Professor John Penniman teaching at the front of a classroom
Photo: Emily Paine
“My hope is that this course brings to life a fascinating historical phenomenon, making its complexity more tangible for my students,” says Professor John Penniman, chair of religious studies.
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How to Be Alone: Religion, Solitude and Loneliness

Professor John Penniman, chair of religious studies, brings students together to explore the historical significance and modern dynamics of social isolation
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us spent stretches of time physically isolated from our communities. I thought a course on religious histories of solitude could help students think critically about loneliness and solitude as facets of a contemporary health crisis and as crucial elements in a much longer religious history. The first half of the course is dedicated to ancient and medieval histories of social withdrawal. The second half explores responses to the modern loneliness epidemic from different disciplinary perspectives.

When I taught How to Be Alone: Religion, Solitude and Loneliness in spring 2021, it was clear that the students were invested in the conversation from day one. They exhibited a proactive curiosity that usually takes weeks to develop. We wrestled with questions for which there are no clear answers: What is the cause of loneliness? How does it differ from solitude? Does a religious tradition amplify or alleviate one’s sense of disconnection from the world? Why, in the age of the internet, do Americans seem lonelier than ever?

Students develop a deeper sensitivity to how religion shapes and is shaped by our world through exploring long-standing questions about social isolation. But they also sharpen a set of mental habits that will serve them beyond the classroom. For example, I encourage them to engage in a range of “solitude exercises” — eating alone at the cafeteria, sitting alone on the Quad, going to a movie alone, or writing a letter to a friend — without a phone nearby.

The goal is to help students develop a posture of critical sympathy to the subject. How might we better understand the psychological conditions, the social crises and the cultural contexts that lead some people to choose a life of radical withdrawal? What kinds of transformations might that withdrawal have prompted in these ancient figures? What role do these stories play in the historical development of Christianity? And how might these histories speak to our own modern crisis of being both more connected and so lonely?

I think many of us avoid solitude because it can trigger feelings of loneliness and separation anxiety. But without regular, deliberate time alone, we become disconnected from ourselves. Do I really like the things I like? Are my aspirations and fears truly my own — or are these characteristics I have been fed by some combination of my social context and an internet algorithm?

Only in solitude can we begin to trace the outlines of this “self” within us and distinguish it from the world around us.