Loneliness and Belonging at the University

A program to help students understand loneliness and create robust social connections

The university can be a lonely place.

The American College Health Association’s research in 2018 showed that 63% of American college students reported feeling “very lonely” in the past year. This was before the Covid-19 pandemic moved lectures online, shuttering students into dorm rooms and Zoom rectangles.

We know that social connectedness is a key predictor of academic success and mental and physical health, but it takes work, intention and care to create networks for students to understand those needs and find each other. This course is designed to help bridge the institution and the individual, and bring students into a conversation about loneliness that is practical, creative and forward-moving.

How does this program work?

We’ll draw from well-researched practices of expressive writing, storytelling, and dialogue to help students understand and contextualize their loneliness, and then counter it by taking tangible actions towards building networks of authentic relationship.

Each week, we’ll dive into research on why loneliness is at an all-time high, including the impacts of social technology, Covid-19, and evolving workplace cultures. We’ll learn about innovative, on-the-ground projects aimed to counteract loneliness, and grassroots projects that let us see social connection in a new light.

Then we’ll use expressive writing, active listening, and dialogue exercises to help us find our own stories and voices, hear each other’s, and do the practical work of creating social connection in academic institutions.

This program is hands-on, fun, and grounded in research. We’ll draw from a diverse crew of writers and academics, including Vivek Murthy, Sherry Turkle, Mia Birdsong, John Cacioppo, and others.