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In her HLD lecture, Professor Ruth Fine explained that "memory has a place in forgiveness. For only if we remember, then we have the ability to learn, forgive, and rebuild common ground from our past."

The first of the 2020 Holy Land Dialogues explores forgiveness from a philosophical angle. The following is an edited and abridged version of Professor Mariano Crespo's contribution.

In support of its mission to foster understanding, the Social Trends Institute collaborates with the Saxum Foundation to offer the Holy Land Dialogues (HLD) lecture series. HLD is a biennial invitation to the Holy Land that aims to immerse pilgrims from all walks of life in the ancient history and current reality of this small area of the world that is so uniquely rich in cultural heritage. STI invites scholars and public intellectuals to address the pilgrims with keynote speeches that center each year on a particular theme. Daniel Johnson, who has moderated all three editions, has written the following retrospective for STI:

Representatives from the Institute of Family Businesses (IEF) and IESE Business School joined forces to prepare a 48-page document titled “Boosting Employment and Relaunching Business:  Reflections for Action.” It proposes the formation of a multi-lateral working group to lead the way back to the economic productivity interrupted by the COVID-19 crisis.

Dr. Wilfred McClay’s latest book is an invitation to young and old to engage with history, and to appreciate how hope has guided an entire people over time. Knowledge of one’s history can inform a healthy patriotism that undergirds good citizenship, McClay explains in this interview with STI.

Columbia Journalism School professor and author Michael Schudson explains why journalism at its best is "a wonder of the world," in this interview with STI.

Life under lockdown has the potential either to hasten a digital future in which our lives become tracked and monetized in unprecedented ways, or to make the public more aware of such risks and thus resistant to all things digital. Sonia Livingstone shares this blog post on these potential post-COVID-19 scenarios.

A new Reuters Institute report reveals how citizens of six diverse countries accessed, consumed and judged media as the COVID-19 crisis unfolded, and how well-informed they were by their preferred sources.

Stefano Zamagni, Pierpaolo Donati and Ana Marta González - all STI experts - sign an open letter from PASS, as president, academician and council member, and academician, respectively. The statement, also signed by the Pontifical Academy for the Sciences (PAS) urges strengthened communication and research, and global cooperation and solidarity to protect the most vulnerable.

STI extended an invitation/request to experts from various fields to offer a thought on what this global health crisis means or might mean in the future in the context of their field, and/or to society as a whole. Professors and practitioners of sociology, international relations, law, history, philosophy, media, and bioethics offered the impressions, reflections, and predictions collected below (in alphabetical order). Food for thought… 

Not only will the COVID-19 pandemic not result in the birth of ‘coronababies’ conceived in confinement, explains demographic researcher Lyman Stone, it is almost certain to produce the opposite effect. He shared his findings with housebound viewers around the globe in an April 3 Webinar titled “Will Coronavirus Boost Fertility.”

Philosopher of technology Mark Coeckelbergh talked to STI about a letter he signed to the Spanish government supporting the appropriate use of expanded access to personal data during the country’s official state of alarm.