ACT is hiring a postdoctoral fellow in Ageing, Communication and Technologies

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ABOUT THE RESEARCH

The research project “Ageing, communication, technologies: experiencing a digital world in later life” (ACT) is seeking applications for a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University, under the supervision of ACT Director Dr. Kim Sawchuk.

ACT is a multi-methodological and interdisciplinary project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and brings together researchers, local community partners and international institutional partners to investigate the transformation of the experiences of ageing with the proliferation of new forms of mediated communications in networked societies.

ACT is offering a postdoctoral fellowship in the area of “Ageing, Communication, Technologies” and invites applications from candidates whose research examines intersects with ACT’s mandate, and with one of its three research axes.

Agency in Ageing: Collaborative Creativity and the Digital Arts in Later Life encompasses a program of research that involves individuals and communities in the development of participatory action research projects that have both scholarly and creative outcomes. This approaches takes seriously people’s everyday interactions with technologies, and uses these experiences to explore what it means to be a critical citizen in the information age in a process of collaborative knowledge creation.

Critical Mediations: Everyday Life and Cultures of Ageing examines the everyday life practices and the variegated mediated experiences of adults in later life. Looking at how older adults engage with music, photography, film, television, or gaming, to name but a few of the key areas that are increasingly subject to transformations in their modes of production and circulation, this research employs methods and concepts drawn from cultural studies and the humanities.

Telecommunication Technologies: Ageing in Networked Societies investigates ageing in the context of networked societies. Research in this area primarily is conducted through methodologies associated with the social sciences, bridging internet and telecommunications research with ageing studies, including – but not limited to – cellphones that allow for talking, texting, and video calling, laptops for Skyping with grandchildren, and tablets for reading books, playing (intergenerational) digital games, or accessing the internet.

FINANCIAL COMMITMENT

The Postdoctoral Fellowship in Ageing, Communication and Technologies entails a yearly salary of $45,000 CAD and can begin as early as August 2018. Only applications for one-year projects will be considered, but there may be an opportunity for re-application for a second year. The ACT Postdoctoral Fellowship will be housed at Concordia University in Montreal, but can be undertaken in collaboration with a partner institution of ACT (see our full list of partners).

A central goal of ACT is to train a new generation of Canadian scholars in the study of ageing from the perspective of the social sciences, the arts and/or the humanities. As such, in addition to conducting and completing their own research project, the chosen candidate will be expected to participate actively in the intellectual development of ACT, to work on a regular basis from the ACT offices located in downtown Montreal, and to perform some of the following tasks that are intended to complement their postdoctoral training: assist in the organization and implementation of academic and community events, (including conferences and workshops), conduct public and university lectures, contribute to the development of collaborative projects within ACT, assist in the preparation of grant applications.

ELIGIBILITY

The successful candidates will have a PhD in hand before beginning the position. Preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

HOW TO APPLY

Application Deadline: June 1, 2018 (for an August to October 2018 entry)
In a single email addressed to application@actproject.ca, please provide the following three components as individual attachments.

1) A letter of intent (maximum 3 pages) that articulates the research project to be
undertaken, how the research fits within the mandate of ACT, the candidate’s suitability
and expertise, the applicant’s timeline and collaborative interests within the ACT
network.
2) A CV.
3) A list of three references with complete contact information, who could be called upon to write letters of recommendation.

Shannon Hebblethwaite discusses Grannies on the Net on CTV Montreal

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On March 14, 2018,  Shannon Hebblethwaite appeared on CTV Montreal at noon to discuss her ACT-funded research project Grannies on the Net. Hebblethwaite discusses the roles that ICTs play in the lives of grandmothers, including how they factor in family relationships. For Hebblethwaite’s respondents, digital technologies can represent both “a blessing and a curse”. Watch the full interview below.

 

Weaving Memories: Cercle de Fermières, Age and Looms – happening March 16, 2018

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Join us for our first “Lunch & Learn” on Friday, March 16. ACT RA, Nora T. Lamontagne will present her research about the “crafters” of le Cercle de Fermières.

Ingrained in tradition and rurality, crafters of le Cercle de Fermières have been gathering together for over a hundred years to do needlework and textile art. What if technologies were at the very heart of their practice? My Master’s research looks into how Fermières, as older women crafting, use technologies in their activities, be them analog, digital or mechanical. During this presentation, I focus on how looms influence life at the Cercle in many engaging and surprising ways. Following Bruno Latour and ANT, I look into elements of the weaving assemblage generative of different types of memories.

More information here:

Lunch and Learn: “Cercle de Fermières, age and looms”

Josephine Dolan releases “Contemporary Cinema and ‘Old Age’: Gender and the Silvering of Stardom”

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ACT co-applicant Josephine Dolan has just released a new book titled Contemporary Cinema and ‘Old Age’: Gender and the Silvering of Stardom. This book examines cinema at the intersection of gender, ageing, celebrity and genre studies. It takes its cue from the dual meanings of ‘silvering’ – economics and ageing – and explores shifting formulations of ‘old age’ and gender in contemporary cinema. Broad in its scope, the book establishes the importance of silver audiences to the survival of cinema exhibition while also forging connections between the pleasures of ‘old age’ films, consumer culture, the ‘economy of celebrity’ and the gendered silvering of stardom. Read more here.

Global Learning at GUSEGG

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GUSEGG brings students together for two weeks to collaborate across a range of disciplines – from economics and media studies to ageing studies and religion – while developing and sharpening a variety of academic practices and skills, including public speaking, critical academic writing, reading, interviewing, and producing media. Applications for the summer school and for ACT funding are now open!

Read more →

ACT Student Bursaries: Deadline Extended

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The ACT Student Bursaries are awarded to students enrolled in master’s or doctoral programs in ACT partner universities, and who are conducting research on the intersections of ageing, communication and technologies as part of their thesis project. ACT will award up to four competitive bursaries per year; two for doctoral students ($2,000 CAD each) and two for master’s students ($1,000 CAD each).

All applications must be submitted to application@actproject.ca by the required due date of February 15, 2018.

Eligibility 

  • The student must be registered in a doctoral or master’s program in an ACT partner university.
  • The student’s candidacy must be supported by an ACT co-applicant or collaborator, who is affiliated with the student’s home university/ACT partner university and able to administer ACT funds to the student. However, the student does not necessarily need to be directly supervised by the supporting ACT co-applicant or collaborator.
  • The student must be registered in a program with a required thesis component.
  • The student’s thesis must fit directly within the mandate of ACT.
  • If in a PhD program, the student’s thesis proposal must have been approved or defended prior to applying to this bursary. If in a MA program, the student’s thesis proposal does not necessarily need to have been approved or defended before applying to this bursary.
  • Each student is only admissible for one ACT bursary per degree, and must not have received bursaries, scholarships, fellowships or stipends from ACT in the past (e.g., scholarship or project funding).
  • The student must not plan to have completed their thesis within six months following the bursary application deadline.

 

Submission

First, candidates must submit a single email with two attachments: the completed “ACT Student Bursaries Application Form,” and a Curriculum Vitae that provides an overview of the student’s accomplishments and research record. Second, the supporting ACT co-applicant or collaborator must send an email with two attachments: the completed “ACT Student Bursaries Support Form” and a letter of recommendation. Third, if the student’s thesis supervisor is not the sponsoring ACT co-applicant and collaborator, the student’s thesis advisor must send a letter of recommendation.

All documents must be emailed to application@actproject.ca for the appropriate due date. No late applications will be considered.

 

Obligations

Students: Successful applicants must commit to fulfilling a number of requirements. The student will be asked to work with the ACT team to share information on the project for reporting and communication purposes. This includes providing the necessary information to set up a project page on the ACT website, a biography and photo, and other information, as requested. Furthermore, the student will be required to acknowledge the support of ACT and its funders, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), in research outputs, including conference papers, workshops and poster presentations, publications, the final production of their thesis and any creative or media products of their research.

Supporting co-applicants and collaborators: By supporting an application, the co-applicant or collaborator must be able to recommend to ACT  that the student should be funded. The sponsoring co-applicant or collaborator must also be willing and able to facilitate the payment of the bursary by their institution using ACT funds; as such, they must be able to receive the funds from ACT via an institutional transfer.

 

Related Documents

ACT Student Bursaries February 2018 Call
ACT Student Bursaries Application Form 
ACT Student Bursaries Support Form