ND Newswire
Notre Dame on iTunes U now available
• Date: November 20, 2009 • Categories: Campus and Community
The University of Notre Dame has joined some 300 top institutions of higher education on iTunes U, a dedicated area within Apple’s iTunes Store that features lectures, lessons and other materials produced by colleges and universities.
Notre Dame on iTunes U contains more than 600 free, downloadable audio and video files representing academics, research, campus life, faith and service, as well as a variety of offerings from Notre Dame OpenCourseWare, a free and open educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners throughout the world. There also is a section dedicated to alumni, parents and friends.
Notre Dame team takes NASCAR checkered flag
• Date: November 20, 2009 • Categories: Academics
A team of four University of Notre Dame undergraduate students finished first in the NASCAR Kinetics: Marketing in Motion competition. Final results for the semester-long competition were announced Thursday (Nov. 19) in Miami, site of the NASCAR Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The team included Enrique Gonzalez, a junior marketing major and captain of the team; Caitlin Hefele, a sophomore majoring in marketing and journalism; Nathan Durkes, a senior business and theology double major at Holy Cross College; and John Crowder, a senior economics and computer applications major.
“We have all worked on this competition all semester,” Hefele said. “And the three months of effort ended up really paying off.”
Notre Dame theologian John Cavadini receives high papal honor
• Date: November 19, 2009 • Categories: Academics and Faith and Service
John C. Cavadini, associate professor and chair of the theology department and McGrath-Cavadini Director of the Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, has been named by Pope Benedict XVI a member of the Order of the Knights of St. Gregory the Great.
Cavadini received the papal honor at the request of Bishop John M. D’Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend, who praised Cavadini “for his study of Catholic theology, his recruiting of outstanding theologians for the theology faculty at Notre Dame, and his assistance to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.”
Established in 1831, the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great honors its recipients for service to the church, support of the Holy See, and for witnessing to the Catholic faith in their country and communities.
ND sociologist Richard Williams discusses threats to minority home ownership
• Date: November 18, 2009 • Categories: Campus and Community
On Nov. 20, 1962, President Kennedy signed an executive order prohibiting federally-funded housing agencies from denying mortgages on the basis of race, color, creed or national origin.
According to University of Notre Dame sociologist Richard Williams, the dramatic improvement of American family housing security thus begun is now jeopardized both by the current economic crisis and misconceptions of what caused it.
New book focuses on reconciling societies shattered by violence
• Date: November 18, 2009 • Categories: Campus and Community
How do you reconcile former enemies in a society shattered by war, genocide or violence?
In a new book, “Unchopping a Tree: Reconciliation in the Aftermath of Political Violence,” published by Temple University Press, Ernesto Verdeja answers this question by examining reconciliation efforts in post-conflict regions from Chile to South Africa to Bosnia and Herzegovina. He proposes a new theory of reconciliation — one focused on a process of public truth-telling, accountability for perpetrators, recognition of victims, commitment to the rule of law and, most importantly, cultivation of moral respect and dignity.
Notre Dame to unveil multi-wavelength NASA images
• Date: November 17, 2009 • Categories: Campus and Community
In commemoration of the International Year of Astronomy, the University of Notre Dame will unveil new mural-sized images from NASA’s great observatories Thursday (Nov. 19) during two shows in the Digital Visualization Theater in the Jordan Hall of Science.
The shows, which are free and open to the public, will begin at 7 and 8 p.m. Free tickets, which are required for the show, are available at the LaFortune Student Center box office.
The Digital Visualization Theater will take viewers on a journey to the center of our galaxy and unveil unprecedented mural-sized images of the Milky Way’s core as seen by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Renewing the Campus: Sustainability and the Catholic University
• Date: November 17, 2009 • Categories: Campus and Community and Faith and Service
Renewing the Campus, a national conference hosted by the University of Notre Dame in mid-October, was the first symposium dedicated to enhancing understanding, activism and cooperation among Catholic universities in the area of sustainability.
The conference—which included faculty, administrators and students from 45 universities across the country—was structured to encompass many approaches to environmental issues, including those of theologians, scientists, sustainability practitioners, student activists and clergy.
The aim was to address the theological and ethical implications of climate change as viewed through the lens of Catholic social teaching—with a focus on the opportunities for Catholic universities to assume a leadership role on this issue within both the academic and Catholic communities.
