Digital Sanctuaries: Where Joy and Healing Intertwine

Time: Oct. 19, 2026, 4 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Location: 114 Bird Library

How can we come together as a community to create an affirming, joyful and more just future in the digital age? Desmond Upton Patton (University of Pennsylvania) discusses how engaging youth as collaborators, storytellers, and agents of change can bring technology into the realm of human connection and co-creation, to foster well-being. Rather than passive consumers of technology, or being “red flagged” as “at risk,” students are positioned as agents of change, crafting new futures using digital tools.

Dr. Patton's presentation is also a feature of the Ganders Lecture Series in the School of Education.