The Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Public Good awarded grants and fellowships totaling over $600,000 to more than 150 scholars and students from its fall 2025 application season. This funding showcases the Franco Institute’s commitment to liberal arts scholarship at Notre Dame.
Close to 50 undergraduates received funding for student-led research projects, and 50 graduate students and over 60 faculty received support for their scholarship. These faculty and students represent over a dozen disciplines and departments across the humanities and social sciences.
“Research in Arts & Letters is thriving, and it’s tremendously exciting to be able to champion both independent and collaborative projects,” said Kate Marshall, Director of the Institute. “We are seeing faculty and students across the arts, humanities and social sciences moving in new directions as well as contributing to traditional fields.”
Here are just a few of the research projects and grant programs that the Franco Institute supported this semester.
Large Research Grant
These internal grants can help fund preliminary work or data collection on large projects.
Essaka Joshua, English, Disability and Romantic Theatre 1780-1840
Cheng Liu, Psychology, Emerging Pathways for Next Generation STEM Education: Applications of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing for Cognitive Diagnosis
Abigail Ocobock, Sociology, The Uncoupling of Identity and Behavior: A Longitudinal Study of Bisexuality
Guillermo Trejo, Political Science, Where Are the Good Samaritans in Violent Democracies? Designing and Evaluating a Citizen-Led Public Campaign to Stimulate Empathy and Solidarity with 2,000 Victims of Enforced Disappearance in Acapulco, Mexico
Large Henkels Conference Grant
Henkels grants contribute to the costs of an academic conference on campus or in one of the University's global locations; a series of lectures or performances; or a single, significant visiting lecturer or performer.
Steven Alvarado, Sociology, Migration Research Conference 2026
Michael Coppedge, Political Science, International Conference on AI-Driven Modeling and Forecasting for Democratic Development and Decline (AIM4D Conference)
Brian Krostenko, Classics, Politics, Power, and Rhetoric in the Generation before Cicero
Nicholas Lombardo, Theology, The Holy Spirit and the Trinity: The Idea of a Circular Procession
Clíona Ní Ríordáin, English, and Brandon Menke, English, What Miracle: New Revelations on the Prose Poem
Events Co-Sponsorship Grant
Events Co-Sponsorship Grants of up to $10,000 support annual meetings of societies or lectures and events primarily sponsored by another unit at the University of Notre Dame.
Alexis Torrance, Theology, Annual Conference for the Byzantine Studies Association of North America 2026
Expanding Research Access Grant
These internal grants may support open access publishing, translations, and diverse scholarly products designed to expand the reach of scholarly research.
Christina Bambrick, Political Science, Constitutionalizing the Private Sphere: A Comparative Inquiry
Joris Geldhof, Theology, Monotheism in Christian Liturgy
Perin Gürel, American Studies, Türkiye, Iran, and the Politics of Comparison
Vanesa Miseres, Romance Languages and Literatures, Mujeres en Tránsito: Viaje, Identidad y Escritura en Sudamérica (1830-1910)
George Sikharulidze, Film, Television, and Theatre, Wish I Didn't Know Now, What I Didn't Know Then
Graduate Working Groups
The Franco Institute's Graduate Working Groups provide doctoral students with additional resources and support to explore questions best addressed through interdisciplinary perspectives.
Westin Smith (Romance Languages and Literatures) and María Alejandrina Tinta-Segovia (Romance Languages and Literatures), Approaching and Teaching Racial and Environmental Resilience
Christopher Howard (Theology) and Maria Sermersheim (Theology), The Inspiration of Scripture in Biblical Studies
Sarah Baber (English) and Nidhi Surendranath (English), Poetry, Song, and Sound
Hyunsoo Kim (English), Miranda Macfarlane (English), Charlie Serigne (English), and Pixie Shen (Philosophy), Queer Studies
Theresa Rice (Theology) and Ciara O'Rourke (Philosophy), Women Between the Church and Academy
Originally published by at franco.nd.edu on December 03, 2025.