Person reading a book

Mansfield Isolation Conversation

These articles, linked by the common theme of social isolation, give an introduction to our subjects and the tutors who teach them. 

The conversation so far

Our English Literature tutors contributed articles on Medieval anchoresses, Oscar Wilde's experience of forced solitary confinement, Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year, Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Fears in Solitude and Thomas Nashe as 'plague's prisoner'.

Our Physics & Materials tutors have contributed pieces on the magnetic properties of isolated atoms, Solitary Neutrinos and the socialising qubits in quantum computing. 

Watch this space for Maths making waves, and more subjects to come ... 

Doing Community in Isolation: Mosques, Mecca and One Direction (Alex Henley, Theology & Religion)
Links to an article reflecting on global lockdown, solitude and Islamic tradition, and shows Mecca
Isolation and Revelation (Alison Salvesen, Oriental Studies)
Links to an article reflecting on isolation in different religious traditions, and shows a text with the title 'Revalation'
Roman Law: Isolating the Law of Persons (Elizabeth Drummond, Law)
Links to a brief discussion of Gaius dividing laws into those relating to persons, things or actions, and shows an image of Gaius.
Solitary Waves (Colin Please, Maths)
Links to a brief description of waves, and in particular soliton waves; and shows an image of a soliton wave.
Medieval Responses to ‘Contagion’ (Helen Lacey, History)
Links to an brief article on medieval responses to plague, and shows a medieval image of plague victims.
Physically, but not socially, isolated: Insights from a small Micronesian island (Eileen Tiope, Economics)
Links to an article about the rai currency, and shows an image of rai.
3rd and 4th Century Social Distancing in the Desert
Links to an article on apothegms or sayings from 3rd and 4th century Christians who underwent isolation, and shows an image of one of these 'desert fathers'.
Power and politics amidst COVID-19 seclusions
A comic-style image of a family facing hunger and pandemic is used as a link to an article on political economics and geographical perspectives on quarantines, lockdowns and stay-in-place orders
Even buildings need isolation
A diagram describing isolation in the structural support pillars of bridges is used as a link to a brief article on 'rocking isolation' of structures.
Social distancing and quantum computing
An image of calciun-43 ions is used to link to a light-hearted article on isolating qubits in diamond.
Avoiding an Empty Universe with Solitary Neutrinos
A link to a brief article on a particularly non-interactive particle type, the neutrinos, via an image of a neutrino.
Magnets in isolation
An image of iron atoms inside a crystal is used as a link to a brief article on isolating atoms in order to study their magnetic properties.
Thomas Nashe: 'Plague's Prisoner'
A woodcut illustration of Thomas Nashe is used as a link to a article on Nashe's experiences of the plague in 1592.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s ‘Fears in Solitude’
View of landscape in the Quantock Hills
Daniel Defoe's 'Journal of the Plague Year'
Book title reading 'Memoirs of the Plague'
Oscar Wilde in Prison
Contemporary newspaper illustration of Oscar Wilde's trial at the Old Bailey.
Social Distancing in 'Ancrene Wisse'
Medieval illuminated manuscript of Ancrene Wisse