Wellness at WPI

On the Feb. 13, 2026 Wellness Day, the WPI community welcomed student filmmaker and digital wellness advocate Ben Forman to campus for an exclusive screening of his documentary, Disconnected: Life in a Digital Reality. The event was organized by the Student Mental Health Committee, Assistant Professor Richard Lopez from the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies, and Paula Fitzpatrick and Gina Heinsohn from the Center for Wellbeing.  Image WPI President Grace Wang opened the event with remarks about the value of interpersonal connection and the importance of digital wellness, especially within the WPI community. Next, Ben Forman, a current undergraduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder, introduced the film as an exploration of how growing up in a smartphone- and social media-driven world shapes mental health, relationships, and identity. The documentary explores these issues through conversations with college students, mental health professionals, and Forman himself. As part of the film, Forman conducts a personal experiment: after abstaining from social media for five years, he spends multiple hours a day on social media apps for one month to examine their impact. During a Q&A that followed the screening, students, faculty, and staff engaged with Forman about his experiences creating the film, the various impacts of his personal social media experiment, and the increasing role of artificial intelligence in discussions around social media and youth mental health. 

The deadline to submit Wellness Day events is coming up! Events submitted after March 16th (Monday) won't be in printed materials. Events submitted after March 23rd will not be approved. Submit Event Requests Here  

MIEA Intro to Mindfulness is a four-week evidence-based mindfulness curriculum the Center for Well-Being is offering to WPI employees and graduate students at no cost.  Registration is now open for the in-person program that runs Mondays, 2:00 to 3:15 PM, Mar 16 to Apr 13. Register here.

Save the Date! MIEA Intro to Mindfulness is a four-week evidence-based mindfulness curriculum the Center for Well-Being is offering to WPI employees and graduate students at no cost.  Registration opens on March 2 for the online program that runs Mondays, 2:00 to 3:15 PM, Mar 16 to Apr 13 (skip 3/30).  Learn more here.   

You’re invited to a hybrid fireside chat featuring WPI’s Tsitsi Masvawure, professor for The Global School for a discussion on women’s health on February 24th. In particular, you will hear about her research on menstruation and wellbeing to better understand how menstruation affects student wellbeing, gaps in our global health responses pertaining to this most basic biological process, and to highlight student interest in menstrual wellbeing at WPI and the Worcester community. In light of the termination of USAID and other global health initiatives, what does this mean for academia, research and critical global health programming?  Hosted by The Women of WPI, this fireside chat is open to all members and friends of the WPI community. All attendees will be entered into a raffle for alumni swag. We look forward to seeing you February 24! See WPI calendar event for Zoom and in-person registration.