Celebrating Our Sorin Fellows of the Class of 2026
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture congratulates the 203 student Sorin Fellows who completed their studies at…
de Nicola Center Presents Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal to Wm. David Solomon
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture presented the 2026 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal—the nation’s most important award for heroes of the pro-life movement—to the family of the late Wm. David Solomon, associate professor of philosophy emeritus and founding director of the Center, at a Mass and dinner attended by more than 400 guests on May 1, 2026, at the University of Notre Dame.
Remembering de Nicola Center Faculty Fellow Ernest Morrell
Welcoming Visiting Scholar Rev. Roberto Regoli
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture is pleased to partner with the University of Notre Dame’s Global Catholic Research Initiative to welcome Rev. Roberto Regoli to the University as a visiting scholar for the Spring 2026 semester. Father Regoli is professor of contemporary Church history and former director of the Department of History and Cultural Heritage of the Church at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, as well as the recently appointed president of the Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger–Benedict XVI. During his residency with the de Nicola Center, Father Regoli will serve as the inaugural visiting fellow of Notre Dame’s Global Catholic Research Initiative.
Notre Dame to Award 2026 Evangelium Vitae Medal to Wm. David Solomon, Founding Director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame is proud to announce that the late Wm. David Solomon, associate professor of philosophy emeritus and founding director of the Center, has been named the recipient of the fifteenth annual Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal, the nation’s most important award for heroes of the pro-life movement. The medal will be presented to Professor Solomon’s family at a special Mass and dinner on Friday, May 1, 2026, at the University of Notre Dame.
Welcoming the Center's 2025–26 Graduate and Professional Student Mission Fellows
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture is pleased to welcome three new graduate mission fellows for the 2025–26 academic year: Solomon Fellows Rev. Brendan Baran, O.P., and Nicholas Ramirez, and Polking Fellow Joseph Mann.
As part of its mission as an interdisciplinary research center, the de Nicola Center annually awards two competitive fellowships for graduate and professional students at the University of Notre Dame who share the de Nicola Center’s interest in the moral and intellectual tradition of the Church, and whose research aligns with the mission of the Center. In addition to receiving a financial scholarship, during their time at Notre Dame Solomon and Polking Fellows play an active role in the life of the de Nicola Center, take part in regular Center events and conferences, and interact with its wide network of faculty and student fellows.
de Nicola Center Welcomes Visiting Scholars for 2025–26
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture is pleased to welcome two visiting scholars for the 2025–26 academic year: Myser Visiting Fellow Angela M. Knobel (University of Dallas) and Postdoctoral Fellow James Wilson (University of Cambridge).
As part of its mission as an interdisciplinary research center at the University of Notre Dame, the de Nicola Center annually welcomes visiting faculty, students, and postdoctoral fellows from around the world to pursue research projects in a vibrant scholarly community rooted in the Catholic intellectual, moral, and aesthetic tradition. During these research visits, scholars play an active role in the life of the de Nicola Center, taking part in regular Center events and conferences and interacting with its wide network of faculty and student fellows.
Celebrating Newman, Doctor of the Church
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture celebrates the July 31, 2025, news that Pope Leo XIV will soon declare St. John Henry Newman the newest Doctor of the Church, recognizing his personal sanctity and influential contribution to Catholic theology and doctrine. Jennifer Newsome Martin, director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture and the John J. Cavanaugh Professor of the Humanities at the University of Notre Dame, was a member of the committee of scholars that prepared the positio in support of Newman’s elevation to the honor.
de Nicola Center Collaboration with Nueva Cultura Project Supports Scholars in the Global South
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture and the Jacques Maritain Center jointly hosted thirty professors and graduate students from Central and South America for two weeks of interdisciplinary research and scholarly collaboration, July 14–27, 2025. Sponsored by the Nueva Cultura project at the Universidad de los Andes (UANDES) in Chile, the group visits Notre Dame for two weeks twice a year to conduct research in the Hesburgh Libraries, present their research and receive feedback from one another, network with Notre Dame faculty, and give and receive mentorship in academic scholarship.
de Nicola Center Hosts Plenary Session of Vatican AI Working Group
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture hosted the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education and its Center for Digital Culture during its fourth Plenary Meeting on Ethics for AI at the University of Notre Dame, July 9–11, 2025. Under the leadership of Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary of the dicastery's Culture section, the working group met to discuss ethical issues surrounding artificial intelligence in relation to education and human agency, work on two forthcoming publications, and engage with Notre Dame experts and students.
de Nicola Center Hosts 2025 Vita Institute Intellectual Formation Program
de Nicola Center Graduates 235 Sorin Fellows in Class of 2025
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture congratulates the 235 student Sorin Fellows who completed their studies at Notre Dame, Saint Mary's College, and Holy Cross College in 2025. In all, 150 undergraduates and 85 graduate and professional Sorin Fellows participated in commencement ceremonies this year, joining more than 800 existing Sorin Fellow alumni.
Three de Nicola Center Student Fellows to Clerk for US Supreme Court
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture is proud to have three former student fellows serving as clerks for the Supreme Court of the United States during the 2025–26 term.
Michael Bradley ’14, ’17 MTS, ’22 J.D., a recipient of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture’s Polking Family Fellowship at Notre Dame Law School and an alumnus of the Center’s Sorin Fellows program, will serve as a law clerk for Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito. William “Billy” Eisenhauer ’23 J.D., also an alumnus of the Sorin Fellows program for law students, will clerk for Chief Justice John Roberts. Caitlin Fennelly Ferguson ’21, a 2024 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and an undergraduate Sorin Fellow during her time at Notre Dame, will clerk for Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
de Nicola Center Mourns the Passing of Alasdair MacIntyre (1929–2025)
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture mourns the passing of Alasdair MacIntyre, permanent senior distinguished research fellow at the de Nicola Center and the Rev. John A. O’Brien senior research professor of philosophy emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, on May 21, 2025. He was 96.
Meet our 2024-25 dCEC Visiting Scolars: Lauren Spohn
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture welcomed visiting scholar Lauren Spohn, a Rhodes Scholar and doctoral candidate in philosophical theology at Oriel College, Oxford, to the University of Notre Dame during the spring 2025 semester. Spohn's scholarship focuses on the thought of St. John Henry Newman, especially exploring the relationship between faith and reason through the philosophical concept of analogy.
de Nicola Center Presents Evangelium Vitae Medal to Anthony & Phyllis Lauinger
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture presented the 2025 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal—the nation’s most important award for heroes of the pro-life movement—to Anthony J. and Phyllis W. Lauinger of Tulsa, Oklahoma, at a Mass and dinner attended by more than 400 guests on May 3, 2025, at the University of Notre Dame.
“Both in the intimacy of their family life and in their respective professional lives—Tony with his tireless defense of the unborn through legislative efforts in his home state of Oklahoma, and Phyllis as a volunteer physician at St. Francis Xavier Clinic, which offers medical care at no charge to women, children, and men who are uninsured or underserved in their community—the Lauingers model pro-life values with sincerity, generosity, and humility,” said Jennifer Newsome Martin, director of the de Nicola Center and associate professor in the Program of Liberal Studies with a joint appointment in the Department of Theology.
Remembering W. David Solomon, Founding Director of the Center for Ethics and Culture
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture mourns the passing of its founding director, W. David Solomon, associate professor of philosophy emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, on February 26, 2025. He was 81.
Nearly 500 students, faculty, and staff to attend 2025 March for Life in Washington, D.C.
On January 24, nearly 500 students, faculty, staff, and graduate students from the University of Notre Dame, Holy Cross College, and St.…
de Nicola Center Celebrates Ratzinger Prize in Rome
Representatives from the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture traveled to Rome to celebrate the 2024 Ratzinger Prize and this year's winner, Cyril O’Regan, the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. The ceremony was held at the Sala Regia at the Vatican on November 22, 2024, and was live streamed to a worldwide audience via Vatican News.
Thanks in part to an international partnership undertaken by the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, the Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI presented O'Regan the 2024 Ratzinger Prize in Theology, which is awarded annually to "scholars who have distinguished themselves with particular merit in the activity of publication and/or scientific research."
dCEC hosts largest Fall Conference in Center's history
More than 1,200 scholars, students, and guests from around the world gathered at Notre Dame for the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture’s 24th annual Fall Conference, “Ever Ancient, Ever New: On Catholic Imagination,” October 31–November 2, 2024. The conference featured more than 175 papers, panels, film screenings, and performances highlighting the enduring and inexhaustible nature of the Catholic imagination.
de Nicola Center presents 24th annual Fall Conference, “Ever Ancient, Ever New: On Catholic Imagination”
More than 1,200 scholars, students, and guests from around the world registered to attend the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture’s 24th annual Fall Conference, “Ever Ancient, Ever New: On Catholic Imagination.” The conference, which begins Thursday, October 31, and concludes on November 2, will feature more than 175 papers, panels, and performances across three days of conversation on the enduring and inexhaustible nature of the Catholic imagination.
de Nicola Center to Award 2025 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal to Anthony and Phyllis Lauinger
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture will award the 2025 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal—the nation’s most important award for heroes of the pro-life movement—to Anthony J. and Phyllis W. Lauinger of Tulsa, Oklahoma, at a Mass and dinner on May 3, 2025, at the University of Notre Dame.
“Tony and Phyllis Lauinger have worked side-by-side for more than 60 years to defend the inherent equal dignity of all members of the human family, born and unborn,” said Jennifer Newsome Martin, John J. Cavanaugh Associate Professor of the Program of Liberal Studies, associate professor in the Department of Theology, and director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. “Through their professional efforts and personal witness, especially in their local community and in their home state of Oklahoma, Tony and Phyllis have consistently modeled the self-emptying love that the Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal was created to honor and celebrate.”
de Nicola Center Cosponsors Church Life Africa Conference Series for Lay Formation
Ratzinger Prize Awarded to de Nicola Center Keynote Speakers
A collaboration between the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture and the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation has helped the University of Notre Dame secure its second-ever winner of the prestigious Ratzinger Prize.
Cyril O’Regan, Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, will receive the award in a private audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican on November 22, 2024. Professor O’Regan offered the opening keynote address at the de Nicola Center’s April 2024 conference on the intellectual legacy of Pope Benedict XVI, hosted in partnership with the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation and the Benedict XVI Institute.
Eminent Professors Join Notre Dame Faculty with Full Support from de Nicola Center’s Mission Stewardship Initiative
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture is pleased to welcome its newest Mission Faculty members to the University of Notre Dame: Paul Scherz has joined the Department of Theology as the Our Lady of Guadalupe Professor, and China Scherz will serve as the Kristin Yudt Professor of Global Affairs in the Keough School of Global Affairs.
Through generous support from de Nicola Center benefactors, and working in close collaboration with University faculty and administration, the dCEC’s Mission Stewardship Initiative funds the hiring and retention of elite scholars who augment the mission of Notre Dame, enrich the University’s engagement with the Catholic tradition, and contribute to her reputation for unparalleled academic excellence.
2024 Vita Institute Provides Intellectual Formation for Pro-Life Leaders
dCEC Hosts Conference on Pope Benedict XVI’s Legacy
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, in partnership with the Vatican’s Foundation Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI and the Benedict XVI Institute, hosted the second part of an international conference at the University of Notre Dame April 7–9, 2024, reflecting on the intellectual legacy of Pope Benedict XVI.
The conference, one of the first to focus on the late pontiff's legacy following his passing in December 2022, included contributions from both emeritus and emerging scholars from around the world who discussed six of the most influential addresses delivered by the Holy Father during the course of his papacy.
dCEC Presents Evangelium Vitae Medal to Dr. Elvira Parravicini
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture presented the 2024 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal—the nation’s most important award for heroes of the pro-life movement—to Dr. Elvira Parravicini, founding director of the Neonatal Comfort Care Program and professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center, at a Mass and dinner attended by more than 500 guests on April 27, 2024, at the University of Notre Dame.
dCEC Hosts Colin Cutler for Concert and Conversation
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture welcomed singer-songwriter Colin Cutler for a concert and conversation in front of a standing-room-only…