The leading center for scholarly reflection within the Catholic moral and intellectual tradition
-
Legacy of Pope Benedict XVI
The dCEC is cosponsoring a series of panel discussions on the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI, launching on November 29, 2023, at the Pontifical Gregorian University. The series will continue in April 2024 at Notre Dame.
-
2024 Evangelium Vitae Medal
The 2024 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal will be presented to Dr. Elvira Parravicini, founding director of the Neonatal Comfort Care Program, at a celebration on April 27, 2024.
-
Fall Conference 2023
Our 2023 Fall Conference, "Dust of the Earth: On Persons," was held November 2–4, 2023. See the schedule on the conference homepage. Recordings of many of the talks will soon appear on our YouTube channel.
-
Ethics and Culture Cast
The Center's podcast series, Ethics and Culture Cast, features lively conversations with fellows, scholars, and friends of the dCEC.
News 
Snead to conclude transformative directorship of de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture in June 2024
O. Carter Snead, Charles E. Rice Professor of Law and director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, will conclude his directorship of the dCEC at the end of June 2024, a position he will have held for twelve years.
“Serving as director of the de Nicola Center for the past twelve years has been one of the greatest privileges and blessings of my life,” Snead said. “While I am certainly sad to see that time come to a close, my heart is filled with gratitude for what our team has been able to accomplish.”
Snead was appointed director of the Center for Ethics and Culture in 2012, taking over from founding director David Solomon, professor emeritus of philosophy at Notre Dame. Renamed the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture following a $10 million endowment from the de Nicola family in 2019, the de Nicola Center has become the world’s foremost center for interdisciplinary research, teaching, and discourse within the Catholic tradition.
dCEC to Present 2024 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal to Dr. Elvira Parravicini
Dr. Elvira Parravicini, founding director of the Neonatal Comfort Care Program and associate professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center, will receive the 2024 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal—the nation’s most important award for heroes of the pro-life movement—at a Mass and dinner on April 27, 2024, at the University of Notre Dame.
Parravicini has dedicated her medical career to caring for pre-born and newborn children. A native of Milan, Italy, she completed her pediatric residency and neonatal fellowship at the University of Milan, as well as a certification in palliative medicine at Harvard University. After moving to the United States in 1994, she established the Neonatal Comfort Care Program (NCCP) at Columbia University Medical Center in 2008 to address the complex medical and non-medical needs of infants affected by life-limiting or life-threatening conditions.
Learn more about Dr. Parravicini.
Join us at our 23rd Annual Fall Conference (Nov. 2–4, 2023)
At our 23rd annual Fall Conference, "Dust of the Earth: On Persons," the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture will consider the concept of persons. More than 140 presentations will explore the ethical, legal, and social concept of personhood; persons with disabilities; artificial intelligence; divine persons and the Trinity; the role of personalism in the thought of John Paul II; bioethics and environmental ethics; and the broader concept of persons as engaged across the disciplines, including philosophy, theology, political theory, law, history, economics, and the social sciences, as well as the natural sciences, literature, and the arts.
Learn more about this year's conference theme and view the schedule.
dCEC Director's Statement on the Anniversary of Dobbs
On the anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, we pause first to give thanks for the tens of thousands of lives saved—babies who would not be here but for the Supreme Court’s overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. We also celebrate the Court’s courage in declaring that our nation’s founding document does not, in fact, preclude the legal protection of the unborn from the violence of abortion.
But we also rededicate ourselves to working together, especially with our friends and neighbors who disagree with us, to build a culture of life and civilization of love in which mothers, babies (born and unborn), fathers, and families are protected and supported before, during, and after the birth of a child.
Read Professor Snead's full statement here.
Support the de Nicola Center's Mission
All of our work at the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture is aimed at one goal: to share the richness of the Catholic moral and intellectual tradition through teaching, research, and dialogue, at the highest level and across a range of disciplines. In so doing, we enrich Notre Dame’s distinctive intellectual ecology—and we bring the university’s voice into the academic and public conversations concerning the most vital and complex matters of ethics, literature, art, music, social sciences, philosophy, theology, history, political theory, applied and theoretical science, public policy, and law. For more information on how to support the work of the de Nicola Center, visit our support page.
Ethics and Culture Cast
Our podcast features lively conversations with fellows, scholars, and friends of the de Nicola Center. Episodes released every other Thursday during the academic year. Suggestions and feedback welcome at cecpodcast@nd.edu.
Podcast Episode List
