The School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) has published the 2025 issue of Palaver: A Journal of Ideas, Stevens’s annual philosophical journal featuring spirited one-on-one dialogues between students and faculty. To celebrate the newest edition of the journal, creator and HASS Professor Benjamin Ogden hosted a Palaver Roundtable and Launch Event on April 16, at which the theme of solitude was discussed at length by both contributors and attendees.
The word “palaver” refers to a prolonged discussion or conference, especially one marked by an exchange of ideas. Dr. Ogden founded Palaver in 2020 after noticing that Stevens students lacked a platform for philosophical expression. “[I saw] there wasn’t an undergraduate journal where students could share their thoughts about all sorts of important ideas,” in the same way they could share creative writing or visual art, Dr. Ogden explained.
He noticed, too, that students would be more intellectually creative before and after class, but often held back during class discussions and debates. Palaver grew out of the idea that solving this problem required a philosophical forum for students that was no less rigorous than class time, but more informal and with a greater opportunity for reflection and composition of ideas. “I asked a few students if they would be interested in getting the journal off the ground, and with their invaluable help, Palaver was formed.”
The exchange of ideas facilitated by the new publication was apparent at last week’s roundtable. Speakers included editorial board members Emma Spoonauer and Anjali Denissov, as well as faculty members Dr. Diana Bush and Professor John Horgan, who shared their thoughts and experiences with solitude and how they engaged with prompts while writing their dialogues. Over the course of the hour-and-a-half discussion, attendees spoke about their own experiences and contemplations of the meaning of aloneness. The foundational idea of solitude bled into related topics, including the necessity of companionship, child development, communicating in a second language, and the impact of modern connectivity on human relationships.
Solitude was chosen as this year’s theme in a democratic process between Dr. Ogden and the editorial board of the journal in the same way that it settled on the previous years’ topics of time, passion, dreams, and courage. “Each of us proposed several different possible themes, but after a few rounds of discussion, it became obvious that solitude was a great fit for Palaver because it has many different connotations, is something everyone has experienced, and raises an array of important questions of both universal and contemporary importance,” explained Dr. Ogden. He pointed out that our society frequently grapples with collective angst about the impact of the internet, smartphones, and social media on traditional human relationships of all kinds, and that with this edition, he hoped both the positive value and dangers of isolation would be vigorously explored. “We genuinely wanted to know what the contributors felt about solitude, and we were rewarded with some stunning and personal discussions.”
New to this year’s issue is the contribution of artwork from student artists. Under the direction of Philip Sutherland, a 4/4 Visual Arts and Technology major, who created the cover art for this year’s book, each student-faculty dialogue was accompanied by a related piece of visual art. Sutherland explained the inspired process by which artists tied their creations to the dialogues: Instead of being given full prompts, artists received a handful of keywords to spark inspiration without dictating a direct representation of the discussion.
Although it is spearheaded by HASS, Palaver: A Journal of Ideas is an open forum, and Dr. Ogden welcomes contributions from all departments of Stevens. Those interested in contributing can contact Dr. Ogden directly or fill out a contributor interest form on the journal’s Instagram. “Tell me what interests you about Palaver, where you heard of us, and how you’d like to get involved.”
Photo Courtesy of Anjali Denissov
Photo Courtesy of Ben Knobloch for The Stute
