Reading in a Digital Culture with Dr. Maryanne Wolf

Seek Things Above

In March 2024, Dr. Maryanne Wolf gave a talk at Mount Angel Abbey on "Reading in a Digital Culture: The Beauty and the Challenges to Empathy, Critical Analysis, and Contemplation." Focusing on research in neuroscience and education, Dr. Wolf looked at the effects of digital mediums on the development and the sustaining of deep reading processes, particularly empathy/perspective-taking, inference, and critical thinking — the precursors to the contemplative function and our deepest insights.
Dr. Maryanne Wolf, author of 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 (2018) and 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘥 (2007), is a scholar, a teacher, and an advocate for children and literacy around the world. She currently serves as the Director of the newly created Center of Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. She was made a permanent member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences by Pope Francis in 2020.
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