PLU’s Wang Center Symposium to explore “The Matter of Loneliness: Building Connections for Collective Well-Being”

The 11th Biennial Wang Center symposium, “The Matter of Loneliness: Building Connections for Collective Well-Being,” will be held at Pacific Lutheran University on March 7-8. Hosted by PLU’s Wang Center for Global and Community-Engaged Education, the two-day conference will bring together academics, activists and practitioners whose life’s work engages the concept of social connection in ways that increase understanding, model behaviors and actions that facilitate human reconnection and reweave community for collective well-being.

The year’s symposium responds to U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Hallegere Murthy’s call to action in his unprecedented public health advisory, Our Epidemic of Isolation and Loneliness. In it, he calls attention to how the decline of social connection in the U.S. represents a significant health risk and threatens “to splinter and divide until we can no longer stand as a community or a country. Instead of coming together to take on the great challenges before us.”

This year’s symposium will feature speakers from all around the world, including New York Times best-selling authors, artists, activists and professors from the University of Washington, Georgetown University and Middlebury College. The conference will also include a variety of panels, workshops and debates led by professionals, hands-on practitioners, and PLU professors and alumni exploring multiple themes of connection and community. Additionally, experiential sessions will be offered that include a debate sponsored in collaboration with College Debates and Discourse Alliance and ASPLU, a talk and guided meditation by renowned Buddhist teacher, Bonnie Duran, and a Purpose Planning Workshop led by the staff of the Blue Zones Parkland-Spanaway Project.

The forum will explore the importance of social connection and the challenges faced in fostering meaningful bonds. Discussions will include bridging divides, navigating polarization, drawing upon cultural wisdom to promote reconnection, building thriving communities through civic engagement, and fostering deeper connections.