Metastatic Metaverse? Surviving and Thriving in a Digital Age

Each year the evidence becomes stronger: constantly connected digital technologies like smartphones and social media can be dangerous to our mental health and our local and national communities. But how should we respond as users and producers of digital technologies? Where can we turn for resources to live wisely in a rapidly changing age?

Join cultural sociologist Felicia Wu Song and computer scientist Chris Martens as they discuss what makes digital experiences engaging, immersive, and addictive, trace the psychological and social effects of the attention economy, and suggest pathways forward for resisting technological abuses. Our speakers approach these problems from different perspectives: on the one hand, rooted in sociology and Christian anthropology, on the other, engaged in anarchist and anti-capitalist critique. Their dialogue will open up a night of genuine conversation in small groups of students, sharing your own perspectives on an issue that affects all of us.