The University of Notre Dame Alumni Association has launched Big Questions, a new micro-course series featuring videos, suggested readings and live Q&A sessions with unique perspectives and insights on thought-provoking topics from Notre Dame faculty. Big Questions courses are self-paced, free and open to all Notre Dame alumni and friends as well as the public. The courses are available exclusively through the new ThinkND online learning community.
The Alumni Association will offer two to three Big Questions micro-courses per year. The first course, “What Makes a Life Good?” was introduced this week and is led by Meghan Sullivan, the Rev. John A. O’Brien Collegiate Chair and Professor of Philosophy and director of the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study. The course features content from Sullivan’s innovative “God and the Good Life” class, a popular undergraduate philosophy course that focuses on how we live and what makes our lives meaningful, among other topics.
“In our fast-paced and always-connected world, we sometimes fail to take time to contemplate the issues and topics that really matter to us,” said Dolly Duffy, executive director of the Alumni Association. “We are thrilled to partner with our world-class faculty to bring some of these important questions to life in an engaging way, and to help our alumni and friends thoughtfully consider how they live and how they want to live.”
At 7 p.m. Nov. 21 (Thursday), Sullivan will host a live, online session to provide course participants with the opportunity to ask questions and engage in conversation. Registration is now open on the ThinkND website.
The second Big Questions course, set to debut in early 2020, will be titled “What to Believe in These Uncertain Times” and will be led by Paul Blaschko, assistant director of research and outreach at the Institute for Advanced Study.
ThinkND launched in September and includes videos, podcasts, articles and other learning resources from Notre Dame faculty and experts. Content includes topics from business and career development to global affairs, the arts and science. For more information, visit think.nd.edu.
Contact: Erin Blasko, assistant director of media relations, 574-631-4127, eblasko@nd.edu