American Catholic Studies Newsletter · Spring 2025
volume 52, number 1
From the director
Since our founding by Jay Dolan in 1975, the Cushwa Center has initiated and expanded cross-disciplinary conversations about Catholic Christianity in academia and the wider public . . .
What’s the matter with U.S. Catholics? New perspectives on Romanity and Americanism in dialogue
If there’s something distinctive about the American Catholic experience, according to Susanna De Stradis, it may be the tension between Americanism and what she calls “Romanity.” Newly available Roman sources suggest that, years before the Second Vatican Council, the two notions were were already undergoing a contested process of redefinition through a broad conversation in the Roman Curia about American pluralist democracy.
Memory, histories, and solidarity: Celebrating the Cushwa Center’s first half-century
By David J. O’Brien. It is a great privilege for me, a joy in fact, to join in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Cushwa Center [as] one of the few remaining of those who first gathered at Notre Dame’s Morris Inn . . . Now, 50 years later, I think others of my generation would join me in praying that as Cushwa celebrates its anniversary, participants will find, perhaps with a deeper realism, something of the same excitement we knew in the study—and at least a little bit of the making—of American Catholic history.
In review: Fall 2024 at Cushwa
Michael Skaggs revisits the Cushwa Center’s fall 2024 public events.
In memoriam: Martin E. Marty, 1928–2025
By Scott Appleby. If Msgr. John Tracy Ellis was “the dean of American Catholic historians,” as he was called in his day, Martin E. Marty was for decades “the dean of American religious historians”—not least, historians of U.S. Catholicism. The story of Catholicism was interwoven in many of Marty’s historical works . . .
Grant and award recipients announced
A record 33 researchers are receiving support from the Cushwa Center in 2025 for a variety of projects. Funds will support visits to the University of Notre Dame Archives as well as research repositories in a variety of U.S. cities and several international destinations.
Friends of Cushwa news and notes
Read updates from the Cushwa Center’s network.
Enduring gifts: Sustaining the study of women religious
As the Cushwa Center marks its 50th anniversary, a highlight of the year will be the 13th triennial Conference on the History of Women Religious (CHWR), scheduled for June 22–25, 2025. Since the CHWR last convened, the long-running conference has secured dedicated, long-term support thanks to the generosity of the McAlee and Woodward families.
Full circle with Sister Lucy
As the Cushwa Center marks its 50th anniversary, a highlight of the year will be the 13th triennial Conference on the History of Women Religious (CHWR), scheduled for June 22–25, 2025. Since the CHWR last convened, the long-running conference has secured dedicated, long-term support thanks to the generosity of the McAlee and Woodward families.
CHWR: Lives and Archives
Register to join the 13th triennial Conference on the History of Women Religious: Lives and Archives, scheduled to take place Sunday to Wednesday, June 22–25, 2025, at the University of Notre Dame. Visit the conference webpage to preview the complete schedule and to register.
From Nottingham to the world: Eilish Gregory on the Little Company of Mary
Eilish Gregory (Durham University) was awarded a Research Travel Grant from the Cushwa Center for her project “The Transnational Nursing and Spiritual Activities of the Little Company of Mary in Chicago, 1893–1941.” Recently, she corresponded with Cushwa Center postdoctoral research associate Angela Xia about her research.
How American Catholic studies came to Notre Dame
Kevin Cawley surveys the development of American Catholic studies at Notre Dame, from collection efforts and key figures’ contributions in the 19th century to more recent developments in scholarship and preservation.
Romero and social teaching: Five questions with Todd Walatka
Óscar Romero and Catholic Social Teaching, edited by Todd Walatka (Notre Dame), was published in October 2024 by the University of Notre Dame Press. The volume brings together 14 scholars writing on both Romero and Catholic social teaching, with an eye to Romero’s historical context and the relevance of his thought today. Walatka and Katie Mascari recently discussed the book and its insights into Romero’s pastoral context, his contributions to Catholic social thought, and the future of Romero studies.
Recent publications of interest
Browse this semester’s overview of recent books and articles in American Catholic studies, history and sociology of religion, theology, and related fields.