Update: This program aired on January 21, 2021 and was recorded. Please view it on HMML's YouTube channel.

We live in times of great challenge. There has never been a stronger need to find points of connection to people, places and cultures. The pandemic has made travel nearly impossible for now, but we still must explore, discover, and engage in meaningful dialog with people from around the world. To address these challenges, HMML is proud to announce a new program series, To Listen.

Inspired by the call to action in Fr. Columba Stewart’s 2019 Jefferson Lecture, this program will include interviews with HMML cultural preservation partners and thought leaders from various regions of the world. HMML will offer 3 programs for its 2021 series, which we are calling To Listen: A Global Journey.

The 45-minute interviews will be delivered in Zoom Webinar format. They will be lively and personal conversations that help understand and build connections across cultures. The programs will be free and open to the public. Advanced registration will be required and space is limited.

“In my travels for HMML, I meet extraordinary people and learn from them about their culture and present experience. I want to share that experience with our HMML friends. There are also questions I never get the chance to ask because we’re focused on the project or I haven’t yet had a chance to process what I’ve learned. This series gives me the opportunity to introduce these extraordinary people and their stories with a wider audience, as well as to ask questions I never had the chance to ask before,” explains Fr. Columba.

The first program will be broadcast on January 21, 2021, and will feature Dr. Ali Khan Mahmudabad, a historian, political scientist, writer, columnist, occasional poet, and assistant professor of both history and political science at Ashoka University, India (pictured above). “Dr. Khan is someone who represents a vitally important religious and cultural tradition in India that has been under great pressure over the last 75 years,” said Fr. Columba. “I know him to be a thoughtful scholar, a charismatic personality, and a wonderful conversationalist.”

If we are to build a better and brighter future, it is essential for all of us to listen to the voices of the past and present. Join HMML in making this happen now.

For further information about this program and how to register, click here.