Join current and former fellows of the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study for an interdisciplinary conference celebrating a year of research on The Public, the 2022-2023 research theme of the Institute.

The conference is headlined by writer Henry Grabar, author of Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World, who will deliver a keynote address about the nation’s parking crisis and how cities can pave a brighter future. Panel sessions focus on topics such as public safety, public discourse, and how the public pursues civil rights. The full conference schedule is listed below. The event is free and open to all.

Register Now

Day 1: Tuesday, April 25

8:30-9:00 a.m.: Continental Breakfast

9:00-9:15: Welcome

• Meghan Sullivan (Director, NDIAS)

9:15-10:45: Public Safety

• Debra Javeline (Notre Dame, Political Science) - “What the Beslan School Siege Taught Us”
• Bob Latiff (U.S. Air Force, Political Science) - "Militarism and the Public: Some Skepticism Could Be a Good Thing”
• Theresa Rocha Beardall (University of Washington, Sociology) - “Police, Power, and Public Safety: Where Do We Go From Here?”
• Moderator: Keri Kei Shibata (Notre Dame Police Chief)

10:45-11:00: Coffee Break

11:00-12:30 p.m.: Collisions of the Public

• Eliza Gettel (Villanova, Classics) - “Imagining the Roman Empire as a Greek Federation”
• Fr. Greg Haake (Notre Dame, French Studies) - “Pick Your Poison: Strangers and Toxic Rhetoric in Sixteenth-Century France”
• Arpit Kumar (Notre Dame, English) - "Piety and Imperial Authority in Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's Turkish Embassy Letters"
• Moderator: Eileen Morgan (Notre Dame, Medieval Institute)

12:30-1:45 Lunch

1:45-3:15: Teaching Lab Demo - Global Asia

• Karrie Koesel (Notre Dame, Political Science)
• Elisabeth Köll (Notre Dame, History)

3:15-3:30: Coffee Break

3:30-5:00: Public Pursuit of Civil Rights

• Emmalon Davis (University of Michigan, Philosophy) - “Politics of the Public Sphere: Recovering Black Feminist Voices”
• Brett Gadsden (Northwestern, History) -  “The ‘Problem’ of Public Militancy in the Making of Presidential Civil Rights”
• Darryl Heller (Indiana University South Bend, Director of Civil Rights Heritage Center) - "The Role of Grassroots Organization in the Pursuit of Social Justice"
• Moderator: Dory Mitros Durham (Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights)

5:00-6:00: Reception
 

Day 2: Wednesday, April 26

8:30-9:00 a.m.: Continental Breakfast

9:00-10:00: Undergraduate Research

• Michelle Cho (Psychology, Economics) - “Greater Good, Lesser Evil: Promotion and Prevention Focus in Diversity Advocacy"
• Aidan Creeron (Economics, History) - "COVID-19 and Causal Inference"
• Jonathan Gilman (Environmental Science) - “Nitrogen Pollution in Streams: Sources and Sustainable Solutions”
• Moderator: Jeff Tolly (NDIAS, Assistant Director)

10:00-10:15: Coffee Break

10:15-11:45: Public Theology

• Robin Jensen (Notre Dame, Theology) - "Material and Visual Evidence for Rome's Re-conceptualization in the Fifth and early Sixth Century"
• CJ Jones (Notre Dame, German Studies) - "Crusades, Indulgences, and Nuns: Enclosed Women's Public Engagement for the Fifteenth-Century Church"
• Jake Kildoo (Notre Dame, Theology) - "The Qur'an's Publics and How to Train Them"
• Moderator: Fr. Kevin Grove (Notre Dame, Theology)

11:45-1:15 p.m.: Lunch

1:15-2:45: Public Discourse

• Jennifer Dudley (Notre Dame, Sociology) - "Do Jerks Join Congress? Experimental Evidence On Americans' Tolerance for Uncivil Candidates"
• Carlos Lozada (New York Times, Book Critic) - "The Big Lie Meets the Big Joke"
• Mechtild Widrich (Art Institute of Chicago, Art History) -  “Public Monuments and Monumental Publics”
• Moderator: Greg Wurm (Notre Dame, Sociology)

2:45-3:00: Coffee Break

3:00-4:30: Keynote Lecture: "Parking Fight!"

• Henry Grabar (Journalist, Slate)
• Respondent: Scott Ford (Executive Director, iNDustry Labs)

4:30-5:30: Reception

Register Now