Graduate Certificate in Community Engagement

The Center for Social Concerns offers a Graduate Certificate in Community Engagement and Public Scholarship. All graduate students at the University are eligible to participate. The Certificate is built upon three elements: knowledge, immersion, and disciplinary reflection. For more information, see the Center’s graduate student site.
In addition to specific opportunities offered, many Center for Social Concerns workshops and events will count toward the Graduate Certificate. See the Center calendar for further information.

Current Certificate Workshops and Events


Previous Events


2019 RCR/Ethics Workshop (Graduate School)

Monday, January 14, 2019 at 07:30 AM until 05:00 PM DeBartolo Hall

The Graduate School’s Ethics and RCR workshop engages graduate students in STEM and quantitative Social Sciences with real world ethical dilemmas and practical advice, and offers them the opportunity to hold more theoretical discussions about the nature of ethical and socially conscious research. The workshop is comprised of wide-ranging sessions covering such topics as Data Management, Conflicts of Interest, Collaboration and Mentoring, Diversity and Inclusion, Animal and Human Subjects, and Integrity in Academic Publishing, along with the larger social significance of research. This day-long workshop explores the intersections between our personal, professional, and public obligations, and how to respond to possible ethics violations in your workplace.

Pre-registration for this event is required. Previous workshops have reached full capacity quickly, so register soon. Lunch will be provided for all registrants. Register via gradconnect.nd.edu.


Faculty Institute – Center for Social Concerns

The Center’s Faculty Institute is a focused exploration of community engagement. Spots are open to graduate students; participation largely covers the content (workshop) elements of the Graduate Certificate. Apply through the Center for Social Concerns by February 1, 2019.

June 4-6, 2019


Previous Workshops/Events


Fall 2018

Community Engagement and Higher Education: History, Contexts, and Future

Jay Brandenberger, Ph.D.
October 29, 2018 – 3:30 to 5:00 pm – Geddes Hall

Colleges and universities increasingly advocate community engagement as a means to apply learning, serve community interests, and enhance relevance. Explore the history of such engagement, current paradigms, and future potentials. Especially relevant for graduate students hoping to integrate disciplinary interests with social concerns. Required session for the Graduate Certificate. Open to all disciplines. Register via GradConnect. For more information, contact Patrena Kedik @ the Center for Social Concerns.

Mind: Seeking Understanding through the Integration of Faith and Reason. 

Monday, September 24, 2018
3:00 PM, Annenberg Auditorium (Snite Museum of Art)

Panelists: Jabbar Bennett, Northwestern University, Evelynn Ellis, Dartmouth College and Bruce King, St. Olaf College

Moderator: Eve Kelly, Notre Dame

This session is part of a five-part series sponsored by the Office of the Provost entitled: Five Pillars of a Holy Cross Education and Inclusive Excellence. The series welcomes university diversity officers from across the nation, and asks participants how Notre Dame’s Catholic character calls it to be a place that is not simply welcoming but also inclusive. The session counts toward the Graduate Certificate. Registration is not required, though please share your plans to attend with the Patrena Kedik at the Center for Social Concerns: pkedik@nd.edu.

Religious Identity, Diversity, and College Student Outcomes

September 21, 2018: 11:30 am to 1:15 pm [lunch included]

This session will explore research findings related to college students’ religion, spirituality, and worldview. What religious or non-religious identities do college students hold, and how common are these? What are students’ experiences and outcomes when they have interactions with people from different faiths or attend a college or university whose religious affiliation differs from their own? And how does college students’ engagement with religion or spirituality on campus shape desired outcomes?

Dr. Bowman is a former postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Social Concerns who is now a national leader in research on higher education and its impacts.

All are welcome. Graduate students register via GradConnect. Others, please contact Patrena Kedik at pkedik@nd.edu.

More about Nicholas Bowman

Nicholas A. Bowman is a professor in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program and the director of the Center for Research on Undergraduate Education at the University of Iowa. Previously he served as an assistant professor at Bowling Green State University and a postdoctoral research associate at the at the University of Notre Dame. His research uses a social psychological lens to explore key topics in higher education, including college diversity, student success, rankings, admissions, and quantitative methodology.

Bowman is an associate editor of the Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research and serves on the editorial boards of Review of Educational Research, The Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, and Journal of College Student Development. His work has been published in leading education journals, and he is a coauthor of How College Affects Students: 21st Century Evidence that Higher Education Works. More information about his work is available here.

Heart: Discerning Our Personal Vocation in Service to the Church and World

Monday, August 27, 2018
3:00 PM, Annenberg Auditorium (Snite Museum of Art)

Panelists:  Lawrence Burnley, University of Dayton, Esteban Del Río, University of San Diego, and Roland Smith, Rice University

Moderator: Rev. Kevin Sandberg, C.S.C., Notre Dame

This session is part of a five-part series sponsored by the Office of the Provost entitled: Five Pillars of a Holy Cross Education and Inclusive Excellence. The series welcomes university diversity officers from across the nation, and asks participants how Notre Dame’s Catholic character calls it to be a place that is not simply welcoming but also inclusive. The session counts toward the Graduate Certificate. Registration is not required, though please share your plans to attend with the Patrena Kedik at the Center for Social Concerns: pkedik@nd.edu.


Previous Workshops/Events


Spring 2018

The Labor Question in Higher Education Today

March 23, 2018, 8:30 to 10:30 am  >  Breakfast provided
Graduate Workshop (others welcome)

Dan Graff, Ph.D

Professor of the Practice, Department of History and
Director, Higgins Labor Program at the Center for Social Concerns

Human beings spend the vast majority of their adult lives performing work (both paid and  unpaid), yet scholarship on work remains peripheral to most academic disciplines. Why is  something so central to our lives so understudied? Participants in this workshop will explore how  they might integrate “the labor question” into their scholarly projects. In addition, they will reflect  on the rapidly changing work rules and relationships that are transforming the nature of teaching  and research in the contemporary university. Open to all disciplines. Register via GradConnect. For more information, contact Patrena Kedik @ the Center for Social Concerns.


Integration Meeting: Graduate Certificate in Community Engagement

March 29, 2018, 4:00 to 5:30 pm
Reflection session for those intending to complete the Certificate in May 2018

Jay Brandenberger, PhD

Director of Graduate Student Initiatives

Meet with other graduate students intending to complete the Certificate this academic year. Discuss progress toward criteria, and explore means to complete final essay/portfolio/integration assignment. Open to those new to the Certificate as well, but focused on those intending to complete by May. Refreshments served. Reservation requested: contact Patrena Kedik @  pkedik@nd.edu.


Global Service Learning Summit

Dignity and Justice in Global Service Learning
This conference presents highly relevant learning opportunities for graduate students. Learn more.
April 15 to 17, 2018 at Notre Dame

Recognition/Celebration: Certificate Completion

May, 2018 (Date to be determined)
For those receiving the Graduate Certificate this year. If you have completed the requirements,  including meeting with the director of the Certificate, join us for a brief recognition with other  University colleagues. Contact Patrena Kedik for more information.

Faculty Institute – Center for Social Concerns

The Center’s Faculty Institute is a focused exploration of community engagement. Spots are open to graduate students; participation largely covers the content (workshop) elements of the Graduate Certificate. Apply through the Center for Social Concerns by January 29, 2018,
June 5-7, 2018

 Fall 2017

Center Research Seminar: Good Writing and Wicked Problems in Poverty Studies

Connie Snyder Mick, PhD
October 10, TBA, 8:30 to 9:30 am at Geddes Hall
No advanced registration necessary; sign in at entry.
Dr. Snyder Mick, Academic Director of the Center for Social Concerns and Co-Director of the Poverty Studies Interdisciplinary Minor, asks if good writing can solve wicked problems like poverty. See event listing.

Restorative Justice and Engaged Learning: Cultivating Our Capacities for Justice

Susan Sharpe, PhD
October 26, 2017 3:00 to 5:00 pm Geddes Hall

Restorative justice and engaged learning are very different approaches, applied in different contexts, yet they share some core assumptions and priorities. This interactive session will introduce the construct of restorative justice and invite participants to consider three things: how the two approaches intersect, how both approaches might help cultivate our personal and collective capacities for justice, and where or how such cultivation might be enhanced in participants’ professional fields. Register through GradConnect. For more information, contact Patrena Kedik.


Unlearn Fear + Hate: Community Engagement through the Arts

Kurt Gohde and Kremena Todorov, Transylvania University
November 6, 2017, 12:30 to 1:30 pm
Geddes Hall Coffee House [coffee provided]
Register through GradConnect.

In this research seminar, Kurt and Kremena will demonstrate the different manifestations of Unlearn Fear + Hate as artwork, including the concept of community as artwork (how people become part of a community by becoming part of an artwork). In this context, artwork can be seen as a vehicle for people to connect and transcend self as much as a means of individual expression. They will also describe how Transylvania University adopted and integrated Unlearn Fear + Hate on a university-wide basis. By incorporating literature, art, and members of the community themselves, Unlearn Fear + Hate promotes discussion and listening in the hopes that we can overcome perceived differences and intolerances within our society.


Community Engagement and Higher Education: History, Contexts, and Future

Jay Brandenberger, Ph.D.
November 16, 2017 – 8:30 to 10:45 am, Geddes Hall

Colleges and universities increasingly advocate community engagement as a means to apply learning, serve community interests, and enhance relevance. Explore the history of such engagement, current paradigms, and future potentials. Especially relevant for graduate students hoping to integrate disciplinary interests with social concerns. Required session for the Graduate Certificate. Open to all disciplines. Apply via GradConnect. For more information, contact Patrena Kedik @ the Center for Social Concerns.


Workshops — Spring 2017


Catholic Social Tradition and the Capabilities Approach

Clemens Sedmak, PhD (organizer)

Visiting Professor, Center for Social Concerns
February 3, 2017 8:30 am to 1:30 pm (includes lunch)

The “capabilities approach,” developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, has emerged as one of the most influential contribution to development discourse, development planning and development work evaluation in the 20th and the 21st centuries. The Capabilities Approach (CA) has influenced grassroots NGOs as well as the development work of the United Nations. Catholic Social Tradition (CST), on the other hand, has also played a major role in development work, especially within the context of Church-based and Church-led development initiatives and efforts. In 2017, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Populorum Progressio, Pope Paul VI’s encyclical on development. The workshop will explore common ground and similarities, but also differences and tensions between the two readings of the person, social realities and development. This is an exploratory workshop, i.e. a gathering of scholars that intends to identify key questions, essential common ground, crucial differences, and areas for further research. This series of Center for Social Concerns workshops will address key topics of the spectrum of social concerns and the Catholic Social Tradition. The workshops are open to faculty, staff, graduate, and undergraduate students. Schedule.

There is no fee; continental breakfast and a simple lunch will be provided.

Location: Geddes Hall, Coffee House

Graduate students, please register through GradConnect.
Others, contact Patrena Kedik or Paula Muhlherr at the Center for Social Concerns.

Community Engagement and Higher Education: History, Contexts, and Future

Jay Brandenberger, Ph.D.
March 2, 2017 — Thursday, 3:00 to 5:00 pm

Colleges and universities increasingly advocate community engagement as a means to apply learning, serve community interests, and enhance relevance. Explore the history of such engagement, current paradigms, and future potentials. Especially relevant for graduate students hoping to integrate disciplinary interests with social concerns. Required session for the Graduate Certificate. Open to all disciplines. Apply via GradConnect. For more information, contact Patrena Kedik @ the Center for Social Concerns.


Catholic Social Tradition National Conference

March 23 to 25, 2017 at the University Notre Dame

This bi-annual conference presents salient opportunities to learn about engagement in the contexts of Catholic Social Tradition. Please visit the 2017 CST Conference website for more information and registration.


Just Wage

A Workshop in Catholic Social Tradition

Friday, March 31, 2017 — 8:30 am to 1:30 pm

The workshop will explore criteria for a just wage in the light of Catholic Social Tradition such as: “family wage,” “asset-enabling,” “proper proportionality” according to type of work, productiveness, conditions of work place, opportunity-generation, “contextual justice” (conditions of business), the “preservation of integrity” and additional rights such as right to rest, right to pension, right to accident insurance, right to social security connected with maternity.

Location: Geddes Hall, Coffee House


Faculty Institute – Center for Social Concerns

June 13-15, 2017

The Center’s Faculty Institute is a focused exploration of community engagement. Spots are open to graduate students: Apply by February 9th, 2017


 Workshops — Fall 2016


Design Thinking and Community Engagement

Ann-Marie Conrado, MA

Assistant Professor, Industrial Design, Art, Art History, and Design
September 30, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm in Geddes Hall, Coffee House

Lunch provided

This session examines insights from design thinking (integrating empathy, perspective-taking, engaged research, and iteration) in relation to community-based learning. Join us to explore how design thinking can be applied to community challenges. Encouraged for all graduate students (not just the artistically oriented) with an interest in creative efforts toward the public good.
Graduate students, please register through GradConnect.
Others, contact Patrena Kedik at the Center for Social Concerns

Finding CST in Small Things: Catholic Social Tradition and Everyday Life

Clemens Sedmak, PhD (organizer)

Visiting Professor, Center for Social Concerns
October 28, 9:00 am to 1:30 pm (includes lunch)
This workshop will explore the role of Catholic social teaching in ordinary life. Held in cooperation with students studying CST at ND.
Graduate students, please register through GradConnect.
Others, contact Patrena Kedik or Paula Muhlherr at the Center for Social Concerns.

What Do Our Partners Think?: Community Perceptions of University Engagement

James Frabutt, PhD

Office of the Provost

Jay Caponigro, MDiv

Office of Public Affairs

November 17th, Thursday, 11:45 am to 1:30 pm in Geddes Hall, Coffee House

Lunch provided
Graduate students will explore the rationale and methods used to assess community perception of a college/university’s public engagement. Presenters will a review of a recent case study that systematically gathered the input of key economic, educational, and non-profit leaders about the engagement efforts of the University of Notre Dame.
Graduate students, please register through GradConnect.
Others, contact Patrena Kedik at the Center for Social Concerns