People
G. Marcus Cole
Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law
The Religious Liberty Initiative was born of a promise that Dean Cole made to University President Rev. John Jenkins, C.S.C., when he became the Law School’s dean in 2019. The initiative aims to put Notre Dame on the forefront of scholarship and advocacy in this dynamic and important area of the law.
Stephanie Barclay
Director, Religious Liberty Initiative
Associate Professor of Law
Professor Stephanie Barclay’s research focuses on the role our different democratic institutions play in protecting minority rights, particularly at the intersection of free speech and religious exercise.
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Sarah Joyce Baker
Legal Assistant, Religious Liberty Initiative
Before joining the Religious Liberty Initiative, Joyce Baker worked for the Keough School of Global Affairs and the Constitutional Studies and Tocqueville Programs in the Department of Political Science.
Faculty Fellows
Roger Alford
Professor of Law
Professor Alford teaches and writes in a wide range of subject-matter areas, including international trade, international arbitration, international antitrust, and comparative law.
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Gerard V. Bradley
Professor of Law
Professor Bradley teaches Legal Ethics and Constitutional Law. In addition, he directs the Natural Law Institute and co-edits The American Journal of Jurisprudence, an international forum for legal philosophy.
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Paolo Carozza
Professor of Law
Concurrent Professor of Political Science
Director, Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Professor Carozza’s expertise is in the areas of comparative constitutional law, human rights, law and development, and international law.
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Rev. Robert Dowd, C.S.C.
Associate Professor of Political Science and Assistant Provost for Internationalization
A graduate of Notre Dame, Rev. Dowd received his doctorate in political science from UCLA. His research interests include African politics, ethnic politics, and the relationship between religion, political institutions, national identity, and human development.
Nicole Stelle Garnett
John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law
Nicole Stelle Garnett's teaching and research focus on education policy and topics related to property law (especially land use and urban development policies). Currently, she is engaged in an ambitious research effort in collaboration with scholars from around the world to gain a comprehensive understanding of the legal rules governing, and public funds available to, faith-based schools in the Global South.
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Richard W. Garnett
Paul J. Schierl/Fort Howard Corporation Professor of Law
Concurrent Professor of Political Science
Director, Program on Church, State & Society
Professor Garnett teaches and writes about the freedoms of speech, association, and religion and constitutional law more generally. He is a leading authority on questions and debates regarding the role of religious believers and beliefs in politics and society.
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Mary Keys
Associate Professor of Political Science
Professor Keys’ research and teaching interests span a broad spectrum of political theory, with a special focus in Christianity, ethics, and political thought.
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Rev. John Paul Kimes
Associate Professor of the Practice, Notre Dame Law School
Raymond of Peñafort Fellow in Canon Law, de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture
Prior to joining the Notre Dame Law School faculty, Rev. Kimes served for 11 years as a canon lawer at the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Vincent Phillip Muñoz
Tocqueville Associate Professor of Religion & Public Life, Department of Political Science
Concurrent Associate Professor of Law
Professor Muñoz is the founding director of Notre Dame's undergraduate minor in Constitutional Studies and directs Notre Dame's Tocqueville Program for Inquiry into Religion and Public Life.
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Daniel Philpott
Professor of Political Science
Professor Philpott specializes in religion and global politics, focusing on religious freedom, reconciliation, the political behavior of religious actors, and Christian political theology.
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Christian Smith
William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology
Professor Smith’s research interests include social theory, culture, capitalism, globalization, environment, exploitation, philosophy of social science, religion, and youth.
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O. Carter Snead
Professor of Law
Director, de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture
Concurrent Professor of Political Science
Professor Snead is one of the world’s leading experts on public bioethics — the governance of science, medicine, and biotechnology in the name of ethical goods. His research explores issues relating to neuroethics, enhancement, human embryo research, assisted reproduction, abortion, and end-of-life decision-making.
Read more about Professor Snead.