An Overview of the Conference on Love Research
Motto of the Conference: Love in cultural contexts
The conference aimed to increase diversity in love research across disciplines and cultures, with a focus on international collaboration and integration of ideas from different fields studying love. The participants emphasized the importance of understanding the cultural contexts when researchers explore how people live and love in different societies.
The International Institute of Love Studies convened this online conference in which participants presented their pre-recorded talks, followed by thematic panel sessions in livestreaming mode.
Themes of the Conference
The themes of presentations and thematic panel sessions represented such topics as:
Love in Popular Culture and Literary Explorations, chaired by Willie van Peer from Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany,
Evolutionary and Cultural Perspectives on Love, chaired by Ian Skoggard from Human Relations Area Files at Yale University, USA,
Experiences and Expressions of Love, in sequence of Session 1 chaired by Sandra Langeslag from University of Missouri – St. Louis, USA, and Session 2 Charles Hill from Whittier College, USA,
Conceptual and Linguistic Research on Love, chaired by Zoltán Kövecses, from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, and Iryna Pinich from Kyiv National Linguistic University, Ukraine, and Södertörn University, Sweden,
Love and Family Relationships, chaired Anna Romanowicz from Jagiellonian University, Poland, and Claude-Hélène Mayer from University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Topics of Presentations
The presentations and discussions at the thematic panel sessions of the conference covered various topics, such as the evolutionary and cultural aspects of love and pair bonding, the role of cultural contexts of love experiences and expressions,
Among the topics presented were:
Love in Popular Culture and Literary Explorations
Representation of love in documentary photography, presented by Petra Krpan from the University of Zagreb in Croatia,
Myths of love in contemporary Nordic teenage series, presented by Laura Czernysz from the University of Gdańsk, Poland,
A study of popular romantic fiction over the ages, presented by Jessica Symons from Visioning Lab in the UK,
The intersection of love and intellectualism in the literary genre of Dark Academia, presented by Cyntia Kálmánová from J. Selye University in Slovakia,
The intentionality of the action of love in ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ presented by Bartlomiej Kowalczyk from The University of Liverpool in the UK.
Evolutionary and Cultural Perspectives on Love
Tracing the fundamental necessity to love through systems, monkeys, and humans, presented by Lucia Martin Valverde from Romelia Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica,
The role of culture in creating sexual desire and sexual love in early humans, presented by Alain Delannoy, an independent researcher from France,
Sex differences in romantic love from an evolutionary perspective, presented by Adam Bode from Australian National University, Australia,
How love concepts transformed in South African Indian Gen X women, presented by Claude-Hélène Mayer from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa,
Discourses of love, sacrifice, and selfishness in South Korea, presented by Alex Nelson from the University of Indianapolis in the USA.
Love motifs in Taino and Pueblo art, presented by Ian Skoggard from Human Relations Area Files at Yale University in the USA.
Experiences and Expressions of Love
Comparing the subjective feelings and event-related potential responses of those who experience love and addiction, presented by Sandra Langeslag from the University of Missouri – St. Louis in the USA,
Individual variations in what is considered cheating in romantic love relationships, presented by Charles Hill, Whittier College, the USA,
A new approach to studying love in daily life through a cultural perspective, using the Cultural Consensus Theory, was presented by Saida Heshmati from Claremont Graduate University in the USA,
Maintaining sexual intimacy while living apart together transnationally, presented by Rashmi Singla from Roskilde University in Denmark
Dating after trauma from childhood abuse: How survivors navigate romantic relationships, presented by Gabriele Rosato from Pontifical Gregorian University in Italy,
How romantic and sexual desires are signaled via different vocal attractiveness strategies, presented by Míša Hejná from Aarhus University in Denmark.
Conceptual and Linguistic Research on Love
There is no such thing as love… until we define what love is, presented by Victor Karandashev from Aquinas College and International Institute of Love Studies in the USA,
The embodiment of ‘heart’ in cross-linguistic studies of love metaphors, presented by Mustapha Bala Tsakuwa from Yulin University in China,
Metaphors we love by, and how they represent the four loves, presented by Róbert Bohát from Charles University, Prague, in the Czech Republic,
How love vocabulary is constructed in historical sources, presented by Hannah Vanden Broucke from Ghent University in Belgium,
How the Ukrainian language conceptualizes the spirituality of LOVE, presented by Iryna Pinich from Kyiv National Linguistic University in Ukraine and Södertörn University in Sweden,
How the Bulgarian language and culture conceptualize ОБИЧ and ЛЮБОВ, presented by Nelly Tincheva from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in Bulgaria.
Love and Family Relationships
How loans affected love and marriage in pandemic Hungary, presented by Judit Balatonyi from the University of Pécs in Hungary,
How people communicate love in elder care and multigenerational life among South Asian families, presented by Mukta Sharangpani from Santa Clara University in the USA,
How families ‘judge’ a person based on their ethnolinguistic identity, presented by Sameer Patankar from DY Patil University in Navi Mumbai, India,
These examples of presentations delivered and discussed at the Conference on Love Studies represent various aspects of love and love-related phenomena across different academic disciplines, practical applications, cultures, and contexts. The discussions focused on love and relationships from various perspectives.
We present more detailed overviews of specific thematic panel sessions in other articles published in the Diversity of Love Journal.