Prerna Sharma’s thesis, Longing for Belonging: Rediscovering Community Through Third Places, looks into the ongoing Epidemic of Loneliness and how Third Places are an essential tool to help combat it. In today’s fast-paced, modern, urban world, amidst the chaos of daily routines and an ever-growing digital existence, there exists a yearning – a longing for connection and a sense of belonging. It is a yearning that is innate to human beings, rooted in the essence of survival as a species – yet loneliness persists.