Name: Scientific evening “Compassion in Care Practice”
Start: 2026-05-06T17:00:00+03:00
Location: Latvijas Universitāte

$Scientific evening \u201cCompassion in Care Practice\u201d$

Presentation “Compassion as a Resource and a Risk: the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Care Practice” by Prof. Dr. Petra von Gemünden (University of Augsburg)”.
Presentation “Being present in loss: compassion in practice” by Mg. theol. Aira Līcīte (University of Latvia).
The event is organized in cooperation with the Faculty of Humanities, University of Latvia, and takes place as part of the German Language Month in Latvia.
Compassion plays a central role in care practice. It is also the “turning point” in the parable of the Good Samaritan: the Good Samaritan feels compassion and acts immediately to assist the seriously injured man at the roadside. However, compassion may change from motivation and empathetic care to manifestations of insensitivity, cynicism, and complete exhaustion when someone experiences compassion fatigue. Due to its inherent ambiguity, compassion has been the subject of critical discussion from Antiquity to the present day. The parable of the Good Samaritan likewise acknowledges the potential risks associated with compassion and encourages reflection on how to overcome them.