Arts and culture

Through music, literature, performance, and visual art, Notre Dame explores how the arts connect and unify us.

Ceiling of the Mary Queen of Families Chapel in the Raclin Murphy Museum of art
  • Woman The Hunter Cover

    News

    ‘Woman the hunter’: Studies aim to correct history

    Cara Ocobock When Cara Ocobock was a young child, she often wondered at the images in movies, books, comics and cartoons portraying prehistoric men and women as such: “man the hunter” with spear in hand, accompanied by “woman the gatherer” with a baby strapped to her back and a...

  • A white man wearing a gray winter jacket and a lanyard is standing next to prison bars.

    Article

    Prisons of our own perceptions

    Scott Jackson’s Acting Shakespeare class is a transformative experience.

  • Michael Schreffler, director of Notre Dame’s Arts Initiative and associate dean for the arts in the College of Arts and Letters

    News

    Michael Schreffler appointed director of new Notre Dame Arts Initiative

    Michael Schreffler, director of Notre Dame’s Arts Initiative and associate dean for the arts in the College of Arts and Letters Art historian and College of Arts and Letters Associate Dean for the Arts Michael Schreffler has been named director of the University of Notre Dame’s new Arts Initiative emerging...

  • Main entrance to the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art.

    Article

    The new Arts Gateway: Raclin Murphy Museum of Art

    To blend past and present, art and teaching, step inside to see the sights and hear the sounds of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, open to the public Friday, December 1.

Arts and Culture

Fighting for our cultural heritage

Two Notre Dame professors equip Ukrainian students to identify, record, and preserve their culture in the midst of war

A golden mosaic wall with a large red cross, with ornate cushioned pews in the foreground covered by a blanket.
  • Duncan and Ruth Stroik pose for a photo in front of their four-columned home.

    Article

    Raffaella, Aloft

    A dancer whose too-short life was a prayer to share the beauty of her art performs something of a healing miracle in death: inspiring a rare new, original ballet in her memory.

  • A person stands on a stage, lit by spotlights, with their arm extended while performing.

    Article

    Fighting for Shakespeare for all

    When Christy Burgess started the Robinson Shakespeare Company in 2008, the idea of the youth acting troupe one day performing in England would have been laughed off as an impossible dream.

  • A dinosaur skull, with sharp teeth and a dark brown color, is displayed on a stand.

    Article

    Saving Peck's Rex

    A Notre Dame paleontologist, one of the world’s largest T. rex specimens and a tense standoff in the badlands of Montana

  • Black and white photo of the Giants baseball team with halftone texture.

    Article

    In the presence of Giants

    How Notre Dame students and faculty are uncovering the legacy of South Bend's underrepresented baseball teams.

  2. A smiling blonde haired woman in glasses wears an orange and blue polka dot scarf outdoors.

    Video

    ND:30 - Natasha Lyandres

    What can rare books and cultural artifacts teach us about who we are? Librarian Natasha Lyandres acquires and preserves unique collections in East European studies and the visual arts for Notre Dame's Hesburgh Libraries.

  3. A smiling woman with wavy brown hair in a teal blazer looks towards a blonde-haired person, with bookshelves behind her.

    Video

    ND:30 - Laura Knoppers

    Can a poem written over 350 years ago still shape how we see the world today? Seventeenth-century literature scholar Laura Knoppers believes it can.

  6. A young man in a green Notre Dame

    News

    Notre Dame joins Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru)

    “Arts-activated and informed campuses like Notre Dame are critical to strengthen the national fabric of the arts in higher education.” - Maryrose Flanigan, a2ru Executive Director The University of Notre Dame has joined over 40 colleges and universities driving arts research in higher education through a new institutional membership with...

  7. A smiling man in a dark suit, colorful patterned shirt, and a lapel pin looks up from a table covered in architectural drawings. The drawings feature detailed building designs, including one prominent red brick building.

    Article

    Drawing on the past

    Cutting-edge technology and time-tested techniques inform historic preservation and instruct students in building anew.

  9. A collage of architectural sketches, watercolor paintings of historic buildings, and urban planning maps.

    Article

    Form and function

    The School of Architecture marks 50 years of the Rome Studies Program

  10. A woman in green glasses and a dark blazer reads an open book at a brown desk. Several books are on the desk. Behind her, two computer monitors display a dark head silhouette with a red brain section.

    Video

    ND :30 - Kate Marshall

    Kate Marshall studies American fiction in the 20th and 21st centuries. Her research explores the genres writers are using to speculate about the human in a world of changing environments, technologies, and ways of being together.

  11. Framed caricature sketch of a man with a mustache, facing left, signed and dated March 18, 1954, leaning against books on a wooden shelf.

    Article

    G.K. Chesterton and Notre Dame

    The writer’s things add a new dimension to the University’s presence in London

  12. Video

    Hall of Casts

    In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, cast-plaster fragments of classical and historical buildings were collected so working-class people and students who couldn't afford to travel would be able see some of the world's greatest art and architectural masterpieces.

  13. A glowing archway in a dark, brick-like space.

    Article

    Heritage in the kiln

    Renewal and sustainability through traditional brickmaking.

  14. Gallery view in the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame, with framed religious paintings on royal blue and white walls. Light wood floors reflect the artwork.

    Photo Essay

    In the galleries

    The visitor experience in the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art.

  15. A white castle with multiple towers and spires sits by a calm lake with a white swan, surrounded by a lush green forest.

    Article

    The inspiration place

    Writers and artists find space to create at Ireland’s Kylemore Abbey

  16. A mounted wound roll of microfiche showing very small, highly detailed images of book scans.

    Article

    Legacy in preservation: Notre Dame safeguards irreplaceable manuscripts

    How a relationship born out of the Cold War made the Hesburgh Libraries an essential destination for medieval research.

  17. A man in a red polo shirt stands and gestures while speaking to a diverse group of adults sitting at a table in a classroom.

    Article

    Fighting for literacy across America

    Inclusive ways of reading, writing and speaking amplify diverse student voices

  18. An artist paints a section of a stained-glass window depicting Saint Joseph and Jesus using a blue hue from a watercolor palette on a light table.

    Article

    Painting with light

    New class explores the history, significance, and making of stained glass.

  19. Stylized image of a person with dark hair, looking upwards. A nighttime view of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Seine River is superimposed over their face and chest. A faded image of Notre Dame's facade overlays the upper right corner.

    Article

    Rising from the ashes

    Notre Dame architecture students get a behind-the-scenes look at the restoration of Cathedral of Notre-Dame.

Discover and engage
  1. Broadly smiling woman with dark hair in a navy jacket with gold buttons, arms crossed, in front of bookshelves.

    Podcast

    What happened to the traditional American family?

    The American family has changed dramatically over the past four decades, raising urgent questions about marriage, economic stability, and child well-being.

  2. Statue of Sacred Heart of Jesus, two lit candles, surrounded by worn black and brown shoes and scattered red tokens on wood.

    Article

    A saint of our own?

    The humble piety of Notre Dame cobbler Brother Columba inspires a canonization push.

  3. Golden Dome and Basilica of the Sacred Heart silhouetted against a red and orange sunset, reflected in a Notre Dame lake.

    Photo Essay

    A model March

    Semester in full swing, snow, sun, fun, madness, and mulch.

  4. Congregation and clergy gather at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart with a purple banner and white-draped coffin.

    Photo Essay

    Remembrance and appreciation

    Lou Holtz, 1937–2026

  5. Smiling man with gray hair wearing a navy blazer, light blue dress shirt, and blue striped tie with orange accents, seated in a conference room with artwork and a monitor visible in the blurred background.

    Article

    A dignity movement

    2026 Laetare Medalist Timothy Shriver

  6. Smiling older man with short gray hair wearing a gray blazer and light blue shirt, set against a deep blue background overlaid with colorful financial candlestick chart graphics in teal, pink, and red.

    Podcast

    How do you measure success?

    Mendoza professor Joe Holt joins Jenna Liberto to talk purpose-driven goals, meaningful work, and redefining success.

  7. Students and three priests in white vestments gather for a night mass around a lit snow chapel and altar, snow-covered Sorin Hall in background.

    Photo Essay

    Between winter and spring

    The month in photos, February 2026

  8. Side-by-side black and white portraits. On the left, a man with wavy hair and a patterned blazer is shown in a grainy halftone style. On the right, Father Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C., in a clerical collar, looks thoughtfully to the left.

    Article

    The press vs. the power

    Observer founder Robert Sam Anson had a contentious yet strong relationship with ND President Father Hesburgh.

  9. A woman with short dark hair smiles slightly while looking off-camera. She wears a brown, fleece-lined winter jacket. In the background, snow rests on dried plants in front of a tan brick wall.

    Podcast

    Cold plunges and unicorns

    Anthropologist Cara Ocobock reveals what extreme cold reveals about our bodies and human resilience, and why hunting a “unicorn” is harder than it looks.