The Summer Institute is gearing up for a virtual season this year with seven speakers scheduled to present via Zoom. The Summer Institute has been hosting speakers and films at the Hebrew Center for 25 years.

Bruce Eckman, co-chair of the Summer Institute, said he was determined to keep the series going this summer in part “to lessen the isolation and the sadness everyone is feeling during this time.”

The series begins on July 9 and 10 with E.J. Dionne Jr., a columnist for the Washington Post and a professor at Georgetown University.

Mr. Eckman said that Mr. Dionne will bring a “touch of politics” to the lineup of speakers. His talk is entitled Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country.

Frank Snowden, a history of medicine professor at Yale, will speak about the current pandemic and its effects on the culture at large on July 23 and 24.

“Everybody is obsessed with the news today and I wanted to take a step back and look at the forest, not just the trees,” Mr. Eckman said.

Mitch Landrieu, former mayor of New Orleans who helped the city rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, will discuss climate change on August 13 and 14 in his talk entitled How Cities Will Lead: Climate Change, Resilience and Equity.

Other speakers this summer include Alan Zweibel, an original Saturday Night Live writer who has won five Emmy Awards for his work in television, John Fugelsang, former co-host of America’s Funniest Home Videos, Eric K. Ward, a civil rights strategist and executive director of Western States Center, and Bret Stephens, op-ed columnist for The New York Times and a senior political analyst for MSNBC.

The Summer Institute will also screen three films at no charge to members of the Hebrew Center and for a modest ticket fee to nonmembers. The film series opens on July 19 with Those Who Remained.

For tickets to the speaker and film series, visit mvsummerinstitute.org.