No One To Talk To: The Decline of Conversation

In his Miegunyah Fellowship Lecture, Professor Ian Williams examines the social, technological, and political contradictions that threaten open conversation across our campuses and democracies.

Drawing on the thinking behind his 2024 CBC Massey lectures (published as 'What I Mean to Say: Remaking Conversation in Our Time'), Professor Williams considers the conundrum of how despite constant connectivity, we find ourselves in an epidemic of loneliness. Political activism is met with moral paralysis, diversity initiatives with terror of the stranger.

‘No one to talk to: the decline of conversation’ is an invitation to address the divide and rethink conversations – personal, online, and political  – as an antidote to polarisation and alienation.

Stay on for light refreshments following the conclusion of the lecture where there will be an opportunity to meet the speaker.