2023-24 Year in Review

A CULTURE OF ENCOUNTER AND RESEARCH ON “THE PERIPHERIES”

When Pope Francis met the senior leadership of the University of Notre Dame, including Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., and Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., on February 1, 2024, he talked about the task of a Catholic university to expand the mind but also the heart: “The whole university community is called to accompany others, especially young people.” He underlined the importance of a culture of encounter. The Pontiff also urged the University to go out to the peripheries: “We cannot stay within the walls or boundaries of our institutions, but must strive to go out to the peripheries and meet and serve Christ in our neighbor. In this regard, I encourage the University’s continuing efforts to foster in its students zeal for meeting the needs of underprivileged communities.”

I do not think Pope Francis has read the strategic plan of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, but if he had, he might have made exactly these points.

We at the Nanovic Institute are committed to forming the whole person through a model of accompaniment and encounters. We are explicitly committed to “peripheries”: through our programs like Serving (in) Europe, where students spend eight weeks in a service learning capacity, we want the Notre Dame community to experience the peripheries of Europe. We are particularly interested in the role of peripheries in understanding Europe, which is a distinctive and growing area of research across disciplines.

A pioneer of this experience at the peripheries this past year has been a theology student, William Smith. During the summer of 2023, he spent eight weeks in Važec, a small village in the Žilina region of northern Slovakia close to our partner university the Catholic University in Ružomberok. Our friends at this university facilitated William’s connection with an organization that supports Roma children. He describes his first encounter with the Roma settlement at the peripheries of this already peripheral village:

“As we progressed along the road, the houses changed from simple, to rundown, to ramshackle. To the north, the High Tatras stood elegantly against the sky. To the south, the wooded hills ran into the Low Tatras. The settlement sat up against the woods of the foothills of the Low Tatras. The poverty stunned me. Children ran between makeshift huts; sickly-looking dogs wandered between scattered garbage; mothers with infants observed the happenings. The natural grandeur starkly contrasted with the artificial, decrepit structures. I had never seen such natural beauty alongside such unnatural poverty.” (Read more from William on pages 60-61.)

Going out to the peripheries does not simply happen. It is the result of a decision, a commitment. The humbling learning that happens at the peripheries cannot be done on our campus, in affluent centers, or within the protected walls of well-run institutions.

In the pages of this Year in Review, you will find stories of students, faculty fellows, scholars, guests, and others who have committed to learning from many types of “peripheries,” both physical and non-physical. They have experienced Europe—from Spain to Ukraine, from Croatia to Ireland, and everywhere in between—in myriad ways and come away with something new to share.

We firmly believe that “the peripheries” are a place of growth through encounters, a space of rethinking and unlearning, and an invitation to become “artisans of a new humanity.”

Clemens Sedmak Director, Nanovic Institute for European Studies Professor of Social Ethics

Keough School of Global Affairs

“For me, embarking on this adventure has led to relationships that I know will continue as we learn from each other in parallel pursuits of justice.”

– Annika Barron ’24

Majoring in neuroscience & behavior and global affairs

Read her story at go.nd.edu/BarronNorway

Growth in knowledge and mission

As an academic unit within the Keough School of Global Affairs, the institute fosters the integral development of global citizens committed to renewing the world in the spirit of solidarity, and respect for the dignity of each person.

NEWS ROUNDUP

Graduation Breakfast and Awards

The Nanovic Institute seeks to foster “artisans of a new humanity.” Perhaps nothing represents this vision more than when students graduate and go forth to practice that new humanity—trained to be curious, gracious, and fearless citizens of the world, making a difference from the very center of world power to “peripheries” everywhere. The Class of 2024 was just such a class, and on May 17, 2024, the institute honored 20 graduates with either a transnational European studies concentration in the global affairs major or a minor in European studies. They and their families joined with the institute team to celebrate their achievements.

During the event, the institute also announced the recipient of the 2024 J. Robert Wegs Prize for Best Minor in European Studies

Capstone Essay. This year Filip Kubicki ’24, a finance major, received the prize for his essay “Comparative Analysis of EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ and U.S. ‘Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)’ From the Comprehensive Wealth

Creation Perspective.” This prize is named after J. Robert Wegs (1937-2010), who was the founding director of the Nanovic Institute and instrumental in the creation of the minor in European studies. Dr. Joyce Wegs and others from his family were honored guests at the breakfast and had the opportunity to meet and dine with Filip.

For the first time, the institute also recognized a student with the Nanovic Student Engagement Award. This award is presented by the Nanovic Institute team to recognize a student who has been highly engaged with the institute throughout their academic career at Notre Dame. The first recipient of this award was Garrett Pacholl ’24, who graduated with majors in history and global affairs and a minor in European studies. Garrett has been involved in nearly every program the institute offers, and he is also featured in this publication (see pages 54-55).

Minor in European Studies

Lindsay Burgess

Anna Grillo

Clara Grillo

Mark Holowicki

Fritz Holzgrefe

Matthew Kianpour

Filip Kubicki

Jake Miller

Bella Mittleman

Garrett Pacholl

Jacob Sherer

Cecilia Swartz

Cora Vulin

Nicole Marinho Vieira Weiss

Major in Global Affairs, Transnational European Studies Concentration

Kyle Bass

Justine Hulbert

Mary Laird

Catharina Brunner Lopez

Angie Louis Madeline Skapper

Midwest Model EU

The Nanovic Institute continued sending students to the Midwest Model European Union in 2024, representing Notre Dame in this multi-university competition in Bloomington, Indiana. For the first time since 1993, a team from Notre Dame was recognized as Best Delegation, with the Greece delegation taking home the award plaque displayed at the Nanovic Institute.

Two students, Martha Byrne ’25 and Spencer Foote ’26 received first place in their committees, with Mark Holowicki ’24 and Elizabeth Maloney ’25 receiving third place recognitions. Demetrios Fotopoulos ’25 also submitted a draft directive, intriguingly focused on fish pedicures, that received high praise and will be used as a model in the future.

Congratulations to this year’s MMEU teams!

Garrett Pacholl ’24, recipient of the Nanovic Student Engagement Award, with Director Clemens Sedmak.

Filip Kubicki ’24, recipient of the 2024 J. Robert Wegs Prize, with Dr. Joyce Wegs.

Graduates from the class of 2024 gather outside the South Dining Hall.

Barrett Prize

Congratulations to Jun Wei Lee ’26 for winning the Barrett Prize for the 2023-24 academic year. The R. Stephen and Ruth Barrett Family Grant for Best Undergraduate Research Project recognizes an outstanding undergraduate research project each year.

Lee’s project “‘Free’ and ‘Unfree’: Metropolitan Debates about Indian Indentured Labor and Migration in the British Empire” was highlighted for its research outcomes and Lee’s ability to present his research in public forums, including on the Nanovic Navigator website and as part of the Undergraduate Research Conference in European Studies. Read more about his project at go.nd.edu/junweilee

EuroCup

On Tuesday, November 7, 2023, the EuroCup Team Trivia competition reconvened to answer a burning question: which residence hall knows the most European trivia? After an intense bout of questions about sports, culture, geography, history, and more, victory went to Alumni Hall’s team, known as Albarkia

In recognition of their great participation, the Duncan Hall Highlanders also earned the EuroCup Junior Cup.

NEW PROGRAM

Engaging Undergraduate Research Opportunities

EURO Fellows

In the fall 2024 semester, the Nanovic Institute will launch the EURO Fellows program. This multi-year, cohort-based initiative aims to help undergraduates develop research skills in a European context, form a community of like-minded researchers, and participate in research projects offered by the institute and its faculty fellows.

Any undergraduate student may apply. The fall 2024 cohort has already been selected. The institute looks forward to following its first group of 13 students as they complete their research methods course, undertake an immersive trip to Europe, and form a new intellectual community at Notre Dame.

Want to test your knowledge of Europe?

Here are a few questions to play along:

• What is the name of the largest island in Greece?

• The motto of which European country translates as “We will remain what we are”?

Check for the answers at the bottom of page 6.

The Duncan Hall Highlanders pictured with Fr. Jim Lies, C.S.C., (far left), who serves as priest-in-residence at Duncan Hall and senior advisor for faculty fellow affairs and partnerships at the Nanovic Institute.

Albarkia, the team from Alumni Hall, took the EuroCup in the 2023-24 academic year.

Serving (in) Europe

As one way that it participates in the University of Notre Dame’s mission, the Nanovic Institute seeks to enable its students to serve as a “force for good” in the world. As Europe faces multifaceted challenges from climate change to migration to widening socioeconomic inequality, the Serving (in) Europe program connects these students to service-learning internships with organizations working to address these challenges across Europe.

In the summer of 2024, 13 undergraduate students traveled to sites across Europe where they volunteered for communities on the “peripheries.” This year the institute added a new volunteer site—sending students to Hamrun, Malta in addition to continuing its work in Lublin, Poland; Sofia, Bulgaria; and Milan, Italy The

Nanovic Institute works with Catholic nonprofit organizations in each city that facilitate service opportunities and travel logistics. The student volunteers immerse themselves in the local communities, learn about the culture, and help address the social and human needs of the region.

In the spirit of Pope Francis’s call to go to the geographic and existential peripheries, Serving (in) Europe brings students to the “edges of Europe.” It draws them into conversations about human dignity, the common good, and the reality of these ideals in the world today. Furthermore, it offers opportunities for students to transform these conservations into action through service.

Faculty-Led Student Trips

Some of the student-centered programs offered by the Nanovic Institute are supported through its Faculty-Led Student Trip and Beyond the Classroom Grants. These programs offer opportunities for Notre Dame faculty members to lead students on trips—with destinations ranging from South Bend to Chicago to Berlin—or to build curricular content focused on European studies. These unique learning experiences extend beyond traditional classroom instruction and create immersive educational opportunities for students.

This year, the institute supported many such projects, including:

• A class visit to view “The Flying Dutchman” at Lyric Chicago, led by Tobias Boes, professor and chair of the Department of German and Russian Languages and Literatures.

• A week-long trip for students in “The Great War and Modern Memory” course to Belgium and France, led by John Deak, Carl E. Koch Associate Professor of History, and Robert Norton, professor of German, in collaboration with the Departments of History and German and Russian Languages and Literatures, College of Arts and Letters.

• A student class immersion in Berlin studying how “Europe Confronts the Refugee Challenge,” led by William Donahue, Rev. John J. Cavanaugh, C.S.C., Professor of the Humanities Collaboration, in collaboration with the Department of German and Russian Languages and Literatures (see pages 58-59).

The answers to the trivia questions from page 5 are Crete and Luxembourg (Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn.)

• A student trip led by Joshua Lund, professor of Spanish, to Powis Castle to view the Clive Collection in Wales, UK.

• A design studio immersion for fifth year architecture students focused on creating a “Master Plan for the Reconstruction of Mati, Greece” led by Michael Lykoudis and Selena Anders, professor and assistant professor in the School of Architecture, which co-sponsored the trip (see pages 12-13).

• A week-long class trip to Ireland for the AnBryce Scholars Initiative students studying “Colonization, Immigration, and Cosmopolitanism: Core Concepts of Globalization in Ireland,” led by Maria McKenna, co-director of the initiative and professor of the practice for the Education, Schooling and Society Program and the Department of Africana Studies.

• In partnership with Tetyana Shlikhar, assistant teaching professor of Russian and Ukrainian, student participation in Ukraine's Kommuna Lux concert hosted in South Bend and a trip to the Ukrainian Village in Chicago.

ABOVE: Bryan Fok ’25 (center) with Fiorenzo and Padre Alessandro, who were his points of contact at Casa della Carità during his summer 2023 Serving (in) Europe experience.

TOP: Anastasia Matuszak ’24 (far right) pictured with fellow volunteers at Caritas Sofia in Bulgaria during the summer of 2023.

Discovering heritage and culture: A day at the Ukrainian Village in Chicago

BY TETYANA SHLIKHAR

The Ukrainian Village holds a special place in the heart of Chicago, not just geographically but in the rich cultural tapestry it weaves into the city’s diverse urban fabric. On an overcast Sunday morning in April 2024, a group of students embarked on a muchanticipated journey supported by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and led by the Department of German and Russian to explore this vibrant neighborhood.

The first stop was Saints Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, an architectural masterpiece showcasing intricate designs whose deep historical significance is rooted in the Ukrainian-American community.

Following the church visit, the group went to Shokolad pastry and cafe, where they savored a Ukrainian-style breakfast. Most of the students tried varenyky (Ukrainian dumplings) with different fillings, including cherries, and were delighted by them.

After breakfast, the students visited the Ukrainian National Museum, enriching their understanding of Ukraine’s artistic landscape. The museum features thought-provoking works that reflect the vibrant and tumultuous history of Ukraine. The tour guide, Slava, generously shared his view of Ukrainian history and the reasons for the current war.

The group continued their art appreciation at St. Nicholas Catholic Cathedral. Students not only observed the beauty of the cathedral but could also recognize the differences in comparison to Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Cathedral.

A short walk brought the students to the Ukrainian Museum of Modern Art, which offered insight into Ukrainian national identity and the diaspora’s contributions to American culture. That day, there was a special event at the Ukrainian Modern Art Museum, specifically, a film screening and fundraiser aimed at building underground schools in regions of Ukraine where the schools were destroyed.

After the museum tours, students had the opportunity to purchase souvenirs and gifts from Delta M Ukrainian souvenir store, a popular local gift shop known for its traditional Ukrainian crafts and modern memorabilia.

The exploration of Ukrainian gastronomy continued with lunch at Tryzub, named after the Ukrainian national symbol. The students tried authentic dishes—including borshch and goulash—further deepening their appreciation of the culture.

The day ended on a sweet note with a visit to Ann’s Bakery food store. Students enjoyed free time shopping for Ukrainian sweets and baked goods, tasting desserts that are staples in Ukrainian households.

When the group left the Ukrainian Village, their minds and hearts were full of new knowledge, flavors, and memories. The trip educated students about a significant ethnic periphery in the U.S. and allowed them to experience firsthand the thriving spirit of the Ukrainian community in Chicago. It was a vivid reminder of the mosaic of cultures that enrich American cities and the importance of preserving and celebrating this diversity.

TOP: This mural in the village celebrates key elements of Ukrainian culture and national identity.

ABOVE: Khrystyna Kozak MGA ’25 attended the Ukrainian Village trip and is pictured here sampling the borsch at Tryzub.

LEFT: Professor Shlikhar and students visit Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral.

BY RALEIGH KUIPERS

I Feminist Foreign Policy: Perspectives from Madrid and Barcelona

“I was immediately intrigued—what does it mean for a foreign policy to be feminist? How do these policies work?”

Raleigh Kuipers ’25 is a global affairs and Spanish double major with minors in civil and human rights and European studies. Her research and experiences in Madrid and Barcelona will be an important component of her ongoing research project on feminist foreign policy. You may read an abridged version of her article about this experience below, and the full story is at go.nd.edu/Kuipers24

came across the term “feminist foreign policy” in a New York Times opinion essay written by Lyric Thompson, the chief executive of the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative, an organization that works to advance these policies in the United States and globally.

I was immediately intrigued—what does it mean for a foreign policy to be feminist? How do these policies work? What impact does a feminist foreign policy (FFP) have on its country and the rest of the world?

The first FFP was implemented by Sweden in 2014, and by 2024, 16 countries have implemented explicitly feminist foreign policies or announced that they will do so.

These policies seek to promote gender equity both domestically and globally, yet they also go beyond that goal to address broad issues such as climate change, patriarchal structures, and human rights violations, recognizing that these are interconnected problems that require interconnected solutions.

Contrary to what the name might suggest, many countries explicitly frame their policies as working to benefit everyone—regardless of gender identity—and stress the importance of taking intersectional identities into account. I became interested in how various FFPs address intersectionality and how effective they are in improving the lives of people of various gender identities, racial and cultural minorities, and different immigration statuses.

More about Raleigh Kuipers

• She is the recipient of the Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service.

• With support from the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, she has worked with Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute, as a research assistant on various projects, including one focused on understanding resilient institutions by studying the responses of communities and organizations to the war in Ukraine.

• She has also completed research with Vanesa Miseres, associate professor of Spanish at the University of Notre Dame and a Nanovic Institute faculty fellow.

• She served at the Pulte Institute for Global Development as a marketing/ communications intern.

• Rounding out her involvement with the Keough School of Global Affairs, Raleigh is also part of the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights’s Student Leadership Team.

I wanted to learn about FFPs in various countries to learn more about which ones are the most effective in achieving their goals, how countries with these policies collaborate internationally, and what an explicitly feminist foreign policy in my home country, the U.S., could be.

I began my research with a Nanovic Institute grant to Spain for three weeks, traveling to Madrid and Barcelona, where I conducted archival research and interviews with experts in the field.

While in Madrid, I focused on the FFP itself: how the government announced it, how it was formulated, and how it is currently implemented. I also had the incredible opportunity to meet with Ambassador Julissa Reynoso, the first woman—and Black person—to be the U.S. ambassador to Spain.

In Barcelona, I focused on how Spain’s government and FFP take into account—and sometimes fail to take into account—the unique experiences of its cultural and linguistic minorities in places like Catalonia. I also focused on the feminist approach taken by political parties in the region such as the Candidatura d’Unitat Popular-Crida Constituent. I learned about the experiences of racial minorities in the region and the discrimination against Catalan-speaking people in Spain.

This research prepared me to continue researching FFPs in Chile, Argentina, and Mexico with funding from the Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship during the summer of 2024. ♦

LEFT: Raleigh Kuipers after she met with Ambassador Julissa Reynoso, holding the Ambassador's Challenge Coin and a booklet about the art collection in the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, which is visible in the background.

RIGHT: Raleigh Kuipers in front of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

Learning from Practice The Diplomacy Fellows program

During the spring 2024 semester, the Nanovic Institute welcomed its newest cohort of 12 Diplomacy Fellows, including 11 undergraduate students and one master of global affairs (MGA) student. Together they took part in the fourth iteration of the course Deep Dive into Diplomacy, taught by Nanovic Institute Director Clemens Sedmak and Rev. James Lies, C.S.C., senior advisor for faculty fellow affairs and partnerships at the institute. Students engaged with practitioners of diplomacy from across professional fields and disciplines.

Guest speakers included current and former foreign service officers, such as:

• David Epstein, U.S. Mission to NATO;

• Lou Fintor, diplomat in residence-North Central;

• Kelly Hapka, U.S. Embassy in Guatemala;

• Michael and Kayci Harris, U.S. Embassy in Lithuania; and

• Mark Wenig, retired FSO officer.

The students met current and former ambassadors (including Jacques Pitteloud, ambassador of Switzerland to the United States), as well as Susanne Keppler-Schlesinger, director of the Austrian Cultural Forum; Rosette Muzigo-Morrison, legal officer for the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court; and Frank Lattal, a legal negotiations specialist, CEO of Lattal ADR, and member of the Nanovic Institute’s advisory board. Students learned the skills necessary to be successful diplomats and global leaders from this diverse array of professionals.

As a part of this program, the institute hosted Catherine Arnold, OBE, master of St. Edmund’s College at the University of Cambridge and former British diplomat, the first diplomat in residence through the Nanovic Forum. Arnold previously served as the ambassador to Mongolia. She taught the Deep Dive into Diplomacy course for three weeks, held one-onone advising sessions with each student, and delivered a Nanovic Forum lecture on diplomatic thinking (see page 27).

For many, the program’s high point was the spring break diplomacy immersion in the Hague, the Netherlands, and Brussels, Belgium, where students learned about diplomacy and global affairs in action. Students visited leading international organizations such as the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe High Commissioner on National Minorities, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the European Parliament. Students also met with U.S. diplomats from the Embassy in the Hague, the Mission to the EU, the Mission to NATO, and the Embassy to the Kingdom of Belgium.

Another highlight for the students was sharing meals with members of the Alumni Clubs in Belgium and the Netherlands—who were critical to the planning and success of these programs. Students left Europe with wallets full of business cards from the impressive alumni, diplomats, and global affairs professionals they met. ♦

Grace Kurzweil ’25, a rising senior studying history and Arabic wrote:

“I am grateful to the Nanovic Diplomacy Fellows for introducing me to a community of peers who grew together, challenged each other, and inspired one another to truly be ‘a force for good in the world.’ The Diplomacy Fellows program has been an unforgettable and formative part of my Notre Dame experience as it provided opportunities to explore diplomacy as a career path, network with diplomats and mentors from unique backgrounds at different points in their careers, and go beyond engaging classroom discussions to cultivate lasting connections with my peers.”

Grace Kurzweil ’25

LEFT: Andrew “Drew” Ardise ’26 and Spencer Sexton MGA ’24 walking through Brussels after a day of visting NATO and the U.S. Embassy.

ABOVE: The Diplomacy Fellows group at the U.S. Embassy in Brussels.

BELOW LEFT: Students at Embassy Row (called Lange Voorhout) in The Hague, Netherlands.

BELOW RIGHT: The group gathers in The Hague, Netherlands, near Binnenhof, which is a Gothic castle that houses the office of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

The institute thanks Peyton Shrader ’26 for submitting the photos used here and for documenting the immersion trip through an Instagram student takeover.

Read more at go.nd.edu/Mati

Traveling to Greece to enrich a timely project for architecture students

BY SELENA ANDERS AND MICHAEL LYKOUDIS

In October 2023, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies supported the travel of a group of fifth-year School of Architecture students to Greece. The students and their professors, Nanovic Institute Faculty Fellows Selena Anders and Michael Lykoudis, set out to gain a broader understanding of the cultural and physical dimensions of their semesterlong studio project. The full story by Anders and Lykoudis can be read at go.nd.edu/Mati and is abridged here.

What was once unthinkable is now commonplace. Climate change has brought much in the way of more weather-induced calamities, such as torrential recordbreaking rains and storms, rising sea levels, and wildfires.

As a result of climate change, wildfires in Greece are now a daily occurrence. Over the last seven years, more than 20% of the green areas in Attica, the prefecture around Athens, have burned.

Recovery and a 100-year plan in Mati

The seaside community of Mati, located on the east coast of the Attica region, was the site of a deadly wildfire in July 2018. Temperatures that day hovered around the 100-degree mark, with high winds buffeting the village. The fire started on the peak of a nearby mountain and spread in a little over three hours to the sea and took over 100 lives, all but destroying the town. This was the highest death toll due to wildfires in Europe in over a century.

During the fall semester of 2023, Notre Dame School of Architecture students developed a 100-year master plan for the town along with commercial and public buildings that would use many of the lessons learned in California and other fire-ravaged places that embrace principles of fire-resistant urbanism, architecture, and landscape. Through their work, the students had a chance to contribute to the visualization of Mati’s renewal by providing a sense of place, resilience, and accessibility while at the same time generating foundational principles that can be used in

similar Mediterranean climates.

During their visit to Mati, the students met with residents, architects, and professionals versed in rehabilitating landscapes and towns after such devastations.

Why architects need to travel

In addition to studying the site and exploring the precedents for their design work in the traditional villages and towns of central Greece, the students visited the Athenian Acropolis, the ancient city of Mycenae, and the ancient theater at Epidaurus.

Architects need to travel to understand the history and context of the cultures, cities, and buildings they study. Only so much can be gleaned from books. Students and professionals alike often express how much travel changed their view of a culture. It is in experiencing the cities, buildings, and many other aspects of a locality or region that we receive the gifts of such travel.

The students in the Mati Studio took full advantage of the opportunity given to them by the Nanovic Institute. Being able to visit the site and see other towns and buildings enriched their knowledge. As a result, these students will be able to visualize and design communities and buildings that are more accessible, resilient, and beautiful in the future.

Students: Rob Baranko, Leanne Bujalski, Andrew Carroll, Kyle Dellenbaugh, Elizabeth Hentges, Elise Maletta, Ben McCabe, Anselma Panic, Julia Rabito, Alegria Ubidia, Hannah Wahle. ♦

Selena Anders also led a student trip to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, France, during spring break 2023 to see the restoration efforts after the 2019 fire. ND Stories documented and released a story about this Nanovic-supported trip that can be read at go.nd.edu/RisingfromtheAshes

TOP: Dr. Demetra Andrikou of the Greek Archaeological Service talks about the history of the Parthenon and its current restoration efforts.

ABOVE LEFT: Students sketching in the main square of Nafplio.

ABOVE RIGHT: Students study the architecture of Mycenae. Professor Michael Lykoudis is pictured in the center.

Showcasing and professionalizing undergraduate researchers

The Nanovic Institute held its inaugural Undergraduate Research Conference in European Studies on March 1, 2024. This professional development opportunity was open to all students who had completed research in or about Europe in the past year. These students represented a great diversity of experiences: They wrote capstones for the minor in European Studies, received independent research grants from the Nanovic Institute that allowed them to travel to Europe, were inspired by facultyled immersion trips with Nanovic faculty fellows, and wrote in-depth research papers for courses on European topics.

Four student panels—each chaired by a distinguished faculty member—showcased the breadth and depth of scholarship in European studies at the University of Notre Dame. The panels included themes such as “Cities, Spaces, and Architecture” and “Contemporary European Politics and Policies.” Two panels in particular highlighted student engagement with Nanovic’s research priority “peripheries”: “Reimagining European Studies” and “Europe from the Center to the Periphery.” The intentional formation of these panels allowed students to place their work in dialogue with their peers and receive audience questions that prompted them to go beyond their research to consider broader themes.

While each student presentation was impressive in its own right, three were ultimately chosen to receive accolades based on both their scholarship and presentation skills:

The honorable mention went to senior Ashley Straub ’24 for her presentation titled “Lessons for Senior Living: Community Design from Medieval Flanders.” With support from the Nanovic Institute, Ashley traveled to Belgium during the 2023 fall break,

where she studied the béguinages, hospitals, and god houses of Bruges, Leuven, and Brussels. This research informed her senior architecture thesis in which she argued that the way “cities designed spaces for the elderly in the Middle Ages sheds light on ways to foster vibrant senior communities today through intentional placement, communal spaces, and more.”

The silver award was given to Chioma Oparaji ’25 for her presentation “Practice and Reason: Understanding the Relationship between Byzantine Mosaics and Architectural Designs.” In the summer of 2023, after spending a year abroad in Rome, the Nanovic Institute supported her study of the relationship between ancient Byzantine mosaic craftsmanship and the architecture of early Christian basilicas in Ravenna, Italy. Those in attendance were impressed by the seamless way she incorporated material practice and theory, and they were wowed when she passed around a mosaic she hand-crafted during a five-day mosaic workshop in Ravenna.

Finally, Audra Pesko ’24 received the gold award for her presentation “Can Tourism Be Created? Investigating Marseille as the 2013 European Capital of Culture.” She traveled to Marseille, France, in January 2024 to study the effects and public responses of a year-long urban revitalization project. Audra did an exemplary job of presenting her robust research findings in a limited time frame, drawing the audience into the nuance of her argument without getting lost in the methodology.

Following such a successful first iteration, the Nanovic Institute plans to hold this event each year to allow students to showcase their work and build presentation skills. Current students should be on the lookout for the next call for proposals. ♦

Ashley Straub ’24

Chioma Oparaji ’25

Audra Pesko ’24

“While the Nanovic Institute believes that the knowledge garnered through research is an intrinsic good worthy of pursuing in its own right, it is deeply committed to wielding this knowledge to heal, unify, and enlighten a world in need.”

– From the 2024 Nanovic Institute Research Report Read the full report at go.nd.edu/nanovicresearch

A research profile that puts Notre Dame on the European studies map

The Nanovic Institute for European Studies, as an academic unit of a research university, intentionally focuses on increasing its visibility as a research and teaching institute, amplifying the work of faculty fellow researchers, and developing research projects in collaboration with individual and institutional partners.

NEWS ROUNDUP

Nanovic Institute Joins UACES

As a way to continue its engagement with the study of Europe globally, the Nanovic Institute joined the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) this year. This European studies association helps connect like-minded scholars across borders to share insights, research, and opportunities to advance the field. The Nanovic Institute will participate in its first official event as a UACES

member during the 54th Annual Conference in Trento, Italy, September 1-4, 2024.

Similar to the UACES, the institute is also a member of the Council for European Studies (CES) and the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR). These memberships open doors for our faculty fellows, students, and researchers to participate in the wider European studies community.

Faculty Showcase and Faculty Fellow of the Year

On Thursday, May 2, 2024, the Nanovic Institute gathered for its annual recognition of faculty fellow achievements, with its gallery of European studies and faculty fellow showcase. This interdisciplinary community of scholars came together for an afternoon filled with celebration and sharing.

A highlight of the event was the recognition of the 2023-24 Faculty Fellow of the Year Congratulations to A. James McAdams, William M. Scholl Professor of International Affairs. He is a longtime champion of the institute, who served as its director from 2002-2018 and has

continued to be a major contributor ever since. He is the architect of the Catholic Universities Partnership, which this year celebrates its 20th year.

In recognition of McAdams’s many contributions this year and beyond, the institute presented him with a framed selection from the “Ukrainian Art as Protest and Resilience” collection, a photograph by Yaryna Pysko MGA ’24 of a mural by Christian Guemy that represents the fight for liberty in Ukraine. (see go.nd.edu/ce06f1 to view this piece and the full exhibition).

Throughout the event, faculty fellow publications and awards were shared, an impressive list of more than 65 achievements that still was but a selection of the total number. In addition, a group of ten fellows graciously shared the results of their recent work:

Yury Avvakumov

Associate Professor of Theology

Karl Ameriks

McMahon-Hank Professor of Philosophy Emeritus

Katie Bugyis

Rev. John A. O'Brien

Associate Professor, Program of Liberal Studies

Alexander Hahn

Professor of Mathematics

Emeritus

Essaka Joshua Professor of English

Robert Krieg

Professor of Theology Emeritus

Fred R. Dallmayr

Professor of Political Science and Philosophy Emeritus, (who passed away on June 5, 2024)

Thomas Kselman

Professor of History Emeritus

Olivier Morel

Associate Professor of Film, Television, and Theatre

John Onyango

Associate Professor of Architecture

Mark Roche

Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C.

Professor of German Language and Literature

A. James McAdams

Faculty Publications

Karl Ameriks

McMahon-Hank Professor of Philosophy Emeritus Kantian Dignity & Its Difficulties (Oxford University Press, 2024)

Yury P. Avvakumov Professor of Theology

The Churches and the War: Religion, Religious Diplomacy, and Russia's Aggression against Ukraine (Ukrainian Catholic University Press, 2024)

Alexander Beihammer

Heiden Family College Professor of History

The Islamic–Byzantine Border in History: From the Rise of Islam to the End of the Crusades (Edinburgh University Press, 2023)

John R. Betz

Associate Professor of Theology

Christ the Logos of Creation: An Essay in Analogical Metaphysics (Emmaus Academic, 2023)

Katlyn Marie Carter Professor of History

Democracy in Darkness: Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolutions (Yale University Press, 2023)

Felipe Fernández-Armesto

William P. Reynolds Professor of History

Approaches to Global History: To See the World Whole (Bloomsbury, 2023)

Patrick Griffin

Thomas Moore and Judy Livingston Director, Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies; Madden-Hennebry Professor of History

The Age of Atlantic Revolution: The Fall and Rise of a Connected World (Yale University Press, 2023)

Vittorio Hösle

Paul Kimball Professor of Arts and Letters Philosophische Literatur-Interpretationen von Dante bis le Carre (Verlag Karl Aber, 2023)

CJ Jones

William Payden Associate Professor of German Fixing the Liturgy: Friars, Sisters, and the Dominican Rite, 1256-1516 (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024)

This list is only a sampling of the many publications our faculty fellows have produced in the 2023-24 academic year. To view the full list from the faculty showcase, visit go.nd.edu/NanovicFacultyShowcase

Faculty Fellow Publications (continued)

Ian Kuijt Professor of Anthropology Targeting Beauty

Documenting the destruction of Oster, Chernihiv region, Ukraine, with William Donaruma (Film, 2024)

The Shooting Wall: Witness in Film Documenting the destruction of The Church of the Ascension, Lukashivka, Chernihiv region, Ukraine with William Donaruma (Film, 2024)

Ulrich L. Lehner

William K. Warren Professor of Theology Inszenierte Keuschheit Sexualdelikte in der Gesellschaft Jesu im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert (De Gruyter, 2024)

A. James McAdams

William M. Scholl Professor of International Affairs Far-Right Newspeak and the Future of Liberal Democracy (Routledge, 2024)

Olivier Morel Associate Professor of Film

The ‘German Illusion’: Germany and Jewish-German Motifs in Hélène Cixous’s Late Work (Bloomsbury, 2023)

John Onyango Associate Professor of Architecture Participatory Design Thinking in Architecture & Urban Planning (Actar Press, 2023)

Gretchen Reydams-Schils Professor in the Program of Liberal Studies The Oxford Handbook of Roman Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 2023)

Mark Roche

Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C. Professor of German Language and Literature Beautiful Ugliness: Christianity, Modernity, and the Arts (University of Notre Dame Press, 2023)

Clemens Sedmak Professor of Social Ethics; Director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies Enacting Integral Human Development (Orbis Books, 2023)

Faculty Fellow Promotions

Ana Leticia Fauri

Associate Teaching Professor of Portuguese

Anne García-Romero

Professor of Film, Television, and Theatre

Korey Garibaldi

Associate Professor of American Studies

Rev. Kevin G. Grove, C.S.C.

Associate Professor of Theology

Debra Javeline Professor of Political Science

Ian Ona Johnson

Associate Professor of History

Stephen Lancaster Professor of the Practice, Voice

Brian Ó Conchubhair

Professor of Irish Language and Literature

Sarah Shortall

Associate Professor of History

Elyse Speaks

Professor of the Practice, Art History

Faculty Promotions and Awards

The faculty fellows of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies continue to contribute at the highest levels to their fields. The institute is honored to be a part of this interdisciplinary community and to recognize the achievements of its members, who are world-class researchers and educators. This section includes the names of many who have achieved promotions, major grants, and awards during this academic year, but this is only a sampling of the incredible work of our Nanovic Institute faculty fellows.

Ana Leticia Fauri Anne García-Romero Korey Garibaldi

Debra Javeline Ian Ona Johnson Stephen Lancaster

Rev. Kevin G. Grove, C.S.C.

Brian Ó Conchubhair

Sarah Shortall Elyse Speaks

Emeriti Faculty Fellows

W. Martin Bloomer

Professor of Classics Emeritus

Peter Jeffery

Professor of Musicology and Ethnomusicology Emeritus

Anton Juan

Professor of Film, Television, and Theatre Emeritus

Gregory Kusich

Professor of English Emeritus

Michael Lykoudis

Professor of Architecture Emeritus

Major Grants

Katie Bugyis the Rev. John A. O’Brien Associate Professor, Program of Liberal Studies, and Margot Fassler, the Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Music History and Liturgy Emerita, were awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant for their website project to preserve and educate on medieval liturgy (see pages 22-23).

Karrie Koesel associate professor of political science, together with Aleksandar Matovski (Naval Postgraduate School), received a grant from the Department of Defense’s Defense Education and Civilian University Research (DECUR) Partnership for their project “Kremlin Influence Operations in Online Spaces.”

María Rosa Olivera-Williams professor of Spanish, received an NEH Scholarly Editions and Translations grant for her project on poet, journalist, and diplomat Rubén Darío, founder of the late-19thcentury Spanish-language literary movement modernismo.

Gretchen Reydams-Schils professor in the Program of Liberal Studies, was awarded a 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship for her project “‘Becoming like God’: Perfection in Platonism and Stoicism (1c. BCE-2c. CE).”

Awards

Katlyn Marie Carter professor of history, received the Gilbert Chinard Book Award for Democracy in Darkness: Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolutions (Yale University Press, 2023).

Denise Della Rossa teaching professor of German, was a recipient of the Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Award for Excellence in Teaching, which is “the University [of Notre Dame’s] most prestigious recognition of extraordinary achievement and sustained effectiveness in teaching undergraduate, graduate, and/or professional students.”

Raymond Offenheiser senior advisor to the dean and director of the McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business at the Keough School of Global Affairs, received the 2024 President’s Award, which recognizes “pioneering and visionary achievements in research, public impact, and/or creative endeavors that advance the university’s goals.”

W. Martin Bloomer Peter Jeffery Anton Juan

Gregory Kusich

Michael Lykoudis

Katie Bugyis

Margot Fassler

Gretchen Reydams-Schils

María Rosa Olivera-Williams

Raymond Offenheiser

Denise Della Rossa

Karrie Koesel

Katlyn Marie Carter

Transnational France Research Cluster

This year the Transnational France research cluster continued to convene scholars from across campus who study French and/or the Francophone world. It provides a place to facilitate dialogue as well as to bring preeminent scholars to campus. Led by Nanovic Institute faculty fellows Emma Planinc, assistant professor of political science, and Sarah Shortall, associate professor of history, this vibrant research cluster has held a wide range of fascinating events throughout the year, including:

• “Catholicism in and after the French Empire” with Elizabeth Foster (professor of history, Tufts University), Brenna Moore (professor of theology, Fordham University), and Charlotte Walker-Said (assistant professor of history, The City University of New York);

• “Nuclear Consensus?: French Critics of de Gaulle's Nuclear Weapons Policy, 1959-66” with Austin Cooper (assistant professor of history, Purdue University); and

• “Sentinel Island: Sixty Thousand Years of Solitude” with Benjamin Hoffman (associate professor of French and director of the Center of Excellence at The Ohio State University).

The research cluster members also were key participants in the Decolonizing Scholarship lecture with Lydie Moudileno, the Marion Frances Chevalier Professor of French at the University of Southern California (USC), titled “Poaching from French Theorists in a Decolonial Context.”

How Effective Are Sanctions at Punishing Russian Aggression?

In February 2024, David Cortright, professor emeritus of the practice at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and Anna Romandash ’22 MGA, an award-winning journalist from Ukraine, published a policy brief titled “Defunding Russia’s War Against Ukraine,” which analyzed the effectiveness of sanctions on Russia. This brief, published by the Keough School of Global Affairs, recommends several policy recommendations, quoted directly from the abstract below:

• Maintain and increase restrictions on Russian energy exports and their transportation.

• Invest more heavily in sanctions monitoring, enforcement, and trade analysis.

• Impose sanctions on third parties that help Russia bypass Western restrictions and intensify diplomacy with Russia’s neighbors to decrease sanctions violations.

• Cooperate with the private sector and civil society to name and shame sanctions violators.

Cortright and Romandash are contributors to the Nanovic Institute's Ukrainian Studies Hub and led a panel discussion on sanctions, which may be viewed at go.nd.edu/SanctionsPanel

Learn more about the research cluster and its work at go.nd.edu/TNFrance

The full policy brief is available at go.nd.edu/ sanctions

David Cortright Anna Romandash

Preserving and Teaching the Medieval Liturgy

BY KATIE BUGYIS

“Our website provides a platform for expert scholars to train subsequent generations. It does so by doing and explaining.”

Since 2022, Margot Fassler (professor emerita of music history and liturgy), Cara Aspesi (Ph.D. in liturgical studies at Notre Dame), and I have been collaborating on a ground-breaking website project: Medieval Liturgy: Tutorials for Students, Teachers, and Researchers. We began our work with a seed grant from Notre Dame Research, and we will be able to expand our efforts with a threeyear Humanities Initiatives at Colleges and Universities grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, beginning in July 2024.

This website seeks to preserve and transmit knowledge about the medieval liturgy and offer practical demonstrations of the skills necessary

to work with related primary sources, such as liturgical manuscripts. It does so primarily through video tutorials created by leading experts in the field at Notre Dame and institutions across the world. Our project team recognizes that the medieval Latin liturgy is rarely taught today in undergraduate and graduate programs, even though its fundamental importance to the study of the centuries making up the Middle Ages has long been recognized. Our website provides a platform for expert scholars to train subsequent generations. It does so by doing and explaining. We worry that the accumulated knowledge of past and present scholars of the medieval liturgy—and especially the skills that make their knowledge possible— could be lost if it is not preserved. That is what this website seeks to do.

One of the website’s eight main tabs is “Women’s Rites.” This section details how the liturgy offered forums for individual women and communities of vowed religious to exert their agency: patronizing and

copying books, composing chant texts and music, assuming prominent singing roles in the Divine Office and Mass, staging processions and dramas, and much more.

With funding from the Nanovic Institute, the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts, and the Medieval Institute, I will host “Leading Women in Medieval Religious Communities,” a conference and workshop at Notre Dame London on March 7-9, 2025. It will gather experts across the United States and Europe who study the liturgical and pastoral leadership of medieval religious women. The 19 invited speakers have been tasked with delivering papers on this topic and creating teaching videos for the “Women’s Rites” tab of the website for review at the workshop.

I am also at work on my second monograph, Pastoring Nuns: Sibyl Felton, Barking Abbey, and Leading Liturgy in Late Medieval England. The heart of this book is a biography of Sibyl Felton, abbess of Barking Abbey in Essex, England, from 1393 to 1419. Sibyl has often been remembered as a “great abbess,” but her story has yet to be told in full, together with

the women who formed her and the community she supported with her expert leadership, capacious literacy, and transformative liturgy. the many books she commissioned, acquired, treasured, read for guidance, applied in worship, and passed on to her sisters at Barking are essential to this story. In my book, I will be showing that, by studying the composition, use, and contents of these books, we come closest to the woman who once owned them. We encounter the ideas, teachings, and practices that may have inspired, comforted, challenged, and even perplexed Sibyl as she pursued her vocation as a Benedictine nun and abbess. They bring her story to life.

With funding from the Nanovic Institute, I was able to spend two weeks in the United Kingdom last summer, conducting research at the British Library in London, the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, the University Library and the Wren Library at Cambridge, and various archives in Chelmsford, London, and Norwich. I anticipate finishing this book by the end of next year. ♦

Katie Bugyis is the Rev. John A. O'Brien Associate Professor in the Program in Liberal Studies, concurrent associate professor of theology, and faculty fellow at the Medieval Institute and the Nanovic Institute for European Studies. She currently serves on the faculty committee at the Nanovic Institute and presented a version of this article at the institute’s 2023-24 Faculty Fellow Showcase event.

The site pictured is in development and may change before its final release.

Read more at

go.nd.edu/Ghervas

Laura Shannon Prize recognizes groundbreaking book on peace in Europe

BY JACOB KILDOO

Each year, the Nanovic Institute awards the Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies to an outstanding scholar whose work stimulates new ways of thinking about Europe as a whole. The 2023 winner in history & the social sciences was Stella Ghervas, professor of history and Eugen Weber Chair in Modern European History at UCLA. Her book Conquering Peace: From the Enlightenment to the European Union (Harvard University Press, 2021) was hailed as a “stunning accomplishment destined to become a classic in modern European diplomatic history, political history, international relations, and peace studies.” Ghervas received the Laura Shannon Prize on November 2, 2023 at Notre Dame, where she delivered her prize lecture, “The Peace Conundrum in European History,” which may be viewed in full at go.nd.edu/Ghervas

Ghervas’s 2023 Laura Shannon Prize Lecture proposed a novel and perhaps surprising way of narrating European history. It is commonplace, she explained, to depict the story of Europe as a long sequence of bloody conflicts, culminating in the World Wars and later the Cold War. Ghervas’s research, by contrast, turns this trend on its head, asking us to consider cycles of peace over the last three centuries of European history. Looking at several critical moments in this history, ranging from Louis XIV’s bid for European hegemony (1701-1714) to the period of Soviet dominance during the Cold War, her project explores what it might mean to achieve lasting peace and how we might go about pursuing this lofty goal.

To frame her talk, Ghervas discussed two common misconceptions about peace. On one hand, some theorists adopt a “realpolitik” approach: To achieve a state of peace, they argue, one must prepare for war. The problem with this view, explained Ghervas, is that we do not ordinarily consider such conditions “peaceful.” After all, it was precisely this approach that gave rise to the Cold War-era arms race—a far cry from peace. At best, we might consider this state to be a sort of truce or, better yet, an armed ceasefire. On the other

hand, some individuals take a position of non-violence or pacifism, urging others to “turn the other cheek” when affronted by violence. However, Ghervas argued that peacemaking need not involve a total denial of warfare. Violence is, indeed, sometimes necessary as a last resort. Sometimes, she suggests, building peace requires that we reap the benefits of war to ensure future peace.

Ghervas demonstrated that peace-making is a gradual process. When a war has concluded and victors emerge, peace is far from guaranteed—indeed, the peacebuilding process has only just begun. The victors must subsequently chart the course of the future peace, being mindful of remedying the conditions that gave rise to the conflict as well as ensuring that all parties are functioning harmoniously.

The processual nature of peace-making is reinforced by the history of peace in Europe. Looking at five pivotal moments over the last 300 years of European history, Ghervas illustrated how each step towards peace built upon previous efforts, ultimately culminating in the European Union: the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) gave rise to a balance of power between European nations; the Congress of Vienna (18141815) birthed the congress system; Geneva (1949) led to the League of Nations; the Treaty of Rome (1957) founded the European Community; and finally the Treaty of Maastricht (1992) gave rise to the EU. In this sense, Europe’s engineers of peace used earlier moments of peacebuilding as stepping stones, eventually leading to the unification of the EU and the lasting peace this achievement brought among its members.

To conclude, Ghervas reflected on the war in Ukraine. Here, as in the last 300 years of European history, achieving peace will require long-term effort. As she put it, “winning the war will not be enough to guarantee the security and freedom of Ukraine. Peace will have to be conquered after the war at the price of great and long effort.” ♦

2024 Laura Shannon Prize Winner

The winner of the 2024 prize in humanities is Rory Finnin, professor of Ukrainian studies at the University of Cambridge, for his book Blood of Others: Stalin’s Crimean Atrocity and the Poetics of Solidarity (University of Toronto Press, 2022). He is scheduled to deliver his prize lecture at Notre Dame on October 3, 2024. Read more about his book at go.nd.edu/LSPFinnin

2024 Silver Medalist

Katerina Clark, who served as B.E. Bensinger Professor of Comparative Literature and Slavic Languages and Literatures at Yale University, for her book Eurasia without Borders: The Dream of a Leftist Literary Commons, 1919–1943 (Harvard University Press, 2021). Read more at go.nd.edu/LSPClark

2024 Honorable Mention

Erica Moretti, assistant professor of Italian at the Fashion Institute of Technology-SUNY, for her book The Best Weapon for Peace: Maria Montessori, Education, and Children's Rights (University of Wisconsin Press, 2022). Read more at go.nd.edu/LSPMoretti

View the exhibition and student analyses at go.nd.edu/ArtsDemocracy

How can art be a platform to protect democracy and human rights?

TOP: From the exhibit "Further Along the Road" by Iva Sidash, photograph on film, 2022. Image used with permission.

BOTTOM "Ai WeiWei: Law of the Journey," photograph by alskikof. Used under Creative Commons CC BYNC-SA 2.0 via Flickr. flickr. com/photos/2dubsteer/

In January 2023, the Nanovic Institute launched its first public-facing undergraduate research project and exhibition on Ukrainian artists fighting against invasion, cultural annihilation, and anti-democratic forces through their art. Following this project, a second installment, “Writing the War in Ukraine,” examined wartime poetry and songs and was the culmination of group research conducted by students from both Ukrainian Catholic University and the University of Notre Dame.

It’s not even past.’ It rings true here as the tragedies and injustices present in Europe’s history, both at home and abroad, recur. ... The pieces in this exhibit conjure up the specter of these tragedies, each eliciting their distinctive echoes in contemporary European societies.”

Student Researchers:

Ethan Chiang ’27

Anna Gazewood ’24

Monay Licata ’25

Kendra Lyimo ’24

Abby O’Connor ’26

Jane Palmer ’26

Cate Porter ’25

Annie Rehill ’24

Erin Tutaj ’24

Isabelle Wilson ’26

Project Leaders

Abigail Lewis

Clare Barloon ’24

In the spring of 2024, “Fighting for Democracy and Human Rights through the Arts,” the third installment in this series, expanded this earlier research by placing the work of contemporary artists on human rights issues in a larger frame. Its goal was to contextualize artists’ critical role in raising awareness of human rights issues. The project presents various media that reflect different ways in which artists can engage in public discourse about human rights and democracy. The exhibition includes documentary media such as photography and documentary film, which engage politically by documenting human experiences and the physical destruction of cities and landscapes. It includes conceptual, installation, and street art, all of which media bring political messages into public spaces, forcing visitors and passersby to reflect on messages about warfare, migration, and displacement. Some of these public works, such as the murals by TVboy in Ukraine, are intended to inspire hope and strength. Finally, the exhibition includes artistic reflections on personal experiences.

Writing about the larger themes of the project, Clare Barloon, ’24 undergraduate advisor for the project, and recent art history graduate, wrote, “William Faulkner has a famous dictum, ‘The past is never dead.

Ghosts and haunting were recurring themes that emerged throughout the project. Europe’s past—the legacies of colonialism, warfare, authoritarianism, racism, and labor exploitation—palpably haunts the present realities of these artists. The theme of haunting emphasizes the interconnectedness of the past and present, the reality that the specters of past violence continue to influence current inequities.

Sidash’s “Further Along the Road” series pictures this intermixing of past and present. The photographs, made on expired film, follow her path on the road to Crimea, a path that she often took as a child on the road to family vacations. Here, the tension between the past and present comes to the fore—a memory of childhood joy interrupted by the reality of war. This example and others featured in the exhibition show how the arts are a medium and platform for representing the past honestly, promoting dialogue about the challenges of the present, and advocating for a better future. ♦

Diplomacy in Action: Shaping future leaders at the Nanovic Institute

BY CATHERINE ARNOLD, OBE

Catherine Arnold, OBE, serves as master at St. Edmund’s College at the University of Cambridge. Before being named head of the college, Ms. Arnold served with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in the United Kingdom, with posts in Oman, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. In 2015, she was appointed as the British Ambassador to Mongolia, where she served until 2018. During the spring 2024 semester, she served as the Nanovic Forum Diplomat in Residence at the Nanovic Institute.

How do we navigate the next century? As educators, how can we help form people who have the skills and perspectives to be able to shape positive futures for people and the planet? These are big questions and were the starting point for my three weeks as diplomat in residence.

Diplomacy deals in complexity; it deals with an ever-shifting blend of ideals, beliefs, principles, and, crucially, the art of compromise. For three intense and fascinating weeks, I explored with students and faculty how diplomatic tools might be used more widely to frame the challenges facing the world today. I then shared some of these concepts more widely in my Nanovic Forum Lecture on April 3, 2024.

The three principal areas and underpinning tools I presented on this occasion were:

• confidence-building measures and carve-outs, the tools that keep open space for dialogue;

• frameworks, the tools that build in space for tension and the generative frictions produced by requiring “both-and” not “either-or”; and, from these,

• the space for movement, the ability to see movement—perhaps a change in perspective or a new way of approaching the world—not as a loss or defeat but as part of what it is to be human and a natural outcome of recognizing the inherent human dignity of over 8 billion other individual humans.

Lectures are a great way to organize big thoughts but lack the space to explore concrete examples, individual perspectives, or personal dilemmas—the very space in which transformational magic often happens.

It was a particular joy to be able to explore these topics with students in the diplomacy and global affairs courses.

We looked at how to construct a campaign and the role an embassy can play in changing behaviors and delivering collaborative outcomes. Using public health issues in Mongolia as a case study, we explored how diplomacy needs imagination, creativity, and flair to have an impact and isn’t only about reporting,

monitoring, and international relations theory. I also shared with the students a snapshot of my life as an ambassador through social media posts giving them both insight into the realities of diplomatic life—from being gifted a baby camel to meeting a president to clearing litter in a park—and a deeper understanding of the different types of impact and influence embassies seek to have through their social media presence. Being able to turn academic articles on social media into a visual and personal display brought to life why what they were learning matters and how stimulating and important a career in diplomacy can be.

Of course, everyone who spends time at Notre Dame loves talking with the students. I hope they benefited from the one-to-one mentoring sessions as much as I did from the tonic their fresh enthusiasm was for me. The overwhelming impression I had was that these are gifted young people motivated by a real passion to help a world in need. The first step out of university can feel like such a giant leap; it was wonderful to be able to draw on my experience as a journalist and diplomat, as well as working with think tanks, researchers, and advocacy and development organizations in many countries, to help explore individual students’ dreams, strengths, interests, and motivations and help them consider how they might best harness their personal gifts and what they have learned at Notre Dame and the Nanovic Institute to shape positive and shared futures for our world. ♦

View Catherine's diplomatic concepts at go.nd.edu/NF0403

Catherine Arnold, OBE, delivers a public lecture during her stay as Nanovic Forum Diplomat in Residence.

The Catholic Universities Partnership: 20 Years of Purpose and Friendship

As with many origin stories, it may be difficult to know exactly how or when an idea like the Catholic Universities Partnership truly came to life—if it came fully formed as an infant, an epiphany, or if the path revealed itself only as it was walked. After the birth of Christ, we are told that “magi from the east arrived” (Matthew 2:1) and perhaps this too is what set our story—and the modest caravan at its beginnings—in motion.

Vaja Vardidze

Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University

Despite the different dimensions, be it in terms of the size, years, material, or human resources of the universities, the common point of contact is in the spirit of our universities and the incorporation of catholicity (in the universal sense of this word), and it will be our great desire to strengthen the universal experience in the future. We work to open new spaces of freedom for each other, where the grace and love of God manifest themselves. … I believe that CUP is a special and valuable unity.

When A. James “Jim” McAdams, the William M. Scholl Professor of International Affairs, became director of the Nanovic Institute in the summer of 2002, his vision revolved around bringing Notre Dame to Europe and Europe to Notre Dame. One vital aspect of this goal was to ensure that the institute evolved in ways that supported the university’s Catholic identity and mission.

During McAdams’ second year as director, an encounter with Myroslav Marynovych and Jeffrey Wills, professors from Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), led to an invitation to visit their young institution, which had been inaugurated in the summer of 2002. The professors shared a vision of the university as one committed to integrity, openness to transcendent and interpersonal dialogue, and building a new Ukrainian society rooted in human dignity.

McAdams, a scholar of communism who had lived and traveled in Central and Eastern Europe before and after the end of the Soviet Union, was keenly aware of the challenges faced by higher education and civic society in that region. In the post-Soviet era, corruption in government was rampant, and religious and academic institutions faced significant logistical and ideological challenges. Catholic educators and leaders either struggled to reestablish universities that had been repressed during the Soviet era or attempted to establish new institutes of higher education rooted in Catholic principles.

For McAdams, it was also self-evident that the University of Notre Dame should partner with Catholic universities in Central and Eastern Europe that share the same values-based approach to higher education. Furthermore, for Notre Dame to be a truly global university, its faculty and students must encounter and immerse themselves in other contexts—whether from places thought of as “centers” or those of “peripheries”—with a spirit of reciprocity and mutual respect. Amid the uncertainty of the time and region, McAdams recognized an opportunity to build relationships among fellow educators at institutions with common Catholic foundations.

In the summer of 2004, after several months making contact with Catholic university leaders across Europe, McAdams traveled to Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine, meeting with then-Rector (now Archbishop) Borys Gudziak, and among others two young scholars: Taras Dobko, who twenty years later now serves as rector, and Volodymyr Turchynovskyy, now dean of the social sciences faculty. Following an extraordinary visit, a member of the UCU staff drove McAdams the 220 km to John Paul II Catholic University in Lublin (Poland), where he similarly met with its leadership, specifically, Prof. Dr. Slawomir Nowosad.

At the 2022 conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, CUP participants from Notre Dame (right to left) A. Jim McAdams, Nanovic Faculty Fellow Paul Perrin, and Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., who became president of the University of Notre Dame in 2024.

On a separate trip soon after, McAdams and the Nanovic Institute’s founding benefactors, Robert and Elizabeth Nanovic, visited Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest, Hungary, meeting with then-Rector Fr. György Fodor. As the story goes, when attempting to rent a car to take himself and the Nanovics to Slovakia to meet Dr. Dalibor Mikulas and faculty leaders at the Catholic University in Ružomberok, McAdams could not do so for less than $1,000 per day. He asked his hosts if they could help arrange a car. In response, Fr. Fodor shared that he had never visited his Catholic neighbor to the north and would be honored to drive them and meet fellow educators in Ružomberok. Leading a small two-car caravan, Fr. Fodor and other university representatives joined the Nanovics and McAdams, similarly driving 220 km toward a new avenue for friendship and cooperation.

Collaborations between the universities in Central and Eastern Europe began quickly. In April 2005, participants from Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, and the U.S. came together at Notre Dame for the first conference of the “Catholic Universities Project.”

Collaborating on Best Practices

Beginning with this 2005 meeting, the CUP conference has been held almost annually and has become a pillar of the Catholic Universities Partnership it helped ignite. Hosted by a different partner each year, it provides a forum for collaboration and relationship building. At first, these meetings focused on strategies for meeting the practical demands and logistical challenges Catholic universities face. Some of the first conferences were organized around themes such as “The Future of Catholic Higher Education” (2005) and “Identifying Opportunities for Academic Cooperation” (2009). These meetings welcomed representatives of Catholic higher education and church administration, from, for example, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Catholic Faith and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which would later become a principal sponsor of the Catholic Leadership Program.

A second pillar of the CUP — the Visiting Scholars program — began almost at the partnership’s birth. In the fall of 2005, the first visiting scholars from Catholic universities in Central and Eastern Europe spent a semester at the University of Notre Dame, hosted by the Nanovic Institute. This program, which has been generously supported by Patrick and Angela Adams since 2006, has allowed 176 scholars, including many early career researchers and leaders, to teach and interact with Notre Dame’s faculty, students, and programs. But perhaps the most important benefit of the visiting fellowship is the time it allows for deep research, writing, and reflection—space that can be difficult to find amidst leadership and administrative

Markéta Rusnáková

Catholic University in Ružomberok

The CUP cooperation organized by the Nanovic Institute has proved to be extremely fruitful over the years for our university, and it remains one of the crucial pillars of our internationalization. What is so special about the CUP is that it involves both established and novel activities, and it helps to foster both friendship and institutional cooperation. … At the same time, our university has a chance to establish new contacts and develop friendships with the Nanovic people and other visiting scholars.

At the Catholic University in Ružomberok, we really value our cooperation within the Catholic University Partnership.

Fr. Željko Tanjić

Catholic University of Croatia

The Partnership has been of utmost importance for our international relations, especially considering that CUC was a fairly young university at the time of joining. These relations extend beyond the professional ones, as all of us who had the privilege to work with colleagues from other partner universities have most certainly made true friends. We met our friends from different universities, and we saw what their problems were and what we had in common, but also they provided us with some solutions.

CUP is helping all those smaller and emerging universities … to see that they are not alone— nobody feels alone in this group—and also that they can succeed. … But now we see that it is possible to do many, many good things for the common good of our societies, for the Church, and Central and Eastern Europe.

responsibilities. Yaroslav Prytula, provost of UCU, describes his semester as a visiting scholar in the spring of 2023 as “an enduring source of strength and inspiration with insights gained, friendships forged, and new collaborations initiated. It is a testament to the transformative power of education and global connections.”

Then in 2017, the third piece of the CUP infrastructure, the Catholic Leadership Program, held its inaugural workshop at the University of Notre Dame. During this week-long summer institute for faculty and staff from CUP partners, Notre Dame leaders and practitioners shared practical skills with academics who have assumed leadership and administrative roles in their institutions. The leadership program was organized by the Nanovic Institute in partnership with Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. Most recently held in July 2023, this program has helped nurture the careers of more than 80 rising leaders at CUP member institutions. In May 2022, Nanovic took the leadership institute one step further with an Advanced Leadership Program, a second-level course. Its inaugural meeting was held at Notre Dame Rome, and a second Advanced Leadership Program, this one focused on female leaders, is planned for July 2025.

As the CUP matured, the Catholic University of Croatia (Zagreb, Croatia) and Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University (Tbilisi, Georgia) joined the partnership. Established in 2006 and 2010 respectively, these burgeoning institutions embraced the opportunity to learn from the experience of their peers. As the current rector of the Catholic University Croatia, Fr. Željko Tanjic, puts it, the “CUP is helping all those smaller and emerging universities ... to see that they are not alone—nobody feels alone in this group—and also that they can succeed. ... Now we see that it is possible to do many, many good things for the common good of our societies, the Church, and Central and Eastern Europe.” Likewise, the other members of the partnership drew inspiration and clarity from these new and growing universities’ perspectives.

Present and Future: A Proliferation of Collaboration

“Everything is now coming into fruition” for the CUP, according to McAdams. The last five years have shown unprecedented growth in concrete programs, publications, and plans for the future, which can be attributed to three key factors.

The first is the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which shook up normal operations and required creative responses. While meetings were previously infrequent, the increased usage of video conferencing software allowed leaders from the member universities to meet online monthly. The annual meeting that year was also adapted for an online format and led to the first joint CUP publication: The Trauma of Communism published by UCU Press in 2022. More publications followed,

Participants in the 2012 meeting of the CUP at Notre Dame. This meeting’s theme was “Models of Engagement with Secular Society.”

A group photo from the 2019 CUP meeting hosted by Pázmány Péter Catholic University, which explored the theme “Sustainability: On Social, Legal, Political and Environmental Bases.”

including the edited volume Faith, Freedom, and the Fall of Communism to be published by John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin Press in winter 2024.

The second catalyst for the CUP’s growth is its response to the ongoing war in Ukraine. On the morning following Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, CUP members came together in an emergency virtual meeting to discuss how the partnership could show solidarity for its friends in Lviv. This support manifested in many ways over the subsequent years. The summer school “Practicing Resilience, Preparing for Recovery,” which brings together students from Ukrainian Catholic University and other CUP institutions has been held three years in a row, most recently in the summer of 2024. The CUP annual meeting in 2022, held in Tbilisi, Georgia, focused on resilience and gave special attention to the experiences of colleagues from Ukrainian Catholic University. Finally, in the 2023-24 academic year, the Nanovic Institute formalized its enduring commitment to Ukrainian studies and Ukraine by forming a Ukrainian Studies Hub (learn more on page 38).

“I think the important thing about the hub,” says McAdams, “is that it’s much more than the conventional academic project. ... We’re about our relationship with Ukraine, not simply about some narrow academic project. So in that respect, we’re quite ambitious. And what has given us a tremendous advantage is our relationship with UCU.”

The third factor that cannot be understated is the strategic contributions of the Nanovic Institute’s director since 2020, Clemens Sedmak. While maintaining the relationships central to the work of the CUP, Sedmak has also emphasized concrete scholarly projects that elevate the research profile of each member as an academic institution. The many joint research projects, collaborations in innovative teaching, and publications over the past four years have been lovingly and energetically supported by Sedmak’s dedicated leadership and service.

As McAdams takes stock of 20 years of the CUP, he concludes, “What we’ve seen over time is, in part thanks to the support we could provide them at Notre Dame, that [these] universities have absolutely flourished. You see it concretely.”

The concrete results McAdams identifies were easy to see at the May 2024 conference in Zagreb, Croatia, organized to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the CUP. This project, which began subtly—a two-car caravan two decades earlier—has grown into a multi-national, vibrant community. Representatives from each university in the partnership—scholars, leaders, government ministers, church leaders, and students—gathered at this meeting hosted by the Catholic University of Croatia fittingly called “From Friendship to Institutional Development: 20 Years of Catholic Universities Partnership.” A panel of students from each university was perhaps the highlight of the event, pointing the way toward the future of Catholic leadership throughout Europe and in the United States. The next 20 years seem just as bright.

As McAdams puts it, “This slow, patient, careful process of building relationships has worked. ... It has real substance” ♦

Taras Dobko

Ukrainian Catholic University

UCU's participation in the CUP contributed immensely to capacity building. Among the six vice-rectors, four were visiting scholars at the Nanovic Institute. With myself, this means 70% of UCU's top leadership benefited from the CUP in their professional development.

We also appreciate the profound solidarity of the CUP in times of trial for Ukraine and UCU. The CUP became a source of strength and hope for us during the war. We feel we are not alone.

Last but not least, the launch of the Ukrainian Studies Hub at the Nanovic Institute stands out as a precious fruit of our collaboration. The CUP became a platform that made Ukraine more visible and appealing for research and study. This war would have been less likely to happen if the international community had a more adequate understanding of Ukraine and Ukrainians.

Highlighted publications

Avvakumov, Yury P., and Oleh Turiy, eds. The Churches and the War: Religion, Religious Diplomacy, and Russia’s Aggression Against Ukraine. Lviv: Ukrainian Catholic University Press, 2024.

Munsen, Morgan, Magdalena Charzyńska-Wójcik, and Dan Philpott, eds. Faith, Freedom, and the Fall of Communism. Publishing House of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, forthcoming.

Sedmak, Clemens, and A. James McAdams, eds. The Trauma of Communism. Lviv: Ukrainian Catholic University Press, 2022.

Turchynovskyy, Volodymyr, ed. Resilience Universities. Lviv: Ukrainian Catholic University Press, 2024.

The Catholic Universities Partnership Through the Years

2005 (April)

First CUP meeting at the University of Notre Dame: “The Future of Catholic Higher Education”

2020 (March)

2010

Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University joins the partnership.

2005 (September)

The first CUP meeting in Europe is organized by Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Hungary.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically alters travel and work; online Zoom meeting frequency increases.

2021 (June-July)

An online meeting on “The Trauma of Communism” is held which later results in a publication.

2022 (May)

The first Advanced Leadership Program is held in Rome.

2023 (October)

Catholic University in Ružomberok, Slovakia, hosts a meeting focused on leaders in Catholic universities and confers an honorary doctorate on Nanovic Institute founding benefactor Robert Nanovic.

So far, the Catholic Universities Partnership has enriched the formation of leaders among its institutions through ...

176 VISITING SCHOLARS

2006

Catholic University of Croatia joins the partnership.

2017

The first cohort of the Catholic Leadership Program completes the program.

2022 (February)

Russia launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, prompting an increased focus on and support of Ukraine and Ukrainian Catholic University.

2022 (May)

Sulkan-Saba Orbeliani University hosts “Resilience and Recovery: Challenges for Universities” conference in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

2024 (May)

Catholic University of Croatia hosts a meeting in Zagreb celebrating CUP's 20th anniversary.

87 LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE PARTICIPANTS

25 ADVANCED LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE PARTICIPANTS

Magdalena Charzyńska-Wójcik

John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

The Advanced Leadership Institute in Rome in May 2022 was an important meeting. Apart from an excellent program, it provided a meeting place to discuss Ukraine. We all needed that. It was also, for most of us, the first meeting since the outbreak of the pandemic, which caused the event to be rescheduled from December 2021. It was liberating to meet in person and talk about issues that required discussion: helping Ukraine being the most important topic. We also talked about our colleagues from UCU and how resilient they had been.

Fr. Vincze Krisztián Pázmány Péter Catholic University

I was in Lviv in February 2023 visiting the Ukrainian Catholic University for the first time ….

During our stay, the sirens sounded three times, and we all went to the shelters in the basement. The attitude and the way of life of our colleagues from Lviv, who were living and teaching in a wartime situation, reflected both the virtues of perseverance and hope. I witnessed their commitment to constantly and carefully consider the role that Ukrainian Catholic University must play in times of war, how to build for the future, and how to serve not only the students but the people of the whole country ….

I feel that it was those two days in Lviv that fully showed me what the purpose and potential of our partnership are.

Jim McAdams University of Notre Dame

What we’ve seen over time is that—in part thanks to the support we could provide them at Notre Dame—their universities have absolutely flourished. You see it concretely. And we see it here at our meeting in Zagreb, where there are enormous numbers of scholars and university leaders who show up along with government ministers, Church leaders, and I’d say, really importantly, students, to demonstrate that this slow, patient, careful process of building relationships has worked. That it has real substance.

Animating the future: Catholic Universities Partnership students shine in Croatia

BY HANNAH SMITH

Hannah Smith ’24 is a recent graduate of the University of Notre Dame majoring in the Program for Liberal Studies and theology. She traveled to Zagreb, Croatia, in May 2024 to be part of the Nanovic Institute’s delegation at the 20th anniversary meeting of the Catholic Universities Partnership. She joined William Smith ’24 and students from each CUP institution for a student panel and participated in the proceedings.

Exterior view of

Walking into the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary in downtown Zagreb, damaged in a March 2020 earthquake, is somewhat like how I imagined climbing inside a dinosaur skeleton at the museum as a child would feel: warm, dark, and permeated by the woody perfume of decay. Where pews once stood, a maze of scaffolding now supports the crumbling limbs of one of Zagreb’s most important cultural landmarks. Outside, stone blocks that formerly comprised the cathedral’s bell towers are labeled and arranged in a grid, waiting to be stacked like vertebrae.

Visiting the corpse of a cathedral initially seemed like a rather depressing way to conclude the Catholic Universities Partnership (CUP) conference this May. Perhaps the conference organizers had intended it to serve as a memento mori. During the conference proceedings, there was an extended discussion of the many challenges facing Catholic higher education institutions, not the least of which is low enrollment. Secretly, I could not help but worry that this church, which some would regard with no more reverence than a dinosaur skeleton, also reflected how many prospective students might view the Catholic Church at large and Catholic universities in particular: an artifact or object of curiosity at best, a heap of bones, impossible to reanimate at worst.

Yet, the light from the rose window illuminating the faces of my newfound friends—student representatives from

Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Georgia, and Croatia—told a different story. These poets, journalists, social service workers, teachers, scholars, and future doctors are the Theresas that George Eliot writes of and on whom the growing good of both the Catholic Church and the world depends. Their willingness not only to live “faithfully a hidden life” when sacrifice is asked of them but also to humbly share the fruits of their labor and hard-won wisdom with a broader international community makes them ideal ambassadors for Catholic education. Khrystyna Dmytryshyn’s documentation of the war in Ukraine through articles, podcasts, and poetry and Lenka Horvathova’s work to improve the scope and quality of Slovakia’s social services for youth are just two examples among many of how these young people have begun to trace their lives after the pattern of Christ’s servant leadership. In their eyes, the Zagreb Cathedral appeared not dead but dormant, and the tradition represented by the physical structure is very much alive in their hearts.

The theme of this year’s CUP conference was “From Friendship to Institutional Development.” The future of the CUP and its constitutive universities is bright because, like the scaffolding that upholds the exquisite Zagreb Cathedral, these dynamic young people, their bonds of friendship, and their commitment to their faith will enable the regeneration of beauty, truth, and goodness in the Church and the institutions they will come to lead. It was an honor to spend a weekend among them. ♦

Scaffolding within the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary in Zagreb, Croatia.

the cathedral before the earthquake (Bernard Gagnon, used under Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons).

“These bonds have since blossomed into a support network that fosters a continuous exchange of ideas and strategies. ... This aspect of collaboration stands as a testament to the program’s profound influence on us.”

– Orsya Bila Head of the Department of Philosophy, Ukrainian Catholic University

Read more of

her experiences with the Catholic Leadership Program at go.nd.edu/Bila

A truly global community comes together

The Nanovic Institute is committed to academic and intellectual networking and community building—locally, nationally, and internationally— around the exploration of the big questions and challenges facing Europe and the world.

NEWS ROUNDUP

Nanovic Institute founding Benefactor Robert Nanovic Honored with an Honorary Doctorate from Catholic University in Ružomberok

Inspired by a desire to visit the birthplace of his parents in what is now Slovakia, Robert Nanovic and his wife Elizabeth participated in a Notre Dame-organized trip down the Danube River in 1987. It was on this trip that the idea for the Nanovic Institute came into being.

To learn more, read the full story at go.nd.edu/DrBob

On October 19, 2023, in an assembly hall named in honor of Saint John Paul II, the Catholic University in Ružomberok conferred an honorary doctorate on Robert Nanovic, founding benefactor of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies. The honorary degree was awarded during the opening ceremony for the 2023 Catholic Universities Partnership (CUP) conference on “Distinguished Personalities from Catholic Universities and Their Stories.”

While Robert Nanovic, or “Dr. Bob” as he is now affectionately called, was unable to attend the conference in person, the degree was accepted on his behalf by A. James McAdams, longtime director of the Nanovic Institute (2002-2018) and CUP founder. The ceremony was attended by students and faculty of the university, representatives from the other CUP institutions, a delegation from Notre Dame, and Peter Šťastný, Nanovic advisory board member, hockey hall-of-famer, and MEP for Slovakia (2004-2014).

Dr. Bob has visited the Catholic University in Ružomberok several times over the past decades, sharing: “Our gatherings have always been wonderful opportunities to share missions and develop friendships, all as part of a common cause. Now, I am particularly delighted that our students, too, are able to meet each other and

visit Ružomberok. ... We have been very impressed with the growth of your university into a first-rate academic institution, one that serves your students, country, and the Catholic mission so well.”

To conclude the conference, participants attended the ordination and installation of Fr. František Trstenský as Bishop of Spiš. Years earlier, “Fr. Frank” served as vice-rector for international relations at the Catholic University in Ružomberok and as a Nanovic Institute Visiting Scholar.

A. James McAdams, the William M. Scholl Professor of International Affairs and former Nanovic Institute director, receives an honorary doctorate from the Catholic University in Ružomberok on behalf of Robert Nanovic, founding benefactor of the institute.

Robert and Elizabeth Nanovic

Catholic Leadership Program Continues Offering Leadership Lessons to CUP

In July 2023, the fifth Catholic Leadership Program, a week of training and reflection, was hosted on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. 16 leaders formed a professionally diverse and impressive cohort of participants, from several young scholars who had only recently been promoted to positions of academic leadership all the way to Rev. Akaki Chelidze, rector of Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University in Georgia. This diversity was intentional, as the program sought to engage leaders in conversation with one another and encourage them to be receptive to both the wisdom of experience and the liveliness of fresh, new ideas.

The program kicked off with a cultural outing to Four Winds Field to watch the South Bend Cubs play baseball. Participants had a chance to socialize and build relationships that would enliven the remainder of their time together. During the rest of the week, valuable workshops on various leadership topics were interspersed with more hands-on activities such as the Myers-Briggs Type Index (MBTI) assessment and a United Nations-inspired cooperation simulation led by Nanovic Institute Director Clemens Sedmak. A beautiful closing dinner provided a chance for reflection, words of gratitude, and promises to bear fruit from the seeds that had been planted.

Notre Dame Day 2024

For the third year, the Nanovic Institute devoted funds raised during the campus-wide Notre Dame Day fundraising event toward research and programming related to Ukraine. During this year’s event, held April 23-24, 2024, supporters of the institute again showed their generosity, raising $8,635 in contributions from 77 distinct gifts. In addition, for the fourth year in a row, the Nanovic Institute won the centers and institute challenge hour. The Nanovic Institute team expresses their gratitude for this powerful demonstration of support.

Uniquely, this year the Nanovic Institute team was also invited to be part of the Notre Dame Day promotions. Communications Program Director Keith Sayer participated in a social media interview shared by development, and Senior Research and Partnerships Program Manager Morgan Munsen joined Drew Ardise ’26, a student from the Nanovic Institute’s Diplomacy Fellows program, on the live broadcast on April 24.

Morgan Munsen (left), senior research and partnerships program manager, and Andrew “Drew” Ardise ’26 join the Notre Dame Day broadcast, representing the Nanovic Institute.

Participants in the 2023 Catholic Leadership Program gather on the University of Notre Dame’s campus, visiting South Bend from Armenia, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine.

Celebrating Ukraine’s Independence Day at Notre Dame

On Thursday, August 24, 2023, the Nanovic Institute hosted a celebration of Ukraine’s Independence Day in the forum of Jenkins Nanovic Halls. This event sought to both recognize the ongoing war in Ukraine and celebrate the nation itself: its culture, traditions, language, food, and modern democratic government.

This event was co-organized with the Ukrainian Society at Notre Dame. Marko Gural ’25 and Anastasia Matuszak ’24 spoke on behalf of the society, while Father Andrij Hlabse, S.J., offered an invocation. Ukrainian Catholic University’s rector, Taras Dobko, also shared a message with the audience through a prerecorded video. The event featured Ukrainian photos, art, and cultural exhibits, generously lent to the institute by partners at the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland, OH, and the Ukrainian Consulate General in Chicago. The institute even had Ukrainian candy brought to Notre Dame from the Ukrainian village in Chicago.

ABOVE: The Notre Dame community comes together in Jenkins Nanovic Halls forum to celebrate Ukraine’s Independence Day.

LEFT: Anastasia Matuszak ’24 speaks to the audience during the formal program.

ABOVE: Rev. Andrij Hlabse, S.J., offers an invocation and brief remarks.

ABOVE LEFT: This flag reads “Разом до перемоги!” which translates to “Together to victory!” It flew on the front lines of the war in Ukraine and was a gift from the 406th battalion, unit A4877, presented to the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland, Ohio, in May 2023.

ABOVE RIGHT: Examples of traditional Ukrainian clothing curated by the Ukrainian Society of Notre Dame.

LEFT: A selection of pysanky—exquisitely decorated Easter eggs that are part of Ukrainian culture— lent by the Ukainian Museum-Archives.

Ukrainian Studies Hub

This year, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies formalized a new Ukrainian Studies Hub, which began meeting during the fall 2023 semester.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the world has witnessed Ukraine's resilience and the severe trauma inflicted on its society. Ukraine continues to endure extraordinary losses and harm to its people, cultural sites, infrastructure, economy, and environment. This sovereign nation needs healing and hope, supported by global solidarity. Achieving this requires dedicated communities focused on victory, justice, resilience, and long-term rebuilding.

The Ukrainian Studies Hub, convened by the Nanovic Institute within the Keough School of Global Affairs, connects top scholars at the University of Notre Dame with Ukraine-related projects across disciplines, in collaboration with Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU). Since 2004, UCU has partnered with Notre Dame through the Catholic Universities Partnership (see pages 28-34).

The Hub has welcomed Ukranian thought partners, including Archbishop Borys Gudziak, Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia and president of UCU, and representatives from the Voices of Children Foundation

Since July 2024, the Hub has also offered funding for Ukraine-related research projects through a grant program.

For the Nanovic Institute, Ukraine is home to intellectual partners and friends. The Ukrainian Studies Hub advances the Keough School’s mission of promoting integral human development, countering the war's devastation, and building global relationships and joint research achievements. The Hub will be officially inaugurated at its first Ukrainian studies conference on March 6-8, 2025. More details can be found at go.nd.edu/USHConf25

Indiana Global Economic Summit Goes “All IN” for Ukraine

On May 24, 2024, at the Indiana Global Economic Summit, the Nanovic Institute was honored to contribute to the “All IN for Ukraine” panel discussion, organized by DAI in partnership with the Embassy of Ukraine and the Ukrainian community in Indianapolis.

The panel, chaired by Grant Osborn, senior associate director of the Nanovic Institute, featured remarks from Her Excellency Oksana Markarova, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States; Svitlana Ramer, senior communications manager for Ukraine projects at DAI and founding president of the Ukrainian Society of Indiana; Steve Patterson, mayor of Athens, Ohio, and the first U.S. mayor to visit a partner community in Ukraine after the full-scale invasion began; and Lesya Houston, vice president of the Ukrainian Society of Indiana.

With many from the Indiana community gathered in solidarity with Ukraine, the panel centered Ukraine in the context of this humanity and the relationships, personal and international, that reach beyond the borders of Ukraine and Indiana—relationships that connect classrooms and boardrooms to the field and front lines, communities committed to victory and justice, and sustaining resilience and the decadeslong process of rebuilding and recovery. The panelists discussed the extraordinary humanitarian, cultural, diplomatic, and economic challenges facing Ukraine and how citizens have activated their communities in support, with U.S. cities forming partnerships with cities in Ukraine and myriad organizations implementing donor-funded projects in Ukraine through U.S. partnerships.

Ambassador Markarova, who holds a graduate degree from Indiana University, emphasized the importance of these relationships in winning the war and in rebuilding and recovery afterward, saying “We can partner in this and do it together. … Having those town-to-town, city-to-city connections is very important—to work together, discuss issues, and transfer knowledge, even beyond financial assistance.”

Following the panel discussion, the Ambassador installed Svitlana Ramer as Honorary Consul of Ukraine to Indiana. In July, at the invitation of the Ambassador, Grant Osborn and Nanovic Faculty Fellow Yury Avvakumov attended a conference in Washington, DC, on Ukrainian studies, titled “Stronger Together: U.S.Ukraine Partnership in Education and Science.”

Pictured left to right: Lesya Houston, Mayor Steve Patterson, Svitlana Ramer, Ambassador Oksana Markarova, and Grant Osborn.

During one of its spring 2023 meetings, the Ukrainian Studies Hub welcomed guests from Voices of Children, which is working to support children and meet their physical, social, and mental health needs during Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Research Affiliates and Visiting Scholars

Research Affiliates

Pamela Ballinger

Professor of History and Fred Cuny Chair in the History of Human Rights University of Michigan

Magdalena Charzyńska-Wójcik

Chair of the Department of the History of English and Translation Studies

John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland

Taras Dobko

Rector

Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv

Moritz Graefrath

Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellow

European University Institute

Mechtild Widrich

Professor of Art History, Theory, and Criticism

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Visiting Scholars

Fall 2023

Magdalena Charzyńska-Wójcik

Chair of the Department of the History of English and Translation Studies

John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland

Jasna Ćurković Nimac

Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences

Catholic University of Croatia, Zagreb

Zoriana Rybchynska

Head of the Cultural Studies Department

Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv

Spring 2024

Marco Grazzi

Professor in the Department of Economic Policy Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan

Amarilla Kiss

Assistant Professor in the Institute of International Studies and Political Science

Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest, Hungary

Andrii Yasinovskyi

Dean of Humanities

Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv

Incoming Scholars for Fall 2024

Marek Babic

Associate Professor in the Department of History Catholic University in Ružomberok, Slovakia

Volodymyr Turchynovskyy

Dean of the Faculty of Sciences

Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv

Pamela Ballinger Magdalena CharzyńskaWójcik Taras Dobko

Moritz Graefrath Mechtild Widrich

Jasna Ćurković Nimac

Amarilla Kiss

Marco Grazzi

Volodymyr Turchynovskyy

Marek Babic

Zoriana Rybchynska

Andrii Yasinovskyi

Read the full issue at go.nd.edu/ ResilientUniversities

A laboratory for social innovation: Resilience and recovery in Ukraine

BY TY BURKE

The Nanovic Institute and Ukrainian Catholic University have collaborated closely for several years on a project studying resilience and how it manifests in institutions like universities. The institute published an article about this partnership in the fall of 2023, which is reproduced in an abridged form below. Read the full article at go.nd.edu/ resiliencerecovery and the Resilient Universities publication may be read at go.nd.edu/ResilientUniversities

Nataliya Yakymets

and

CEO of the UCU Business School, in Tblisi, Georgia, during the "Resilience and Recovery: Challenges for Universities" meeting of the Catholic Universities Partnership, May 18-19, 2022.

It was a frosty morning in February 2022, and dark clouds hung overhead. On this otherwise normal winter day, Ukrainians woke to news they had long dreaded. Russia had launched a full-scale invasion, and though its forces were still hundreds of miles from the city of Lviv, the life of its residents had already changed.

Resilience in action

When air raid sirens are still ringing through the air, academic research might seem like an idealistic pursuit. But it plays an important role in building knowledge and envisioning the future.

Since the start of the war, Notre Dame has been working even more closely with UCU to help it meet Ukraine’s research needs. Through the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, Notre Dame has supported collaborative research projects, hosted visiting scholars in South Bend, and organized a summer school with the Catholic University of Croatia.

“Academically, there is a unique opportunity to explore new approaches and think about the future of democracy. Of course, we are concerned about our own future, but this goes beyond Ukraine,” says Volodymyr Turchynovskyy, dean of the faculty of social sciences at UCU.

Resilience is the ability to maintain integrity, even under adverse circumstances. And it is needed on multiple levels. Resilience research began with studies of individuals and expanded to consider families, institutions, communities—even democracies. This is what is being tested in Ukraine today.

“At the individual level, the most important aspect is really internal. Is there a sense of direction? Is there a value base? Are there sources of inner strength?” says Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies.

Yet as the scale expands, practice becomes more important. For institutions, the way infrastructure is designed is key.

The next chapter: Envisioning and building the future

The war in Ukraine will end one day, and many who volunteered to fight will return to their homes and their families. Universities play a central role in preparing for their return.

UCU’s partnership with Notre Dame helps accomplish this. Notre Dame Global awarded nine research grants for collaborations between researchers at Notre Dame and UCU. Three of these projects were shaped by the Nanovic Institute, including “Strengthening and Understanding Resilient Institutions and Resilient Communities,” a project led by Sedmak and Nataliya Yakymets, assistant director for research at UCU’s International Institute for Ethics and Contemporary Issues.

The project is an opportunity to understand resilience within social systems and institutions, including foster family systems and communities serving individuals with disabilities within Ukraine.

“We are asking, ‘What makes such communities resilient?’” says Yakymets. “So that we can learn lessons for Ukraine and the world.” ♦

Lviv after the Russian missile attack on July 6, 2023. Loda.gov.ua, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

(left)

Yaryna Boychuk,

Beyond disciplinary and cultural borders

A visiting scholar’s journey to professional and personal enrichment

BY JASNA ĆURKOVIĆ NIMAC

E

mbarking on an extended international, academic journey was a unique opportunity for me and my family to delve deeper into a diverse academic and cultural world. Despite my openness to new challenges and academic opportunities, I vividly remember the initial concerns I had as a visiting scholar at Notre Dame. Two weeks before the journey, I was rethinking my decision as I worried about fitting in and, more importantly, how my children would adapt to a new cultural and linguistic environment.

“As I reflect on this chapter, I carry forward not only the wealth of knowledge acquired but also the enduring bonds forged.”

Surprisingly, these initial concerns transformed into a most enriching experience for both myself and my family.

During my stay at Notre Dame, my primary academic focus centered on the intricate relationship between ethics and memory. Specifically, I examined unwanted and contentious memories that individuals or societies often aim to eliminate or manipulate. Crucial aspects of my inquiry included discerning the ethical criteria applied when contemplating meta-memory and understanding how individuals and societies monitor their memory (re)constructions and narrative formations. The interdisciplinary approach encouraged at Notre Dame empowered me to transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries, facilitating a thorough exploration of the ethical implications woven into the complex fabric of memory studies.

Being part of a learning community

I appreciate and am particularly grateful for the warm and welcoming atmosphere of the Nanovic Institute, led by Director Clemens Sedmak, who thoroughly read my research proposal, expressed interest in my topic, and provided invaluable suggestions. I am glad I happened to spend the semester at Notre Dame with Zoriana Rybchynska and Magda Charzynska-Wojcik, who were also in residence as visiting scholars. With Zoriana I shared an interest in the culture of memory, and our cooperation will hopefully continue.

Living on a campus where scholars are deeply committed to research and students to both study and sometimes sports creates a unique and dynamic environment. These encounters go beyond the classroom or research setting; they extend to shared meals, informal discussions, and cultural exchanges.

The arts and community: learning across borders

Walking across the campus, one is also surrounded by art that adds another layer of richness to the experience. The presence of fellow Croatian Ivan Meštrović’s statues on campus is particularly inspiring. As I gazed upon these sculptures, the intricacy of Meštrović’s work resonated with me. Knowing about Meštrović’s humble beginnings and witnessing his remarkable success at Notre Dame evoked a sense of familiarity and pride. I was so pleased to show my children how artistic greatness can emerge from the most modest roots of our Croatian rural area.

As I navigated the educational landscape, I actively involved myself in local communities, took part in cultural events, and established connections that went beyond the boundaries of academia.

My experience at Notre Dame has been immensely enriching, and the knowledge gained during this chapter of my academic journey has been invaluable. I have formed great collaborations with esteemed scientists, but equally significant (or even more significant) were the friendships that blossomed during my time at Notre Dame. As I reflect on this chapter, I carry forward not only the wealth of knowledge acquired but also the enduring bonds forged. ♦

Read more at go.nd.edu/Nimac

TOP: Jasna Ćurković Nimac and her family near the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

CENTER (Letter) A letter of gratitude given to the Nanovic Institute by Nimac’s children before they returned home.

ABOVE LEFT: The fall 2023 visiting scholars at the Nanovic Institute (left to right): Jasna Ćurković Nimac, Magda Charzynska-Wojcik (John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland), and Zoriana Rybchynska (Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine).

ABOVE RIGHT: Nimac’s son and Ivan Meštrović’s Pietà, housed in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

Ukrainian and American students study wartime poetry together and create moving exhibition

“Mama” by Halyna Kruk, translated by Sibelan Forrester:

someone stands between you and death — but who knows how much more my heart can stand — where you are, it’s so important someone prays for you even with their own words even if they don’t clasp their hands and kneel

plucking the stems off strawberries from the garden

I recall how I scolded you when you were small for squashing the berries before they ripened

my heart whispers: Death, he hasn’t ripened yet he’s still green, nothing in his life has been sweeter than unwashed strawberries

I beg you: oh God, don’t place him at the front, please don’t rain rockets down on him, oh God, I don’t even know what a rocket looks like, my son, I can’t picture the war even to myself

The digital exhibition, “Writing the War in Ukraine,” includes poems, songs, and responses by students from the University of Notre Dame and Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU). It aims to highlight Ukrainian war poetry, reflecting upon this art form as a direct expression of the trauma of wartime and an opportunity to testify to one’s humanity amid the most inhumane circumstances.

Perhaps the most important dynamic underpinning this project, which was inspired by the “Ukrainian Art as Protest and Resilience” project featured in the 2022-23 Year in Review, is the collaboration between undergraduate students at Notre Dame and UCU, four from each institution, who worked together virtually during the summer months of 2023.

Describing the significance of this project, Sofiia Dobko, a 2023 graduate of UCU, writes in her introduction,

“It is so out of the order of our usual way of being that any conceptual representation of the war seems incapable of doing justice to the truth, to lived experience. This is where poetry comes to the rescue. Like any genuine art, it is not meant to represent reality or explain it. It does not invite its addressee to engage in an interpretation but acts upon the person and makes one see more, hear more, feel more.”

хтось стоїть між тобою і смертю, але, хтозна, наскільки ще її стане - серце опиняєшся в місці і часі, де так важливо щоб хтось за тебе молився хоча б подумки, хоча б своїми словами хоча б не складаючи руки в молитві відриваючи хвостики полуниці, тільки-но з грядки, згадуючи, як сварила тебе малого, що товчешся по ягодах, не даєш їм дозріти

шепоче:

Nanovic Faculty Fellows Emily Wang and Tetyana Shlikhar, professors from the Department of German and Russian Languages and Literatures, helped inform the scope of this project, while Halyna Protsyk, director of the International Academic Relations Office and lecturer in political science at UCU, facilitated the ND-UCU student collaboration. The Nanovic Institute is also immensely grateful to three writers who attended virtual sessions with the students: Askold Melnyczuk, Julie Morrissy, and Darina Sikmashvili

Special thanks to Kateryna Kosianenko, who allowed her powerful pieces of art to accompany the written work of her fellow Ukrainians in this exhibition. ♦

“Mama” by Halyna Kruk, translated by Sibelan Forrester, is part of the Words for War project (wordsforwar.com) and licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0.

Student Researchers:

Ukrainian Catholic University

Andriana Opryshko

Yuliia Sokolenko

Halyna Tuziak

Bohdana Yakobchuk

The University of Notre Dame

Lindsay Burgess

Anna Gazewood

Abigail Keaney

Jake Miller

Project Leaders:

Sofiia Dobko

Abigail Lewis

Gráinne McEvoy

with permission.

View the full digital exhibition at go.nd.edu/ ukrainewriting

"Words" by Kateryna Kosianenko, oil on canvas, 2022. Used

“Checkpoint” by Kateryna Kosianenko, oil on canvas, 2022. Used with permission.

A difficult coming of age in Chernihiv ... and in all of Ukraine

BY ANDRII YASINOVSKYI

On February 23, 2024, the Nanovic Institute organized a screening and panel response to the documentary film There Will Be No Lessons Today and Tomorrow with its filmmakers to commemorate two years since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Andrii Yasinovskyi, dean of humanities at Ukrainian Catholic University and visiting scholar at the institute during the spring 2024 semester, served on this panel. An edited version of his remarks follows:

Chernihiv is a city with gloomy industrial landscapes; however, at the same time, it is one of the most ancient cities in Ukraine with many historical monuments from the Middle Ages and Early Modern period. They survived despite the Mongol invasion in the 13th century and devastating battles between the Soviet and German troops during the so-called “liberation of Chernihiv” in 1943.

In the latter half of the 17th century, Chernihiv was a prosperous center of education, scholarship, and book printing. It became an important center of literary and artistic life through the 18th century until the Bolsheviks established Soviet power there at the end of 1919.

This cursory introduction demonstrates the deep, historic roots of the city, which has experienced many disasters and resurrections in its thousand-year history before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022.

From this viewpoint, the events in the film There Will Be No Lessons Today and Tomorrow might be seen as another catastrophe in the city’s long life. However, for us Ukrainians, they are far from being history. They reveal painful memories of recent events in ancient Chernihiv. Sadly, such stories happen throughout Ukraine today; young people across the country share many of the same thoughts as the young people in this documentary.

Filmmakers Liudmyla Batalova, Sashko Brama, and Iryna Stepaniak lead viewers like me from the high school students’ excitement at the prospect of having a graduation ceremony with waltzing in festive dresses and fine fabrics—which they consider the most important event in their lives—to the disaster that surrounded Chernihiv and the horrors and cruel truth of the destructive, murderous war.

At the outset, the students have the basic hope for a peaceful life and the reasonable aspiration to live in a free and happy country. But by the conclusion, their dreams become as simple as to remain alive.

On the screen, we can see the metamorphosis of these 17-year-olds, who come to realize that the greatest value in life is to be free. They are sure that life ahead will never be the same. They feel the danger of losing everything. They experience the rise of patriotism; some of them consciously refuse to use the Russian language, even if it is their first language, to not have anything in common with Russians.

The film is scary but hopeful, even if the war’s end is not yet in sight. Even if the lifting of the siege of the city does not exclude the arrival of deadly rockets and bombs, the filmmakers managed to show that young people have mastered the situation. They became people ready to fight for their lives and the restoration of their native wounded—but wonderful—Chernihiv after the war, which will one day end... ♦

“Engaging with a diverse array of individuals—including students, businesspeople, government officials, and locals— has been the greatest learning experience. Their hospitality and insights underscored the interconnectedness of Eastern Europe.”

– Julia Warden ’24

Majoring in business analytics and film

Read her full story at go.nd.edu/JuliaWarden

Offering space, substance, and character to intellectual exchange

The Nanovic Institute has a tradition of hospitality and intellectual discourse. It fosters a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive intellectual community of faculty fellows, graduate students, undergraduate students, and visiting scholars.

NEWS ROUNDUP

Welcoming New Leaders at Notre Dame and the Keough School

After ten years of faithful service to the Keough School of Global Affairs, the first new college or school at Notre Dame in more than a century, Scott Appleby has stepped down as the Marilyn Keough Dean. He has been a long-time friend of the institute, which extends gratitude for all his work over the years to create its home at Notre Dame. He will continue teaching at the University, and the institute looks forward to future collaboration.

The Nanovic Institute for European Studies offers a warm welcome to the incoming dean, Mary Gallagher, who previously served as the Amy and Alan Lowenstein Chair in Democracy, Democratization, and Human Rights and the director of the International Institute at the University of Michigan. She started her five-year term as the Marilyn Keough Dean on July 1, 2024. Read more about Dean Gallagher at go.nd.edu/58376b

Similarly, Rev. John I Jenkins, C.S.C., this year completed an incredible 19-year tenure as president of the University of Notre Dame. Beginning on June 1, 2024, Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., became Notre Dame’s 18th president. Fr. Dowd is a long-time friend and former faculty fellow of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, who has participated in meetings with the Catholic Universities Partnership. The institute and its team are thrilled to work with him in his new capacity as university president.

Commemorating 75 Years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a School

In November 2023, the Keough School of Global Affairs’s institutes and centers came together to plan an event centered on human rights and dignity called “A Foundation for Justice and Equality.” It was organized to recognize the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The concept for this gathering, proposed by Nanovic Institute Director Clemens Sedmak, was that each institute within the Keough School would invite a panelist from a nation that was not part of the original 1948 declaration but who had, at some point in the next 75 years, joined the United Nations and become a party to it. The goal was to center voices that perhaps had been at the peripheries of the UN’s dialogue about human rights.

The Kellogg Institute for International Studies invited the keynote speaker, H.E. Dr. Walton Webson, ambassador extraordinary and permanent representative of Antigua and

Barbuda to the United Nations, who delivered a timely message on the human rights considerations of climate change. He vividly explained why climate change was an existential question for his homeland, demonstrating how sustainability was, in truth, a human rights issue. An array of panel discussions considered the UDHR’s global relevance, pluralism, policy decisions that the UDHR influences, and the future of human rights globally. The Nanovic Institute invited Tamás Ádány, head of the Department of International Law at Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Hungary, who spoke on what it means to enact human dignity today.

This event showcased the richness of what the Keough School of Global Affairs offers to students, faculty, and the world by engaging the full scope of the expertise of its institutes and centers. Read more and find the keynote address video at go.nd.edu/udhr75

Mary Gallagher

Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C.

H.E. Dr. Walton Webson

Tamás Ádány

During both semesters of this academic year, the Nanovic Film Series introduced students, faculty, and the general public to the world of European cinema. These free showings were well-attended and offered unique, tangible experiences of European culture and identity for the Notre Dame community to encounter.

During the fall 2023 semester, the film series explored a variety of critically acclaimed films from Europe. Jim Collins, Nanovic faculty fellow and professor of film studies, led the EURO course associated with the series and invited guest co-hosts to each event from across campus, including:

• Michael Schreffler, associate dean of the arts;

• Anton Juan, professor emeritus and theatre director, as well as faculty fellow emeritus of the Nanovic Institute;

• Clíona Ní Ríordáin, the O'Donnell Professor of Irish Language and Literature; and

• Pedro Aguilera-Mellado, assistant professor of Spanish and Iberian studies and Nanovic Institute faculty fellow.

Then in the spring of 2024, the film series focused on the Nanovic Institute’s “peripheries” research priority with the “On the Margins” series. These films had the common theme of exploring the perspectives of those who stand on the peripheries in some way, whether due to geography, social differences, race or ethnicity, nationality, migration status, or otherwise.

This powerful series was led by Ricky Herbst, the University's cinema program director and term teaching professor of film, and many of the filmmakers—including directors Carla Simón (Summer 1993) and Malene Choi (The Quiet Migration)— graciously joined the audience vitually for additional remarks and questions.

Memorably, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra brought two musicians to the April 18, 2024, showing of Chevalier to play one of the pieces before the screening.

TOP ROW: Films from the fall 2023 series “Europe Through Film.”

SECOND AND THIRD ROW: Films from the spring 2024 series “On the Margins.”

New Fellows

Sara Boezio

Assistant Professor of Italian Romance Languages and Literatures

Sean Griffin

Associate Professor of Russian German and Russian Languages and Literatures

Johannes Junge Ruhland

Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies Romance Languages and Literatures

Cecilia Kim

Assistant Professor of Film Production Film, Television, and Theatre

Tim William Machan

Mary Lee Duda Professor of Literature English

Madison Mainwaring

Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies Romance Languages and Literatures

Sarah Edmands Martin

Assistant Professor of Visual Communication Design Art, Art History, and Design

Arpi Movsesian

Assistant Professor of Russian German and Russian Languages and Literatures

Thomas Mustillo

Associate Professor of Global Affairs Keough School of Global Affairs

Jeffrey A. Pojanowski

Biolchini Family Professor of Law Notre Dame Law School

George Sikharulidze

Associate Professor of Film Production Film, Television, and Theatre

Patrick Yim

Assistant Professor of Violin Music

Nanovic Forum Welcomes Former Prime Minister of Slovakia for Transatlantic Dialogue

On Thursday, November 30, 2023, Mikuláš Dzurinda, former Prime Minister of Slovakia and current president of the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, delivered a lecture at the University of Notre Dame as part of the Nanovic Forum lecture series. Before delivering his address, Dzurinda was introduced by Peter Šťastný, an NHL Hall-of-Famer, former member of the European Parliament representing Slovakia, and esteemed member of the Nanovic Institute’s advisory board.

Dzurinda's lecture, titled “The Challenges Facing Both Shores of the Atlantic,” explored the collaborative efforts needed between the United States and the European Union to address today’s most pressing issues. Using the acronym DEMOS, derived from the Greek root word for “democracy,” he structured his talk around five key

areas: Defense, Economy, Migration, Oxygen (the environment), and Society.

His analysis of these topics initiated a substantial discussion on democracy at the University. Dzurinda emphasized the importance of transatlantic cooperation in enhancing defense strategies, fostering economic growth, responding to migration effectively and humanely, addressing environmental concerns, and strengthening societal bonds.

The conversations sparked by Dzurinda’s lecture highlighted the relevance of these issues and their impact on Europe, the U.S., and globally. The event exemplified the Nanovic 2023-24 Forum’s mission to facilitate meaningful dialogue between European leaders and the Notre Dame community, providing a platform for robust

Sara Boezio Sean Griffin Johannes Junge Ruhland

Cecilia Kim

Tim William Machan Madison Mainwaring

Sarah Edmands Martin Arpi Movsesian Thomas Mustillo

George Sikharulidze

Jeffrey A. Pojanowski

Patrick Yim

Mikuláš Dzurinda

‘A Leadership of

Care’: Sister Raffaella Petrini on a Managerial Model Grounded in Catholic Social Teaching

On November 1, 2023, the Nanovic Institute welcomed Sister Raffaella Petrini, F.S.E., the secretary general of the Vatican City State, to present on “Integral Human Development through a Leadership of Care” as this year’s Keeley Vatican Lecture. This lecture series provides a way to deepen Notre Dame’s connection to the Holy See by welcoming distinguished representatives from the Vatican. It was established in 2005 through the generous support of Terrence R. Keeley, an alumnus of the University and member of the Nanovic Institute’s advisory board.

Sr. Petrini delivered a deeply humane lecture on leadership, drawing upon her professional experience, academic interests, and Franciscan charism. She described Catholic social teaching as the Church's response to ethical questions raised by human societies, interpreting the moral values of social activities and offering guiding principles consistent with the evangelical vision of human life.

Focusing on highly timely issues, Sr. Petrini noted that technological developments have led to attitudes of extraction and manipulation in the workplace, which contrasts with an understanding of human development fostering the growth of the whole person. She expressed that the success of any system should be evaluated by qualitative development, particularly the quality of life it develops. Inspired by Pope Francis’s teachings in Laudato Si’, she characterized human work as vital for growth, development, and fulfillment.

This vision calls for a paradigm shift in management towards a human-centered approach. Sr. Petrini's model, “a leadership of care,” focuses on integral human development and nurturing relations rooted in mutuality and collaboration, where personal and professional spheres are integrated.

This lecture served as inspiration for the Catholic Universities Partnership’s Advanced Leadership Program, set to take place in Rome in July 2025.

LEFT: Pictured left to right: Joe Donnelly, United States ambassador to the Holy See; Sister Raffaella Petrini, F.S.E., secretary general of the Vatican City State; Rev. Austin Collins, C.S.C., vice president for mission engagement and Church affairs at the University of Notre Dame; Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and professor of social ethics at the Keough School of Global Affairs; and Scott Appleby, then Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs (Photo by Katie Whitcomb / University of Notre Dame).

RIGHT: Sister Raffaella Petrini

A more detailed event brief and the recorded lecture may be found at go.nd.edu/Petrini

exchange and a deeper understanding of global challenges to democracy.

The audience, comprising students, faculty, and community members, left the lecture with a renewed perspective on the importance of international collaboration in tackling the “big questions” of our time. Dzurinda’s address was recorded and may be viewed at go.nd.edu/NF1123

Peter Šťastný

European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness Delivers the Barrett

Family Lecture in Dublin, Ireland

“As we head towards the European elections, our support for Ukraine remains vital.”

— Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services, and the Capital Markets Union

In 2024, democracy is center stage. With voters in more than 80 countries, representing more than half the world’s population, casting ballots this year, big questions about how to meet the challenges of our times—such as the war in Ukraine, migration, and energy insecurity—drive countless conversations across Europe, the U.S., and beyond. Conversations with policymakers and other leaders about how we make sense of the complex threats we face and what is at stake may determine the outcome of many of these elections.

On April 26, 2024, students and other members of the Notre Dame community in Dublin, Ireland, participated in such a forum, as they listened to and engaged in conversation with European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness She delivered the fourth Barrett Family Lecture, titled “Ireland, the EU, and the USA: Navigating the Future Together.” This event was jointly organized by the Nanovic Institute and Notre Dame Dublin and hosted in the prestigious setting of Iveagh House by the Department of Foreign Affairs, with partnering organization European Movement Ireland (EM Ireland)

Since 2020, McGuinness has served as the European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services, and the Capital Markets Union. Before her appointment to this post, she was elected to several terms in the European Parliament, serving from 2004 to 2020, including as first vice-president from 2017 to 2020. She has the distinction of being Ireland’s longest-serving member of the European Parliament.

Commissioner McGuinness mapped out how she sees the world, the common challenges we face, and our role in safeguarding and advancing a future of shared values. She spoke of European and American interests with Ireland as a bridge between them. With our

nations’ shared histories and interests—and how global threats of war and climate change converge to create severe economic and human consequences that exacerbate existing problems, such as migration, energy, food, and water insecurity—diplomacy and international cooperation are essential. Security provocations posed by Russia and its allies, as well as emerging AI technologies, in addition to their implications for global business, further complicate international relations while underscoring their importance. Support for Ukraine and its people, the enforcement of sanctions against Russia, and how these policies may be impacted by the 2024 elections were powerful talking points.

Following Commissioner McGuinness’s remarks, the CEO of EM Ireland, Noelle O Connell, moderated a discussion fielding questions from students, dignitaries, and distinguished audience members, including R. Stephen and Ruth Barrett, and members of their family. O Connell surmised, “As both EU and U.S. citizens head to the polls this year in an increasingly uncertain world, it is important to reflect on the key challenges and opportunities for the EU-U.S. relationship into the future. As an EU member state, Ireland has a pivotal role to play in this relationship given its history and strong ties with the United States of America.”

The Barrett Family Lecture Series was established through the generous support of R. Stephen and Ruth Barrett and aims to bring prominent leaders in the fields of business, politics, and the arts to Notre Dame Dublin and Notre Dame London to share their views on significant issues related to contemporary Europe with Notre Dame students, faculty, and staff, as well as the wider community. This year, the Barrett Family Lecture Endowment has also committed support to a Notre Dame student who received a summer internship with EM Ireland (learn more at go.nd.edu/f131ca).

language you use here, the ‘Fighting

… what we actually mean mostly when we talk about it is an indomitable spirit, a commitment, never tentative, always fully committed, to life itself … that's really the spirit of the Fighting Irish.”

ABOVE: Commissioner McGuinness (second from left) meets with students and representatives from Notre Dame. She is joined by Noelle O Connell (far left) and Steve and Ruth Barrett (right).

Mairead McGuinness

LEFT: Nanovic Institute Director Clemens Sedmak presents Commissioner McGuinness with a framed photo of The Word of Life mural with a quote from former President of Ireland Mary McAleese at Notre Dame’s Commencement in 2006: “The

Irish’

Decolonizing Scholarship Series Concludes with Visitors

Specializing in Anthropology, Theology, Francophone Studies, and Photography

The Nanovic Institute for European Studies has a strategic plan that invites thought and dialogue about “peripheries” and big questions about Europe and humanity today, including aspects of colonialism and the dynamics of peripheralization. In 2022, it launched the Decolonizing Scholarship speaker series with a commitment to decenter the center in European studies and listen to voices that are typically underrepresented in dominant understandings of our past and present. Decolonizing is an intentional effort to rethink thinking, unlearn learning, and create new practices.

This academic year, this conversation continued by welcoming four speakers from art history, anthropology, theology, and Francophone studies to speak about what decoloniality means in their research practice and pedagogy. Nitzan Shoshan (El Colegio de México), in a talk about decolonizing anthropology, argued that cultural anthropologists who study Europe are exceedingly rare because anthropology had its origins in colonial European projects of rendering supposedly “primitive” peoples legible to European states. Shoshan’s work turned this tendency on its head, as he endeavored to write an ethnography of neo-Nazi extremist groups as a Jewish Israeli scholar. In his presentation, Shoshan used his study as a springboard for a discussion of the blind spots, methods, and ethics of anthropological research. Rufus Burnett (Fordham University), in “Blue Notes on Flesh,” explored the intricate relationships between racialization, cultural production, and

theology, using the insightful analogy of blues music. Lydie Moudileno (University of Southern California), in “Poaching French Theory,” offered an alternative reading of French cultural theorists Roland Barthes and Pierre Nora as a new paradigm for reading the omnipresence of race in French culture. Hannah Feldman (Northwestern University), in a talk about decolonizing photography, presented the powerful work of Iranian and Palestinian photographers and proposed an alternative visual and analytic language for reading the themes of their work.

The Decolonizing Scholarship series has been a collaborative effort with our faculty fellows. The series was suggested by Meredith Chesson, professor of anthropology, and included the participation of the Notre Dame community as interviewers, interlocutors, audience members, and more.

The institute offers a special thanks to the editors of Europe in the World, who organized publications of short interviews with speakers and organized, edited, and sometimes wrote reflective analyses of these lectures. These articles (with full videos) may be found at go.nd.edu/DSanalysis

Three Nanovic Institute graduate fellows— Antônio Lemos, Salvatore Riolo, and Stephanie Truskowski—served as editors of this forum and, in addition to Decolonizing Scholarship articles, sourced a wide range of articles to spark conversations about Europe.

View the articles and full videos at go.nd.edu/DSanalysis

Lydie Moudileno, the Marion Frances Chevalier Professor of French, Professor in Comparative Literature and Professor in American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California (USC), delivers her lecture on Friday, February 16, 2024.

Antônio Lemos Salvatore Riolo

Stephanie Truskowski

Learning to fight climate change by recontextualizing diplomacy at COP28

BY LINNEA BARRON AND GARRETT PACHOLL

“We can use the tools we have to make meaningful changes in our own positions and in our own home communities.”

Linnea Barron ’26 is a biological sciences and peace studies double major with minors in scientific computing and the Glynn Family Honors Program. With assistance from the Glynn Program and the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, she traveled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in the fall of 2023 to attend the COP28 conference. Garrett Pacholl ’24, a history and global affairs double major and a European studies minor, also attended the conference, thanks to support from the Liu Institute for Asia & Asian Studies. Together, Barron and Pacholl shared their reflections on the conference, diplomacy, and what comes next, which are abridged below and may be read in full at go.nd.edu/cop28

“When the heat gets high, and the floods roll in, and the people rise, let them hear us sing, it's the end of fossil fuels.”

This is the song we chanted with other protesters outside the main negotiation hall at the annual United Nations Climate Conference COP28 in Dubai. Just hours before the conference was set to end, a draft of the conference’s decision was published.

The official text “calls on Parties to contribute” to various mitigation measures including “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”

Calls on. Contribute. Transitioning away. Language that felt sterile and surgical, belying the growing urgency of the crisis these measures were meant to address.

No “all-nighters” in climate change

It felt like we were watching humanity working on a global group project whose grade would determine the fate of our entire species.

There are a couple of problems with this metaphor. One, focusing solely on deadlines ignores the fact that the climate crisis has direct implications for people’s lives and livelihoods today, not just in 25 years.

Second, and perhaps most importantly, the standard group project experience usually involves what might charitably be called “doing everything at the last minute.” But it’s impossible to solve the climate crisis with this hope in mind. No all-nighter will put all the pieces back into place. It’s now or never.

Disappointment, but also hope, in diplomacy

As participants in the Nanovic Institute’s Diplomacy Fellows Program, we were interested in attending COP28 to witness a real diplomatic event firsthand. Our experiences made us wary of diplomacy. To us, diplomacy was failing humanity. The decisions made in high-level negotiations had life-ordeath implications for many countries facing the worst effects of climate change, often those nations traditionally thought of as on the “peripheries” of the international community.

However, diplomacy is not merely confined to negotiations. It’s a mindset. Thinking back on our experiences as Diplomacy Fellows, we remember one of the foundational lessons of diplomacy—to use what you are given to push for the best outcome possible. We do have power, however large the problem may seem, and the first-ever explicitly codified language calling for a transition away from fossil fuels is another tool for us to use.

As youth, we have a large role to play in climate diplomacy. We do not have to tolerate inaction in high-level negotiations. It is essential that we push for actual transitions away from fossil fuels in our countries. We can even start being climate activists in our own communities, raising this conversation to greater prominence on our own campus.

While diplomacy as we typically think of it may have offered disappointment for those who care about the climate crisis, we do not have to accept defeat. We can use the tools we have to make meaningful changes in our own positions and in our own home communities. ♦

Pacholl and Barron with the Christian Climate Observers Program (CCOP) cohort on a desert tour near Dubai.

View a recording of the the panel at go.nd.edu/EA1123

Resistance to Russian/Soviet imperialism in the words of the elite athletes of the day

At Notre Dame, the ties between sports and academics are strong, and the Nanovic Institute is no exception. European identity— past and present—is often wrapped up in the narratives of sports, as well as history.

The Elite Athletes panel discussion on November 30, 2023, was one point of connection between these forces and the mission of the Nanovic Institute. Tom Heiden served as chief architect and host of the event. He worked closely with the Nanovic Institute Advisory Board, especially Chair Jane Heiden and Peter Šťastný World-class hockey players shared their stories of resistance while playing for former Soviet republics to a standing-room-only crowd in McKenna Hall.

This event was inspired by the 2015 panel “Elite Athletes & the Cold War,” which similarly brought hockey stars to Notre Dame to speak on their experiences during the Cold War. Pictured here are Robert Nanovic (left), founding benefactor of the institute, and A. James McAdams (right), thendirector of the Nanovic Institute, at that event.

The athletes on the panel were:

• Dmitri Khristich, the all-time leading scorer among Ukrainian players. He played for the Washington Capitals, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs.

• Václav Nedomanský, Hall of Fame NHL player who played for SHK Hodonín, Slovan ChZJD Bratislava, Toronto Toros, Birmingham Bulls, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, and New York Rangers.

• Peter Šťastný, Hall-of-Fame NHL player who played for Czechoslovakia, Quebec Nordiques, New Jersey Devils, and St. Louis Blues.

• Anton Šťastný, who played for Slovan ChZJD Bratislava, Quebec Nordiques, Halifax Citadels, HC Fribourg-Gottêron, EHC Olten, and HC Slovan Bratislava.

While on campus, these hockey greats also met with the Notre Dame Hockey Team to share their insights. This chance for cross-generational mentorship was a truly unique moment for these Notre Dame students. On the same day, the Nanovic Forum also welcomed the former prime minister of Slovakia (1998-2006), Mikuláš Dzurinda to speak on the challenges facing both Europe and the United States. These events sought to provide lessons from the past that speak to the present need to resist imperialism, expressed most clearly in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” ♦

“Freedom is not free … but don’t take it for granted. We better pay the price, and we better pay attention.”

– ANTON ŠŤASTNÝ

“The Free World must get together and stop Putin. We have to learn from history.”

– PETER ŠŤASTNÝ

“I knew that there was no way out … then I decided, there’s no other way than to make a decision and decide the way I will live my life.”

– VÁCLAV NEDOMANSKÝ

“Living under the boot of Russia and feeling it’s not right and fighting for freedom … that’s what the Ukrainians are doing right now.”

– DMITRI KHRISTICH

The athletes had the opportunity to visit and share with the Notre Dame Hockey Team during their visit. In the front row, pictured left to right are: Anton Šťastný, Dmitri Khristich, Peter Šťastný, and Tom Heiden.

Templehofer Feld, a public space in Berlin that was once the airfield of the decommissioned Berlin-Templehof Airport. In recent years, refugees and asylum seekers have been housed in and around the terminal, whereas the airfield functions as a public park for Berlin residents.

Encountering the dynamics and tensions of European migration in Berlin

BY KEITH SAYER

Read the full story at go.nd.edu/Berlin2024

As part of the course Europe Confronts the Refugee Challenge, a EURO curriculum course offered by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, a group of students spent spring break conversing with leaders, advocates, and other stakeholders about how Germany and the wider EU are responding to increased numbers of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers. The full story can be read at go.nd.edu/Berlin2024 and is abbreviated here.

The wind blows across the wide, empty fields and runways of the former Berlin-Tempelhof Airport. Kites and windsurfers dot the sky, and people gather with friends and family to bask in the early spring day. Yet, this same breeze also passes through the converted shipping containers and disused hangars where hundreds of refugees live.

This juxtaposition tells the unseen (at least internationally) story of Berlin and Germany. According to recent statistics compiled by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around 2.5 million persons are currently living in Germany as refugees and asylum seekers, more than any other EU country and only trailing Iran and

Türkiye globally—in a nation of only 84.7 million inhabitants, around a quarter of the United States’ total population.

Because of these factors, Germany is one of the most apt places in the world to study the current dynamics of migration, both in the European Union and globally. Its capital Berlin is at the center of this conversation, as both a major host city and the seat of government power. During spring break 2024, Nanovic Institute Faculty Fellow William Donahue, the Rev. John J. Cavanaugh, C.S.C., Professor of the Humanities and director of the Initiative for Global Europe at the Keough School of Global Affairs, organized a trip to Berlin with students from the course Europe Confronts the Refugee Challenge to study migration in Germany firsthand.

Students gather for a meeting with Bundesministerium des Innern und für Heimat (BMI), the German Ministry of the Interior.

Some of the key topics students engaged with in Berlin included the asylum system in Germany, how the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) for Ukrainian refugees affects their ability to participate in German society and the labor market, the difficulties of educating a multilingual and diverse student population throughout the country, and more.

Amid the urban beauty, incredible public transit, and historic sites found in Berlin, the same early spring wind touches the faces of Berliners and asylum seekers alike. Notre Dame students had the chance to ask hard questions and provide input to leaders, stakeholders, and advocates. In so doing, they engaged with one of

the core research priorities of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies: “peripheries.”

Migrants and refugees are often seen as outsiders, but their perspectives are essential to our understanding of the people they seek to call neighbors—perhaps those they wish to fly kites alongside. They join together, native and migrant alike, to shape the places they seek to call home, temporarily or otherwise. To understand Germany as it is—to understand Europe as it is—we must grasp this foundational dynamic.

Otherwise, we risk studying a caricature, an imagined sense of “European” identity, instead of the true stories, with all their tensions, of real people. Migrants and refugees are Europe. Only with this realistic view can we start to ask the questions “So what now?” and “How do we act?”

After all, we cannot lose sight of the shelters for the kites. ♦

John Lillegard MGA ’24 (left) and Matthew Young ’24

Students and trip organizers visit the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin while on the way to a meeting at the U.S. Embassy, which is just to the left out of frame.

Catherine Schafer ’24 (left) and Poulomi Ghosh MGA ’25 observe the Empty Library at Humboldt-Universität, a subterranean monument consisting simply of empty bookshelves. It serves as a subtle but poignant reminder of the National Socialist Student Union book burning in that square on May 10, 1933.

Read the full story at go.nd.edu/ smithslovakia

Peripheral questions: An Estival memoir from Slovakia

BY WILLIAM CYRIL SMITH

William Cyril Smith ’24 traveled to Važec, Slovakia, during the summer of 2023 to work with JEKH DROM, a nonprofit organization that provided needed resources and support for Roma communities in this Slovak village. This experience offered him the chance to ask fundamental questions and answer them in new ways. The full article includes more stories from his time in Slovakia. Read it at go.nd.edu/smithslovakia

The sound of music faded as I walked away from the light of the dance and into the darkness of the night. Behind me stood the Východná folk festival; ahead of me loomed the unfamiliar Slovak countryside. I knew my destination—the train station—but the path forward remained dark, unsearchable. Everything was covered in shadow, and there was no one around. With each step, my sense of lonesomeness mounted.

After a winding journey through the woods, I finally found the train tracks. The flickering lamps on the station cast an eerie glow. I tried the brass knob and peered through the small window panes, but the door was locked and nobody was inside. Turning back to the cool night air, I stood outside—outside the closed station, the small village, and the U.S.

This was a peripheral place, and I began to question. What can I do? Why am I here? To whom can I turn? Why has this happened to me? This was not the first time I had asked these questions, but here at this train station in the middle of the night, I began to consider them more seriously, more personally. With each question came a memory. They were inextricably bound, and I wondered if other people’s memories held such poignant questions.

These are fundamental questions that all people ask. It was not unique that I had asked these questions

but how I had asked them. Sitting in the comfort of my home, I thought about agency, presence, and community with flippant ease and curiosity. Standing in the isolation of the Slovak woods, I thought about them with greater concern and gravitas. The place shaped how I asked these questions and how I sought to answer them.

I remembered not only the unwelcoming train station of Východná but also the festive folk dancing, the delicious Bryndzové Halušky, and the beautiful sunset. I remembered not only the dreary day at the settlement but also the warm welcome of the Roma children with whom I baked cookies, played soccer, and learned to dance.

These memories never provided complete answers to my questions, only partial ones. But when asking them, the places and people no longer seemed so distant and isolated. There was some sense of solidarity in the questioning, remembering, and answering. There was something I could do; there was purpose in my presence; there were people to whom I could turn; and there was a reason why this had happened to me. The train slowed to a stop. I exited the carriage and walked into the night, but I no longer felt lonesome and the darkness no longer seemed eerie. ♦

Východná folk festival in Slovakia.

“ ... From Serving (in) Europe to research to on-campus events to the CUP Conference in Croatia, my experiences through the Nanovic have been some of my favorite(s) at Notre Dame. No institute cares more about Notre Dame students.

One of my few regrets at Notre Dame is that I did not find the Nanovic Institute sooner. I will forever be grateful for the Nanovic and all of you ... ”

ABOVE: Sunset in Liptovský

LEFT: Smith at the Šarafiový waterfall. TOP: Smith joins his friends Samuel Plachtinsky, who works with JEKH DROM, and his wife Nikola Plachtinská for a meal in Liptovský Hrádok.

Hrádok, Slovakia.

ENCOUNTERS THAT LEAD TO FRIENDSHIP

One way of understanding a person is to ask a simple question: “Who are your friends?” Friends are not the proverbial “icing on the cake,” a “nice-to-have” feature of life. No, friends are necessary for a good life. “For without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods,” Aristotle writes (in book VIII of his Nicomachean Ethics). Friends are crucial, indispensable, life-changing, and life-sustaining.

We sometimes underestimate the importance of friendship in academic life. We need colleagues who are more than colleagues; we need friends who share the same interests and values.

We want our students to form friendships through the encounters that the Nanovic Institute fosters. The summer school for students in Croatia, the joint research projects, the eight weeks of service learning, our immersion programs—all of these are meant to foster friendships, ideally friendships that are strong and transformative. Transnational friendships are a foundation for a peaceful future, and encounters, especially in places Pope Francis might classify as the “peripheries,” are the key to the house of friendship.

The Nanovic Institute for European Studies is also blessed with friends. If I were asked to characterize this institute, I might point to our friends. The Laura Shannon Prize lecture in the fall of 2023 helped us build a friendship with award-winning scholar Stella Ghervas, and the Keeley-Vatican lecture with Sister Raffaella Petrini helped us forge a friendship with a leader in the Vatican. We are also blessed to have a friend serve as our first “diplomat in residence,” Catherine Arnold, OBE, Master of St. Edmund’s College at the University of Cambridge. A visit is a series of encounters—thus, these visitors, and many more beside them, became friends.

The entire institute is run on the basis of friendship, through our friends and benefactors, through the community of those who support us and our work. Without the friendship of Bob and Liz Nanovic with Notre Dame, our institute would not even exist. Indeed, friendship is the foundation of what we do.

We are deeply grateful for our friendship with our colleagues from the Ukrainian Catholic University, which grows out of yet another powerful expression of friendship: the Catholic Universities Partnership, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in spring of 2024. This partnership has cultivated friendships among colleagues from Budapest, Lublin, Lviv, Ružomberok, Tbilisi, Zagreb, Notre Dame and beyond for more than 20 years. These friendships have created strong bonds, between individuals and institutions alike. Our joint research projects, conferences, and visiting scholars program are made possible by friendships, and they, in turn, enable a culture of friendship.

I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to our friends: thank you for your benevolence, thank you for your interest and connection, and thank you for your support. You are the foundation of what we do, and if I may say so, the reason why we do what we do.

Grateful wishes,

– Clemens Sedmak

STAFF

Clemens Sedmak

Director and Professor of Social Ethics

Jacob Kildoo

Research Program Manager, Grants & Publications

Abigail Lewis

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Rev. James Lies, C.S.C.

Senior Advisor for Faculty Fellow Affairs and Partnerships

Hildegund Müller

Senior Liaison for Research and Curricular Affairs, and Associate Professor of Classics

Morgan Munsen

Senior Research and Partnerships Program Manager

Grant Osborn

Senior Associate Director

Rebekah Prince

Program Manager, Events & Operations

Keith Sayer

Communications Program Director

Annie Seul

Program Manager, Finance & Administration

Melanie Webb

Associate Director

STUDENT ASSISTANTS

Pedro Bolsonaro ’25

Abby Mancuso ’24

Darah Iohana Meira Santos ’26

Matthew Scherber ’27

Ana Sofia Toscano ’24

FACULTY COMMITTEE 2023-24

Yury Avvakumov

Theology

Tobias Boes

German and Russian Languages and Literatures

Katie Bugyis

Liberal Studies

Ian Kuijt

Anthropology

Charles Leavitt

Romance Languages and Literatures

Ingrid Rowland

Architecture

ADVISORY BOARD

Robert and Elizabeth Nanovic

Founding Benefactors

Jane Heiden

Chair

Dominica Annese

R. Stephen Barrett

Paul Black

David Buckley

Terrence R. Keeley

Claire Shannon Kelly

Frank A. Lattal

Emily Locher

Paul L. Mahoney

Susan Mahoney Hatfield

Patrick Moran

Susan Nanovic Flannery

Sean M. Reilly

Katie Shannon

Peter Šťastný

Michael E. Taten

Elizabeth Trantowski

Joey Speicher 2023-24 Alumni Representative

Nanovic Institute for European Studies

Keough School of Global Affairs

1060 Jenkins Nanovic Halls Notre Dame, Indiana 46556-7000

Telephone: 574-631-5253

Email: nanovic@nd.edu

Website: nanovic.nd.edu