2020 in Hindsight: The View from December 2021

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

6:00 – 7:30 p.m. ET (US)

1050 Jenkins Nanovic Halls | Zoom Webinar

What can 2021 teach us about the tumultuous events of 2020 in the United States? In mid-December, a small group of academics, journalists, and faith leaders visit campus for a workshop on the role of faith in the public conversation. Their meetings are focused on three significant themes from 2020 as part of our inaugural "Faith in the Story" workshops: COVID-19, a nation-wide uprising against racial injustice, and a close but decisive presidential election in the United States.

By now we have the benefit of nearly twelve months of hindsight since 2020 ended. What did it all mean? How has our view of 2020 changed in light of 2021 events, like the riot on the Capitol on January 6, the debates over racism and white supremacy that have continued through the fall, the US military’s pullout from Afghanistan in August, or the unsteady progress toward greater COVID-19 vaccination around the world?

Faith seems to be ever more present in the national conversation, but are there better ways to talk about it? Does the passage of a year allow us to grasp what really happened in 2020 with greater clarity? In this discussion, several of our workshop participants share with us what they have discerned as 2021 winds down.

Presented by the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, with support from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. 

Speakers

 

Scott Appleby
Marilyn Keough Dean
Keough School of Global Affairs

 

 

Adelle M. Banks
Projects Editor and National Reporter
Religion News Service

 

 

Alan Cooperman
Director of Religion Research 
Pew Research Center

 

 

Dr. Russell P. Johnson
Faculty Member
University of Chicago Divinity School

 

 

Rev. Dr. Michael C. R. Nabors
Senior Pastor
Second Baptist Church (Evanston, Illinois)