Reflecting on my IAS Fellowship, what resonates most deeply is the exceptional care I received for professional and intellectual growth—by making the most out of my time here. The Institute of Advanced Study has cultivated an environment in which thinking is not merely facilitated but actively nourished—a research-driven ecosystem that balances rigor with a rare form of intellectual well-being. This paced wellness for the mind allowed me to work, learn, and reflect in sustained depth.
Working alongside Dr Karolina Nieberle, Associate Professor in Work and Organisational Psychology at Durham University, and Dr Janey Zheng, Associate Professor in Leadership and Organisational Behaviour—Principal Investigators of the IAS Major Project on Arts Engagement and Mental Health at Work—has been profoundly meaningful. With the extended research team they have assembled, we are examining how loneliness is experienced in the workplace across multiple career stages: from entry and early development to mid-career peaks, career breaks, and retirement. Our inquiry extends across professions and genders—politicians, administrative and corporate professionals, and individuals working in the arts—while integrating artistic methodologies to illuminate this often silent yet increasingly pervasive crisis.
The methodologies and insights emerging from this collaboration will undoubtedly inform my research upon returning to Greece, whether through my own practice or through the work we undertake at THE ΤΕΛΟΣ SOCIETY, Arts & Culture Research Lab Observatorium. The frameworks already embedded in our organization—rooted in interdisciplinarity, cultural research, and community-based methodologies—form a foundation upon which these new approaches can meaningfully expand, creating possibilities for fresh interpretations and applications.
What rendered this fellowship exceptional was not only the careful preparation or the intellectual generosity of my immediate collaborators, but also the broader network of scholars and practitioners to whom IAS introduced me. This extended constellation of thinkers enriched the experience immeasurably. Finally, the unique physical setting of my working environment at the Castle—particularly the Garden Stairs overlooking the Cathedral—became an integral part of the fellowship itself. My daily encounter with Durham’s overwhelming aesthetic beauty often felt "intoxicating"; its seductive surfaces invite admiration but also risk obscuring the complexities beneath. In Durham, it is easy—perhaps too easy—to remain with first impressions.
To understand the place more fully, I found it essential to move beyond the picturesque façade of the old town and engage with the lived realities of the city and county in recent years. This process of situating myself—of reading the city beyond its monumental architecture and institutions—was shaped through conversations and guided encounters, many of which were made possible by Katie Stobbs, Principal of Stephenson College, whose insight and generosity helped peel back layers of Durham that might otherwise have remained invisible to me.
In the course of this journey, I have changed, and I have come to recognize the intrinsic worth of that change—an intellectual grounding that guards against backward movement and propels me steadily forward.
Georgia Kotretsos
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