In Republic of Noise: The Loss of Solitude in Schools and Culture, Diana Senechal criticizes the emphasis, in our schools and beyond, on group work, rapid activity, and instant results. Arguing that "the chatter of the present, about the present, cannot always grasp the present," she examines the role of solitude in public life, creative work, and the life of the mind. The book calls not for drastic changes but for subtle shifts: an honoring of the things of solitude, such as literature, science, art, friendship, and matters of conscience.
 

Senechal is the 2011 winner of the Hiett Prize in the Humanities, awarded by the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. She holds a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Yale; she wrote her dissertation on Nikolai Gogol. Her translations of the Lithuanian poetry of Tomas Venclova have appeared in two books, Winter Dialogue (1997) and The Junction (2008). She read her translations at the International CzesÅÂÂÂ?aw MiÅÂÂÂ?osz Festival in 1998.