Fr. TED Talks: Ideas from the Catholic Social Tradition That We Find Inspiring

Honoring the legacy of legendary University of Notre Dame President Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., the 2024-25 Notre Dame Forum hosted “Fr. TED Talks: Ideas from the Catholic Social Tradition That We Find Inspiring,” a two-night festival in October 2024.

The event was held on the Library Lawn and featured a series of short talks exploring how the pillars of Catholic social tradition animate our lives together, as part of the 2024-25 Notre Dame Forum theme, “What Do We Owe Each Other?”

“Catholic social thought gives us robust tools to think about how to engage with people whose perspectives are different from our own, and how we might promote healing in the midst of suffering, division and injustice,” said University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. “I look forward to hearing the various talks as we reflect on our responsibilities to one another as individuals and as part of the Notre Dame community.”

The talks were co-sponsored by the Office of the President, in partnership with the Notre Dame Ethics Initiative and the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good.

“The Catholic social tradition is the beating heart of Notre Dame’s community, and we’re thrilled to partner with Fr. Dowd and the Notre Dame Forum on a two-day festival to celebrate all of the ways this spirit inspires us,” said Meghan Sullivan, the Wilsey Family College Professor of Philosophy and director of the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good and the Notre Dame Ethics Initiative.

“We hope that this will become another chapter in Notre Dame’s tradition of building up our hearts alongside our minds.”

The idea for the event originated with the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good’s undergraduate core team, explained Adam Gustine, associate director of signature course fellowships, education and formation. “I was impressed with the students’ commitment to highlighting voices from every corner of campus, bringing unique perspectives to the question of what we owe each other.”

Each night featured four 10-minute Fr. TED Talks, ending with addresses by Notre Dame alumnus Dr. Jim O’Connell ’70 on Monday and Father Dowd on Tuesday.

O’Connell, the president of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, has dedicated his career to caring for the homeless population. He has served as the national program director of the Homeless Families Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is the editor of “The Health Care of Homeless Persons: A Manual of Communicable Diseases and Common Problems in Shelters and on the Streets.”

In addition to Father Dowd and O’Connell, six speakers were selected through an application process open to all members of the Notre Dame community. The speakers include alumni Nathaniel “Nano” Burke ’23 and Alex Sedinaj ’15; undergraduate students Toni Akintola ’26, Meera Bhakta ’26 and Monica Caponigro ’25; and Cecilia Lucero ’84, director of the University’s Balfour-Hesburgh Scholars Program.

The event will be emceed by Iliana Contreras ’19, the internal engagement program director in Notre Dame’s University Relations.

Since its establishment in 2005, each year the Notre Dame Forum invites campus-wide dialogue about issues of importance to the University, the nation, and the larger world. This year’s theme, chosen by Father Dowd, invites reflection on our responsibilities to one another. In a world where ideological and cultural divisions seem to have deepened, the Forum aims to bring people together across differences to face the most pressing challenges of our time.

This article was written by Carrie Gates and originally published on forum.nd.edu on October 17, 2024.