# Event Details - **Event Name**: Dorothy Day & Thomas Merton Culture and the Public Good Symposium - **Event Start and End Date**: Fri, 10 Apr, 2026 at 02:30 pm – Fri, 10 Apr, 2026 at 06:30 pm (-04:00) - **Event Description**: Franco Institute's annual symposium welcomes Jenny Odell, Shankar Vedantam, Vauhini Vara, and Rainn Wilson to Notre Dame on April 10, 2026.About this EventThe Franco Institute will host its inaugural Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton Culture and the Public Good Symposium on April 10, 2026. Named for two of the foremost socially engaged Catholic thinkers of the 20th century, the signature annual event will culminate a year of themed research support at the institute. It gathers speakers across a range of backgrounds — public figures, artists, and scholars — to consider an urgent yet enduring question and engage in a dialogue that can guide public conversation on the topic.This year's speakers are Vauhini Vara, Shankar Vedantam, Jenny Odell, and Rainn Wilson.To coincide with this year's research theme of attention, our speakers will respond to the question "How should we hold attention?"The Franco Institute has created an "attention" syllabus to correspond with this year's research theme and symposium.Agenda🕑: 02:30 PM - 03:30 PMGraduate and Undergraduate Student Poster SessionInfo: This poster session showcases research from the "Attention" theme grants and the spring 2026 Undergraduate Public Humanities Internships. All attendees are invited to see the poster displays.Book salesInfo: Vendor accepts debit/credit card sales only.🕑: 03:30 PM - 03:45 PMWelcome Remarks by University Leadership🕑: 03:45 PM - 04:05 PMPresentation by artist & author Jenny OdellInfo: Jenny Odell will share her thoughts on the question "How should we hold attention?" based on her art and books How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy and Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock.🕑: 04:10 PM - 04:30 PMFireside chat with author & host Shankar VedantamInfo: Shankar Vedantam will participate in a fireside chat with Professor Kate Marshall, Director of the Franco Institute. The conversation will explore the question "How should we hold attention?" and will draw on Vedantam's writing and work on the Hidden Brain podcast.🕑: 04:35 PM - 04:55 PMPresentation by journalist & author Vauhini VaraInfo: Vauhini Vara will respond to the question "How should we hold attention?" by drawing on her journalism and writing about media, technology, and artificial intelligence.🕑: 05:00 PM - 05:20 PMFireside chat with actor, comedian & author Rainn WilsonInfo: Rainn Wilson will participate in a fireside chat with Professor Kate Marshall, Director of the Franco Institute. The conversation will explore the question "How should we hold attention?" and will draw on Wilson's experience as an actor, writer, and host of the Soul Boom podcast.🕑: 05:45 PM - 06:30 PMPanel discussion moderated by Franco Institute Director Kate MarshallInfo: All four of our symposium speakers will join the Franco Institute Director on stage for a panel discussion about the theme of attention. - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/notre-dame/dorothy-day-and-thomas-merton-culture-and-the-public-good-symposium/100001980484112293 - **Event Categories**: art, literary-art, business, theatre, fine-arts, comedy, entertainment, artificial-intelligence - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 0 ## Ticket Details - **Ticket Price Range**: min: 0, max: 0, currency: USD ## Event venue details - **city**: Notre Dame - **state**: IN - **country**: United States - **location**: Corbett Family Hall - **lat**: 41.6983107 - **long**: -86.2325357 - **full address**: Corbett Family Hall, 18931 Moose Krause Circle, Notre Dame, United States ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: Dorothy Day & Thomas Merton Culture and the Public Good Symposium - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events1/banners/53aa4cf81023dd66a3f25de425dc7cc2bebd46c61bdad1d4280b7224d68a1846-rimg-w1200-h742-dcffffff-gmir.jpg?v=1770132080 ## FAQs - **Q**: When and where is Dorothy Day & Thomas Merton Culture and the Public Good Symposium being held? - **A:** Dorothy Day & Thomas Merton Culture and the Public Good Symposium takes place on Fri, 10 Apr, 2026 at 02:30 pm to Fri, 10 Apr, 2026 at 06:30 pm at Corbett Family Hall, 18931 Moose Krause Circle, Notre Dame, United States. - **Q**: Who is organizing Dorothy Day & Thomas Merton Culture and the Public Good Symposium? - **A:** Dorothy Day & Thomas Merton Culture and the Public Good Symposium is organized by Franco Family Institute, University of Notre Dame. ## Structured Data (JSON-LD) ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Event", "name": "Dorothy Day & Thomas Merton Culture and the Public Good Symposium", "image": "https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events1/banners/53aa4cf81023dd66a3f25de425dc7cc2bebd46c61bdad1d4280b7224d68a1846-rimg-w1200-h742-dcffffff-gmir.jpg?v=1770132080", "startDate": "2026-04-10T14:30:00-04:00", "endDate": "2026-04-10T18:30:00-04:00", "url": "https://allevents.in/notre-dame/dorothy-day-and-thomas-merton-culture-and-the-public-good-symposium/100001980484112293", "eventStatus": "https://schema.org/EventScheduled", "location": { "@type": "Place", "name": "Corbett Family Hall", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "18931 Moose Krause Circle", "postalCode": "46556", "addressLocality": "Notre Dame", "addressRegion": "IN", "addressCountry": "US" }, "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "41.6983107", "longitude": "-86.2325357" } }, "eventAttendanceMode": "https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode", "description": "Franco Institute's annual symposium welcomes Jenny Odell, Shankar Vedantam, Vauhini Vara, and Rainn Wilson to Notre Dame on April 10, 2026.", "offers": [ { "@type": "AggregateOffer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-02-02", "availabilityEnds": "2026-04-10T18:30:00-04:00", "validFrom": "2026-02-02", "lowPrice": "0.00", "highPrice": "0.00", "price": "0.00", "url": "https://allevents.in/notre-dame/dorothy-day-and-thomas-merton-culture-and-the-public-good-symposium/100001980484112293" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-02-02", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-02-02", "url": "https://allevents.in/notre-dame/dorothy-day-and-thomas-merton-culture-and-the-public-good-symposium/100001980484112293", "price": 0, "name": "Community Members" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-02-02", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-02-02", "url": "https://allevents.in/notre-dame/dorothy-day-and-thomas-merton-culture-and-the-public-good-symposium/100001980484112293", "price": 0, "name": "Notre Dame Students" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-02-02", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-02-02", "url": "https://allevents.in/notre-dame/dorothy-day-and-thomas-merton-culture-and-the-public-good-symposium/100001980484112293", "price": 0, "name": "Notre Dame Faculty/Staff" } ], "organizer": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Franco Family Institute University of Notre Dame", "url": "https://allevents.in/org/franco-family-institute-university-of-notre-dame/27378702", "description": "During the 2025-2026 academic year, and in line with our expanded vision, the Franco Institute will begin hosting programming that creates further opportunities for engagement with the annual research theme. 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