"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."
Plato

"Play is the exultation of the possible."
Martin Buber


On 23 and 24 May, 2008, FORUM hosted an international and interdisciplinary conference on the topic of "Play" at the University of Edinburgh's School of Literatures, Languages, and Cultures (made possible through funding from the Art and Humanities Research Council). Engaging with a myriad of perspectives and interests – from digital media to theology, literature to film studies, psychology to performance art – the conference explored the social and cultural functions of play, and attempted to determine its significance in the arts and humanities. This special issue of FORUM offers a selection of papers presented at the conference, a compilation of works that reflect the spectrum of questions considered throughout the two-day event. 

Published: 01-Aug-2008