ISSA 2026

I don’t usually prefer to talk about my finances on a public forum, but it is nice to be part of a faculty union.  The abridged version: we negotiated a raise, and as a result, I got a year’s worth of some back pay, which motivated me to want to attend the International Singles Studies Association (ISSA) Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.  I’d never been to Scotland before, and I’m always looking to expand some sort of repertoire.  With this back pay, I could do it.
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After a day of solo travel around Edinburgh and a day-long bus tour through the Highlands and Loch Ness, I was psyched up for ISSA.  I knew there’d be a nice litany of presentations, and I’d get to deliver a snippet of my book project.

It was a 25-minute walk from my room to the conference venue.  Solo travelers, note: if you ever go to Scotland, the University of Edinburgh offers out some of their dorm rooms to summer travelers.  They’re small with a double bed, dressers, and shared bathrooms (bring your shower shoes or flip-flops!).  Perfect for a solo traveler (or if you’re in a couple, group, or family and just want to get away from your person/people for the night).

I got there just before 9 a.m. and got to talk to Kate Gilchrist, the ISSA Board Co-President I’d only met online.  I then talked to Elyakim, the ISSA Board Co-President I’d seen mostly online but got together with a few times.  You may know him as the author of Happy Singlehood: The Rising Acceptance and Celebration of Solo Living, one of my sacred texts.  Other people I met for the first time included Margot Bracke, Laura Robberechet, Elise ‘t Hoen, Dries Van Gasse, Keren Eisen, Talya Menashe, Alexandra Fisher, Ari Engelberg, Zhe Zhang, Elke Claessens, Sofiya Kazlovich, Markia Rullo, and a journalist from Italy named Gabrielle Grasso.

Some interesting presentations as well.  First, I learned married folks are often less satisfied with welfare benefits than singles.  It makes sense; a family requires more resources.  Women and men also have different reasons for wanting to be single, although I thought some of the research in that area had a bit of a couples-biased lens.  During the Q&A around my talk on amatonormativity in Disney films, I did subtly bring in the idea of the “unaware single at heart,” meaning someone who functions best single but has still internalized the pro-coupling message.  That message informs their dating choices, yet their single-at-heart proclivities keep them sabotaging dating prospects.  I did it myself before I came to that spiritual awakening.

But I digress.  A couple of very interesting talks came from some Israeli scholars including Ari Eisenberg, who presented singlism among Jewish religious leaders; Talya (pictured), who discussed how singles perceive other singles; and Shay, who talked about how gay men are more apt to view community as being crucial to social needs (straight men could really learn from this demographic).

And Talya and I posed with my “No Spouse Happy House” bumper stickers. That got some “likes.”
I got to connect with Gabrielle at Union Social after the conference before I left to “introvert” over some proper fish and chips at Bertie’s.  She’s written a book about the portrayal of single women in film and is about to start a podcast based in Italy.

Overall, I was happy to see such a diverse range of perspectives in this developing academic field.  For the record, I don’t agree with (nor do I like) everything I’ve heard, but that’s how academic freedom works.  Everybody has the right to present their perspectives, including myself.  And there’s a chance someone in that conference might have been set off by something I said; I may have ruined somebody’s memories of 101 Dalmatians (just wait until they hear what I say about the works of John Hughes and Judd Apatow!).

I also decided to make a vacation out of this trip since I’m paying out of pocket (working at a cash-strapped, teaching-focused school doesn’t allow one a great deal of funding for an international trip).  The next day, I went up to Glasgow to meet up with Michele David, a friend from CoSP.  Before our lunch, I stopped by the International Association for Relationship Research, which sounds very couples-focused (and is, according to one of my insiders).  I decided to engage in my trademark brand of low-key mischief by walking through the conference with my “I Love Childless Cat Ladies” T-shirt.  It got no reaction from anyone, but I was amused. 

And why shouldn’t I have been?  We live in a couplecentric world.  My work can push back against him, but sometimes, a little humor can keep one centered.