Digital Wellbeing Workshop
Co-led by colleagues in the Centre for Urban Wellbeing, Mental Health Humanities Researcher Network, College of Arts and Law Incubator for Global Communications, and Centre for Digital Cultures.
Overview
Digital infrastructures are increasingly embedded in daily life, organising our movements and interactions through cities, communities, workplaces, and social networks. This hybrid workshop invites people from a range of social and disciplinary contexts to explore effects of the digital on physical and psychological wellbeing, including experiences of mental health, bodily comfort, workplace inclusion, community belonging and creative practice.
When and Where:
- 12pm-3:30pm, Thursday 15th May 2025
- University of Birmingham, Teaching and Learning 202 / Zoom
Key Questions
We aim to address diverse interactions with digital technologies and consider how global platforms and networks can shape individuals’ sense of self, connection with others, and experience of embodied space. Questions and topics for discussion on the day include:
- What are the positive or negative effects of blending digital and embodied environments?
- How might creative texts reimagine relationships between “online” and “offline” selves?
- What are the invisible, underacknowledged or non-mainstream wellbeing effects of digital technologies?
- How do experiences of wellbeing and digital technologies compare with earlier shifts in global communications?
- As everyday actions rely more on access to digital devices, how can we tackle the impact of digital exclusion?
- How could interdisciplinary research explore individual, organizational or societal impacts of digital technologies in the future?
Workshop Format
The session will combine short presentations and structured group discussion in person and/or online, with all kinds of participation warmly invited. Lunch and refreshments will be provided and we will share a detailed schedule in advance of the event.
This workshop builds on ideas from a previous Digital Wellbeing online workshop in September 2024, but previous attendance is not necessary. All welcome – we look forward to seeing you there!