Week Six :: July 31–August 7

Building a Culture of Empathy

• Creating understanding and compassion, empathy is critical in navigating our world and building community. Empathy might have a reputation associated with emotionality or sentimentality, but what does it look like in action, from improving health care via the doctor-patient relationship and fostering strong childhood development to implementing effective public policy and leading through times of crisis?
• Instilling and normalizing empathy has the potential to help us connect across our most polarizing differences and survive our most tragic times, so how can we work together to build a lasting culture of empathy?

Interfaith Lecture Theme :: Building a Culture of Empathy

In recent years, a trait frequently cited as essential to the flourishing of humankind is empathy, an impulse manifested in all the world’s religions. Connected with compassion and altruism, it arises out of a willingness to care, to endeavor to understand, and to place oneself within the human experiences of others. In this week we seek voices who are inspiring and motivating this capacity in others.