How will we reimagine the public sphere when we reassemble after a long period of social isolation? How will we understand public and private in a world where new technologies continue to blur the distinction? How do we conceive of the public in a world increasingly fractured by race, class, and political affiliation?

Questions like these will guide the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study (NDIAS) during the 2022-2023 academic year when the institute embarks on a yearlong research project investigating the theme: The Public. 

The project aims to bring together 10-15 faculty from across the disciplines—including the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, legal studies, and the arts—for a year of collaboration and accelerated research on the theme. 

“Here at the NDIAS, we know that excellent research and intentional collaboration can help us better understand the world around us and imagine options for our common future,” said Meghan Sullivan, director of the NDIAS and the Wilsey Family College Professor of Philosophy. “We are thrilled to start recruitment for the 2022-2023 Public project, which was conceived with input from faculty across the university, reflecting a deep interest in these research questions. We are eager to start the process of assembling our team of top scholars from around the globe, Notre Dame Ph.D. fellows, undergraduates, and campus and community partners.”

Faculty fellows live and work at the University of Notre Dame and pursue their research in the NDIAS’s interdisciplinary research community. In addition to a fellowship stipend, fellows receive subsidized housing, a research allowance of up to $500 per semester, and a private office at the NDIAS.

Throughout the year, the NDIAS will organize robust programming to further explore the theme and cultivate collaboration, such as work-in-progress seminars, guest lectures, book clubs, film viewings, and social events.

The faculty fellows will be joined by a cohort of graduate and undergraduate researchers from Notre Dame who are pursuing their own public-related research projects. The graduate and undergraduate students will collaborate with the faculty fellows, with the undergraduates serving as research assistants as the need arises.

Faculty fellows typically have a faculty appointment at their home institution, but the fellowships are also open to independent researchers, public practitioners, postdoctoral scholars, and those who have recently received their Ph.D. (or equivalent terminal) degree. Scholars from outside the U.S., researchers at national laboratories, fellows from other centers and institutes, as well as faculty from Notre Dame, are invited to apply.

Each applicant will be required to submit a research proposal that addresses the designated 2022-2023 research theme. A representative list of research questions related to The Public can be found at ndias.nd.edu/fellowships/faculty.

The application period for faculty fellowships on The Public is now open and will continue until 11:59 p.m. on Monday, September 27, 2021.

To learn more about the Faculty Fellowship Program at the NDIAS, please visit ndias.nd.edu/fellowships/faculty.

The NDIAS convenes an interdisciplinary group of faculty fellows, top doctoral candidates, and undergraduate scholars to study questions that require a joint focus, benefit from sustained research and discussion, and advance our understanding of core issues that affect our ability to lead valuable, meaningful lives. To learn more, please visit ndias.nd.edu.

Contact:

Kristian Olsen / Fellowships Program Manager

Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study / University of Notre Dame

kolsen1@nd.edu / 574.631.2830

ndias.nd.edu / @NotreDameIAS

About Notre Dame Research:

The University of Notre Dame is a private research and teaching university inspired by its Catholic mission. Located in South Bend, Indiana, its researchers are advancing human understanding through research, scholarship, education, and creative endeavor in order to be a repository for knowledge and a powerful means for doing good in the world. For more information, please visit research.nd.edu or @UNDResearch.