ND Newswire
Notre Dame to welcome Bishop Rhoades with Mass and public reception
• Date: February 09, 2010 • Categories: Faith and Service
The University of Notre Dame will celebrate the arrival of Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne/South Bend with a Mass of thanksgiving Feb. 9 (Tuesday) at 5:15 p.m. in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
Bishop Rhoades will preside and preach at the Mass, which will be concelebrated by
Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president, and other priests from the Notre Dame community. Sacred music for the Mass will be provided by the Notre Dame Liturgical Choir.
Study on ‘untouchables’ can help end human rights abuses, says Notre Dame scholar
• Date: February 09, 2010 • Categories: Research
The largest-ever study on the Dalits — the so-called “untouchables” of India — reveals widespread caste-based discrimination in every aspect of daily life, according to Christian Davenport, professor of peace studies, political science and sociology at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and one of the co-authors of the research report.
“Dalits are widely abused, and they live lives of constant humiliation, indignity and violence,” Davenport said. “They also are often deprived of water, food and health. It really is a kind of institutionalized, slow genocide.”
“Understanding Untouchability: A Comprehensive Study of Practices and Conditions,” just released by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights and the Navsarjan Trust, uses data from 1,589 villages and 5,462 respondents in Gujarat, the westernmost state in India. The three-year study combined the efforts of academics, human rights activists and lawyers.
Robert E. Burns, ND historian and administrator, dies
• Date: February 09, 2010 • Categories: Campus and Community
Robert E. Burns, professor emeritus of history at the University of Notre Dame, died Friday (Feb. 5) in Sebastian, Fla., after a long illness.
A native of Newark, N.J., Burns was born Nov. 3, 1927 and grew up in Lowell, Mass. After service in the U.S. Coast Guard, he was graduated from Northeastern University in 1951 and earned master’s and doctoral degrees in history from Harvard University in 1953 and 1961, respectively.
Burns joined the Notre Dame history faculty in 1957, teaching courses in Irish and British history and soon enjoying a reputation not only as a popular teacher and faculty colleague, but also as a prominent scholar in his field. In addition to writing numerous articles in scholarly publications, he was the author of a two-volume study of “Irish Parliamentary Politics in the Eighteenth Century” and “Being Catholic, Being American: The Notre Dame Story,” a massive two-volume history of Notre Dame from its foundation to 1952.
Notre Dame theater season to present Eric Coble’s "Natural Selection"
• Date: February 08, 2010 • Categories: Campus and Community
The University of Notre Dame’s Department of Film, Television, and Theatre will present “Natural Selection” by Eric Coble as part of its 2009-10 theater season.
Directed by Tim Hardy, this ironic comedy depicts a future where technology rules supreme: everything is cooked in a microwave, blogging has replaced conversation, school has become virtual and the Coca-Cola flavor of the week is vanilla-cherry-lime.
In “Natural Selection,” Henry Carson, a curator at Cultural Fiesta Theme Park is forced to travel the country in order to restock the Native American Pavilion. He soon finds that “native” can no longer be strictly defined. Technology has a decided disadvantage against mythology and, after years spent making the world artificial, the world begins to fight.
Freshman survey reveals money matters
• Date: February 08, 2010 • Categories: Campus and Community
It must be money on the minds of college students, according to a recent national survey of freshman attitudes.
From their choice of university and major to the loans they will need and the relative importance of lifelong objectives, the survey found that the global economic crisis has had a widespread impact on college freshmen. A record 78 percent said that being “well-off financially” is a very important objective.
But at Notre Dame, other values trumped financial gain in the annual survey from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) at UCLA. Notre Dame freshmen ranked raising a family (84 percent) and helping others in difficulty (80 percent) higher than being well off (70 percent) as long-term objectives.
Retired ND professor Elizabeth Christman dies
• Date: February 08, 2010 • Categories: Campus and Community
Elizabeth A. Christman, associate professor emerita of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame, died Thursday (Feb. 4).
A native of St. Louis, Christman was born Jan. 18, 1914, the oldest of seven children. She grew up in Webster Groves, a St. Louis suburb, and attended Webster College, from which she was graduated in 1935 with an English degree.
Following service as an editorial research officer in the U.S. Navy WAVES during World War II, Christman struggled as a freelance writer before finding a job as a secretary at Harold Ober Associates, the prestigious New York literary agency, in 1946. Quickly promoted from secretary to reader to agent, she worked at Ober for the next 23 years, associating with such literary luminaries as William Faulkner, Pearl Buck and J.D. Salinger. She prized a rare first edition copy of “Catcher in the Rye” signed by Salinger.
Jay Caponigro appointed ND director of community engagement
• Date: February 05, 2010 • Categories: Campus and Community
Jay Caponigro, director of the University of Notre Dame’s Robinson Community Learning Center (RCLC), has been promoted to the position of director of community engagement at the University, effective March 1.
In the newly established position, Caponigro will assist Tim Sexton, associate vice president for public affairs, in the development, execution and measurement of Notre Dame’s efforts to strengthen and enhance its relationship with the local community.
A 1991 Notre Dame graduate, Caponigro holds a master’s degree in religious studies from the University of Chicago. From 1995 to 1999, he was executive director of Chicago’s Southwest Organizing Project, which included 25 churches and schools in the racially diverse neighborhoods of that city’s southwest side. For the last 10 years he has directed the RCLC, managing violence-prevention, youth entrepreneurship and educational projects for adults and children in South Bend’s Northeast Neighborhood.
ND graduate students selected for prestigious teaching fellowship
• Date: February 05, 2010 • Categories: Academics
Each year, the Kaneb Pre-doctoral Fellowship Program provides up to four advanced graduate students from the University of Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters with a mentored experience of research and teaching at a prominent liberal arts college or research university. To date, 16 graduate students have participated in this fellowship program.
“The fellowship gives our students the opportunity to teach and conduct research at another top-notch institution,” said Barbara Turpin, associate dean of the Graduate School and Pre-doctoral Fellowship committee member. “They gain the experience of being mentored by another leading scholar in their field, and they are able to broaden their teaching portfolio.”
Notre Dame to host Brazilian Carnaval
• Date: February 05, 2010 • Categories: Campus and Community
Vibrant Brazilian dance rhythms will transport revelers from South Bend to the streets of Rio de Janeiro during the University of Notre Dame’s 12th annual celebration of Brazilian Carnaval, to be held Feb. 12 (Friday) from 8 p.m. to midnight in Notre Dame’s South Dining Hall. The family-friendly event is free and open to the public.
The Brazilian celebration of Mardi Gras, Carnaval will feature professional Brazilian dancers performing and teaching dance steps to the authentic axe and samba music of Chicago Samba. Directed by Moacyr Marchini, Chicago Samba features Brazilian musicians who have performed together for almost 20 years.
Free tax help offered for local residents
• Date: February 04, 2010 • Categories: Campus and Community
South Bend-area residents can get free help with their state and federal tax return preparation through the Vivian Harrington Gray Notre Dame-Saint Mary’s College Tax Assistance Program (TAP) starting Thursday (Feb. 6). The program serves taxpayers with annual income of $39,000 or less.
Accountancy students from the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College will be available at various libraries and community centers to help with tax preparation until April 15. For a full schedule and complete listing of sites, call 574-631-7863 or visit http://taptax.nd.edu.
