The Language of Loneliness: Theory and Writing Workshop [7-weeks, $300 Suggested]

Instructor: Andrews | Tuesdays 6:00-8:00 PM ET | November 1-December 13

Even before the COVID pandemic forced us into social isolation, researchers had been deeply concerned about the ongoing pandemic of loneliness across North America and Europe. According to one survey, as many as half of all Americans say they sometimes or always feel lonely or that no one knows them well. And as the holidays approach, we are entering a season where many people feel acutely aware of their loneliness as demands for celebration and media images of happy families and friends proliferate. Is widespread cultural loneliness a new phenomenon, and is it getting worse? Why are some people lonelier than others? And why are there people who feel existentially lonely, as though loneliness is a core part of who they are? Across this course, we’ll ask these philosophical and cultural questions. We will also study the history of the ways that structures of oppression such as racism and ableism both ideologically and in terms of the built environment–from single family homes to redlining to inaccessible buildings–enforce loneliness at a political level. We’ll try to find out who benefits from our loneliness and what we can do about it. Importantly, we’ll consider what language has to tell us about loneliness, and how writers have used language in response to their own feelings of isolation and disconnection. Is writing about loneliness connective? Or does it magnify one’s sense of being alone? What is the difference between loneliness and solitude? How do structural forces of race, class, and gender affect our capacity to feel connected? We’ll read and write in response to these questions, and in our shared interest in loneliness, we’ll study together. The first five weeks will be dedicated to study with end-of-class writing prompts, and the final two weeks will be sharing and discussion of our own writing.

Readings will be drawn from: Claudia Rankine, Don’t Let Me Be Lonely; Ashon Crawley, The Lonely Letters; Michael Cobb, “Lonely”; Sylvia Plath, Ariel; Virginia Woolf, A Writer’s Diary; Emily Dickinson, select poems; and Fay Bound Alberti, A Biography of Loneliness; among others.

—

For each class, four (4) full tuition scholarships and five (5) 80% tuition scholarships are available. Due to limited scholarship funds, we are currently only able to offer one class per term at the full scholarship level to any individual student—if you need a full scholarship, please sign up for the class you most want to take and email us to waitlist for any additional classes. We will add you when funds become available. Direct student donations are a crucial aspect of our funding model, and without them, we are not able to pay instructors a living wage. We encourage you to pick the payment tier that corresponds with your needs, but ask that you please consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out or you would like to pay tuition on an installment basis, please email us directly, and we will work with you.

If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, please email us and we will reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.