‘Alone Together’ 4 in Lincoln, UK
ISRS is an association whose mission is, among other things, to enable solitude researchers to establish contact and exchange ideas. The fourth edition of the Alone Together conference, entitled ‘Mapping the Field: Challanges and Futures’ took place at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln, UK, on April 25-27, 2024, and was such an opportunity. We have met to listen, share, ask questions and outline research needs for the future.
Researchers from Australia, Canada, Germany, Poland, Sweden, UK and US representing various disciplines were equally fascinated by solitude and silence related issues.
Excellent keynote presentations by keynote speakers, professors Michael Cholbi from Edinburgh University and Julian Stern z BGU, as well as a panel session with the participation of world experts constituted the plenary parts of the conference. Four parallel sessions were devoted to understanding the nature of solitude, loneliness, but also cases and contexts of solitude. The event was accompanied by a publishing workshop conducted by Alison Baker from Bloomsbury publishing house and an exhibition of paintings by the Scottish artist Karl Stern.
The conference will result in a multi-author monograph in the Bloomsbury Solitude Series and a special issue of the Journal of Silence Studies in Education.
We would like to thank all participants for creating an atmosphere of mutual sensitivity and attentiveness. We can’t wait for the next edition of the conference, which will take place in 2 years.