ACT panel selected as a “divisional symposium” at CAG2017

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The ACT Panel titled “Ageing, Communication, Technologies : Experiencing a Digital World in Later Life” has been selected as the divisional symposium for Social Sciences at the Canadian Association of Gerontology Conference (CAG), to be held from October 19 to 21 in Winnipeg, Canada. The panel will take place on October 21 from 11am to 12:30pm in the York room. You can consult the full program here.

Activist ageing and the “tactical theatrics” of RECAA
Kim Sawchuk,Concordia University,
Constance Lafontaine, Concordia University,

Signing, Ageing, Connecting: Intersections of Deafhood, Ageing and Technology
Line Grenier,Université de Montréal
Véronique Leduc, Université du Québec à Montréal

“A blessing and a curse”: Grandmothers reflections on digitally mediated family relationships
Shannon Hebblethwaite, Concordia University
Kelly Leonard, Concordia University

Aging and Technology Assistive Devices: Assessing the Role of Interpersonal Communication in the Context of Transitional Care 
Martine Lagacé, University of Ottawa
Sarah A. Fraser, University of Ottawa

Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellow Symposium: Emerging Research on Later Life

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On October 5, ACT is hosting its first ever graduate student and postdoctoral fellow symposium at the Loyola campus of Concordia University, specifically in the Department of Communication Studies. With the exception of the public keynote by Josephine Dolan, this is a closed event.

SCHEDULE

9:30-10:00 (CJ 2.130) – Welcome and Introductions
Josephine Dolan and Kim Sawchuk

10:00am-11:00am – Exploring and challenging the normativities of later life

Older adults and videogames: at the margins of productivity and play. Exploring the intersecting normative discourses of digital games and ageing
Gabrielle Lavenir

Food Talks: when the successful ageing injunction is being reconfigured through a foodblog
Myriam Durocher

11:15am-12:45pm – Engagements and community connections

Intergenerational Community Connections
Don Rosenbaum and Shayne Zal

Old, crafty and connected: Cercle de Fermières; community and technologies
Nora Tremblay-Lamontagne

 Alternative Approaches to Engage People with Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Through Imagination, Communication and Methods of Care
Carly McAskill

12:45pm-2:00pm – Lunch

2:00pm – 3:00pm – Aging and other-than-human attachments

Multispecied life courses and the dueling temporalities of bucket list adventures
Constance Lafontaine

 Aging Attachments and the ondes Martenot
David Madden

3:00pm – 3:15pm – Wrap-up

3:30pm-5:00pm (CJ 1.114) – Public Keynote

‘Old age’, gender and the silvering of contemporary Hollywood cinema: economics and ideologies
Josephine Dolan

5:00pm-7:00pm (CJ Atrium) – Reception

Kelly Leonard defending MA thesis on “Exploring Community Inclusion in Older Adulthood through the use of Computers and Tablets”

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Kelly Leonard, a Research Assistant who has been working with ACT for two years, will soon defend her MA thesis titled “Exploring Community Inclusion in Older Adulthood through the use of Computers and Tablets” on August 21 at Concordia University. Her project was supervised by ACT co-applicant Shannon Hebblethwaite.

Exploring Community Inclusion in Older Adulthood through the use of Computers and Tablets

August 21, 2017, 10am
Concordia University, Loyola Campus
VE 317
7141 Sherbrooke Street West

CREATIVE METHODS IN HEALTH AND WELLBEING SEMINAR SERIES

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Over two seminars in May and June 2017, this seminar series brought together inter/national researchers, social scientists, artists, policymakers and practitioners to explore and document the possibilities and limitations of a diverse range of creative methods and key methodological issues when researching health and wellbeing and everyday life. In particular, the seminar series focused on sensory, material, visual and digital methods. The seminar series was well attended and led to stimulating and engaging debates amongst and between the speakers and audiences and was positively evaluated. ACT members, Stephen Katz and Julia Twigg, provided excellent and thought-provoking presentations and discussions.

The seminar series was funded by the University Research Seminar Series Award, Brunel University London. 

Welfare, Health and Wellbeing Research Theme; Institute of Environment, Health and Societies; Brunel University London (Dr Wendy Martin, Dr Emma Wainwright, Dr Monica Degen and Dr Elizabeth McKay)

New Concordia University research centre on aging is looking for a coordinator

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The newly-formed engAGE: Concordia Centre for Research on Aging at Concordia University in Montreal is looking to hire a coordinator to oversee and manage its daily administrative and research operations. The deadline for applications is August 1, 2017. Interested candidates are invited to apply, and can download the complete job posting by clicking here.

“Fingers on the Line” wins prize for best short documentary film

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“Fingers on the line,” a short film by Line Grenier, Véro Leduc and Pamela Witcher, won the the prize for best short documentary film at the Toronto International Deaf Film & Arts on May 27, 2017. The film explores some communication technologies of yesterday and today, and brings to the fore some reflections on technologies and ageing from deaf seniors. “Fingers on the Line” is part of the ACT-funded research-creation project Les aînés Sourds et la technologie, and has been screened as part of various events Montreal and beyond. You can view the English version of the film here. 

During the same festival, affiliated researcher Véro Leduc also won a prize for best experimental film for the “C’est tombé dans l’oreille d’une sourde,” a film she created as part of her recently completed PhD project.

ACT at Congress 2017

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Several ACT members will present their research at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, to be held at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada from May 27 to June 2, 2017.

May 29: ACT Director Kim Sawchuk has been invited to present on the ACT project as part of a panel organized by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council (SSHRC) on Managing Large-scale Partnerships.

May 29: PhD student and ACT RA Myriam Durocher presents From “Healthy Nutrition” to Successful Aging as part of the Canadian Association of Food Studies conference.

May 30: Affiliated researcher Ann-Louise Davidson, Co-applicant Giuliana Cucinelli, Nathalie Duponsel and Nadia Naffi present Learning And Making With Tiny And Affordable Computers And Open-source Platforms: What Does Maker Culture Teach Us? as part of the Canadian Communication Association (CCA) conference.

May 31: David Madden presents Vers L’or And Quebec’s Ondists s part of the Canadian Communication Association (CCA) conference.

June 2: Myriam Durocher presents Quand La Biomédicalisation De L’alimentation Contribue à L’injonction Au Vieillissement Réussi as part of the Canadian Communication Association (CCA) conference.

 

 

 

Vote for CARE REBELS pilot

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With the support of TELUS Fund and ACT, our partner Catbird Productions, along with the co-creators Helene Klodawsky, Caroline Bâcle and their team, has completed CARE REBELS – JANET TORGE AND RADICAL RESTHOMES, a 5 minute pilot episode for a six part web series. Each episode in the series will profile an individual who is breaking barriers for unpaid friends and family caregivers. Our “rebels” work in various fields, from economics, housing, human rights, disability rights, technology to genetics.

Caregivers and the general public are invited to view the pilot and nine other pilot episodes and vote for their favourite between May 1-19th. The number of views and votes will influence the TELUS Fund’s decision on which 3 projects get the greenlight to go into production. You can vote multiple times for CARE REBELS but only once per day per device. Make it a daily thing!

Please WATCH – VOTE – SHARE the Care Rebels pilot !

MA student Kelly Leonard wins prize for research poster

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On March 16, 2017, Kelly Leonard, ACT Research Assistant and MA Student at Concordia University, presented a research poster as part of Concordia’s Individualized Program Research Day. Leonard’s poster, entitled “Practitioners’ perspective on Computer and Tablet Use in Therapeutic Recreation Practice,” was was awarded second place for best poster in the MA Student category. Leonard’s poster, available here, features research from her ACT-funded project “Bringing the Community to You!“.