CREATIVE METHODS IN HEALTH AND WELLBEING SEMINAR SERIES
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
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
“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
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
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!
MA student Kelly Leonard wins prize for research poster
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!“.
End of fieldwork for Smartwatches, adoption(s) and appropriation(s)
The team for the ACT-funded research project Smartwatches, adoption(s) and appropriations(s) has recently completed one year of fieldwork.
The fieldwork extended from Winter 2015/16 to Winter 2016/17. During this amazing period we conducted bi.monthly semi-structured interviews with participants, and performed a usability test. Interviews were recorded and transcribed and we are now analyzing them to bring the results into discussion in conferences, and to publish journal articles.
The project involved nine participants: five in Barcelona (three women, two men), four in Rome (one woman, three men). With ages between 65 and 80 at the beginning of the study, the average age was 71.1 years old. We provided participants with a smartwatch: they could choose from among the Moto G 360 models available on the market during the recruitment process.
The project is led by ACT co-applicant Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol of Open University of Catalonia’s (OUC) IN3 in Barcelona, and includes other ACT members Francesca Comunello of Lumsa University in Rome, Simone Mulargia of Sapienza University of Rome and Núria Ferran-Ferrer of OUC.
Postdoctoral Fellowship at Concordia University on “The Politics of Social Gerontology in Asian Post-Industrialised Societies”
The Concordia University Research Chair in Aging and Public Policy is seeking candidates for a postdoctoral fellow position to conduct research on “The Politics of Social Gerontology in Asian Post-Industrialized Societies.” The selected candidate will work with ACT Collaborator Patrik Marier, as well as Meghan Joy at Concordia University. Applications are due April 1, and the complete call for applicants is available on the Concordia University website.
ACT members on CKUT radio in Montreal
ACT members will be alongside partners Respecting Elders Communities against Abuse (RECAA) on the Older Women Live (OWL) radio programme on CKUT in Montreal. They will discuss the recent food blog project, and will talk about the longstanding collaboration between ACT and RECAA that spans creative and research projects. Listen in on Wednesday, March 8 at 6pm on CKUT (90.3) in Montreal.