing a series of events to honor Swiss philosopher and writer Jean–Jacques Rousseau’s 300th birthday and stimulate a cross–disciplinary discussion on social justice and human dignity.

The project, called “Rousseau 2012: On the Road to DIGNITY,” will be part of the curriculum for more than a dozen courses throughout the College of Arts and Letters and the Law School and will feature both guest lectures and an Amnesty International photography exhibit on poverty and human rights that includes portraits from Mexico, Egypt, Nigeria, India and Macedonia.

The University of Notre Dame has established an endowed chair in Byzantine Theology. The position, which will focus on the theology of the medieval Greek-speaking church, will be named in honor of Archbishop Demetrios Trakatellis, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of America.

The Archbishop Demetrios Professorship in Byzantine Theology is a central component of the University’s efforts to expand the scope of its renowned Medieval Institute — which was the first of its kind in the United States — to include teaching and research on the Eastern Roman Empire.

College of Arts and Letters students made a strong showing at Notre Dame’s 4th annual Undergraduate Scholars Conference, which showcased nearly 270 research, scholarship, and creative projects from across the University.

When Notre Dame senior Dan Jacobs signed up for an elective while studying in London last year, he wasn’t expecting that his course selection—seemingly unrelated to his industrial design major—would spark the idea for his B.F.A. thesis project, or potentially help thousands of children.

Scholars from around the globe will gather at the University of Notre Dame June 30–July 4 for the meeting of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion (COV&R). The theme of the conference is “Transforming Violence: Cult, Culture, and Acculturation.” More than 150 scholars from 14 countries are expected to attend. Founded in 1990, COV&R is an international organization of scholars that meets annually to explore, criticize, and extend the mimetic theory of French historian and philosopher René Girard.

During the months he lived in Egypt, Glen Water saw poverty with his own eyes—and glimpsed a vision of the sustainable development that can alleviate it.

The London Centre, the majestic Edwardian building at Trafalgar Square that houses the University of Notre Dame’s London Program, has become a hub of international scholarship. A broad and growing network of collaborations among faculty, institutes and other universities now uses the center for international conferences and other events, while the center also enriches the experience of Notre Dame undergraduates studying abroad.

Ryan Lash, a University of Notre Dame senior majoring in medieval studies and anthropology, has been awarded a Gates Scholarship to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Cambridge. Lash is one of only 29 American students who will become new Gates Scholars in 2010–2011.

Notre Dame undergraduates interested in independent, interdisciplinary research have until March 16 to apply for up to $4,500 in grant funding made possible by a new cross-college collaboration. The new program, dubbed the College of Arts and Letters and College of Science Joint Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (AL/SCI-UROP), was announced in late February.

Keith Bradley, Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Professor of Classics, took his students on a weeklong trip to Rome as part of “Literature and Empire: The Roman Experience”—a course he taught for the first time this fall to a group of upper-level undergraduate and graduate students.