In March the Maria Corral Association 28th Interdisciplinary Seminar was held in Barcelona, and on this occasion the Letter of Peace addressed to the UN Foundation also participated in the organisation of the event.
Over the course of 5 separate sessions the content of the seminars looked deeply into how history transmits resentments and, above all, what measures can be taken to “disarm it”, in order to preserve it as a source of understanding- for history must be understood as much as possible- and at the same time prevent it from creating or perpetuating conflicts. A range of specialists and professionals from different fields shared their thoughts and reflections over the matters that were being discussed.
(A summary of each presentation is available at: http://www.cartadelapau.org/portal_cp/eindex.php )
The speakers dealt with the following issues:
- Presentation of the seminar (Jordí Cussó Porredón, president of the Letter of Peace addressed to the UN Foundation)
- Does historical responsibility exist? (Professor Manuel Reyes Mate Rupérez, research professor at the Philosophical Institute CSIC).
- The moral responsibility of passing on history (Begoña Roman Maestre, professor of Ethics at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Barcelona)
- The media as a memory machine and space (Francesc-Marc Álvaro Vidal, professor at the Department of Communication at Ramon Llull University)
- History, living together and citizenship (Carlos Martínez Shaw, professor of Modern History at the National University of Distance Learning, UNED)
- Responsibility and economy (Isabel Vidal Martínez, professor at the department of Economic Theory at the University of Barcelona)
- Chinese thinking, cultural antipode (Eugeni Bregolat Obiols, ambassador for Spain in Andorra and ex-ambassador for Spain in the Republic of China)
- History, memory and politics (Gabriel Cardona Escanero, ex-soldier, writer and professor of History at the University of Barcelona)
- When religions confuse plenitude with totality (Xavier Melloni Ribas, Anthropologist and doctor of Theology)
- Ideologies: confrontation or dialogue? (Joan Rigol Roig, president of the Catalan parliament 1999 – 2003)
- Impermeable identities and porous identities (Francesc Torralba Rosselló, professor of Philosophy at Ramon Llull University)
- How research for peace contributes to the “disarmament” of history (Maria Oianguren Idígoras, Director of Gernika Gogoratuz)
- Geopeace: a homage to the history of peace (Maria Viñas Pich, Director of the Letter of Peace addressed to the UN Foundation)
- Let us end the history of peace (Eduard Vinyamata Camp, specialist in mediation and conflict resolution at the Open University of Catalonia)
- Seminar Conclusions (Elena Caballé Rosselló, Manager of the Maria Corral Association)
Xavier Badia, director of the The Catalan Govenment Office for the Promotion of Peace and Human Rights brought the seminar to a close.
