Notre Dame College Honors Theology, Women’s Studies Professor with Emerita Distinction

Notre Dame College has named renowned religious educator and scholar, Louise Prochaska, Ph.D., professor emerita of theology and women’s studies.

Prochaska, a 1964 graduate of Notre Dame became a full-time faculty member in theology and Women’s Studies in 1993 and was promoted to rank of full professor in 2004. She retired at the end of the 2017-18 academic year and continues as an adjunct instructor.

She is primarily an educator, a faculty leader, a published author, a scholar, a justice advocate and an artist.

Educator

Prochaska specialized in teaching moral theology, social justice, and world religions. She developed new courses to meet students’ changing needs: Buddhism and Catholicism, World Religions and Global Issues, Women and the Bible, Spiritual, Moral and Biblical Growth for Women, and Love, Lies and Videotape. She led many adults in the diocesan Pastoral Ministry Program to earn their required certificate. She also developed and revised the First Year Seminar over several years of its changing form.

Faculty Leader

Over her 25 years on the faculty, Prochaska served as Faculty Senate President for six terms, coordinated the Women Studies Minor from 1993 to 2018, held the chair of the Philosophy/Theology Department for 10 years, and co-chaired the Institutional Self Study in 2007, which resulted in the composition of the present mission statement.

Author

Prochaska has written two textbooks on morality and social justice for high school religion programs. She published numerous articles in the areas of morality and Catholicism, as well as Women’s Studies, presented at academic conferences, and provided lectures in theology, Scripture and social justice at local schools and parishes.

Her latest book is “Ten Keys to a Happier Life: Unlocking the Riches in Positive Psychology, Neuroscience, and Ancient Religious Wisdom.” The easy-to-understand, lifelong learning guide is based on a course Prochaska has offered at Notre Dame. In her interactive workbook, Prochaska has distilled 20 years of neuroscience and research on individual and social well-being, which she connected with insights from world religions to create common practices that promote authentic, wholistic happiness.

She presents the components with a weekly journal of reflections and activities that lead to regular habits that should relieve people from stress and anxiety. She has presented six programs on this research to various adult groups in the Cleveland area and at two national conferences.

Scholarship and Academic Grants

Prochaska graduated, magna cum laude, from Notre Dame in 1964 with a double major in Latin and English. She earned a teaching certification for the state of Ohio.

As a student at the College, she was elected into Kappa Gamma Pi, National Honor Society, for graduates from Catholic Colleges. She went on to study Canon Law at the University of St. Thomas in Rome and earned a Licentiate in Canon Law, summa cum laude.

She then received an M.A. in English from Indiana University, an M.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in moral theology and Christian ethics with minors in New Testament and systematic theology. Her dissertation was on “Virtue Formation for Women Religious: A Historical-Ethical Study.”

Prochaska has received multiple international distinctions for her academic scholarship. She was one of 42 scholars from around the world selected to spend three weeks in Jerusalem as a participant in the Summer Institute at Yad Vashem, the most comprehensive center of Holocaust commemoration in the world.

In support of the Sisters of Notre Dame, Prochaska was among about 60 women chosen to attend a symposium on the spirituality of the order in Sao Paulo, Brazil. While attending, she presented “From Pyramid to Labyrinth: Shifting Paradigms and their Foundations for Notre Dame Spirituality.”

Additionally, she has been honored throughout the U.S. with academic grants. Prochaska was one of 25 faculty selected from a nationwide pool of nominees to participate in the five-day Teaching Interfaith Understanding seminar offered by the Council of Independent Colleges and Interfaith Youth Core with support from the Henry Luce Foundation in Massachusetts. She also procured a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship to study democracy in America and was selected as a participant in National Endowment for the Humanities Seminar, “Religion in a Democracy,” both at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Finally, in 2005, she procured grants totally $15,600 from local foundations to finance a two-day workshop at Notre Dame entitled “Picture Perfect: Media Literacy for Girls. ” Its aim was to promote a healthy self-image in an age of artificial beauty standards. It was based on the documentary “Picture Perfect” by local educator and filmmaker Carol Tizzano and involved 90 pre-teen girls. For her work on this project, Prochaska received the President’s Appreciation Award for 2005.

To support future scholars, Prochaska is a member of the College’s Marian Legacy Society, which recognizes those who have committed through a planned gift to provide future generations at Notre Dame with a values-based education.

Justice Advocate

At Notre Dame, Prochaska has taught courses in social justice, religions and global justice issues, justice for women both in the Catholic Church and in secular society, and has lived a personal mission of peace and integrity. Prochaska is a member of the Advisory Board for the Notre Dame Abrahamic Center, which develops educational programs for the College and the Greater Cleveland community fostering mutual respect among all peoples and celebrating religious, racial and cultural diversity. The initiative is a direct outgrowth of the innovative work of Notre Dame’s Tolerance Resource Center.

This faculty member introduced Native-American legends and songs about kinship with Earth to students in both American literature courses and the required theologies of justice course while at the College. She also has strengthened her own connections to the culture by learning Native-American pottery methods.

Furthermore, Prochaska served as Diocesan consultant for secondary school religion and parish high school religion programs. She was a participant in the Clergy Education Mission to Israel, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. Prochaska became a presenter on personal peacemaking to the Sisters of Notre Dame, adult education groups, and the College community. As a result, she headed the Sisters’ Coalition for Justice, a group of religious women who promoted justice education in Cleveland parishes and schools.

Artist

Prochaska has published poetry as part of the Cleveland Humanities Collaborative 2021 Anisfield-Wolf Reflection Exhibition and has received awards for various pieces of artwork at Notre Dame. In 2002, she was presented with the Honorable Mention at the College Art Show for still-life with family dolls, and in 2004, won the same Honorable Mention for a monoprint personal journal page. She has also displayed her works on the Notre Dame Art on the Circle juried art show.

Emeriti

Louise Prochaska is the 15th faculty member who has received emeriti distinction in the nearly 100-year history of Notre Dame.

Those previously granted emeriti status include: Sr. Regina Alfonso, Sr. Mary Luke Arntz, Sr. Helen Burdenski, Sr. M. St. Martha Conrad, Sr. Jeanmarie DeChant, Sr. Helenemarie Gregos, Sr. Frederic Hoover, Sr. Teresemarie McCloskey, Fr. Edward Mehok, Sr. Jeanne Moenk, Rachel Morris, Sr. Eileen Quinlan, Dalma Takacs and Sr. Mary Louise Trivison.

December 2021
Written by Kimberly Krozser ’17