EDITORIAL

Welcoming Speech

EDITORIAL

“The Melting Pot: The World is reshaping under pressure”

We have entitled this conference `The Melting Pot` - a concept borrowed from the area of cooking, more precisely the fondue technique, to help us understand how contemporary society is in fact a huge crucible of a mixture of all previously separate and somehow independent civilizations, creating a rich mixture with hints of novelty despite the components old that it incorporates. This metaphor is best for understanding how a heterogeneous society as we previously were in many situations becoming more homogeneous, the different elements “melting together” with a common culture and behavior. We will focus in this conference on what `human society` means today, how the current generation makes its insignia, significant gestures, and values, with which the` traditional world` strives to survive the speed of kneading a new dough, but especially at what costs all these initiatives are supported and the fermentation of the production of a superior taste.

Starting from the keyword `reshaping`, We have invited researchers, teachers, and students to join on this global forum, where research, knowledge, and ideas can be efficiently presented and shared. The conference provides a smart virtual platform to share your research ideas with personal attendance but without traveling or expensive accommodation. Any paper that brings forward a new approach, a research report, or a case study, a decent-provocative supposition, or a challenging hypothesis is more than welcome into DIALOGO Conference. We have the pleasure to discuss findings and ideas with fellow scholars worldwide and the opportunity to publish it into an international, indexed publication!

I. Topic and Significance: We are witnesses of a major reshaping of our world nowadays: the World and our lives as we used to know are ending and they are reshaping constantly and drastically under pressure. These are some issues we considered important when raised this theme to a public discussion. 1. Art and Literature (topics under consideration: These are the days of creation, of inspiration as it was always the case with times of sorrow, despair, and challenges - a strong motive for humans to immortalize their struggle of surviving. So many artworks emerge amid pandemic, from daily impressions and blogging to hard-core literature and other arts - all proving that humans are more than individuals and survival more than a sacrificed generation... On the other hand, this is a time for huge changes in Arts as well for artists cannot perform in public but online, cannot be free in the creative act, and, most of all, there are tremendous changes demanded in all kind of arts from the ‘black lives matter” movement up to adjustments of literature, sculpture or cinema...). 2. Earth Sciences, Ecology, Environment & Theology (topics under consideration: The worldwide disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in numerous impacts on the environment and the climate in a positive sense. The considerable decline in planned travel has caused many regions to experience a large drop in air pollution. Other positive impacts on the environment include governance-

Welcoming Speech

system-controlled investments towards a sustainable energy transition and other goals related to environmental protection such as lockdowns and other measures resulted in a 25 percent reduction in carbon emissions and up to 50 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides emissions and many other similar....). 3. Social Sciences, Culture, and Lifestyle Choices & Religion (topics under consideration: The chain of challenges in social and psychological areas of interest is endless amid pandemic. We witness results of despair all over the world (from suicide to riots with street violence), atypical and unusual attempts of medical care (it is notorious the huge mistake of president Trump when concealing the use of bleach for ‘internal cleansing’), or the almost ‘classical’ denial of corona-skeptics - whether the threat of the Covid-19 is real or not. On the other hand, the educational system is continually threatened to clash for many countries, poor or not, and became inoperational. Children and teachers as well are not at all used to advancing pedagogy into the digital era so that the survival of education is also under menace. New curricula, rethinking teaching, and emerging methods are required. Marriage, traditional gatherings, and social parties were banned or reduced to a minimum...). 4. Law and Political Science & Theology (topics under consideration: Whereas the spread of coronavirus outbreak [Sars-CoV-2, December 2019-2020], developing into a global pandemic situation, the governments everywhere have declared a ‘state of emergency’ to stop the spread of the pandemic as much as possible. What are the human/legal rights that you have faced as being violated under this pretext by State? I mentioned also the ‘legal’ rights as if there are local constitutional lawful rights that are also violated by police enforcement or so. How can this interference of the Public authorities with our rights be regarded, justified, or on the contrary, denied and fought against? The fights between protecting the health vs those carrying for fundamental human rights constitute the greatest challenge of our times. “While the virus is resulting in the tragic loss of life, we must nonetheless prevent it from destroying our way of life - our understanding of who we are, what we value, and the right to which every human is entitled. There is an urgent need to coordinate States’ responses, to exchange good practices, and to help each other in the quest for a quicker recovery.” Marija Pejcinovic Buric, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe) 5. Philosophy of Science & Theology (topics under consideration: Is human language adequate to describe God? Genesis! Fact, fiction or faith? Is mathematics .. the language of science or philosophy and religion? When artificial intelligence becomes everyday life, do you think philosophy is the only science of human beings? Does a theory always have/ require an underlying philosophy? Is the universe conscious?). 6. Biology, Medicine, Natural Sciences & Theology (topics under consideration: Doctors and physicians, researchers of biology and medicine, and the entire staff of hospitals are under siege across the globe in circumstances created by the actual pandemic; it was thought, designed and considered previously as a possible scenario, but no one ever considered it could occur for real. Now medicine is forced to take unprecedented measures, excedent its ethics while struggling to develop a vaccine and many other ‘new’ actions. On the other hand, without previous occurrence, these measures are highly condemned and fought against in streets and Parliaments. How society will settle this battle, how we envision medicine for a future similar situation? What motivates human beings to carry on in a new way of understanding rights and health? What humans value the most in the actual situation, living, creeds, or health?). 7. Neurobiology & Theology (topics under consideration: mind and consciousness; More Than a Body?; the idea of God and the brain; If our reasoning is simply a product of a deterministic neuronal state how does it conform to the rules of logic and consistency? What motivates human beings? Do Plants Have a

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Soul? Who am I?). 8. Epistemology, Metaphysics and Communication Sciences & Theology (topics under consideration: Scholars like the philosophy professor Markus Gabriel call for a metaphysical pandemic, a gathering of the peoples, to decide the new understanding of living via the signs of life. The global order has been shaken. A virus, invisible to the eye and of yet unknown magnitude, is spreading. How many people have been infected with the coronavirus, how many people might still die and when will we have developed a vaccine—these and many other questions remain unanswered. Just like the question of how radical action currently taken around Europe will impact our economies and democracies.). 9. Management, Marketing, Economics and Tourism & Religion (topics under consideration: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions in the global economy. By the end of the first quarter of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had brought international travel to an abrupt halt and significantly impacted the tourism industry. For many developed and developing countries, the tourism sector is a major source of employment, government revenue, and foreign exchange earnings. Without this vital lifeline, many countries may experience a dramatic contraction in GDP and a rise in unemployment...The pandemic has prompted governments and businesses to view the interdependence of global supply chains, particularly for critical supplies such as medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and food, as a vulnerability. Some countries and regional blocs, such as the US, European Union (EU), China, and India, have enacted export prohibitions or restrictions on such supplies; and many countries are rethinking strategic autonomy...). 10. Bioethics - Science - Theology (topics under consideration: What are the Human Rights that are violated and temporarily annulled under the pretext of the Covid19 pandemic? Ethical Issues And Challenges; Artificial Intelligence; Engineering). 11. Astronomy, Astro-Physics & Theology (topics under consideration: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) which has rapidly become a global pandemic and is continuing to spread across the globe. Apparently, the Astronomy community has less to do with this issue, still, it helped a great deal to help understand the spread of the disease and to help develop new treatments and vaccines, to increase healthcare capacity (such as ventilators, personal protective equipment, etc) and help slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic...). 12. History, Demography, Archeology & Religion (topics under consideration: How can we define living in the actual state of things - considering that the entire human species is now struggling to choose between ‘traditional’ way of living and the new, emerging and imposed one? What is our life going to look like from now on? In light of the spread of the COVID-19, see what our experts are doing to investigate and address this issue. Demography can help us understand how this pandemic has spread and has had a disproportionate effect on certain age groups, as well as why its spread affects everyone...). 13. Mathematics, Technology, Industry, Networking & Religion (topics under consideration: All the academic meetings conferences and almost all courses were canceled this year or at the best move on a virtual platform. We were used to receiving information about an important event through online advertising, but taking the entire activity into the virtual domain... this is another thing and we must state that such „living” - without socialization and physical contact - is unacceptable for human beings, and still... we are forced to reconsider this position mostly from now on). 14. General Topic: Science and Theology (Can science have all the answers? Does religion have all the answers? How can theology prove its assertions about it all? What scientists think about Religion / Science vs. Religion: What scientists really think / Building a bridge between science and faith: A response to ‘Science on Faith / Incompatibility / Independence / Dialogue. Can the existence of God be established by

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scientific experimentation? Can God be found in the gaps of scientific knowledge? Is scientific research allowed to take place without any theological restrains?

II. Conference details: » Conference full name: The Annual Virtual International Conference on the Dialogue between

Science and Theology: “The Melting Pot: The World is reshaping under pressure”

» Conference short name: DialogoConf 2020 VIC » Conference edition: 12th » Conference dates: November 3 - 12, 2020 » Conference web page: www.dialogo-conf.com » Conference online archive: www.dialogo-conf.com/archive III. Conference paper approval process:

Each registered paper was evaluated in a double tier approval process. 1. Scientific Committee evaluation (on average 2 reviews were prepared per paper). 2. Conference Editorial Board.

Only those papers recommended by these committees were accepted for online presentation at the conference and publication in the Journal. That was rated to 85% of the total submitted papers.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATION: 1. General presentation As the chief editor and founder of Dialogo enterprise, I have started this endeavor with a lot of anxiety, for there were many failures regarding the same purpose, as well as there are some other already internationally recognized. Still, I have started this quest along with a few fellow researchers in my University [i.e., Ovidius University of Constanta, RO] from diverse fields of science. I was encouraged to propose our version of dialogue in this form, a virtual forum of debates and discussions, capable of bringing people from around the globe more comfortable and environmental-friendly; and I did. Now, after only five years and ten published volumes, I am grateful I had these colleagues beside me and also God, who blessed our proposal since it started with 21 professors. Now it reaches more than a hundred involved academics in a genuine and targeted dialogue. I could not be amazed by the considerable amount of questions these events usually raise, sometimes from the papers as the starting point of discussions, or just as an excuse for considering addressing such items to people who often taught such issues. Overall, I cannot be more proud that we achieve this aim of bringing people of such diversity of research fields, sciences, religious backgrounds, or spirituality in an academic arena for discussions and clarifications. Considering the phrase of Norman Vincent Peale, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars”, we, at Dialogo, are but proud to seeing this outcome on our endeavor. 2. Aim and Scope The Dialogo Journal is a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed academic journal published twice a year. It aims to study the theory and practice of dialogue between all types of sciences and any religious background, understood provisionally as meaningful interaction and exchange between people (often of different social, cultural, political, religious, or professional groups) who come together through various kinds of conversations or activities with a view to increased understanding on both these two ways of human

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reasoning, scientifical and religious/spiritual. The Journal is published by the Research Center on the Dialogue between Science and Theology of „Ovidius” University of Constanta, Romania, in partnership with several academic institutions and research centers from Romania and abroad. The conference is addressed to scholars from all over the world interested in communicating on topics of interest at the crossroads of science and religion. The participation of young scientists, graduates, and students is greatly encouraged, one of the goals of the workshop being to offer the new generation an opportunity to present original new results and a chance to learn from the experience of distinguished researchers. The goal of the Virtual Conference on the Dialogue between Science and Theology is twofold. First, it aims to collect high-quality, authoritative, well-documented information on topics placed at the intersection of science and religion. Secondly, it makes an effort to provide a way for leading scholars to share and exchange their views, as well as to comment on the opinions of their peers regarding particular aspects of science and religion. This might include ways to challenge the boundaries within and between religion and science, and or between and within the academy, as well as the boundaries of the sacred and secular, of reason and faith. Ultimately, we want to ask how queer religion, science, and philosophy, can and/or should be. It is our pleasure to introduce you to this volume. This book contains all the accepted papers from the 12th conference organized by the Dialogo community of scholars, which is described below in more detail. We hope that all these published papers contribute to the academic society and provide interesting information for researchers worldwide.

Sincere thanks for: • Scientific Committee for their volunteer work during reviewing. • Conference partners for promotional work and their contribution. • Editorial Board for enormous workload and patience.

Be welcomed to enjoy this accomplishment! See you again for the DIALOGO 2021 row of events!

your host,

lect. Fr. Ciocan Tudor Cosmin, PhD

Executive Director of The Research Center on the Dialogue between Science & Theology (RCDST) „Ovidius” University Constanța / Romania

Scientific Programme Officer of DIALOGO international conferences

E-mail: office(at)dialogo-conf.com