Stratton Lecture: The Epidemic of Loneliness

The Stratton Lecture: The Epidemic of Loneliness

Date: Tuesday March 4

Time: 12:15pm - 1:45pm

Location: MIT Wong Auditorium (E51-115)

Join us for the 2025 Stratton Lecture as we delve into the growing epidemic of loneliness in modern society. Despite unprecedented digital connectivity, we experience a sense of isolation, with profound impacts on mental and physical health. We’ll explore the societal factors contributing to this phenomenon, the consequences for well-being, and strategies to rebuild authentic connections and stronger communities.

Keynote Speaker: Professor Rebecca Saxe
Remarks by: Zan Barry

Discussion Moderated by: Amy Brand, Director and Publisher of MIT Press

This event is co-sponsored by the MIT Retirees Association and MIT Press.

A boxed lunch will be provided at the end of the event. If you have dietary restrictions, please let us know here.

Rebecca Saxe is the John W. Jarve (1978) Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and the Associate Dean of Science at MIT. She studies the development and neural basis of human cognition, focusing on social cognition. Saxe obtained her Ph.D. from MIT and was a Harvard Junior Fellow before joining the MIT faculty in 2006. She has received the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences, a Guggenheim fellowship, the MIT Committed to Caring Award for graduate mentorship and is a member of American Academy of Arts and Science.

Susanna (Zan) Barry, PsyD: Manager of Programs, Community Wellness at MIT Health. Zan focuses on the health of the MIT community through programs and classes in sleep health, stress resilience, mindfulness, motivation, and meaning. Her background is in psychology and behavioral sleep medicine.

Moderated by:

Amy Brand, director and publisher of the MIT Press, one of the largest university presses in the world, and an important figure in open access publishing. The MIT Press is well known for its publications in emerging fields of scholarship and its pioneering use of technology. Brand’s career spans a wide array of experiences in academia and scholarly communications. She received her doctorate in cognitive science from MIT and has held a number of positions in scholarly communications, publishing, and open information access at MIT, Digital Science, and Harvard before returning to the press in 2015 to serve as director. She was executive producer of the Emmy-nominated documentary Picture a Scientist, a 2020 selection of the Tribeca Film Festival that highlights gender inequality in science. Some of Dr. Brand’s awards include the Laya Wiesner Community Award, the American Association for the Advancement of Science Kavli Science Journalism Gold Award, and the Award for Meritorious Achievement issued by the Council of Science Editors.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

MIT Wong Auditorium (E51-115), 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge, United States