Faculty Focus - March 8, 2021
Faculty members put their knowledge into action so students and others are able to benefit from it. Recently, faculty presented at virtual workshops, collaborated with other experts in their field, and led a lecture series.
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Damon Berry explored connections between religious and racialized discourses and violence as part of the “Building an Anti-Racist Vocabulary” virtual lecture series hosted by The Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights at the University of Notre Dame.
The lecture series presents preeminent scholars, thought leaders, and public intellectuals to guide the Notre Dame community through topics necessary to a deeper understanding of systemic racism and racial justice. Berry’s research focuses on the imbrication of religious and racialized discourses that shape and inform logics of exclusion and violence. He regularly teaches courses such as Global Christianities, Religion & Race, Religion & Violence, Religion in Conspiracy Theory, and American Religious Lives.
Associate Professor of Francophone and African Studies Eloïse Brezault recently presented a paper titled “Ghosts, Intruders, and Epidemics in Atlantics by Mati Diop” at a virtual workshop organized by the Institute of Modern Languages Research, University of London. In the “Language of Disease in the Contemporary Francophone World” workshop, Brezault discussed the representations of illness and epidemics in the latest movie by French-Senegalese director Mati Diop. She also examined how gender politics and the immigration crisis inflect the language of disease.
Brezault’s research interests include Francophone African literature, cultural theory, postcolonial literature, and migrant identities in a globalized world. She has taught a wide range of material including French language and literature, cinema, essay writing, and cultural studies.
Associate Professor of History Howard Eissenstat has been acknowledged as the main author of the Turkey section in the annual Freedom House report, Freedom in the World. The report rates people’s access to political rights and civil liberties in 210 countries and territories. Research and analysis in the report are used by policymakers, the media, international corporations, civic activists, and human rights defenders.
Associate Professor of History Howard Eissenstat
In addition, Eissenstat recently discussed Turkish President Erdogan’s plans for human rights reform in Turkey with Merve Tahiroglu, Turkey program coordinator at the Project on Middle East Democracy. The conversation was featured by the Conversation Six, a new platform for creating short-form podcasts from world-leading experts in their field.
Eissenstat's research focuses on nationalism and Islam in the 19th century Ottoman Empire as well as the history of the Turkish Republic. His recent work has focused increasingly on contemporary Turkish domestic and foreign policy, especially on issues of rule-of-law, minority rights, and the reshaping of political culture under the Justice and Development Party (AKP). In addition to traditional academic work, Eissenstat served for over a decade as a Turkey Country Specialist for Amnesty International-USA. He has lectured at the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. military, and the Canadian Foreign Service Institute, as well as given testimony to the Canadian Senate and offered briefings to Congressional Committees.
Associate Professor of Education Jeff Frank co-edited a special section of the journal Ethics and Education that featured papers that explored the connections that philosophers of education might draw between their work and the work of American Philosopher Cora Diamond. The journal also includes an article written by Frank titled “The Adventure of Responsive Teaching: Lessons from Cora and Julie Diamond.” His co-editor with Megan Laverty, associate professor of philosophy and education from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Frank’s research focuses on the philosophy of education, liberal education, as well as teaching and teacher education. He has taught a first-year seminar titled What Does it Mean to be Educated, as well as courses in Contemporary Educational policy, Teaching and Teachers, and American Philosophies of Education.
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