Arts and Letters (Non-departmental) (AL)

Driscoll Scholars: Navigating Notre Dame is an experiential course designed to help you make a good start to your collegiate career and to become familiar with important resources available to you at the University of Notre Dame. You will work both collectively with your classmates to review the varied requirements of your academic programs and the Notre Dame Core Curriculum and individually to design your particular plans for coursework, research, campus involvement and professional development. You will have the opportunity to meet with academic advisors and faculty mentors; to learn about campus events, organizations and services; and to build a scholarly community through fellowship and visits to campus landmarks. The course will meet on select Friday afternoons in the fall semester and is meant to complement the work you are doing in IDST 105 at Holy Cross College.

Driscoll Scholars: Navigating Notre Dame is an experiential course designed to help students make a good start to their collegiate career and to become familiar with important resources available at the University of Notre Dame. Students work both collectively to review the varied requirements of academic programs and the Notre Dame Core Curriculum and individually to design particular plans for coursework, research, campus involvement and professional development. Students will have the opportunity to meet with academic advisors and faculty mentors; to learn about campus events, organizations and services; and to build a scholarly community through fellowship and visits to campus landmarks. The course will meet on select afternoons in the spring semester. It is a continuation of AL 10001 in the fall semester.

In this course, students will work on the foundations of scientific thinking in order to use research as a complement and tool in planning a user-centered design project. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to propose, articulate, and formulate viable research that provides a solid foundation for a design intervention.

In this course, you will deepen your perception by starting with elementary drawing and calligraphy sessions. This part of the course is aimed at developing this sensitivity and understanding the origin and nature of forms as a basis from which you will be able to analyze, compare and argue. You will also learn and practice how the nature of drawing is transformed in the computer. As this is an introduction (due to the complexity of the subject), you should consider this course as a starting point from which you will embark on your own path of knowledge and personal taste.

This course is our gateway to the exciting world of contemporary global film and literature. We'll investigate how directors and writers author their messages through genre, cinematography, editing, narrative, and point-of-view. In addition to analyzing the textual qualities of these works, we will ask broader questions about studying global arts. How can we read across cultures while respecting differences? How are films and literature changed by translation? How do shared films and literature help us find meaning and community in a diverse world? By the end of this course, we will be cosmopolitan audiences ready to explore global film and literature on our own.

Building Core Competencies in the Health Professions will help students deepen their interests in the health professions and build their "toolkit" of core competencies needed for a successful application process. This course, although ideal for sophomores, is also open to juniors and seniors planning to enter a health profession. Students will work both collectively to review the varied requirements of the health professions and also individually to design particular plans for the necessary coursework and documentation, clinical and volunteer opportunities, research, co-curricular engagement, and standardized testing. Students will develop their own profiles for professional school application with resources and support from campus offices and national organizations. Students will reflect on the unique advantages of a liberal arts education for a fulfilling career in the health professions.

"required pre-departure course for students enrolled in Short Summer Study Abroad courses. Enrollment requires departmental approval corresponding to specific summer study abroad courses."

"required pre-departure course for students enrolled in Short Summer Study Abroad courses. Enrollment requires departmental approval corresponding to specific summer study abroad courses."

What do the paintings and sculptures in museums and the manuscripts and antique books in archives tell us about our collective past? What do they tell us about how value, importance, and worth have been ascribed across time? As users of these cultural collections, how might we address inequities and silences within them? The first half of this 1-credit course provides a lightning introduction to the history of cultural collecting and its many issues. Through the Zoom window students will apply a critical gaze to the collections held in our campus repositories - the Snite Museum of Art, Rare Books and Special Collections and University Archives - and in museums and archives beyond the Notre Dame campus. In the second half of the course, students will create a single online exhibition around the theme of diversity using our campus collections. This exhibition will be published on the Hesburgh Library's Digital Exhibitions and Collections page and students will be given curatorial credit for their work. The course schedule will begin with seminar-style meetings and move to individual work, one-on-one sessions with instructors, peer review and project evaluation.

Are you able to confidently answer the question - what life do I want beyond college? The Notre Dame student experiences huge personal growth during their time on campus through academics, social groups, extra-curriculars, and athletic commitments. However, the time dedicated to these endeavors, combined with the speed at which college-life operates, often leaves the student with little time to purposefully reflect upon these experiences and how each shapes their individual values, interests, skills and personality (V.I.P.S). Ultimately, the student lacks the ability to confidently answer the question - what life do I want beyond college? This course uses career development as the vessel to help students explore themselves, the working world, and how to connect the two through classroom exercises and experiential learning. Furthermore, the course will equip students with tools that they will use throughout their professional lives. Topics will include discernment (of self and the working world), personal branding, articulation of VIPS, networking, and professionalism. Assignments will include reading and self-reflection, completion of self-assessments, class participation, conducting interviews (informational & behavioral) with alumni, exploration of career tools, and a potential day trek up to Chicago.

Students are placed to work as interns in various organizations ranging from commercial businesses to charitable foundations. Specifics of the internship expectations and assignments depends on the international location.

This course will introduce students to research strategies and techniques in the humanities, social sciences, and arts, and to the academic and scholarly resources available in London. Students will learn how to identify, locate, and analyze a range of sources and materials, experiment with generating, exploring, and refining research questions, and work on their research communication skills, both written and oral.

This course will introduce students to research strategies and techniques in the humanities, social sciences, and arts, and academic and scholarly resources in London. Students will visit different types of research facilities in and around London, learn how to identify, locate, and analyze a range of sources and materials. During the course, students will investigate areas for independent research using a wide range of sources, both primary and secondary and physical and electronic, such as manuscripts, diaries, interviews, archivial photographs, artwork, and archaeological finds. Students will be expected to refine their research topic over the course of the semester, in communication with their faculty advisor, and develop a draft research prospectus by the end of the course.

Students participate in engaged learning activities with organizations in the city of Rome in a variety of educational and institutional settings in keeping with their academic and disciplinary areas of interest. One initial, mid-term and final meeting with the instructor aims at providing context for guided reflection on the students' experiences as interns with organizations in Rome.

Is it possible to understand the immense phenomenon of Rome in a semester of site visits, historical studies, literary readings, film viewings and lectures? Of course not. Nevertheless, students in this course will start to understand Rome by experiencing the complexity of its urban network; by studying the ruins of antiquity and the splendors of Renaissance, Baroque and 18th Century Rome; by tracing the epic adventure that reunited Italy and led to the establishment of Rome as its capital after twenty centuries (so that today, Rome is at the heart of two states: the Italian Republic and of Vatican); by revisiting the tragedies of modern times, including fascism and the civil war; and by learning about the Rome of postwar and contemporary Italy.

The internal structure of Planet Earth profoundly affects what we experience on its surface. Our ideas about it derive from integrating a variety of geological and geophysical data sets. These include observations on rock types, rock ages and geological structures, as well as data from modern instruments, such as GPS stations, gravimeters, magnetometers and seismometers, This module explores how such data inform us about what lies beneath our feet, from the Earth's surface to its centre. You will consider how plate tectonic theory and other concepts help (or not!) to explain our planet's main geological and geographical features. You will explore how and why rocks deform, and you will investigate how this relates to the nature and distribution of earthquakes. Through a user-friendly geographical information system, you will visualise and analyse a range of online global geo-datasets. These will enable you to examine variations in Earth's topography and shallow structure, and to work out past and present plate tectonic motions on Earth.

For internships taken during the regular semester. Credit toward graduation for up to two internships is available for College of Arts and Letters students upon approval by a dean in the Office for Undergraduate Studies. Students are required to provide a goals and objectives statement and to obtain a letter of offer for the internship in advance of beginning the internship, to keep a daily journal over the course of the internship, to have a letter of evaluation provided upon completion of duties, and to write a reflection paper.

For internships taken prior to the semester of registration for the internship. Credit toward graduation for up to two internships is available for arts and letters students upon approval by a dean in the Office for Undergraduate Studies. Students are required to provide a goals and objectives statement and to obtain a letter of offer for the internship in advance of beginning the internship, to keep a daily journal over the course of the internship, to have a letter of evaluation provided upon completion of duties, and to write a reflection paper.

Do you like working with kids and playing sports? This zero- or one-credit, Arts and Letters internship offers the opportunity to help coach local youth in a variety of sports M-Th (after 2:00pm for elementary; after 3:00pm for middle school). Students will be placed in pairs with teams and coaches from different South Bend Community School Corporation elementary and middle schools, and volunteer twice a week throughout the semester. In addition to receiving mentorship from South Bend School coaches and staff, students will learn coaching strategies to foster children’s physical, social, emotional and moral development. Additional requirements include attending about 5 evening class meetings on Tuesdays from 7-8pm, signing an Internship Agreement, and writing short midterm and final reflections. This class is co-taught by SMAC Director Annie Coleman and Internship Coordinator Christine Becker with support from community partners. Students may register for either 1 or 0 credit hours. Please contact acolema3@nd.edu or visit smacminor.nd.edu/events to learn more.

Cross-college or cross-discipline directed readings of merit that do not conform to traditional departmental designations.

This is a zero-credit course for students engaged in independent research or working with a faculty member or a member of the University staff on a special project. Registration requires a brief description of the research or project to be pursued and the permission of the director of the Summer Session.

This course is intended for students in the College of Arts & Letters and is an overview for business principles, marketing strategies, and application of case studies.

Not sure how to get started with your career development? This course will help you begin your journey. You will learn about and engage in the career development process. You will also learn tangible skills related to researching career options, networking, resume writing, and developing your professional online presence. Career development is a lifelong journey. Learning the tools and techniques needed to navigate career transitions now will aid you throughout your life.

If you are in this course - and the whole Sheedy Family Program - it is because you are seeking something. You have questions like, How can I connect my business major with my minor in psychology, or Spanish, or economics? Where can I learn the moral standards that will guide my actions in the business world? What do I tell my well-meaning relatives when they ask of my liberal arts major, "What are you going to do with that?" How are degrees in business and the liberal arts mutually enriching - a "sum greater than the parts" situation? Those questions are the reasons that this course, the gateway course in the Sheedy Family Program in Economy, Enterprise, and Society, exists. Together, we'll probe big philosophical questions related to the SFP's three key terms: economy, enterprise, and society. You'll learn to dialogue with peers - a vital "real world" skill with deep roots in the liberal arts - and to flexibly integrate ideas from across disciplines. You'll grapple with texts in genres from ancient philosophy to modernist poetry to contemporary film. We look forward to thinking in community with you.

This one-credit course offers a multi-narrative lens on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to understand how we got to October 7 and its aftermath, and to think about where we go from here. Co-led by two Notre Dame faculty members, one Jewish and one Muslim, the course will engage with two books–Anita Shapira’s Israel: A History and Rashid Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine–as well as other shorter readings. Alongside the class sessions, students will be expected to attend public fora addressing such issues as the multiple narratives; international law questions arising in connection with the conflict; the role of universities in Israeli and Palestinian civil society; the distinctive vision of a Catholic university in relation to the conflict; peacebuilding in the midst of extreme polarization; and possible ways forward. In some cases, we will have the opportunity to meet separately with the speakers at these fora. The course does not envision, in the first instance, reaching agreement, but rather, improving the quality of our disagreements. We hope that passionate advocates on either side of the conflict will feel welcome in this course alongside others who are simply curious and wish to learn more about one of the most important conflicts in the world. (This course will only meet 10 times. Those specific dates will be determined at a later date based on speaker availability.)

This course is aimed to provide a basic understanding of how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and satellite imagery can be used to visualize and analyze environmental data. Students will learn basic techniques for analyzing, manipulating and creating geospatial data in both pixel-based (satellite imagery and digital terrain models) and vector based (point, line and polygon representation of spatial data) formats. Students will also learn how acquire high resolution satellite imagery and other GIS data from online data servers.

Global Service Learning (GSL) is an experiential learning program presented in collaboration with Ikaya Primary School in Kayamandi. It is comprised of 60 in-class hours and 45 hours of on-site community engagement at the 2nd year level. The class covers theory on education, sustainable development, social justice, and community engagement. The community engagement component takes place in a partner school and requires students to work in small groups with their teacher to design and implement basic lessons for 5 and 6-year-old learners.

This course muct be pre-approved by a Notre Dame department for specific departmental credit within a major.

Rwanda is currently depicted as a successful post-conflict nation. This is due to the country's efforts to sustain its economic growth while addressing political security as well as the psycho-social needs of its population, following the 1994 genocide against Tutsis and the civil war. Many actors are contributing to that success story and through a four-week internship with a community based organization, research organization, business, government institution, or international NGO, students get to learn more about the challenges and opportunities of the reconstruction process. The aim of an internship is to enable students to gain valuable experience working in a post-conflict context and enhance their skills in an international internship environment.

The Rome International Scholars Research Seminar is a 3 credit course and one of the distinctive features of the Rome International Scholars program. The course introduces students to the nature of research, its methods and its resources (both primary and secondary) in Rome and Italy. The main aim of the course is to support students through the successive stages of a research project from the initial idea, through the development of the research and the completion of a final outcome (e.g. a final paper), in collaboration with individual advisors. Students will learn how to develop and formulate their research questions, and how to identify, locate, and interpret a variety of scholarly resources crucial to their projects. Both individually and as a class students will work on developing and refining their research communication skills, both written and oral. Students will be invited to consider building up on their research project in The Rome International Scholars Research Seminar is a 3 credit course and one of the distinctive features of the Rome International Scholars program. The course introduces students to the nature of research, its methods and its resources (both primary and secondary) in Rome and Italy. The main aim of the course is to support students through the successive stages of a research project from the initial idea, through the development of the research and the completion of a final outcome (e.g. a final paper), in collaboration with individual advisors. Students will learn how to develop and formulate their research questions, and how to identify, locate, and interpret a variety of scholarly resources crucial to their projects. Both individually and as a class students will work on developing and refining their research communication skills, both written and oral. Students will be invited to consider building up on their research project in Rome for a senior thesis. - 70% of the grade comes from the student's research project. Each student is guided by a faculty member back on campus or in Rome whether at the RGG or partner universities. Students meet with their advisors for a minimum of 10 contact hours evenly distributed in the course of the semester according to a timeline that the student and advisor agree upon at the start of the project. The advisor is responsible for guiding the student from the early stages of the project, providing timely feedback on the research proposal, timeline, bibliography, outline, intermediate and final drafts of the project, and for communicating the final grade on the final project to the Rome Director of the RIS Program.  - 30% of the grade for this course comes from the participation in a research seminar, which meets weekly during the semester in Rome. The research seminar provides opportunities for the students to build an academic cohort within which each student shares and presents their research at different stages of the project in more informal and formal formats, and discuss research methods, tools, challenges, best practices, based on their own experience and on the discussion of assigned readings relevant to these topics. The seminar offers a special focus on research resources through a series of visits to several prominent research libraries in Rome (e.g. the National Library of Rome, the library of the American Academy in Rome, the Historical Archive of the Jewish Community of Rome, the library of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO),  etc.) and their collections, guided by expert librarians and archivists at each institution.

In this course, we will consider literary texts dealing with the issues of "between languages." Readers and writers do not always work with their primary language; instead, they are sometimes proficient in multiple languages but choose to work with one; or work with, across, or between different languages. We will read literary and literary-theoretical texts dealing with literary issues arising from such situations. Topics of discussion include: writing in non-native languages, rethinking the "mother tongue," and working with gaps between languages and untranslatability. All readings are mostly comprehensible in English, but students should be willing to work with languages other than English (whether they can read them or not).

This course will explore the academic, personal and spiritual dimensions of studying abroad. It will do so with a specific focus on being in London, on the art of William Shakespeare, and on the significance of these things for reflecting constructively on your study abroad experience. Engaging with a Shakespeare text from various literary, theological and personal perspectives, students will explore the intersection between local cultural encounters and their intellectual growth. Course activities will allow students to reflect on the text in relation to their own fields of study and areas of interest; and they will allow students to work in community, with the opportunity of learning from one another. By filtering their study abroad experience through the lens of one of London’s most culturally relevant figures, the class will equip students with tools to process and articulate what they are going through as study abroad students and global citizens. This course will encourage them to approach their time in London as academically rigorous, culturally enriching and existentially meaningful. Through a shared set of site-specific experiences, discussions and assignments, students will be prompted to increase their intercultural competency, and understand both themselves and their study abroad location in more depth, approaching a range of activities with curiosity, openness, and self-reflection.

Mandatory 2 credit field work component to Poverty and Development course. Graded S/U.

Lectures by Mexican doctors on healthcare in Mexico, traditional medicine, physician perspectives, expectations of patients. Students spend six hours/week in Mexican hospitals, shadowing doctors and doing some clinical work under medical supervision. They take a trip to the indigenous town of Cuetzalan where they meet a traditional healer and witness first hand practices of traditional medicine.

Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War is one of the greatest historical narratives ever produced, telling the story of the epic struggle between democratic Athens and oligarchic Sparta and their allies that took place between 431 and 404 BC. But it is much more: along the way Thucydides presents deep analyses of the nature of democracy and other political regimes, the moral hazards of empire, justice among nations, and the causes of war. He penetrates to the roots of political life in human nature. His reflections are thus not only of historical interest but take us to matters of permanent relevance in human affairs. We will study the whole work in the recent edition of Robert B. Strassler, The Landmark Thucydides (The Free Press, 1998). We will also consider the reaction to cultural and moral aspects of the war as expressed in Plato's dialogue, Gorgias.

Seven hundred years after his death and the publication of the Divine Comedy, Dante's great poem remains as vital and challenging today, as it was when it first appeared complete in 1321. Dante's Commedia narrates an epic journey through the realms of the afterlife—Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. It undertakes a study of the condition of souls after death (status animarum post mortem), but it also challenges its readers to an experience of self-examination and a survey of the condition of our souls in this life (status animarum in vitam). This course invites a focused reading of the Divine Comedy in relation to the aims and ends of education, specifically a liberal arts education directed to freeing minds and souls for the discovery and propagation of truth, goodness, and beauty and for the sake of human flourishing. As we shall see, Dante builds into his poem a curriculum of study, including not only reflections on the Trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) and Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy) but also engagement with the whole scope of what we call the "humanities" - those disciplines dedicated to understanding human things, including history, politics, literature, psychology, philosophy, and theology. In our reading of the Inferno, we will undergo an education in moral reasoning and interpersonal interpretation. Then we will climb our way up the Purgatorio and experience the lessons of works and worship and the integral formation of the imagination. Finally, we will ascend through the Paradiso and learn about love to gain a love of learning amid the prismatic colors of what Dante calls luce intellettual piena d'amore ("intellectual light full of love"). In that light, we will reflect upon Dante's abiding relevance for education today as a torch for those who walk in darkness and find themselves "midway in the journey of our life" (Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita). Required texts: Inferno (Trans. Robert & Jean Hollander. Anchor Books, 2002), Purgatorio (Trans. Robert & Jean Hollander. Anchor Books, 2004), and Paradiso (Trans. Robert & Jean Hollander. Anchor Books, 2007).

This course includes the intercultural academic learning modules designed to accompany international summer internships. Enrollment is limited to Arts and Letters students undertaking verified, approved international summer internships. For further details on course requirements and permission to register, please contact Prof. Mary Davis at mdavis35@nd.edu. This course counts as general College Internship credit. Students may register for additional general College Internship courses, but only one credit may count toward the AL degree's required 122 credits.

Credit toward graduation for up to two internships is available for College of Arts and Letters students upon approval by a dean in the Office for Undergraduate Studies. Students are required to provide a goals and objectives statement and to obtain a letter of offer for the internship in advance of beginning the internship, to keep a daily journal over the course of the internship, to have a letter of evaluation provided upon completion of duties, and to write a reflection paper.

Cross-college or cross-discipline directed readings of merit that do not conform to traditional departmental designations.

A research course for the capstone essay for the minor in European Studies. May not be double-counted for thesis credit in a major.

This is a zero-credit course offered by Notre Dame International. The course helps visiting undergraduate international students make a meaningful transition to collegiate life at Notre Dame and in the United States by integrating their academic, co-curricular and residential experiences. Students will also study intercultural communication theories which will help them to navigate cultural differences in the US. Lectures, group discussions, group activities.

This is a zero-credit course for students engaged in independent research for working with a faculty member or a member of the University staff on a special project. Registration requires a brief description of the research or project to be pursued and the permission of the director of the Summer Session. This course is taken as an indication of the student's status on campus and is meant to allow the registered student to use the University facilities as the Summer Session permits. No course work is required.