Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters

Established in 1991 with a gift from Donald Keough, the institute focused on the study of Ireland and Irish culture, language, immigration, and history. In 2006 it was renamed after a further donation from Irish businessman Martin Naughton. At the undergraduate level, it offers many courses and a minor in Irish Studies. It also offers a minor for Ph.D. students of English or History. The institute is located of the University's Global gateway in Dublin, which is based at O'Connell House, a late eighteenth-century building on Merrion Square, which enables students to study abroad in Ireland. The institute also runs Irish internships which offer Dublin-based summer positions. In the summer, Institute hosts The IRISH Seminar, a weeks-long seminar that focuses on Irish cultural, intellectual, and political debates.[1]

The College of Arts and Letters is affiliated with the Notre Dame Medieval Institute, that is regarded among the best center for Medieval Studies.[2] It is ranked number #6 by U.S. News & World Report.[3] The institute was formally founded in 1946, but it was created on a pre-existing program of medieval studies that dated back to the 1930s. [4][5]

Its rare book collection contains holds microfilms and photographic copies of nearly all of the Latin and vernacular materials and many of those in Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic housed in the great Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan.[6] This collection was conceived in 1960, when the Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Giovanni Montini (future Pope Paul VI) visited campus for an honorary degree. Starting in 1962, the library acquired microfilm of over 35,000 manuscripts.[7]

Additionally, the institute's collection also features the Astrik L. Gabriel Universities Collection, which collects book, journals, and other sources on the histories of universities worldwide.[8]