Political engagement is rarely viewed in terms of forgiveness. The willingness to confront injustice—to name and identify it—is by its nature a bold act. But since injustice (and justice) are controversial concepts that involve highly polarized parties—the accuser and the accused—forgiveness encompasses a vast range of emotions and procedures, and constitutes one of the most complex forms of human commitment.

Offering neither calls for forgiveness nor a granting thereof, the programs dedicated to the theme of “Considering Forgiveness” examine this form of commitment in interdisciplinary terms. The first step in this process is a review: what actually occurred needs to be established both historically and emotionally. With history never completed, the work of remembering becomes an act of the present and a blueprint for the future. In considering the work of German artist Anselm Kiefer, art historian Andreas Huyssen states that it examines the “unbearable tensions between the terror of German history and the intense longing to get beyond it.” It is in this confrontation between the past and the future where forgiveness lies.