“Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value." That's the working motto of the Catholic Social Teaching and Financial Decision-Making Research Project. The goal of the project is to understand the current budgeting and financial decision-making processes and procedures in representative Catholic institutions and to translate Catholic Social Teaching into budget-relevant points of reference.

"A meaningful life begins with meaningful work. There’s something truly transformative about the dignity found in meaningful work. Having a job can give an individual the means and the motivation to overcome past adversities, provide for loved ones, and achieve their dreams," Cincinnati Works. Luke Meyer, a sophomore accounting major at Notre Dame, joins us to talk about his Summer Service Learning Program (SSLP) in his hometown of Cincinnati, OH working for a non-profit called Cincinnati Works.

For more than ten years now the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures has partnered with the center to develop one of the most robust community-based learning (CBL) programs in language in the country. Today we’re joined by the creators of a translation class at Holy Cross in South Bend that brought Notre Dame and Holy Cross students together around numerous translation projects that are now being picked up by dual language schools in Chicago and Los Angeles.

David Silberklang, Ph.D., is a senior historian at the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem and the speaker at the center's annual Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C., Lecture. In this episode, Silberklang shares stories from the Holocaust, looking at the importance of Jews' efforts to maintain human dignity and human life in the face of the overwhelming forces and impossible odds arrayed against them. 

What do labor unions and the Church have in common? For Clayton Sinyai, the answer to that question is a countercultural emphasis on solidarity. Sinyai is the executive director of the Catholic Labor Network, an association of Catholic union activists and clergy committed to Catholic Social Teaching on labor and work. In this episode, he discusses his experiences in a non-unionized workplace and the movement to connect churches with unions to promote the cause of workers.

Quinn McKenna is a Notre Dame junior who participated in the center's Global Learning and Living Community (GLLC) during the summer of 2021. This program allowed ISSLP participants an opportunity to live in an intentional community in South Bend/Notre Dame, conduct virtual global service-learning projects, and engage in learning about global issues localized in South Bend and the region.

Kevin Cassidy is the director of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Office for the United States and Canada. We discuss the importance of a human centered approach to work which looks after the individual, the institutions, and how we push forward on making decent work available to all women and men around the world. Kevin shares how COVID-19 has impacted international employment and what recovery must entail if it's to be successful.

Madeline Owen is the newly selected Valedictorian of the University of Notre Dame's class of 2021. Madeline reflects on her experiences at the Center over the past four years and how they've shaped her. Madeline shares, "The opportunity to not just learn within the walls of the classroom but beyond the walls of a classroom; to physically travel to places, talk to people, look them in the eyes, hear their stories was something that I was incredibly surprised by and an opportunity I just...

In 2018 when the Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing sex abuse in the Catholic Church was released, as a Pittsburgh native and lifelong Catholic, Kevin Hayes was shaken. In reaction to that report laity came together for a listening session and from that came the framework for Catholics for Change in our Church. They coalesced around focus groups: support for abuse survivors, financial transparency, addressing clericalism, strengthening the clergy, pathways to lay leadership, and...

Rabbi Yonatan Neril is the Founder and Executive Director of the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD). The ICSD reveals the connection between religion and ecology and mobilizes faith communities to act. The scale of the ecological crisis becomes more severe each year, and with over 6 billion people in the world identifying with a religion there's a huge under-leveraged ability for humanity to turn the collective shift.

In 2017 it was discovered that neighborhoods in South Bend had a higher rate of lead poisoning than in Flint, MI, for families that were affected there was despair and loss of hope. Heidi mobilized a team of experts and community partners and received a grant from the CSC to launch the Lead Innovation Team. Their mission is rooted in prevention, finding lead in homes before children are poisoned through test kits. What started as a $7,000 seed grant has led to over $6 million to tackle this...

Pivoting from a pre-med major to a potential career as a social worker, and discovering the importance of intersectionality and how environmental science relates to environmental justice are just two takeaways that Matthew Auborg and Killeen McCans gained from the Social Concerns Seminars. Matty and Killeen join us to share the insight they have gained from participating in Seminars leadership, and in particular the impact the pandemic has had on their learning.

Dr. Cara Ocobock, Assistant Professor in Anthropology at Notre Dame, teamed up with Morgan Munsen, a fourth year graduate student in Psychology, and the Science Policy Initiative for a project called "Making at-home science and representation accessible to low-income students during COVID-19." A project supported by the Center, it sought to address the educational backslide students experience due to COVID-19 with no-cost science kits for at-home enrichment and entertainment.

In 2020 as the world shifted online, the CSC was not immune. In lieu of the traditional Summer Service Learning Program, an 8-week immersion where students partner with community organizations across the country, the Virtual Summer Service Corp was born. Aysha Gibson and Jonathan Hauke participated in the virtual program and shared their surprise at how intensive, immersive, and meaningful the program was.

Heidi Witte is an alumna of Notre Dame and now hosts the Children's Liturgy of the Word on Catholic TV. Heidi shares how her passion for working with children led her to develop a children's Liturgy of the Word for her home parish. When COVID began Heidi and her husband blended her teaching background with his video production expertise to transfer their program online. Their program has reached over 2,000 viewers and recognizes the dignity of children by making the teachings of the faith...

Black@ND is a live show and podcast that discusses the experiences of Notre Dame’s African American students, current and alumni, and the steps taken to survive in a community that lacks representation of color. Episodes cover topics such as stereotyping Black men as athletes, campus policing, how whites can become allies, and interviews with the Black pioneers that paved the way. Emorja Roberson is the creator and co-host and the Center for Social Concerns now serves as the academic home for...

Poverty is a complex issue encompassing a wide range of experiences. Our guest is Connie Snyder Mick, the Director of academic affairs at the CSC and the Poverty Studies Interdisciplinary Minor. In 2016 an encampment of people formed in an unsheltered viaduct on Main St in South Bend. Connie led a case study that looked at this encampment through the eyes of different stakeholders to better understand some of the causes, consequences, and responses that might reflect encampments in other places.

It's one thing to study empathy, barriers to work, and identity in the classroom, but it's a whole other to partner with action-oriented organizations in the field to find solutions that create jobs and economic conditions for growth. Developed by Associate Professor of Management at the Mendoza College of Business, Viva Bartkus, Business on the Frontlines examines the impact of business in rebuilding war-torn societies. Chosen by Forbes as one of the top 10 most innovative MBA courses in the...

One of Time’s 100 most influential people for 2020, Sr. Norma Pimentel MJ is a sister with the Missionaries of Jesus and Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. She provides oversight in the areas of emergency assistance, housing, counseling, and pregnancy care to the Rio Grande Valley. Sr. Norma shares the reality at the border, especially in light of COVID-19 and recent hurricanes. She expresses the call at the core of our faith to care for the dignity of all...

Emmanuel Katongole, along with two other Ugandan priests, began discussing the problems of deforestation, poverty, and land depletion in rural Uganda. After researching successful agricultural training models and consulting with ecological and farming leaders, they bought a 95-acre plot of land in Luweero, Uganda to plant a forest and set up a model sustainable farm called the Bethany Land Institute. Their aim isn to address the challenges of ecology, food insecurity, and poverty in the rural...

Joining us today are Dave Lassen, the Community Engaged Learning Program Director, and Lulu Moyo, the Community Engaged Learning Assistant Program Director at the CSC. Together they work with community partners in the South Bend area to match with faculty, staff, and students at Notre Dame. Dave and Lulu share the challenges that community partners face during this time as well as the creative ways they have bridged the gap between the ND and local partners to continue to foster community.

Abolish Private Prisons is a non-profit organization founded for one purpose: using the United States court system to end the practice of locking people up for profit. Executive director of Abolish Private Prisons, John Dacey, and Associate Director, Robby Craig, join us to discuss the issue of the privatization of prisons, racism, mass incarceration, and criminal justice reform. Learn how we can help eradicate this modern day form of slavery by visiting www.abolishprivateprisons.org.

CST helps you to look at things through an evaluative lens, taking into account not only concepts and empirical data but also lived experiences and stories. Reynold Hamar, a junior finance major with CST and Education minors at Notre Dame, joins us on the podcast to discuss how the CST Minor led him to an internship working with the Special Olympics and the insights he's gleaned from that.

High mortality rates of black & brown people from COVID-19, stricter policing of these communities in regards to social distancing & the concerning case of Ahmaud Arbery's death remind us that racial injustice persists. This year the CSC explored the theme of racial justice through the Act Justly course that brought together students, faculty & staff to reflect on the historical struggle for racial justice. Participants journeyed on an immersion tracing key moments of the Civil...