“Making a Connection: Intimacy in the Age of Social Media”
By Scott Fried
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Scott Fried, New-York-based youth health and sex educator and HIV/AIDS activist, will be on the Bishop's University / Champlain College campus in Sherbrooke (Lennoxville) on Tuesday, October 22nd, to give the Tait / Chattopadhyay (formerly Savithri Chattopadhyay) Memorial Humanities Lecture at 7:30 in the Bishop's University Centennial Theatre. The presentation is open to the public and is sponsored by the Champlain Humanities Department, the Lennoxville & District Women’s Centre, the Champlain SEXed Peer Educators, the Champlain Students Association, and the Townshippers’ Association “Place aux jeunes” public health program. Mr. Fried will lead an audience of students, educators, parents, and members of the greater community through a soul-searching exploration of the timeless concerns of youth and the particular challenges they face in our contemporary moment. Fried will show that young people’s experiences in the online world can be alternately daunting, inspiring, hurtful, and pleasurable, and that, ultimately, social media practices reflect a deeper and all-too human desire to be seen, to be heard, and to connect.
For over twenty years, Scott Fried has
worked closely with youth with an eye to what they find important, and how educators, parents, and a caring community can support young people through common struggles such as
bullying, discrimination, low self-esteem, familial conflict, substance abuse, dating hardships, sexual identity and sexual health concerns, body image issues, eating disorders, self harm, and suicide.
Fried’s compassionate approach is based on his own experiences coming of age in New York during the
AIDS crisis. Fried has since shared his insights with youth at over one thousand institutions across the
United States and in England, Holland, Israel, and Canada. He has worked with youth in colleges and universities, high schools, summer camps, disabled youth programs, gay/straight alliances, synagogues and churches, correctional facilities, and youth shelters.
Fried has also worked extensively with
educators and youth workers and is an annual guest speaker at the Office of President Clinton in New York City. His presentations are widely acclaimed and have won awards such as the “Collaborative Program of the Year” at the University of Pittsburgh and the “Outstanding Education Event” at Florida Tech. Scott Fried is the author of
If I Grow Up: Talking With Teens about AIDS, Love and Staying Alive; My Invisible Kingdom:
Letters from the Secret Lives of Teens; and A Private Midnight: A Teenager's Scrapbook of Secrets, and his writings appear in numerous periodicals, newspapers, and books. Scott volunteers with
Familias Saludables in Roatan, Honduras, where he helps build houses for indigent families, conducts HIV/AIDS educational workshops, and distributes thousands of free condoms.
The
Tait-Chattopadhyay Memorial Humanities Lecture is an annual event that has been organized for more than two decades by the
Humanities Department of the
Lennoxville Campus of Champlain Regional College. The purpose of the event is to encourage students and members of the community to reflect critically on intellectual, social and cultural issues in contemporary society. Champlain-Lennoxville is a public institution with a student population of approximately 1200 students. With excellent classroom, laboratory, residence and athletic facilities, Champlain offers its students a variety of
pre-university and technical programs leading to a college diploma (DEC).
Scott Fried, New-York-based youth health and sex educator and HIV/AIDS activist, will be on the Bishop's University / Champlain College campus in Sherbrooke (Lennoxville) on Tuesday, October 22nd, to give the Tait / Chattopadhyay (formerly Savithri Chattopadhyay) Memorial Humanities Lecture at 7:30 in the Bishop's University Centennial Theatre. The presentation is open to the public and is sponsored by the Champlain Humanities Department, the Lennoxville & District Women’s Centre, the Champlain SEXed Peer Educators, the Champlain Students Association, and the Townshippers’ Association “Place aux jeunes” public health program. Mr. Fried will lead an audience of students, educators, parents, and members of the greater community through a soul-searching exploration of the timeless concerns of youth and the particular challenges they face in our contemporary moment. Fried will show that young people’s experiences in the online world can be alternately daunting, inspiring, hurtful, and pleasurable, and that, ultimately, social media practices reflect a deeper and all-too human desire to be seen, to be heard, and to connect.
