Institute for Social Concerns, University of Notre Dame

Institute for Social Concerns, University of Notre Dame Together building a more just future

The Center for Social Concerns is an interdisciplinary institute responding to the complex demands of justice through a combination of justice education and research for the common good. We bring people together to think carefully about the world's most pressing social concerns in order to develop creative and effective approaches to addressing them.

Join the Institute for Social Concerns as a Senior Administrative Assistant!Under the direction of the Associate Directo...
06/15/2026

Join the Institute for Social Concerns as a Senior Administrative Assistant!

Under the direction of the Associate Director of Finance and Administration, the Senior Administrative Assistant will provide efficient, effective, and strategic executive-level administrative support to the Executive Director, while also supporting Institute initiatives and events. This position requires exceptional organizational skills, the ability to work efficiently in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, and a readiness to take on a variety of responsibilities. Because this position works with a broad range of stakeholders within the Institute and across the University, it requires a high degree of trust, discretion, judgment, flexibility, and diplomacy. This is a full-time, 12-month position.
This position plays an essential role in the development and ex*****on of the Institute’s justice education strategy. The position will assist in the development and growth of programs as needed.

This position may permit up to one day of remote work per week, in accordance with Institute policies and scheduling needs, after a successful 90 days of employment.

What We Offer:

• A chance to make a meaningful difference by providing opportunities for students to engage directly with issues of systemic injustice and developing moral purpose.

• A collaborative and supportive environment where you will contribute to students’ educational and formative experiences.

• A rewarding role that offers direct opportunities to support institutional success as well as student success in both professional and developmental ways.

Learn more and apply here: https://careers.nd.edu/search-careers/3743990013598336-senior-administrative-assistant-institute-for-social-concerns/

The RISE program invites incoming Notre Dame students to explore the theory and praxis of justice through the lens of Ca...
06/10/2026

The RISE program invites incoming Notre Dame students to explore the theory and praxis of justice through the lens of Catholic Social Tradition, emphasizing the ethics of encounter and the inherent dignity of every human person.

Guided by Notre Dame faculty and in community with fellow students, you’ll better understand the demands of justice rooted in community engagement. Participants receive a stipend of $1500, and you can participate in your hometown between June 29 and July 31 or in South Bend August 14 to 20!

Find out more and apply by Monday, June 15!

Application link here: https://bit.ly/4e0BCL1

What would it mean to make things right?
06/08/2026

What would it mean to make things right?

Today, Ryan Juskus, assistant professor of the practice at the Institute for Social Concerns, continues our series of re...
06/02/2026

Today, Ryan Juskus, assistant professor of the practice at the Institute for Social Concerns, continues our series of reflections on Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas, by describing how Pope Leo connects the environment with digital ecosystems. As an environmental ethicist, Juskus reads Leo’s encyclical as a sequel to Pope Francis’s landmark 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, “On Care for Our Common Home.” Both, argues Juskus, confront “the technocratic paradigm” with a paradigm that emphasizes human dignity and the good of our common human home.

Read more from Juskus and other at the institute at https://bit.ly/4o1V0L1

Calling University of Notre Dame graduate students to apply to the Institute for Social Concerns' Graduate Justice Fello...
05/28/2026

Calling University of Notre Dame graduate students to apply to the Institute for Social Concerns' Graduate Justice Fellowship by 9:00am EDT on Monday, June 8!

If you are in a terminal graduate degree program (PhD, MBA, MFA, J.D., JSD, or professional degree) at the University and your scholarship considers questions of justice broadly conceived from any disciplinary perspective, we welcome you to apply for a year-long Graduate Justice Fellowship.

As a Graduate Justice Fellow at the Institute for Social Concerns, you will have the opportunity to develop moral purpose in your discipline, gain an understanding of how your work can be a force for justice, and develop an interdisciplinary community to enhance your education.

If accepted, you'll receive a stipend or research support of $3,000 on successful completion of the fellowship, consultation with faculty exemplars and field or community experts whose scholarship addresses the demands of justice, and opportunities to develop and workshop research or teaching plans with other early-career scholars to enhance quality, relevance, and impact.

Graduate students from each college and school are welcome. Apply at socialconcerns.nd.edu/gjf

As the University of Notre Dame’s scholarly home for interdisciplinary responses to questions of justice, the Institute ...
05/27/2026

As the University of Notre Dame’s scholarly home for interdisciplinary responses to questions of justice, the Institute for Social Concerns is inspired and emboldened by Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas. The encyclical’s calls to protect human dignity, serve the common good, foster solidarity, and care for the vulnerable are bedrocks of our mission and work. It is an essential document in the face of the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential for disruption.

We are especially moved by Pope Leo’s call to not be afraid to get our hands dirty on the “construction site” of our time—a summons that reminds us that Catholic social tradition is not merely a body of theory or doctrine but a living call to action. For more than 40 years, the institute has sought to enter into that work of construction through research, education, community partnerships, and programs that bring the wisdom of Catholic social tradition into direct engagement with the urgent questions of our world. Across the document, Pope Leo returns again and again to justice, peace, and the demands of human dignity, reminding us that “the true peace” we seek is born of justice—and that we must never grow weary of seeking it.

Today, Suzanne Mulligan, Director of the Catholic Social Teaching Minor and Professor of the Practice reflects on her reading of the encyclical and her four key takeaways from this prophetic document.

“We know that it’s impossible to cultivate hope if we don’t take seriously the challenges that people face in our world ...
05/21/2026

“We know that it’s impossible to cultivate hope if we don’t take seriously the challenges that people face in our world today,” said Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame. “Cultivating hope can seem like an empty slogan, just a platitude, unless we take suffering, pain, and injustice seriously.”

Addressing an audience of 88 graduating seniors—along with approximately 500 family members, friends, and Institute for Social Concerns faculty and staff—at the institute’s annual Senior Send-off Ceremony on Commencement Weekend, Down stated, “I know that all of you, our graduates, have dedicated yourselves to taking those challenges seriously and deepening your understanding of those challenges so that you might better address them—so that you might be effective agents of hope in our world.”

Congratulations to all our graduates who we send off to be agents of hope!

Join the Institute for Social Concerns as a Justice Education Program Manager!Under the direction of the Associate Direc...
05/20/2026

Join the Institute for Social Concerns as a Justice Education Program Manager!

Under the direction of the Associate Director of Justice Education for the Institute for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame, the Justice Education Program Manager will lead the daily operational and administrative tasks for several justice education programs, as well as provide support for Institute initiatives and events. This position works independently to guide justice education program administration, immersive learning coordination, management and development of community/site host partnerships, and co-curricular program support. This is a full-time, 12-month position.

This position plays an essential role in the development and ex*****on of the Institute’s justice education strategy. The position will assist in the development and growth of programs as needed.

The position may permit up to one day per week of remote work, in accord with the Institute policies and scheduling after the first 90 days.

What We Offer:

• A chance to make a real difference in the world by providing opportunities for students to be proximate to systemic injustice.

• A collaborative and supportive environment where you will be able to shape the education of our students.

• A meaningful role that provides direct opportunities to connect with and contribute in a professional and formative way to student success.

Learn more and apply: https://bit.ly/4tJVUg8

hashtag
hashtag
hashtag

What will carry you into what comes next?
05/18/2026

What will carry you into what comes next?

Congratulations once again to all our amazing students on the completion of another year of impressive research, coursew...
05/13/2026

Congratulations once again to all our amazing students on the completion of another year of impressive research, coursework, and community engagement. As we continue to celebrate their many accomplishments, we’re looking back on some of the highlights from the spring semester.

Today we feature Proximities seminars that sent students across the country over spring break to engage in rigorous analyses of pressing issues of justices. The Justice at the Mexico-U.S. Border seminar took an interdisciplinary cohort of students through an immersive encounter with the structures of justice and injustice in the borderlands near Tucson, Arizona. By engaging the lived realities of the Sonoran Desert, students moved beyond abstract debate to confront the human face of policy.

Paralleled by Proximities seminars investigating structural inequality in Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, the seminar demonstrated how being proximate to questions of justice increases awareness and understanding.

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/42tnmE3

Address

Geddes Hall
Notre Dame, IN
46556

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+15746315293

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Institute for Social Concerns, University of Notre Dame posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category