We will be live streaming this event on Facebook and Youtube.
Are you lonely and wondering how to escape from your loneliness? Loneliness affects people of every generation, race, creed and income. We cannot buy ourselves out of loneliness or cure loneliness with pharmaceuticals or accomplishments. The only cure for loneliness is each other.
On March 30th, three authors and thinkers will gather in the Sanctuary at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on the OSU campus to lead a conversation about loneliness and to help people find community with each other. The program will begin at 6:30 PM and is open and free to the public. There will be a light supper beforehand, beginning at 5:45. Please RSVP for the dinner or simply show up for the main event. RSVP for the dinner by scrolling down to the bottom of this page.
We are thrilled to be joined and led by:
Kristen Radtke
Even before Covid, Americans were lonely. Before the pandemic began, Kristen Radtke had already set out to write Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness. Wide ranging and wise, her essay explores the loneliness of our culture through investigations into CB radio aficionados, cowboys, social media, mass shooters, psychologists and more. She weaves her own personal experiences throughout her book, inviting us to think about our own lives and the stories of independence and individual striving that we’ve been taught. “In America,” Radtke says, “We’re trained not to bother each other, not to ask for help, not to extend help; this conservative ideology of pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps is absurd. It’s easy for us to think that self-sufficiency is possible, but that’s a total fallacy. It goes beyond the fact that we need each other to acquire food and shelter. We also need each other to reinforce our humanity.”
Interview with Eliza Harris, Catapult Magazine, June 28, 2021
Angus Fletcher
Angus Fletcher holds dual degrees in neuroscience and literature. His writing, consulting and research focuses on how stories can help us solve the problem of simply being human, with all of a human being’s desires, drives and loneliness. “When we connect with a book, we can ease . . . feelings of aloneness. Even though no one is physically with us, our emotional connection to the narrator’s voice or to the lives of the story’s characters makes our brain feel like we’re in friendly company.” Fletcher points out that when we find friends in books, we are inspired to seek friends in our everyday lives, easing our sense of loneliness.
amaha sellassie
amaha selassie is the Director of the Center for Applied Social Issues at Sinclair Community College, a peace builder, social healer, freedom fighter, network weaver and lover of humanity. As a community organizer, he helps us to move beyond isolation to togetherness by asking, “What do we want to see, what do we want to become?” The shared vision of the communities that we form gives us collective hope, based on a foundation of trust and relationship.
Schedule for the Evening
5:45 – 6:30 Reception and Light Dinner
6:30 Talk by Kristen Radtke
7:00 Round Table with amaha sellassie and Angus Fletcher
Join us for Dinner Beforehand
If you would like to join us for the reception and light dinner, please RSVP by using this form. The dinner is free, but we need to know how many meals we should prepare:
This event will be live-streamed. Check back here for links and more details.
This event is co-sponsored by:
- Becoming Beloved Community in the Diocese of Southern Ohio
- The Center for Community Solutions
- Methodist Theological School in Ohio
- OSU Humanities Collaboratory
- OSU Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability
- OSU Interfaith Council
