Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that the virus and its political, economic, and public health implications have led to profound, if uneven, effects on human society. The restrictions imposed by political and public health responses to COVID have curbed social interactions, limited physical movement, and challenged the functions and experiences of the home as a space of comfort and site of intimacy. On November 5, the DIJ will host the international workshop The Intimate in and beyond Pandemic Times: Family, Personal Relationships and Singlehood to discuss multi-dimensional effects of the pandemic and its global and local influences on the intimate. Its speakers will introduce results of a large-scale survey conducted in January 2021 and address stay-at-home policies, teleworking, domestic violence, personal space, cohabitation among same-sex couples, and (solo)sociality. The workshop is organised by DIJ social scientist Nora Kottmann, Akiko Yoshida (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Wisconsin and Scholar in Residence, DIJ Tokyo), and Laura Dales (University of Western Australia). Registration and details here