Lives and Archives
Read the American Catholic Studies Newsletter’s recap of the 13th triennial Conference on the History of Women Religious.
Watch Katherine Massam’s keynote address, , “Rewilding Authority: Catholic Women Religious in Synodal Times.”
Conference on the History of Women Religious
June 22–25, 2025 · University of Notre Dame
From Sunday to Wednesday, June 22–25, 2025, the 13th triennial Conference on the History of Women Religious (CHWR) will convene at the University of Notre Dame to explore a variety of areas of interest related to the “lives and archives” of women religious. All sessions will take place in McKenna Hall. This conference is hosted by Notre Dame’s Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism and co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Spirituality at Saint Mary’s College.
Sessions at CHWR 2025 are free and open to all, but registration is required in order to receive conference materials and to join conference meals.
Registration has now closed. Please contact cushwa@nd.edu with any questions about registration or cancellations and refunds.
Schedule
The conference program book is now available to preview. Print copies will be provided to all registered attendees.
Preview the conference schedule
Katharine Massam (University of Divinity, Melbourne, Australia) will deliver the conference keynote, “Rewilding Authority: Catholic Women Religious in Synodal Times.”
Filmmakers Jillian Schultz and Leah Thompson will present a work-in-progress screening of You Should Never Blink, a feature-length documentary on the life of longtime sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, pop artist, and educator Corita Kent (1918–1986). Supported by a Production Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the film is slated for completion in late 2025.
On Tuesday evening, June 24, Sister Simone Campbell, S.S.S., will give the conference banquet address, “The Past as Prologue: History Enriching the Call of the Spirit Today.”
Conference guests will have the opportunity to visit Notre Dame’s Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, newly opened in December 2023, where screenprints by Corita Kent from the museum’s collection will be on special display.
Travel
Notre Dame is located in the Eastern time zone, 90 miles east of Chicago (Central time). Transportation to and from Notre Dame is available via South Bend International Airport (airport code SBN), located five miles from Notre Dame’s campus.
If you plan to fly into Chicago and complete your trip to Notre Dame by ground transit, please note that there is no longer a daily shuttle bus between the Chicago airports and Notre Dame’s campus. Visitors to campus often rent a car to travel between Chicago airports and the South Bend area. Uber and Lyft also offer transportation between Chicago area airports and South Bend/Notre Dame. To complete the trip via public transit, Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) service into downtown Chicago is available from both O’Hare International Airport (Blue Line) and Midway International Airport (Orange Line). From downtown Chicago, catch the South Shore Line commuter train which departs from Millennium Station (also known as the Randolph Street Station), located at the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street. The South Shore Line terminates at South Bend International Airport. From there, Notre Dame is about a 15-minute car ride, with service available from local taxi companies as well as Uber and Lyft. (The several steps between Notre Dame’s campus and either of Chicago's airports can average around four hours of travel time.)
Additional transportation options to South Bend include Amtrak and Greyhound Bus Lines. Amtrak offers rail service to South Bend as one stop on the Lake Shore Limited route, or to Niles (MI) as a stop on the Michigan Services route. The South Bend train station is located on the near west side of downtown South Bend. Taxis and cars are not typically waiting at the station, so telephone for cab service or arrange for an Uber pickup. The train station in downtown Niles is located on Dey Street, approximately 11 miles north of South Bend.
Parking
The welcome staff at Notre Dame’s Morris Inn (GPS-friendly address: 1399 Notre Dame Avenue, South Bend, Indiana) can direct those driving to campus to the nearest available parking. A limited amount of parking may be available in the small lot adjacent to the Morris Inn for a daily fee of $18. The next closest recommended visitor parking is in the Walsh Architecture Visitors Lot, about an 8- to 10-minute walk from McKenna Hall. Detailed information on campus visitor parking and how to pay is available at police.nd.edu/parking/guest-visitor-parking. A searchable campus map is available at map.nd.edu.
Registration and meals
Panel sessions are free and open to all, but registration is required in order to join conference meals and receive conference materials. The general registration fee is $185. Those attending only part of the conference may register for fewer days, pro-rated at $47 per day. Faculty, staff, and students of Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s, and Holy Cross may register for free. Conference meals are offered at no additional cost, but registrants must opt in to each meal they plan to attend. Light refreshments (coffee, tea, and snacks) will be available during breaks between sessions throughout the conference.
Registration has now closed. Please contact cushwa@nd.edu with any questions about registration or cancellations and refunds.
Lodging
Limited blocks of hotel rooms are being held for the conference at the following hotels. Please use the specific links or contact information below to reserve your room before the noted release dates:
The Morris Inn
1399 N. Notre Dame Avenue, South Bend, IN 46617
$159 (plus taxes) per night for a traditional king room, available June 22–25 · Notre Dame’s on-campus hotel and closest lodging to McKenna Hall (across the street and connected via indoor, accessible passageway) · breakfast is available at hotel restaurant but not included in room rate · overnight self-parking in the Morris Inn lot is $18 per day
Call 574-631-2000 or 1-888-320-9680 and reference “CHWR 2025” or book online using the CHWR 2025 booking link · release date: May 22, 2025 · cancel by 4:00 p.m. local hotel time at least 48 hours prior to arrival to avoid one-night penalty charge
Explore the Morris Inn website
The Inn at Saint Mary’s
53993 In. St. Route 933 South Bend, IN 46637
$139–168 (plus taxes) per night for a standard room, available 6/21–6/25 · breakfast included · approximately 1–1.5 miles from McKenna Hall · shuttle service is available to and from airport as well as conference sessions but must be requested in advance by guests
Call 574-232-4000 and reference “ND-Cushwa Center” to reserve in the conference room block · release date: May 21, 2025 · cancel 72 hours prior to arrival to avoid one-night penalty charge
Explore The Inn at Saint Mary's website
Ivy Court Inn & Suites
1404 Ivy Court, South Bend, IN 46637
$104 (plus taxes) per night, available June 21–25 · breakfast included · 20-minute walk from McKenna Hall · no shuttle service
Call 574–277–6500 to reserve in the room block “Conference on the History of Women Religious” or use group attendee code cnf-012 if booking online · release date: May 22, 2025 · cancel 48 hours prior to arrival to avoid one-night penalty charge
Explore the Ivy Court Inn & Suites website
Fairfield Inn & Suites
1220 E Angela Blvd, South Bend, IN 46617
$149 (plus taxes) per night for a standard queen room · available 6/21–6/25 · breakfast included · 10–15 minute walk from McKenna Hall · no shuttle service
Call 574-234-5510 and reference “CHWR 2025” or use the CHWR 2025 booking link to reserve in the conference’s room block · release date: May 23, 2025 · cancel 48 hours prior to arrival to avoid one-night penalty charge
Explore the Fairfield Inn & Suites website
Additional lodging may be available at a variety of hotels in the area surrounding campus, including:
Embassy Suites
1140 E Angela Blvd, South Bend, IN 46617
Call 574-400-2600 · 10–15 minute walk from McKenna Hall
Explore the Embassy Suites website
The conference committee
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- Christopher Allison, Dominican University
- Molly Gower, Saint Mary’s College
- Ann Killian, O.P., University of Notre Dame
- Deirdre Raftery, University College Dublin
- Jacqueline Willy Romero, Lanier Technical College
The Conference on the History of Women Religious (CHWR) was established in 1988 to assist historians in discovering and preserving the historical record of vowed women from the Middle Ages to the present, and to integrate their stories into the larger narratives of their times and places. Today, the CHWR includes scholars and archivists from the fields of history, religious studies, women’s studies, and sociology. Since 2012, the CHWR and its newsletter have been housed at the University of Notre Dame’s Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism.
Image: Sister Corita Kent stands before her work at Immaculate Heart College, Los Angeles, 1957. © 2024 Corita Art Center, corita.org, licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.