Addiction Rehabilitation in Italy

San Patrignano, Italy

This faculty grant provided funding for students to travel to San Patrignano for research on successful addiction rehabs and integral human development and the importance of the built environment. The students studied how all elements work together for addiction rehabilitation.

All Aboard: A Mixed Methods Study of Metro Rail Access to Health Care Facilities in Barcelona

The student conducted research on healthcare accessibility for low-income populations in Barcelona, Spain, and applied for funding to support this endeavor. They extensively researched lower-income neighborhoods and transportation network gaps. During their time in Barcelona, they met with patients and healthcare practitioners to discuss access and health outcomes for different populations.

Analyzing the Effectiveness of Public Healthcare in Ireland and the United Kingdom

London, UK; Limerick, Ireland

This undergraduate summer break project examined the benefits, disadvantages, and overall effectiveness of public healthcare systems in the United Kingdom and Ireland, two model countries for universal healthcare. The project centered around interviews with doctors, professors, employees of the NHS/HSE, and other professionals who work with these organizations.

Faculty Advisor: Jennifer Robichaud

An Architectural Study of Cultural and Religious Convergence in Andalucía

Seville and Cordoba, Spain

This undergraduate winter break project studied the lasting Moorish influence in southern Spain, particularly through the ornamentation belonging to the architectural style of Mujédar. The project sought to better understand the unique nature of the Andalucía region and contribute to the ongoing conversation regarding migrants and acceptance between different cultures and religions.

Faculty Advisor: Olivier Morel

A Wide Wake Closing: Recrafting Homes and Communities with Dressers in 19th-20th Century Rural Connemara, Western Ireland

Connemara, Ireland

This faculty grant aided in funding the conclusion of the Dresser Project, a research project focused on western Ireland. This project combined multidisciplinary approaches to materiality and homemaking to investigate how people in rural Connemara villages sustained their communities after waves of emigration. The project investigated tangible strategies of those who remained in their homes despite the often-overwhelming adversity associated with staying amidst the tumult of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Building a Framework for Climate Truth and Reconciliation at COP29

Elsa Barron is a second-year PhD student in the Kroc Institute’s PhD program in Peace Studies and Political Science. For several years, she has studied climate policy and its disproportionate effects on developed and developing countries. Because of a lack of access to resources for adaptation, least-developed countries (LDCs) are some of the most at risk, despite having contributed least to the causes of climate change. Last year, Europe wasn in the spotlight on climate policy development as the host of the UN conference on climate change (COP29). The opportunity presented a unique moment where regional host Azerbaijan, situated on the peripheries of Europe, orchestrated negotiations on policy considered crucial to human dignity across other global peripheries– communities that have often been considered disposable. Barron. With support from the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and the Christian Climate Observers Program, Barron traveled to Azerbaijan to attend COP29 and deepen her understanding of international climate justice.

One core question guided Barron’s research at COP29: “Is the current UN Loss and Damage Framework sufficient to achieve climate justice according to global civil society? If not, would a truth and reconciliation process contribute to filling this gap?” To answer these questions, Barron leveraged the unmatched convergence of civil society in Azerbaijan to gain a global perspective on the meaning and requirements of climate justice. Throughout the week of the conference, she conducted nearly twenty in-depth interviews with civil society leaders to understand how the communities they work with are impacted by climate change, conceptualize climate justice, and seek out accountability and reconciliation for harm. Interviewees included experts on migration, Indigenous rights, finance, peacebuilding, and representatives of international faith communities. Conversations were centered around pressing concerns related to climate impacts, understandings of climate justice, gaps in the current framework of loss and damage, and pathways forward toward greater justice and accountability. At the end of the conference, the final agreement of $300 billion in collective financing to be provided annually was far less than the $1 trillion demand put forward by many negotiators, increasing the imperative for research exploring the gaps between current policy development and needs on the ground. Barron’s ongoing reflections circle around the failures of the post-Paris COP process to produce action commensurate with the climate crisis at hand, constantly held back by the agendas of geopolitically powerful nations. It re-emphasizes the need for more radical interpretations of climate action and understandings of climate justice centered on lived experiences of climate-induced losses and damages.

Barron’s trip to Azerbaijan represents the first steps of her dissertation, which more broadly explores the question: In the context of climate change and particularly for communities facing the loss of home, what policy avenues are required to achieve climate justice? She also intends to use this research to develop a journal publication that will not only advance academic understandings of climate change and justice but also present avenues for innovative policy development that better suit the needs of communities most impacted by climate change.

Caught Between the Patrón and the Padrón: The Localized Pathways to Regularization for Irregular Migrants in Spain

Huelva and Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

This graduate student project examined the decentralized immigrant regularization model in Spain, considering how local governance structures irregular migrants’ opportunities for regularization. The project connected the sociological and legal studies literature on civic stratification to that of local governance to show how municipal-level policies can alleviate or exacerbate existing social and political inequalities. The project also sought to contribute to literature by focusing exclusively on non-metropolitan areas, which have been largely neglected by academics and politicians, and analyzing why analogous municipalities enact policies that are more or less inclusive of undocumented populations.

Course Development, Nazi Germany / Nazi Europe

Notre Dame, Indiana

This faculty grant provided funding for the development of a history course on Nazi Germany. The course aims to go beyond the narrow histories of Germany and open the topic up to its full European dimensions.

Creative Processes in Displacement and Precariousness

The student completed a research stay at the Institute of Advanced Studies on Latin America at the Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3 University to elaborate her dissertation proposal on an innovative interpretation of the relationship between precariousness and displacement based on contemporary artistic production located between Europe and Latin America. This research intends to elaborate a theoretical construction based on the concept defined as "zafarse" (literally, to escape, to free oneself from...), to analyze how geographical displacement is a condition of possibility to free oneself from oppressive structures.

Cultural Equilibrium: Renewing National Identity in Contemporary Art

Paris, France; Berlin, Germany

This undergraduate winter break project explored the formation of national identity, specifically in the rather stable modern economic and political landscapes of France and Germany. The project investigated if and how a national identity must change when the equilibrium of cultural stability is tipped, focusing primarily on the recent growth of immigration in both countries.

Faculty Advisor: Sonja Stojanovic

Eugenic Perspectives: An Examination of the Doctors’ Trials at Nuremberg

London, England

Focusing on the T4 euthanasia program that systematically killed an estimated 70,000 people with disabilities and mental ilnesses in Nazi Germany, this undergraduate fall break project explored the complex relationship between the ideologies of Nazi perpetrators and America’s own eugenic beliefs. The project utilized documents in London’s Wiener Library which holds the complete records of the UN War Crimes Commission.

Faculty Advisor: John Deak

“Ever, Rêve, Hélène Cixous” German Translation, Subtitles and DCP for German Premiere

Berlin, Germany; Paris, France; Notre Dame, Indiana

This faculty grant provided funding for the German translation of Olivier Morel’s film Ever, Rêve, Hélène Cixous for its screening at a German film festival. The film centered around the formation of Hélène Cixous, a feminist legend, 1968 activist, playwright, and poet, examining her friendship and company along the way.

Website

Exploring Dissident Archives in the United States, Ukraine, and Europe

Lviv and Kyiv, Ukraine; Budapest, Hungary; Bremen, Germany; Somerset (NJ), New York, Amherst, and Boston, United States

This graduate student project explored the development of the Ukrainian human rights movement in the Soviet Union, challenging the perception of the dissident movement as anti-governmental and oppositional. The project focused on the ways that the most influential Ukrainian dissidents abandoned the early twentieth-century tradition of confrontational opposition for legal means enshrined in the Soviet constitution. The project emphasized the significance of the regional perspective in the emergence and distribution of human rights ideas across geographic space.

Faculty Advisor: Semion Lyandres

Fabienne Kanor: Another Sea to Cross

Notre Dame, Indiana

This faculty grant provided funding for a visit from Fabienne Kanor, a French author and an important voice in current debates on migration and national identity in Europe. During her visit, Kanor gave a “Performance Talk” entitled “Another Sea to Cross,” given in a bilingual English-French version. Her presentation drew from her work as a novelist and filmmaker, delving into questions of immigration and displacement in Europe and bringing together three crucial moments that feature the two (the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the migrations of French Caribbean people to France, and contemporary migrations and asylum seekers).

Facing Russian Aggression: Struggle for Security and Peace in Europe

During his stay at the Nanovic Institute as a visiting scholar during the fall 2024 semester, Volodymyr Turchynovskyy finished editing of papers from the conference “Challenges of Russia’s War against Ukraine and the Ethical Principles of Sustainable Peace in Europe,” held in Munich, Germany, on February 12–13, 2024, in anticipation of the 2024 Munich Security Conference. This symposium was made possible through the collaboration of Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU), the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), and the University of Notre Dame – three leading academic institutions from Germany, Ukraine, and the United States – and the support of the Catholic Church through the charitable organization Renovabis, the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate in Germany and Scandinavia. At a time when Ukraine faces the existential challenge of war with the Russian aggressor, Catholic intellectuals are contributing to critical discussions on sociopolitical and security issues, offering value-based guidelines for their resolution. The papers in this volume examine the traumatic experiences of the past, contemporary manifestations of totalitarianism, the ethical dimensions of global security, opposition to Russian­ ­aggression, and the principles for achieving a just peace.

Website

Fintech in Finland: Will Blockchain Instill Identity in Refugees?

Helsinki, Finland

European countries handled the refugee crisis of the later half of the 2010’s differently. In Finland the government provided refugees within their borders with digital identities via blockchain networks. This undergraduate winter break project studied the technical aspects of the self-sovereign identity platform and whether or not it could be implemented at a transnational level by the UN.

Faculty Advisor: Eileen Hunt Botting

Forced Migrations in North Africa and Iberia: Portuguese Captives in Algiers, 1750-1800

Lisbon, Portugal

This faculty grant provided funding for travel to Lisbon to continue archival research on Portuguese captives in the Barbary Coast and Muslims in Portugal. The research project sought to identify Portuguese colonial officers and slave traders captured and held in bondage in the Barbary Coast under Ottoman rule. The project aimed to understand how their years in captivity transformed their lives, whether captivity altered their understanding of the transatlantic slave trade, and how they related their experiences to the lives of African people they had previously bought and sold.

Fostering Community and Identity through Berlin’s Architecture

Berlin, Germany

An aging society, consistently low birth rates, and a rising influx of refugees has left the German population to consider what it means to be German, a question they have struggled to answer since the end of World War II and the rejection of Nazism. This undergraduate winter break project explored how architectural design can foster community, artistic creativity, and a sense of individual and national identity in modern Berlin. The project also employed traditional and modern German construction techniques to propose a mass-timber tower, aiming to bring Germany to the forefront of the global sustainability movement.

Faculty Advisor: Kim Rollings

French Translation of “Voices of the Enslaved: Love, Labor, and Longing in French Louisiana”

Notre Dame, Indiana

The emergence of Black Lives Matter movements around the world has catapulted interest in scholarship on Europe’s legacies of empire not only in former colonies but within Europe itself. There is currently a lack of literature on the significance of slavery and colonialism in the history of France itself. This faculty grant aided in funding the French translation of Sophia White’s most recent book, Voices of the Enslaved: Love, Labor, and Longing in French Louisiana, for publication in France to spearhead new scholarship on this topic.

Gaël Faye: Author and Rap and Hip-Hop Artist

Notre Dame, Indiana

This faculty grant provided funding for a visit from Gaël Faye, a celebrated contemporary author and award-winning rap and hip-hop artist. Faye met with students for informal discussions and held a public event where he read excerpts from his first novel and spoke on his experiences as an author, songwriter, and artist with Notre Dame professor Alison Rice. Faye’s novel, Small Country (2016), is a bestseller in France that has been awarded many literary prizes, and he had recently won a Victoire de la Musique, the French equivalent of a Grammy, for his music.

Hague Rules on Business and Human Rights Arbitration

The Hague, Netherlands

This faculty grant provided funding for travel to the official launch of the new Hague Rules on Business and Human Rights Arbitration by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Diane Desierto was one of the authors for the last three years as a Member of the Drafting Team chaired by Senior Judge of the Iran-US Claims Tribunal Bruno Simma. The launch addresses the general public on the particular uses of the new Hague Rules for individuals or groups to pursue human rights claims through international arbitration against transnational business and states.

Halden Hotel: Prisoner Development at Norway’s ‘Perfect Prison’ and Implications for American Criminal Justice Reform

Oslo and Halden, Norway

This undergraduate spring break project explored the juxtaposition of the contrary philosophies of criminal justice and human dignity in various prison systems. The project focused on prisoner development in Norwegian prisons, particularly Halden fengsel, a prison whose model of respect, freedom, responsibility, and rehabilitation has led to marked decreases in recidivism. The research sought to understand how such a system can be introduced to the United States, and how prisoners can be treated with dignity within a criminal justice system.

Faculty Advisor: Edward Kelly

Have I Played the Part Well?: A Novel

Rather than write a traditional senior thesis, Kennedy Gallaher decided to choose a much longer and intensive path: writing a novel. Instead of writing one that outlines Rome’s political history, Gallgher aims to study and humanize four of Rome’s famed leaders: Augustus, Antony, Cleopatra, and Lepidus. Although history remembers them as famous figures, Gallaher believes we have failed to remember them as people. It is her hope and goal that they will become re-born through her written words, and that the men and women who have become real to her will become real to her readers as well.

Inspired by Augustus’s last words to his friends, Gallaher’s novel Have I Played the Part Well?  highlights human vulnerability in the face of power. Gallgher focuses on how the arts (specifically theatre) affect her characters’ lives and reveal their vulnerability. By retelling the story of Augustus, Antony, Cleopatra, and Lepidus in a way that emphasizes their humanity, Gallagher aims to return to them the human dignity they have lost over the millennia.

"The effect of a research paper is to inform, but the effect of the best novels is to touch and change the reader…The story of Rome’s second triumvirate has had just such an impact on me, and I long to preserve it for posterity in a form that will be more accessible—and hopefully even more impactful--to a variety of audiences."

To collect research for her novel, Gallagher studied abroad in Rome for one semester. While there, she mapped the lives of her characters by visiting their homes, public gathering places, museums, archaeological parks, and theatres. Additionally, Gallagher read numerous books, both classical and modern, to discover more about each of her characters’ personalities and daily routines. This summer, Gallagher returned to the Eternal City to enroll in an archaeology course, eager to learn more about the use of space in Ancient Rome and the political and historical significance of spatial organization. As she retraced steps taken by Augustus, Antony, Cleopatra, and Lepidus in the First-Century, she was brought closer to her characters, their choices, and what they felt as they held our world in their hands.

Holy See’s COVID-19 Commission Junior Coordinator

United States; Italy

This faculty grant co-sponsored a new Fratelli Tutti Fellowship with the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, and the Catholic Peacebuilding Network. The fellowship enabled Melinda Davis (ND ’19) to work as a Junior Coordinator for the Holy See’s COVID-19 Commission. The commission is a working group responsible for research on the pandemic and envisioning a post-pandemic world supported by experts in health, economic, ecology, and security.

Identity Formation and Mobility of Zazaki Speakers in Germany, Austria, and Turkey

Hessen and Berlin, Germany; Vienna, Austria

This graduate student project explored how community-building takes place among minority migrant populations—spatially and temporally—in relation to the already existing communities in the urban places where migrants settle. The project focused on identity formation from a relational and performative perspective through the lens of place-making, language use and retention, and religious practices among the Zazaki diaspora in Europe and western Turkey. The project sought to answer what the dynamics of identity formation, maintenance, and performance are, and how these Zazaki speakers negotiate and produce/reproduce their identities as shaped by their environment.

Faculty Advisor: Maurizio Albahari

Inside Campus Rütli: Successful Educational Integration for Immigrants

Berlin, Germany

More than one-fifth of Germany’s inhabitants are foreign-born or children of immigrants, yet Germany’s educational system often fails to integrate children with these backgrounds. Campus Rütli was founded in 2008 by the government of Berlin to address these growing civil disturbances and disadvantages in the highly diverse district of Neukölln. This undergraduate winter break study sought to better understand Campus Rütli’s policies of immigrant assimilation through education, revealing what is effective in dealing with the social, economic, and local repercussions of hyper-diverse migrant communities.

Faculty Advisor: Steffen Kaupp

Intersections: A Research Cluster on Cross-Cultural and Inter-Religious Encounter in European Contexts

Notre Dame, Indiana

This faculty grant provided funding for a research cluster that explores the ambiguities of migration and cross-cultural exchange in culture and daily life during multiple periods of religious, political, and cultural upheaval, particularly in the European context. This research cluster sought to answer what it means to welcome—or reject—the “stranger,” whether these strangers are enemies or friends, and whether they are our “neighbor” or a threat to our way of life.

Ireland’s Huguenots: A Study of the Assimilation of French Huguenot Refugees into Irish Society in the Late 17th Century

London, England; Dublin, Ireland

This undergraduate summer break project explores the emigration of French Huguenots to Ireland, focusing on the complex relationship between a people fleeing religious persecution from Catholics to an island where Catholics were the persecuted. The project conducted archival research in London and Dublin, including Huguenot sermons and military records, to study the lives of French Huguenots and their participation in the Jacobite War in Ireland.

Faculty Advisor: Rory Rapple

Ivan Gerginov: Refugees and the Migrant Crisis in Europe

Notre Dame, Indiana

This faculty grant provided funding for a visit from Ivan Gerginov, Deputy Commissioner, Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, Republic of Serbia. Gerginov held a public lecture sharing his experiences working with refugees and migrants from the Balkan crises to the present migrant crisis in Europe. He also held personal meetings where he advised faculty members on policy outreach and the need for policy interventions.

Labor Market Integration of Refugees in Germany: Exploration of Responses

Munich and Stuttgart, Germany

This undergraduate spring break project investigated the efficacy and shortcomings of current job assistance and labor market integration programs in Germany for refugees. The project explored the current state of these programs through interviews with local specialists, visits to job preparation centers, and meetings with Munich-based scholars. The project sought to understand the German labor market for refugees and the challenges it presents to Germany’s economic identity for future research.

Faculty Advisor: Denise Della Rossa

Learning and Legality: Fritz Bauer and the Frankfurt-Auschwitz Trial

Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, and Bonn, Germany

The Frankfurt-Auschwitz Trial (1963-1965) was designed to force all West German citizens to face their own complicity with the Nazi criminal system, but in reality failed to present the Holocaust as anything but a summation of individual crimes committed for individual reasons. This graduate student project examined the place of the Frankfurt-Auschwitz Trial in post-war Germany’s evolving relationship with domestic law. The project’s archival research informed a dissertation on the same subject.

Faculty Advisor: John Deak

Learning from the Béguinage: Community Architecture of the Lay Women of Belgium Translated to Urban Senior Living in Omaha, Nebraska

This project studying the architecture of medieval buildings used as senior living facilities allowed this architecture student to study how these buildings are laid out to incorporate into her work on a design for a US community.

Website

London: “The Exhibit”

London and Oxford, England

This undergraduate fall break project investigated the ethical, social, and political issues surrounding public displays of human remains in museums, focusing on museums in London. The project considered how London preserves and celebrates its history, including the issues of the past, and explored London as a setting for a film screenplay in which the research would be used.

Faculty Advisor: Christine Becker

Micro-experiences of Care

Rome, Italy

This faculty grant sponsored a workshop entitled “Micro-experiences of Care” led by Clemens Sedmak and Ilaria Schnyder von Wartensee as part of their larger research project with the Humanitarian Corridor (est. 2017). The project builds upon the understanding of the role of religion in international affairs, including themes of migration, integration, community building, and identity, and explores whether the migration model of a Humanitarian Corridor leads to successful integration. The workshop is an important feedback tool in the spirit of intellectual integrity, acting as a forum of exchange and informing stakeholders about the research’s methodology and progress.

Migration and Religion: Opinions of the First Mosque in Athens

Athens, Greece

This undergraduate winter break project investigated social implications of the construction of the first mosque in Athens, Greece since the Ottoman Empire’s occupation of the city in 1833. The project focused on whether Muslim migrants are encouraged by the construction of a public mosque in Athens as a sign of acceptance and support of their religion, and how conservative Greeks are responding to the construction.

Faculty Advisor: Rev. Robert Dowd, C.S.C.

Mobility, Networking and Innovation: Are We Facing a Paradigm Shift in Migration Research?

Notre Dame, Indiana

This faculty grant sponsored a visit from Sandro Cattacin, a professor at the University of Geneva (Department of Sociology). Cattacin spoke at the Mendoza College of Business’s spring 2019 lecture series “Ten Years Hence,” presenting on European, Middle Eastern, and North African migration patterns and the Swiss national guest worker program. He also engaged with students in discussion and networked with faculty members.

Nabil Wakim: Arabic in France

Notre Dame, Indiana

This faculty grant provided funding for a virtual discussion with Nabil Wakim, a journalist for the French newspaper “Le Monde” and author of L’arabe pour tous: Pourquoi ma langue est tabou en France. In his book, Wakim discusses France’s relationship with the Arabic language in the context of growing islamophobia within the country. The virtual discussion was centered around the book.

Not Quite German Turks: Zazaki Transnationalism in the Shadows of Turkish, Kurdish, and German Identities

Berlin, Germany

This graduate student project studied how Zazaki-speaking immigrants and their descendants build their communities through everyday life practices in Germany. The project consisted of anthropological research in the form of long-term participant observation. The research done in this project informed a dissertation which explored how group identity is expressed across nation-states among minority immigrant populations by focusing on domestic and international migration of Zazaki speakers in western Turkey and Germany.

On the Basis of History: Understanding the Maghrebi Immigration Experience in Southern France

The student conducted a study on the cultural and educational integration of Maghrebi immigrants into French society in Southern France. The research examined integration through three dimensions: housing, education, and government/policy. Given the student's family ties in the region and proficiency in French, they were well-positioned to undertake this investigation.

Poet in Granada

Granada and Madrid, Spain

This undergraduate spring break project explored the setting in which Frederico García Lorica, renowned poet and playwright, lived and died in Spain as research for a film adaptation of a play co-written by the student researcher. The project sought to experience the world through the land which influenced him, gaining influence and inspiration from the same sources to better understand his life and works.

Faculty Advisor: Susanne Wengle

Portugal and Immigration

Lisbon and Coimbra, Portugal

When discussing the refugee crisis, Portugal is often overlooked; while many immigrants do not even consider the country as a destination, it has agreed to take double the number of immigrants allocated to them by the EU. This undergraduate spring break project investigated what the attitudes toward immigrants, particularly Syrian/Middle Eastern refugees, are like in Portugal and what the country has done proactively to either attract or deter immigration. The project interviewed government officials, NGOs, migrants, and Portuguese citizens.

Faculty Advisor: Marcio Bahia

Postcolonial Paris: Contemporary French Cultures in Literature and the Arts

Paris, France

This faculty grant supported a course taught in the Notre Dame Summer Study Abroad Program in Paris, “Postcolonial Paris: Contemporary French Cultures in Literature and the Arts.” The course concentrates on the ways contemporary “French” cultures are reconsidered and redefined by writers and artists from outside France. The course explores novels by immigrants and second-generation immigrants, critical articles and book chapters by contemporary scholars and politicians, films, and cultural events including a ballet at the Opéra Garnier.

“Profil 14-18”: A Web Documentary on the Experiences of the First World War

Paris, France

This faculty grant supported the completion and outreach campaign of a web documentary entitled “Profil 14-18,” created by Olivier Morel in collaboration with TV5-Monde. The web documentary explored the stories of seventeen people of various nationalities engaged in the First World War.

Website

Pushing Boundaries: Mobility as Resistance in Nineteenth Century British Women’s Writing

London, Gloucester, Bradford, and Wigan, England

This graduate student project explored how nineteenth-century British women writers used representations of physical mobility to resist or critique restrictive gender ideologies by analyzing both contemporary fiction and women’s life writing. The project suggested that the ability to travel, even on a small scale, played a significant role in how women conceptualized their relationship to convention. The project sought to contribute to scholarship by offering fresh insights on a neglected aspect of women’s mobility and placing a new emphasis on women’s ability to navigate and resist social restrictions in their everyday lives.

Faculty Advisor: Sara Maurer

“Refugees Welcome”: How Public Opinion and the Political Environment in Spain Affect the Resettlement and Integration of Refugees

Valencia, Spain

Pedro Sánchez took the Prime Minister office of Spain in 2018, aiming to make empathy toward refugees a primary concern. This undergraduate summer break project explored Spain’s transition to one of the most welcoming European countries for migrants, focusing on how public opinion and the political environment toward refugees have changed and how this affects the experiences of refugees in Spain. The project aimed to create a conversation about the intersection between a democratic government and the multidimensional effect its rhetoric has on global development.

Faculty Advisor: Ilaria Schnyder

Revolutionary Ideology in Spanish Santo Domingo, 1768-1844

Seville, Spain; Rome, Italy

This graduate student project examined the ways that the serial, incomplete emancipations toward the independence of the Dominican Republic transformed race and the institution of slavery in the colony. The project followed the activity of the colonizing powers (Spain, France, and Saint Domingue/Haiti), slave holders, and freedom-seekers in slave markets, criminal courts, notarial offices, plantations, and churches in a colonial struggle for freedom. The project also collected material for a secondary research topic concerned with how mahogany shaped racial ideas, freedom, landholding, and state-building in the Spanish Empire from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries.

Faculty Advisor: Karen Graubart

Rhetoric of Exclusion and Networks of Inclusion: An Analysis of Italian Politics and Refugees in Rome

Rome, Italy

This undergraduate winter break project investigated the effects the 2019 change in national government and ministerial leadership in Italy had on refugee integration in Italy. The project, consisting of interviews with key individuals, institutions, and organizations, sought to meet the need for updated literature given the significant evolution of the political environment. The information collected would later be used in a senior thesis project.

Faculty Advisor: Maurizio Albahari

“Santander”

Santander, Spain

This graduate student project explored the city of Santander, Spain, the setting of Natasha Ali’s novella Santander. The novella follows the journey of a young Pakistani student who has recently moved from her hometown of Karachi to study at the prestigious Universidad de Cantabria in Santander, tackling themes of foreignness, identity, inheritance, outsider-status, and nostalgia.

Service Provision for Disabled Refugees in Europe

Geneva, Switzerland; Brussels, Belgium

This undergraduate fall break project continues summer research on-site in Geneva, Switzerland and Brussels, Belgium. The project questions how European agencies, international agencies, and non-governmental organizations based in Europe are responding to the influx of refugees generally and providing for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable population—those with disabilities. The project included visits with the International Rescue Committee, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the European Commission, among others.

Faculty Advisor: George Lopez

Silvan Maximilian Hohl: Habemus Feminas

Notre Dame, Indiana

This faculty grant sponsored a screening of the film Habemus Feminas at Notre Dame’s Browning Cinema and a discussion with filmmaker Silvan Maximilian Hohl from Switzerland. The film captures a 2016 pilgrimage of women from St. Gallen, Switzerland to Rome that demonstrated “the Catholic Church in solidarity with women” and submitted a petition to Pope Francis.

Sing for Us a Negro Spiritual': Black Radical Eruptions in Sean O'Casey's The Silver Tassie

The student traveled to Ireland to conduct research on the play “The Silver Tassie.” More specifically, the student intended to examine the letters that O’Casey, the playwright, wrote before, during, and after his play. The National Library of Ireland possesses many letters from O’Casey to Lady Ottoline Morrell, George Russell, St. John Ervine, and Lennox Robinson before, during, and after the production of “The Silver Tassie.” The importance of the project aims to further the study on the relationship between Blackness and Irishness by examining the ways these letters discuss Negro Spirituals.

Website

Sites of Memory, Centers of Power: Exploring Europe’s Diplomatic Legacy in Geneva

Since arriving at Notre Dame, Leticia Cardoso has fostered an academic interest in the relationship between democratic institutions and economic opportunity. This summer, she traveled to Geneva to better understand how multilateral decision-making works in practice – and how institutions respond to global issues. In May, Cardoso participated in the UNITAR Geneva Immersion Programme, a week-long educational experience that offers students the opportunity to engage directly with the workings of institutions like the United Nations Office at Geneva, the World Health Organization, and the World Trade Organization.

Through daily lectures, site visits, and workshops with diplomats and practitioners, Cardoso studied political concepts, interpersonal dynamics in diplomacy, and the two’s connection to multilateral decision-making. As a Global Affairs student, Cardoso relied upon the following questions to guide her learning journey in Geneva: How do international organizations based in Geneva—many of them rooted in European cooperation—respond to today’s most pressing global challenges? What strategies are most effective in facilitating dialogue and cooperation among countries with diverse interests? In what ways do these institutions uphold principles like human dignity, inclusion, and democratic governance?

The Geneva Immersion Programme’s ability to bridge theory and practice provided Cardoso with the rare opportunity to examine how diplomacy operates on the ground, how institutional memory is preserved and projected, and how Europe continues to shape and be shaped by the structure of global governance. She appreciated how “being in the room, listening to people who have spent decades navigating these systems, and observing how different institutions respond to pressure gave [her] a more grounded view of global governance.” Cardoso was also grateful to identify additional academic areas she hopes to explore more deeply. Although Cardoso arrived with a framework structured by textbook-based knowledge, she left with a far more complex one — a framework shaped by conversations, contradictions, and the people working behind the scenes to keep diplomacy alive.

Spanish Gender Equality Institutions and Female Economic Mobility: Examining Austerity Policies during the Economic Crisis of 2008 and their Impacts

Madrid, Spain

This undergraduate fall break project explored the curtailing of government-funded, gender equality Institutions in Spain following the 2008 economic crisis. The project examined whether women were at greater risk for unemployment than men in Spain and if women experienced less economic mobility as a result of the austerity policies adopted in Spain following the 2008 economic crisis.

Faculty Advisor: Mary Flanner

Strangers and Neighbors: Hostility and Hospitality in Late Medieval/Early Modern European Contexts

United Kingdom

This faculty grant provided funding for an interdisciplinary conference exploring the complex reality of xenophobia and what role it played in medieval and early modern societies within Europe and beyond. The conference had a special focus on the domains and intersections of literature, religion, theology, politics, and history, featuring keynote speakers and panel conference papers highlighting new ways of thinking about the issue of “the stranger” in this historical context that can inform our contemporary understanding.

Stripped of Four Walls, Stripped of Dignity

As a student who hopes to pursue a career in Real Estate across residential, multifamily, and commercial sectors, Michaela Cooper recognizes that “housing is a fundamental right, not a privilege.” Studying at Notre Dame has allowed Cooper to deepen her understanding of housing inequalities and their role in rising homelessness. Hoping to closely analyze the root causes behind these challenges in a global context, Cooper traveled to Madrid, Spain for twelve days to investigate the city’s urgent housing crisis, understand its effects on vulnerable populations, and develop actionable solutions to address housing inequities.

Cooper’s research specifically explored the root causes leading individuals into housing instability, examined specific initiatives by organizations working to address these needs, and analyzed how community advocacy can drive government action. Her study was guided by three questions:

1. How have past initiatives and projects by nonprofit and social housing organizations supported unhoused individuals, and how can these efforts be enhanced or adapted to improve efficiency and reach?
2. What shifts in government policy and funding are necessary to prioritize and accelerate affordable housing development in Madrid?
3. What alternative strategies exist for accommodating tourists without compromising housing availability for locals?

To achieve her research goals, Cooper employed two approaches: Understanding and Observation. Through understanding, she engaged with five nonprofit organizations (Provivienda, Hogar Sí, Cáritas Madrid, Mundo Justo, and CCOO (Comisiones Obreras)) that are actively combating homelessness and housing insecurity in Madrid. Meetings with organizational leaders explained how policy and labor efforts could be improved to support housing needs in Madrid. To complement these discussions, Cooper relied upon observation to assess housing conditions across five Madrid neighborhoods: Barrio Puerta del Ángel, Malasaña and Lavapiés, Retiro and Chamberí, Vallecas, Puerta del Sol. Because each neighborhood represented various social and economic demographics, from high rental prices to family-oriented housing, Cooper carefully examined neighborhood characteristics, building upkeep, visible amenities, and overall conditions relative to rental and housing prices.

Cooper’s research analyzed past successes in expanding affordable and accessible housing, while challenging the potential for improvement through government restructuring and prioritization. Mindful that contributing factors to Madrid’s housing crisis include surging tourism, she constantly reminded herself of the privilege visitors have in Madrid. Her observations solidified her belief that real estate professionals should devise strategies to uplift communities rather than contribute to its challenges through inaction and lack of awareness. Determined to further explore housing inequalities after returning from Madrid, Cooper hopes to study the interconnectedness of affordable housing and migration trends in Europe and Latin America.

Structured Understanding and Informal Socialized Learning of Refugee Culture in Norway

Oslo, Norway

This undergraduate spring break project explored questions about refugees and their effects on the identity of Norwegians, considering how refugees’ experiences shape Norwegian culture, and how institutions are shaping attitudes towards these changes. The project looks at the issues through the lens of the blending of refugee/Norwegian culture through institutionalized and structural approaches, and the lens of cultural blending through unstructured socialization.

Faculty Advisor: Justin McDevitt

Studying Up: An Ethnography of Higher Education in Norway

Trondheim, Norway

This graduate student project investigated and compared the institutional environments and pressures of higher education in the United States and Norway that give rise to “study drug” use among university students, including tuition costs, the perceived need for a college degree, cultural assumptions about going to university, and access to health care. The project examined the structure and value of higher education in Norway compared to the United States and how this affects the discussion of study drugs in each location. The research informed a future dissertation and established connections for future research.

Faculty Advisor: Susan Blum

Support for the Roma Soccer Team in Examilia, Greece

Athens and Examilia, Greece

This faculty grant supported a Roma soccer team in the village of Examilia outside of Ancient Corinth, Greece. The team, which had a transformative effect on the village and its young men, had lost its primary sponsor, and needed extra funding. The team was a way for young Roma to escape the cycle of drug usage in the village and provided a way for them to integrate and be accepted in Greek society, where they have been historically ostracized.

The Case of the Middle Eastern and African Refugees “Transiting” through Serbia

Belgrade, Serbia

This graduate student project examined the complexity of migration by comparing experiences of transitory refugees encamped in Serbia and Kenya, investigating patterns of integration and exclusion of encamped and transitory refugees within their host communities. Engaging with biological and human cultural concepts, the project sought to understand how refugees, who survived wars, cope with the immense changes brought by forced displacement while struggling to restructure their identity and place at both individual and collective levels. The project aimed to contribute to scholarship on forced/transitory migration and general refugee phenomena, specifically the process of integration, community building, and policies that respond to these crises.

Faculty Advisor: Rahul Oka

The Female Body of Knowledge: Pregnancy Models and Inquisitorial Examinations in Spain

Olot and Madrid, Spain

This graduate student project investigated different narratives and images of female bodies’ inspections (medical, inquisitorial, juridical, and ethnographical) that shaped the definition of gender in the Hispanic world from the sixteenth century to the present in relation to other European theories and knowledge about anatomy. The project conducted archival and bibliographic research and examined anatomical and artistic sculptures and models to inform a dissertation on the subject.

Faculty Advisor: Carlo Jauregui

Image Credit: At the Water Trough by J. Alden Weir, 1876-1877, Smithsonian American Art Museum. 

The Labor Market Integration of Brazilian and Other Lusophone Migrants in Portugal

As a Brazilian international student fluent in Portuguese, Leticia Cardoso is fascinated by the intersectionality of migration, economic development, and labor market dynamics. At Notre Dame, she studies Business Analytics, Global Affairs, and European Studies, and she is constantly intrigued by Portugal’s impressive first-place ranking in the Migration Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) for labor market mobility. MIPEX assesses the effectiveness of policies designed to promote migrant integration across various dimensions, including labor market access. This outstanding rating reflects the country’s commitment to fostering an inclusive environment for immigrants, particularly those from former colonies like Brazil. Yet, although shared language and cultural similarities can ease cultural assimilation, Cardoso suspects that other significant factors may hinder migrants from effectively navigating the labor market. By assessing the broader socio-economic landscape that shapes the experiences of migrants, she conducted an independent research project to evaluate Portugal’s strategy towards effective integration policies.

Cardoso’s research project was guided by the following question: What mechanisms have facilitated the integration of migrants from former Portuguese colonies into Portugal's labor market? Her research methodology utilized a mixed-methods approach, focusing on literature review, statistical data analysis, and targeted fieldwork in Porto, Gaia, and Lisbon of Portugal. Before departing for Portugal, she drafted a thorough literature review to assess existing academic research and policy documents related to migration from former Portuguese colonies to Portugal. The final review encompassed studies on integration mechanisms, economic contributions, and social dynamics within migrant communities. Next, Cardoso employed statistical data analysis to examine trends related to employment, wage levels, and industry participation of migrants from former colonies. This quantitative analysis supported the identification of patterns in labor market integration, helping to assess the economic contributions of these migrant groups. To enhance the research's authenticity and relevance, the project included targeted fieldwork, focusing on engaging with policymakers and organizations involved in migrant integration. This direct engagement provided insights into the effectiveness of current integration policies and practices, as well as identifying gaps and opportunities for improvement.

Ultimately, Cardoso’s research sought to enhance the discourse on migration and integration in Europe, offering valuable insights that can guide policy decisions and foster a more inclusive society. By highlighting the contributions of migrants from former colonies, her project supports the Nanovic Institute’s mission to address critical global challenges through interdisciplinary research, emphasizing the importance of integrating diverse perspectives in shaping effective migration policies. As she applies her research to her senior thesis for Global Affairs, Cardoso is eager to contribute to a broader dialogue on these critical issues, with a clearer understanding of the pressing needs and potential solutions for migrant communities in Europe.

The "Native Gentleman" at Home and Abroad: Indian Men, Philanthropic Women, and the Indian National Association, 1870-1935

London, England

This graduate student project explored female education reform in India and the people who held the most power to enact it—British women and elite Indian men, the latter of which adopted a veneer of whiteness to become “native gentlemen.” The project investigated how this specific performance of race and gender allowed white women and Indian men to form professional partnerships even during the final century of the British Empire, a period where both groups were strictly segregated.

Faculty Advisor: Fr. Robert Sullivan

The Politics and Policies of Belonging: Exploring Historical Migrant Narratives in Contemporary Paris

With support from the Nanovic Institute, the Notre Dame Stamps Scholars Program, and Dr. Anne Seul, Lichtenberger’s research project sought to analyze immigration-related policies and public perception of immigration in Paris, France. Having attended a French school for almost a decade as well as nurtured a long-standing interest in immigration policy, she was drawn to examine how French colonial history, particularly the 20th century, reverberates through modern immigration frameworks. Specifically, she hoped to explore the following: How does France’s colonial history shape contemporary immigration policies and public perceptions of migrants in Paris, and how do these historical influences manifest in the lived experiences of immigrant communities today? Her guiding question pertained to examining how France receives migrants (primarily measured through comparing written policy and policy implementation) and, secondarily, how public perception of migrants has evolved and what factors may have contributed to this trend. Understanding that colonial legacies are essential for analyzing modern immigration flows, policies, and public attitudes, Lichtenberger sought to explore post-colonial migration patterns that have shaped the demographic and cultural landscape of Paris.

While in Paris, Lichtenberger conducted museum-based research at sites of “living texts”: Musée de l'Histoire de l'Immigration (Museum of the History of Immigration), Musée de Paris (Musée Carnavalet), Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, and Palais de la Porte Dorée. She also conducted archival research at the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris (BHVP) and BnF - François Mitterrand. By carefully comparing historical documents, academic books, policy records, and museum exhibitions, she traced how colonial relationships continued to influence integration policies, spatial segregation, and national identity long after formal decolonization. Lichtenberger’s key takeaway from her research was the significance of preservation and presentation of information in historical narratives: “The silences, omissions, and curatorial choices often spoke just as loudly as the facts themselves.” Across various archival spaces, differences in representation of historical events pushed her to think critically about how memory is constructed, who gets to tell the story, and how institutions shape collective understanding through what they choose to preserve, and what they leave out.

The Provision of Aid to Migrants in Bruxelles

Brussels, Belgium

This undergraduate spring break project studied what systems are in place through NGOs to alleviate the issue of increased immigration that has faced Brussels’s government since 2015. The project focused on interactions with social workers and volunteers on the frontlines of the problem in Maximilien Park.

Faculty Advisor: Emilia Powell

The Rest Is Silence: Primo Levi’s Anglophilia during Post-war Reconstruction

Washington, District of Columbia

This graduate student project explored documents related to Italian writer Primo Levi, a scientist and Holocaust survivor, to understand how Levi’s works are influenced by the dominant Anglophone culture of the post-war era. The project conducted archival research on early chapters of Levi’s If This is a Man at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as well as study of the presence of British prisoners in concentration camps, particularly Auschwitz.

The Road to Sanctions

The student traveled to various locations in Europe to speak with experts and interview people of relevance regarding sanctions on Russia. The student also plans to do statistical analysis with the interviews. Sanctions can be a deterrent; they can also be a gamechanger if their preventative aim fails. Given the unprecedented level of sanctions against Russia due to its invasion into Ukraine, it is important to understand what their main role is, and whether the sanctions are capable of achieving their objectives. However, there is little research of the potential impact of not applying stricter sanctions. We can quantify how much an energy embargo would cost Germany and other nations. Yet, what would be the cost of not imposing it given that it will keep on funding the Kremlin and enable prolonging the Russian war? This scenario is likely to increase the refugee flow of Ukrainians and further destabilize the global economy, and this will also increase the cost for European neighbors.

The Roma Experience and Treatment in London and Strasbourg Society

London, England; Strasbourg, France

This undergraduate summer break project examined the experiences of the Roma in two different countries, England and France, to study the complex interactions between individual Roma populations and the communities in which they live. The project aimed to understand the Romani within the context of their specific, diverse communities, and recognizes the non-homogenous economic, social, and cultural circumstances of each culture group.

Faculty Advisor: Emma Rosenberg

Tracing Leadership: Researching Women’s Political Ascent in Italy

"In Italy, leadership is often a family affair, but every so often, someone breaks the mold." While browsing Roman archives, Mittle stumbled upon this quote that perfectly aligned with a question she had been eager to explore: How does a country with one of Europe’s lowest levels of women’s political participation achieve historic female leadership? Last winter, Mittle pursued this academic interest by conducting research in Italy for a project titled Against the Odds: Italy’s Success in Female Leadership Despite Low Women’s Political Participation. With the support of the Nanovic Institute and Susan Ostermann, she traveled to Rome, Milan, and Florence to investigate the paradoxical rise of female leaders in Italy against a backdrop of deeply rooted traditions and underrepresentation at local levels. This paradox of successful female leadership at the top levels, despite low overall women’s political participation, raised the following question: Which social, cultural, and political dynamics have enabled women to reach top leadership positions in Italy despite the country's gender disparities in political participation?

To support her research, Mittle visited numerous sites that have preserved the history of women in politics. In Rome, she visited the Italian Association for Women in Development (AIDOS), Museum of Women, Historical Archives of the Chamber of Deputies, and the American Academy in Rome. In Florence, she explored the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum, Palazzo Pitti, and the Uffizi Gallery. During her stay in Milan, she ventured to the Museum of Women and Libreria Delle Donne. From admiring showcases of female business attire to exhibits tracing the history of women’s suffrage, Mittle appreciated each narrative's ability to convey how deeply cultural perceptions influence women’s leadership trajectories.

Immersing herself in Italian culture to study a two-hundred-year timeline of women’s political participation has done more than deepen one of Mittle's current academic  interests. Reminded of her commitment to advocating for gender equality in politics worldwide, her research in Italy has encouraged Mittle to broaden her senior capstone to a comparative case study between Indian and Italian politics.  

Treating Disability Amidst Turmoil: A Comparative Analysis of Palestine and Solvenian Organizations Working with Adults with Disabilities Using the L’Arche Model

Ljubljana, Slovenia

L’Arche is a community-based organization that serves and respects the human dignity of adults with intellectual and physical disabilities, providing independence, community, and purpose for these marginalized individuals. This undergraduate winter break project continued research on L’Arche in regions of conflict, examining how the L’Arche model is operating in Slovenia, a country which has experienced numerous regime changes and economic crises in the past century. The project compares this analysis of L’Arche Slovenia to a prior analysis of the organization in Palestine.

Faculty Advisor: George Lopez

Troublesome Women: Paramilitary Women and the Troubles in Northern Ireland, 1968-1998

Dublin, Ireland; Belfast, Northern Ireland

Scholarship on women’s roles during The Troubles has often simplified them to that of supporters or peacemakers. This undergraduate summer project moved past the traditional view of women working as peacemakers and enriches our understanding of how women and gender influenced paramilitary groups and violence during and after The Troubles. The project focused on women’s participation in the Ulster Volunteer Force and the government-organized Ulster Defence Regiment rather than their roles in the IRA.

Faculty Advisor: Gail Bederman

Uncertain Harvest: The Abandonment of European Smallholder Farming and Rural Sustainability

Quietly, and in some ways unnoticed, the small farms and historical life of rural Europe are quickly disappearing. Relevant to the European Union, Hugh Thomas (2017) asks the hard question: “Could the small, family farm all but die out in the next 30 years?”. Rural areas in Europe host more than 55% of the overall population, are defined by unique and specific cultural and natural heritage, and yet are rapidly being abandoned. Over the last 20 years young people have flocked to European cities, given up on family farms, with farms abandoned in less productive areas and absorbed by huge agri-food business (Harvey 2021). Intensification, with the abandonment of small-holding farms has been driven by the European Union’s common agricultural policy (CAP) which has dominated Europe’s farming since being introduced in 1962. Discussing the European Union’s common agricultural policy (CAP) EU agricultural commissioner J. Wojciechowski stated “The reason we lost 4 million farms in the EU was a mistake in the CAP. The support was too much to industrial farming and not enough to small and medium farms.”

The abandonment of European rural farm life is often framed as an economic and policy problem. Harvey’s (2021) observation that “…. there has been a huge intensification of farming and that small farms have been lost”, mask a horrible loss of heritage, history, and importantly, small-scale rural ways of life. Overlooked in abstract conversations is the hidden and very human dimension of the abandonment of small-scale household farming. Farms, barns, and farmsteads are places of regional and national history, speaking to historical past. There is the need to understand the overlook and hidden rural world, the commonalities and contrasts of the European rural life in the face of agro-buisness, the on-going transformative process of rural change in different countries, and how this process speaks to the past and future.

Women at Work in Contemporary France

Notre Dame, Indiana

This faculty grant aided in funding publication for a co-edited volume on the topic of women and work in contemporary France. The contributions for the volume tackled a wide range of work experiences from salaried work in academic, artistic, corporate, and working-class worlds to unpaid—reproductive, domestic—labor, illegal activities, and activism.

Website

Women's Work and Catholic Identity in Protestant Nations

The student traveled to the United Kingdom to conduct research at various archives on women’s organizations in the early twentieth century. The student’s research centers on women’s work and organizations, looking for how Catholic women understood gender roles and how anti-Catholic rhetoric was used to suppress work like labor and rights organizing. A significant portion of this research focuses on middle-class and elite converts to Catholicism, delving into questions about why these women chose to enter the Catholic Church at the height of anti-Catholic sentiments, how they constructed their faith independent of the influence of Catholic men, and how they understood their citizenship in Protestant nations. By expanding to consider the experiences of women outside of the U.S., the student draws out similarities and differences between how Catholic women in both nations negotiate their citizenship and identity in societies where they experienced anti-Catholicism.