de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture

News

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.

Registration Available for 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 register.

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.

Two Key Senior Staff Promotions at de Nicola Center

Two senior staff leaders of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, Margaret Cabaniss and Laura Gonsiorek, have received promotions, following the Center’s extraordinary success and increased impact, catalyzed by its five-year strategic plan.

“The de Nicola Center has seen a tremendous increase in impact and success following the generous naming gift by the de Nicola Family, announced in 2019,” said O. Carter Snead, director of the de Nicola Center. “We have been blessed by the support of the College of Arts and Letters during this time, including our incredible dean, Sarah Mustillo, as well as the generous contributions of a growing network of individuals who support the Center’s distinctive mission to share the Catholic moral and intellectual tradition, both here at Notre Dame and in the broader public square.”

Read the story here.

Support the de Nicola Center's Mission

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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