Digital Wellbeing Workshop
Co-led by colleagues in the Centre for Urban Wellbeing, Mental Health Humanities Researcher Network, CAL 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 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, Law 112 / Zoom
- This event is free to attend and all are welcome, but registration is essential. Thank you!
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 and Schedule
The session will combine short presentations and structured group discussion in person and/or online, with all kinds of participation warmly invited.
This event will introduce a range of projects and perspectives on digital wellbeing, introduced in short talks from researchers across departments at the University of Birmingham, with hybrid discussion spaces for participants in person and online.
11:45-12:00: Arrivals and welcome, with tea and coffee provided in Law 112
12:00-13:00: Introductions & Session One
- Prof Ruth Page (Applied Linguistics; Influencer Stories of Mental Health and Young People) – ‘Introducing Influencer Stories of Mental Health and Young People’
- Joanne McCuaig (MASTERY) – ‘Insights From the MASTERY Project’
- Dr Jeremy Kidwell (Theological Ethics) – ‘Digital Space: Thinking Towards Atmospheres for Bodily Diversity’
13:00-13:45: Lunch (provided)
13:45-15:00: Session Two
- Dr Laura Kudrna (Health Research Methods; Centre for Urban Wellbeing) – ‘Digital Technologies and National Experienced Wellbeing Measurement’
- Dr Daniel Wheatley (Management) – ‘Digital Well-being and Gaming’
- Dr Bettina Bodi (Digital Media) – ‘Cosy Games and Wellbeing’
- Prof Jessica Pykett (Social and Political Geography; Centre for Urban Wellbeing) – ‘Digital Wellbeing: Expert Narratives of Digital Emotional Governance’
15:00-15:30: Session Three: Discussion & Next Steps
- Chaired by Dr Vanessa Heggie (History of Science and Medicine)
15:30-16:00: Close & Refreshments
This workshop builds on ideas from a previous Digital Wellbeing online workshop in September 2024, with Dr Sophie King-Hill and Dr Jwana Aziz. Previous attendance is not necessary; all welcome and we look forward to seeing you there!
Register now
This event is open to all and free to attend. Please register in advance on our Eventbrite page, as in-person places are limited. Thank you!
Contact
If you have any questions, please get in touch with Dorothy Butchard (d.butchard@bham.ac.uk).