Arden Institute

EXAMINE. REFLECT. ANALYZE. Lead.

Apology and Forgiveness

April 27 to May 3, 2008

In the spring of 2008, the Arden Seminars program will celebrate its tenth year. To celebrate this marker anniversary we are planning to hold the spring 2008 seminar in Windsor Castle, England, April 27 to May 3.

The theme the seminar will explore is Apology and Forgiveness, a theme as old as recorded history, and as recent as today. Readings will range from antiquity to the present, with examples drawn from literature and philosophy, as well as from contemporary political and social life. We will explore the topic through such writers as Homer, Dante, Kafka, Tolstoy and Shakespeare, to name a few. We will discuss the regrettable modern proliferation of deep wounds, from holocausts and ethnic cleansings (Armenia, Cambodia, Bosnia, Darfur) to the Holocaust (Pope John Paul II, Elie Wiesel), and modes of confronting and subjugating these enormous wounds to allow society to move forward (Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King.) We will allow ample time to discuss quasi-apologies such as those of Richard Nixon, Trent Lott, Mel Gibson, and countless others. Finally, we plan to explore whether there are gender differences in the creation of situations that require apology, and in the capacity for forgiveness.

 

“I really resonated with the complex journey that leads from thought to action and regard this Arden philosophy as a central, energizing feature of the seminars.”

– Arden participant