Catholic Modernity in the Americas: Land, Culture, Politics
The Cushwa Center’s 50th anniversary conference, Catholic Modernity in the Americas: Land, Culture, Politics, will convene Thursday to Saturday, April 10–12, 2025, at the University of Notre Dame. With more than 70 panel presentations, keynote and banquet addresses, and a special session of the Dolan Seminar in American Religion, participants will explore Catholic modernity as a global reality shaped and constituted by the Church’s former peripheries, not least South and North America. The conference will begin at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, and will conclude with lunch at noon on Saturday, April 12. All sessions will take place in McKenna Hall.
(Conference sessions are free and open to all, but participants must have registered in order to receive conference materials and join conference meals. Registration closed on March 30, 2025.)
Program
Preview the full conference schedule
The conference will begin on Thursday, April 10, with opening remarks at 2:00 p.m., followed by an initial session of concurrent panels. José Casanova (Georgetown University) will deliver the conference’s keynote address, “Three Phases in the Globalization of Catholicism in the Americas,” at 4:30 p.m. on April 10.
Provided meals will include the conference reception and banquet on Friday evening, featuring a presentation by Angela Alaimo O’Donnell (Fordham University), “The Holy Land is Everywhere: The Poetry of Witness and the Ignatian Imagination.”
On Saturday morning, April 12, the spring 2025 Jay P. Dolan Seminar in American Religion will serve as the conference’s concluding plenary session. William T. Cavanaugh will discuss his book The Uses of Idolatry (Oxford, 2024). Kevin G. Grove, C.S.C. (University of Notre Dame), Johannes Hoff (University of Innsbruck), and Atalia Omer (University of Notre Dame) will offer opening commentaries. Registered participants may request a copy of the book to read in advance of the conference.
Lodging
Limited blocks of hotel rooms are being held for the conference at the following four 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
$179 (plus taxes) per night for a traditional king or traditional queen room, April 9–12 | on-campus hotel across the street from McKenna Hall (also connected via indoor, accessible passageway) | breakfast is available at hotel restaurant but not included in room rate | overnight self-parking in the Morris Inn parking lot is $18 per day
Call 574-631-2000 or 1-888-320-9680 and reference “CMA 2025” or book online using this link to reserve in the conference’s room block | release date: March 10, 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
Embassy Suites
1140 E. Angela Blvd, South Bend, IN 46617
$189 (plus taxes) per night for king 1-room suite, April 9–12 | overnight parking is $12 per day | cooked-to-order breakfast included | 10–15 minute walk from McKenna Hall
Call 574-400-2600 and reference “Cushwa Center Conference – Catholic Modernity in the Americas” or use booking link | release date: February 19, 2025 | cancel before 11:59 PM local hotel time on April 7, 2025, to avoid cancellation fees
Explore the Embassy Suites website
Ivy Court Inn & Suites
1404 Ivy Court, South Bend, IN 46637
$109 (plus taxes) per night for a king standard or double standard room, April 9–12 | breakfast included | 20–25 minute walk from the conference location | no shuttle service (guests responsible for their own daily transportation to and from the conference)
Call 574-277-6500 to reserve in the room block “Cushwa Center Conference” or use Group Attendee Code CNF-021 if booking online | release date: March 9, 2025 | cancel 48 hours prior to arrival to avoid one-night penalty charge
Explore the Ivy Court Inn & Suites website
The Inn at Saint Mary’s
53993 State Rd 933, South Bend, IN 46637
$139 (plus taxes) per night for a standard room, April 9–12 | breakfast included | approximately 1–1.5 miles from the conference location | 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 “Notre Dame-Cushwa Center” to reserve in the conference’s room block | release date: March 9, 2025 | cancel 72 hours prior to arrival to avoid one-night penalty charge
Explore The Inn at Saint Mary’s website
Additional lodging may be available at a variety of hotels in the area surrounding campus, including:
Fairfield Inn & Suites
1220 E. Angela Blvd, South Bend, IN 46617
Explore the Fairfield Inn & Suites website
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. (In all, travel between Notre Dame’s campus and either of Chicago's airports using public transit can average around four hours.)
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
Registration has closed as of March 30, 2025.
Conference sessions are free and open to the public; registration is not required in order to attend panels, but participants must register in order to receive conference materials and to join conference meals.
The general registration fee is $175. Faculty, staff, and students of Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s, and Holy Cross may register at no cost. 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.
Please contact the Cushwa Center (cushwa@nd.edu; 574-631-5441) with any questions.
Image: Indigenous women and children in front of the mission church of Santa Teresita de Kavanayén in Venezuela’s Gran Sabana, c. 1955. Pictorial Parade via Getty Images.
