Message from IASIL Chair: Postponement of the 2020 Conference

Dear friends, fellow IASIL members, I am afraid that the time has come to announce a sad but inevitable decision.

It is clear now that our conference at the University of Łódź will not be able to happen in July: even if restrictions in Europe were lifted by then, and the university reopened its buildings, travel would still be difficult and overseas delegates in particular would not be able to attend.

Following a close discussion with the conference organisers, and the approval of the IASIL Executive, the decision has been made to postpone the conference until 19-23 July 2021.

The conference theme is going to remain the same, and an updated call for papers will be issued this autumn. Delegates who have had their papers accepted will be able to either confirm their topics, send updated abstracts, or submit new ones for consideration; the call will be open to other IASIL members as well of course.

Let me express immense gratitude on behalf of us all to Michał Lachman, Joanna Kruczkowska, Katarzyna Ojrzyńska and Wit Pietrzak for the enormous amount of work that they have put in organising the conference over the last couple of years, and for their readiness to host us next year.

I would also like to thank Brian Ó Conchubhair for his wonderful gesture of solidarity; as you will be aware, IASIL was to come to the University of Notre Dame in 2021 but Brian and his team have most generously suggested that their place as hosts be ceded to Łódź, so that the effort of the organisers there would not go to waste. The gesture is all the more remarkable since in order to maintain its customary pattern, IASIL will hold its 2022 conference in Ireland.

I hope that you accept the disappointing news in good spirits: after all, we have a date to look forward to, and I am positive that the Łódź conference next year will be a real treat, and an occasion to reconnect again in person and in greater numbers.

Looking forward to seeing you in Poland next year then, and of course being in touch virtually in the meantime. Let me wish you and your loved ones good health, and stay safe.

Ondřej Pilný