Empathy and Art in Times of Conflict

The Community Panel event aims to explore themes of empathy, art, and peace with those whose lived experience has presented challenges to employ them. This community panel is in partnership with the UC San Diego, Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion, and the Timken Museum in Balboa Park, San Diego, CA. The inaugural panel is scheduled for April 20, 2026, at 4:30 pm and will bring together voices from academia, art, culture, and community to explore how empathy and compassion are made real through creative expression, cultural memory, and collective experience. Our hope is that this dialogue will deepen understanding of how empathy and compassion can enable an understanding of the roots of conflict and guide practices to resolve them. Our confirmed panelists are Dr. Darren Kew, Dean of the University of San Diego Kroc School of Peace Studies; Dr. Megan Lorraine Debin, Professor of Art History and Founder of Art Trippin’; and James Rudolph, Attorney in San Diego and Washington, D.C., LL.M. in international law and human rights. Moderators are Dr. William Mobley, Institute Director of the Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion and Megan Pogue, Executive Director of the Timken Museum.

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Host or Publisher Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion