Flourishing Together Conference Addressing Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation
Monday, Oct 6, 2025- Friday, Oct 10, 2025 | Multiple Locations听|听
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Flourishing Together will begin on Monday, October 6, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. with a launch event featuring keynote speaker Dr. Robert Waldinger (Harvard University), a world-renowned expert on what constitutes a meaningful life. Dr. Waldinger鈥檚 TED Talk has been viewed more than 50 million times, making it one of the top ten TED Talks of all time. He will be followed on the program by a panel of experts, including: Dr. Alyssa Goldman (红桃视频 Sociology), Dr. Christopher Krall, S.J. (Creighton University), Dr. Tina Matz (红桃视频 School of Social Work), and Mental Health Counselor Sam Aston (红桃视频 Center for Psychological Humanities & Ethics). All four panelists will explore loneliness and/or its remedies through the lenses of their respective disciplines and research. The launch event will take place in the Heights Room in Corcoran Commons and will be followed by lunch from noon to 1:00 p.m.
Exhibits:
- Flourishing Together: Nature and Solitude, Burns Library (Main Campus)
- Flourishing Together: Cultivating Belonging with Curriculum Resources, Educational Resource Center -听Campion Hall (Main Campus)
- Flourishing Together: Library Spaces as Social Spaces, O'Neill Library听(Main Campus)
- Flourishing Together: Loneliness: The Data, The Solutions, Social Work Library听(Main Campus)
- Churches and Faith Communities as Third Places: A Flourishing Together Exhibit, Theology & Ministry Library
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Multi-day Offerings:
- Messina Ashby lobby: Oct 7, 11am-2pm
- Mental Health Fest: Oct 8, 11am-2pm
- Maloney 1st floor lobby: Oct 9, 11am-2pm
- McElroy 1st floor lobby: Oct 10, 11am-2pm
Saturday - Oct 4th听 | Please Register to Attend | |
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09:30 AM to听 2:00 PM | Breathe Staff/Faculty Retreat |听World鈥檚 End听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听听 |
Monday - Oct 6th听 | Please to Attend | |
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| 10:00 AM | Launch Event: Featuring Dr. Robert Waldinger听|听Heights Room (Main Campus)听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听听 |
| 5:00 PM | Flourishing at Woods College | Ground floor, St. Mary鈥檚 Hall听(Main Campus)听听 |
Tuesday - Oct 7th | |
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| 听4:00 PM | Curiosity Meets Connection: The Hatchery Welcome Session听|听Hatchery - 245 Beacon |
| 5:30 PM | Reflecting and Making Art Together |听McMullen Museum听 听听 |
| 5:30 PM | The Culture of Encounter and Flourishing Together听|听Theology and Ministry Library Auditorium |
| 6:00 PM | Let鈥檚 Spill the Tea: Cultivating Conversations |听Upper & Newton |
Wednesday - Oct 8th | |
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| 11:00听AM | Mental Health Fest听|听O鈥橬eill Plaza (Main Campus) |
| 12:00听PM | Building Connections: Strong and Effective Workplace Relationships |听Walsh Function Room听 |
| 1:00 PM | Far from Home |听Gasson 001 (Main Campus) |
| 4:00听PM | Lady Bird:听A Screening and Reflection | Communications Building Auditorium, Messina College |
Thursday - Oct 9th | |
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| 9:00 AM | A Doula鈥檚 Perspective on Living Fully Now |听Theology and Ministry Library Auditorium听 听 听 |
| 5:30 PM | Poetry and the Art of Flourishing: A Panel Discussion and Workshop听听| Theology and Ministry Library Auditorium听 听 听 听 |
Friday - Oct 9th | |
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| 4:00听PM | Building Community through Creativity听| Hatchery - 245 Beacon听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 |
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Robert Waldinger
Robert Waldinger is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and directs the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running studies of adult life ever done. The Study tracked the lives of 724 men for over 85 years and now studies their children to understand how childhood experience reaches across decades to affect health and wellbeing in adulthood.听 He directs a teaching program in psychotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and he writes about what science can teach us about healthy human development.听听 He is also a Zen master (roshi) and teaches meditation both in the US and internationally. His TED talk on lessons from the longest study of happiness has had over 50 million views and is one of the 10 most viewed TED talks of all time. For more information, go to听听and听.
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Panelists
Alyssa Goldman
Alyssa Goldman is an Associate Professor of Sociology. She received her Ph.D. in 2020 from the Department of Sociology at Cornell University. Her research examines the intersection of social relationships and social inequality, health and well-being, and the life course. Part of this work considers how criminal justice system contact shapes health and social resources within families. In ongoing research, she asks how the dynamics of social network ties structure trajectories of well-being in later life, including the role of the social environment in shaping these patterns.
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Christopher Krall, S.J.
Christopher Krall, SJ is a priest of the Society of Jesus and an assistant professor of theology and neuroscience at Creighton University. He has a Ph.D. in the interdisciplinary research of systematic theology and neuroscience from Marquette University (鈥�22). He also has previous degrees from Boston College (BA, BS (鈥�05), MDiv, ThM, STL (鈥�15)), University of Toronto (MA (鈥�10)), and Oxford University (MSt (鈥�17)). The title of his dissertation is 鈥淭he Human Person Fully Alive: The Transformation of the Body, Brain, Mind, and Soul of Humanity in the Encounter with the Divinity.鈥� He enjoys running marathons, doing triathlons, hiking big mountains, playing most sports, and baking sourdough bread.
Christina Matz
Christina Matz, MSW, PhD, FGSA, is an Associate Professor in the Boston College School of Social Work, Chair of the Older Adults & Families Department and Director of the Center on Aging & Work. Her research focuses on meaningful engagement in later-life and its effects on the health and well-being of individuals, families, organizations, communities, and society. She is a co-lead on the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare's Grand Challenge focused on 鈥淎dvancing Long and Productive Lives鈥� and a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.听Dr. Matz has co-authored more than 50 journal articles and book chapters.听She teaches courses in research methods, statistics, program evaluation and aging.
Samuel Aston
Sam Aston is a licensed mental health counselor at Crooked Tree Counseling in Cambridge. He graduated with his master's from Boston College's Lynch School and remains involved in Boston College's center for Psychological Humanities and Ethics and the Psychology and the Other conference. In his ongoing research he explores the effects of online technologies on community formation, gender expression, and the self.
Campus Map and Parking:
Parking is available at the nearby Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue Garages.
Boston College is also accessible via public transportation (MBTA B Line - Boston College).