Compassion: Mutual Care in Troubled Times
A multi-faith, multidisciplinary conference for academics and activists
May 27 – 29, 2025
Vancouver School of Theology
Online & In-Person
REGISTRATION CLOSED
Compassion can bridge social divisions, uplift people in distress, inspire collective action, and create resilient communities. It is the ability to recognize, empathize with, and respond to others. For many spiritual communities, compassion is both a core practice and an essential idea. Spiritual traditions say compassion affirms the connectedness of all being, grounds an imperative to care, or is an essential divine trait.
What should the spirituality and practice of compassion look like in our time?
Keynote Lecture
Radical Integrity in Leadership: Empathy in Action
Tuesday May 27, 7–8:30 pm | Epiphany Chapel or via Zoom
Free and open to the public
Conference Highlights
The conference features two full days of presentations and inter-religious dialogue!
Roots/Shorashim/Judur Palestinian-Israeli Network
“Peacebuilding from Within National Identities”
Learn from Jewish and Palestinian speakers in this West Bank-based network fostering understanding, nonviolence, and transformation.
Compassionate Cities
Panel & Workshop
with Marilyn Turkovich & Friends
Executive Director, Charter for Compassion
Learn about the global movement to create compassionate cities of mutual care—and how to work well in your own.
Spiritual Practices for Compassionate Capacity
Explore practices from three faith traditions with The Interfaith Amigos: Imam Jamal Rahman, Pastor Don Mackenzie, Rabbi Laura Duhan-Kaplan. The Interfaith Amigos came together in the USA after 9/11, to promote interfaith understanding in divisive times.
Spirit of Ubuntu
with Pato Banton and Antoinette Rootsdawtah
Join Reggae musicians Pato and Antoinette as they introduce us to Ubuntu, an African philosophy of community care, through music, conversation, and clips from their film The Spirit of Ubuntu.
Compassionate Multifaith Theologies
with VST faculty, students, and research partners
Short academic-style presentations on spiritualities and practices of compassion, followed by questions and discussion.
The Charter for Compassion joins the Vancouver School of Theology as a
co-sponsor of the conference.
Registration closed.
A Zoom link will be provided for online participants.
- $190 general/$90 students.
- Opens March 15.
- Financial aid available. Contact LDKaplan@vst.edu for details.
Questions?
Contact Conference Director Rabbi Dr. Laura Duhan-Kaplan LDKaplan@vst.edu or Conference Administrator Dr. Nicola Hayward, nhayward@vst.edu.
Accommodations
VST does not have on-campus housing. However, there are a myriad of options available for conference-attendees looking for short-term accommodations either on or off campus. Here are just a few of the resources available:
- Carey Hall – 2 blocks away from VST
- Triumf House – On UBC campus
- UBC Conferences Accommodations – A variety of options and prices
- UBC Suites – Various locations on campus
- UBC Commuter Student Hostel – Designed for weekday commuters
- UV Rent Line – UBC’s off-campus housing
- Airbnb