The College of Arts and Letters is the oldest and largest college within the University of Notre Dame. The Dean of the College of Arts and Letters is Sarah Mustillo.

The College of Arts and Letters is the oldest in the university, and it was founded in 1842 with the university itself. The University of Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters has a rich history dating back to the founding of the University of Notre Dame in 1842. At that time, the curriculum was focused on classical studies and philosophy, but as the university grew and expanded, so did the College of Arts and Letters. In 1919, the College of Arts and Letters was officially established, and over the years, it has become known for its strong programs in the humanities, social sciences, and arts. Today, the college offers over 20 majors and 30 minors, including anthropology, economics, philosophy, and studio art.

The main center of the college is O'Shaughnessy Hall, which hosts classrooms, art galleries, a coffee shop, and administrative offices. It was built in 1953 by Ellerbe Associates in Tudor Gothic style. Ground was broken for in July 1951 and the cornerstone was laid in May. The building is known for its iconic clock and entrance hall with stained glass windows. In addition to classrooms, the building also featured music rooms and 4 art galleries, which were later incorporated into the Snite Museum of Art. The high-beam decorated ceiling was painted by Alphonse Schmitt. The building was the gift of philanthropist Ignatius Aloysius O'Shaughnessy and cost $2,300,000. O'Shaughnessy was an oil tycoon and philanthropist; he was made Knight Commander Order of St. Gregory on June 17, 1958, by Pius XII, Pope Paul VI made him papal count in 1967, and the National Conference of Christians and Jews bestowed upon him its Brotherhood Award in 1971. Its Great Hall, which is decorated and sculpted on the outside, features a crucifix by Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović, a bust of Dean Charles E. Sheedy, and 7 stained glass windows, representing the seven liberal arts. The Great Hall also hosts two tapestries that were rediscovered and restored in 2014 when the Hall was restored to its original appearance. One tapestry is of German or Belgian production from the 17th century, while the other one is from 18th century France. It was featured in the movie Rudy. Offices for most of the faculty of the college are housed in Decio and Malloy Halls, which are situated just east of O'Shaughnessy Hall.

Corbett Family Hall, which is part of the Campus Crossroads expansion of the Notre Dame Stadium, houses the Departments of Anthropology and Psychology. Corbett is a 280,000-square-foot building, and is located on the East side of the stadium, between the Dan Devine (Gate A) and Ara Parseghian (Gate B) gates, facing the Edmund P. Joyce Center. The second floor houses the Department of Anthropology, with research laboratories, offices, study and meeting rooms, classrooms, and social events spaces . The third, fourth, and fifth floors house the Department of Psychology's offices, more than 30 research labs, and classrooms. The third floor is mostly cognitive psychology, the fourth floor is mainly behavioral psychology, and the fifth floor is mainly a mixture of relationship psychology and others. The anthropology and psychology departments, both in the College of Arts and Letters, were scattered around campus and without a single location before the opening of Corbett.

The departments of Art and Art History, and Design is housed in the Leo and Edna Riley Hall of Art & Design. The building, which built in 1917 as a chemistry hall, was renovated in 1982 thanks to a donation from Allan Riley, real estate investor and 1957 graduate. The department also houses its graphic and industrial design programs in the recently renovated West Lake hall. The Department of Film, Television, and Theatre is housed and has its performance and recital spaces in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, in addition to using several other facilities such as Washington Hall and the Martin Media Center in Corbett Hall and others. The Departments of Philosophy and Theology are housed in Malloy Hall.

The department of Political Science is in Jenkins Nanovic Hall. These two four-story buildings occupy 185,500 square feet. They were ready for use in 2017. This building is also home to the Department of Sociology. At this site, the sociology faculty and graduate students are brought together on the same floor of the same building for the first time. Nanovic Hall is connected to the new Jenkins Hall, named for Notre Dame's current president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., which will contain the Keough School for Global Affairs and several institutes.

The Music department is housed in O'Neill Hall, also part of the Campus Crossroads project and on the Notre Dame Stadium. The fifth and sixths floors of O'Neill Hall are dedicated to the Sacred Music Program and house departmental offices, teaching studios and practice rooms. The third floor hosts the Michuda Family Visiting Artist Rehearsal Hall as well as seminar rooms, two mid-sized classrooms, and large lecture hall, and the music library, which was relocated from the Hesburgh Library. The first floor also hosts LaBar Family Performance and Rehearsal Hall, both 2,200-square-feet. The recital hall has 175 seats, offering a more intimate atmosphere than other spaces on campus. It features a traditional stage, fixed seating, and a formal atmosphere for classical concert music. The Performance Hall instead is more an interdisciplinary performance space, accommodating alternative types of musical events in combination with other media, such as projected text visual images, acting, lighting, and dance. It has flexible seating and staging options in a “black-box” style setting that can host avant-garde performance and experimentation.

The Humanities

• Africana Studies
• American Studies (includes journalism)
• Classics (includes Arabic Studies)
• East Asian Languages and Cultures
• English
• German and Russian Languages and Literatures
• History
• Irish Language and Literature
• Philosophy
• Program of Liberal Studies
• Romance Languages and Literatures
• Theology

The Arts

• Art, Art History & Design
• Film, Television, and Theatre
• Music

The Social Sciences

• Anthropology
• Economics
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Sociology

The College of Arts and letters is also affiliated with the Notre Dame Center for Social Concerns, which studies poverty, injustice, and oppression. "Justice education," "Research for the Common Good," and "Consequential Conservations," are the three avenues that the center for social concerns explores. Established at Notre Dame in 1983, the center hosts a range of signature events and has a range of curricular and co-curricular programs for undergraduates, graduate, and professional students. It also works with academics, advocates, and artists to examine and address many concerning social problems worldwide. Catholic social tradition (CST) provides the framework for which the center operates.

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, the institute hosts The IRISH Seminar, a weeks-long seminar that focuses on Irish cultural, intellectual, and political debates. This is a teaching and research institute and is part of the Keough School of Global Affairs. It focuses on the development of each person and the whole person through research, policy, and practice. In addition to the Irish students on campus full time, Notre Dame welcomes Irish students for a semester or in some cases a year. Many come from Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, University College Dublin, and University of Galway.

The College of Arts and Letters is affiliated with the Notre Dame Medieval Institute, that is regarded among the best centers for Medieval Studies. It is ranked number #6 by U.S. News & World Report. 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. 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. 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. 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.

A university-wide enterprise, the Eck Institute for Global Health (EIGH) promotes research, training, and service to advance health standards and reduce health disparities. The EIGH includes epidemiology, Molecular biology and microbiology, Computational science, Maternal, child, and community health, Genetics and genomics, Biochemistry, Non-communicable diseases, Social sciences.

The Notre Dame Institute for Educational Initiatives was founded in 1996 under the direction of Prof. Maureen Hallinan.

Created in 1999, the Institute for Latino Studies focuses on understanding of the U.S. Latino experience. Building upon the history of Latinos at Notre Dame and the legacy of Julian Samora, a pioneering Latino scholar and professor of sociology, the institute supports scholarly initiatives in Latino studies.

The University of Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies is a center for the study of the causes of violent conflict and strategies for sustainable peace. Kroc institute faculty and fellows conduct interdisciplinary research on topics related to peace and justice. The Kroc Institute offers an undergraduate program, a master's in International Peace Studies, and a Ph.D. program. It was founded in 1986 through the donations of Joan B. Kroc, the widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc. The institute was inspired by the vision of Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh CSC, President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame. The institute has contributed to international policy discussions about peace building practices, including the Colombian peace process.

The Liu Institute provides a hub for multidisciplinary research and education on Asia as well as its diaspora, including by hosting public events and promoting international exchanges.

Established in 2017, the Ansari Institute helps facilitate inter-religious dialogue between those in the religious communities, with the goals of promoting inter-religious tolerance and learning from a variety of religions in order to work towards the common good, advancing not only the interests of the institute, but the interests of the Keough School of Global Affairs as well as the goals of the university as a whole.

The Kellogg Institute is a multidisciplinary community of students and scholars conducting research about democracy and human development. The institute has members that focus on countries around the globe, but there is an emphasis on Latin America and Africa. Through the Kellogg Institute, there are numerous opportunities for students to engage in international research, including the Kellogg International Scholars Program, the International Development Studies minor, and the Kellogg Developing Researchers Program. They are also the hosts of the Human Development Conference, a student-led conference highlighting student research on the intersection of democracy and human development.

The Lucy Family Institute serves as a point of collaboration between the humanities and data science, AI, and machine learning. By combining these together, they seek to create a policy about human development, poverty, and global development that is effective and informed by data. The institute was founded in December 2019 with a $25 million gift from alumnus Robert Lumpkins and his wife, Sara. Leading the institute as the Founding Director is Nitesh Chawla. As a part of its establishment, the Lucy Family Institute integrated two pre-existing research centers at the university that operated with a primary focus on data science, societal interface, and interdisciplinary applications of data science: the Center for Network and Data Science (CNDS) and the Center for Social Science Research (CSSR).

In addition to its affiliations with Interdisciplinary institutes, faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Letters also conduct research projects with a variety of research centers. These include the Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights, the De Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, the Center for Italian Studies, the Center for Research on Educational Opportunity, the Center for the Study of Social Movements, the John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values, the Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy, the William J. Shaw Center for Children and Families, and the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities.

The College of Arts and Letters is also affiliated with a number of research centers within the university that are dedicated to the furtherance and study of the Catholic categories fundamental to the core values of the University of Notre Dame. Such centers include the Center for Philosophy of Religion, the Center for the Study of Religion and Society, the Center for Theology, Science, and Human Flourishing, and the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism.

• 1919–1923 Joseph Leonard Carrico
• 1923–1935 Charles C. Miltner
• 1935–1936 T. Bowyer Campbell
• 1936–1940 Charles C. Miltner
• 1940–1943 Francis J. Boland
• 1943–1951 Francis P. Cavanaugh
• 1951–1969 Charles E. Sheedy
• 1969–1975 Frederick J. Crosson
• 1975–1981 Isabel Charles
• 1981–1983 Robert E. Burns
• 1983–1991 Michael J. Loux
• 1991–1997 Harold W. Attridge
• 1997–2008 Mark W. Roche
• 2008–2018 John McGreevy
• 2018–present Sarah Mustillo

• Official website

41°42′01.1″N 86°14′08.7″W / 41.700306°N 86.235750°W / 41.700306; -86.235750