MiddUnplugged Week is an  invitation to turn down technology to turn up your satisfaction, productivity, and connection to the world around you!

Here’s what’s going on:

Monday, October 7^th

• No Time to Think!  Balance, Technology and Academic Life

David Levy, Ph.D., University of Washington Information School

Today we have the most powerful tools for teaching, scholarship, and learning the world has ever known, yet we have no time to think – no time for reading, writing and reflecting.  Prof. Levy will discuss how to restore balance to that equation.

Axinn 229, 7:00 p.m.

Introduced by Jonathan Miller-Lane, Associate Professor of Education and Wonnacott Commons Head

 

Tuesday, October 8^th

• Cellphone-free lunch in Proctor.  We’ll have tables set aside for students who choose to dine sans technology.  Just turn off your phone, enjoy each others company, and notice the difference.

•  Workshop on Mindful Tech: Learning to use Our Digital Tools More Attentively and with Less Stress.  Axinn 219,4:30-5:45 p.m.

Today’s digital technologies are both powerful and powerfully distracting. For more than a decade, David Levy has been exploring how to help students and adult professionals train their attention in order to operate more effectively online and with less stress. In this workshop, he will introduce some simple “mindfulness” practices that can train us to be more relaxed, and alert and we will explore how these practices can be applied to email, Facebook, and multitasking.  Space is limited; please RSVP to emckay@middlebury.edu.

 

Wednesday, October 9^th

• “Turn Up Your Senses” Self-Care Workshop with Community Herbalist Dana Woodruff

5:30-7:30 p.m., Gifford Annex Lounge

Drop in for any amount of time for some hands-on guidance to make your “here and now” even better!  Make your own aroma therapy room sprays, have a cup of tea, get some tips for self-massage, and have a mindful break.

Co-sponsored by Health and Wellness Education and Wonnacott Commons.

 

Thursday, Oct. 10^th

• Film Screening:  “Disconnected” (2008, 62 min.)

Twilight Auditorium, 7:00pm

Three Carleton College students take on the challenge of giving up their computers to see how their academic, social, and work lives are affected. No Facebook. No YouTube. No e-mail. This one-hour documentary follows students Andrew, Caitlin, and Chel as they go through “digital detox” and learn to interact with themselves and with others in ways we have largely forgotten.

With post-film discussion led by Jason Mittell, Professor of Film & Media Culture and American Studies.

 

Friday, October 11^th

• Cellphone-Free Pub Night at Crossroads, 8:00 p.m. until midnight

Featuring acoustic musicians Gabriel Mintz and Linda Draper

Turn off your cellphone to turn up your social interaction!

 

All events in MiddUnplugged Week are co-sponsored by the Wellness Committee, Parton Center for Health and Wellness, Office of Health and Wellness Education, and the Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life.