Berkley Center

In the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis set out a hopeful vision of human equality and fraternity in his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti (“Brothers and Sisters All”). While acknowledging deep divisions and a pervasive “globalized indifference,” Francis called for a vibrant “culture of encounter” to bring people together, across divides, around shared concerns and common projects. Five years later, the Georgetown Global Dialogues are bringing leading novelists and public intellectuals to Rome to explore the theme of human fraternity in our divided world. 

Visit the GGD Rome website to learn more about the sessions and to register for the free livestreams. Sign up to receive email updates.

GGD Rome is co-sponsored by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the All of Us Foundation, La Civiltà Cattolica, and the Georgetown Rome Office. The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs is organizing GGD as a whole with the support of campus partners including Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), the Walsh School of Foreign Service, the College of Arts & Sciences, the McDonough School of Business, the Georgetown Humanities Initiative, and the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics.

June 9

10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. (GMT+01:00) Rome | Literature, Social Friendship, and the Culture of Encounter: A Keynote Conversation
Featured Speakers: Paul Elie, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça 

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (GMT+01:00) Rome | Literature and the Revitalization of the Common Good
Featured Speakers: Parul Sehgal, Zadie Smith, Rev. Antonio Spadaro, S.J. 

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. (GMT+01:00) Rome | Mimetic Desire and Resentment as Barriers to Human Fraternity
Featured Speakers: Naomi Klein, Pankaj Mishra 

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (GMT+01:00) Rome | Literature and the Transcendent in a Global Frame
Featured Speakers: Tash Aw, Mohsin Hamid, Ranjit Hoskote 

4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. (GMT+01:00) Rome | Writers, Isolation, and Rebuilding Community
Featured Speakers: Hisham Matar, Eva Menasse, Bishop Paul Tighe 

6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. (GMT+01:00) Rome | Emotions in Literature and Politics
Featured Speakers: Nesrine Malik, Kamila Shamsie, Juan Gabriel Vásquez

June 10

10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. (GMT+01:00) Rome | The Diminished Dialogue between Faith and Literature
Featured Speakers: Javier Cercas, Paul Elie, Zadie Smith 

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (GMT+01:00) Rome | Literature between Technological Dreams and Human Frailty
Featured Speakers: Mohsin Hamid, Jennifer Szalai, Ece Temelkuran 

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. (GMT+01:00) Rome | The Globalization of Literature in an Unequal World
Featured Speakers: Ranjit Hoskote, Nesrine Malik, Safwan M. Masri 

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (GMT+01:00) Rome | Exile and Literature in a Fragmented World
Featured Speakers: Hisham Matar, Jennifer Szalai, Ece Temelkuran 

4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. (GMT+01:00) Rome | Cultural and Religious Pluralism as a Literary Frame
Featured Speakers: Mohsin Hamid, Ranjit Hoskote, Kamila Shamsie 

6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. (GMT+01:00) Rome | Culture, Politics, and Futures for Human Fraternity
Featured Speakers: Thomas Banchoff, Nesrine Malik, Pankaj Mishra