Admission requirements
None, but prior completion of (some of) the following courses is recommended:
Medical Anthropology,
Social Determinants of Health, and/or
Qualitative Research Methods
Description
Both in the Global North and in the Global South populations are rapidly aging. Lower fertility because of societal changes worldwide and increasing life-expectancy because of medical innovation, keep many people alive for long. These demographic shifts pose challenging questions to as to what long-term care systems should look like, what the role of informal care networks is and should be. Or in other words: institutions developed around aging come with values around aging and older people and these institutions in turn shape cultural and societal perceptions about aging, care and the older body. This course consists of a theory and a practical part. In the theory part you will use literature drawing on demography, anthropology, social policy and gerontology to examine policies, politics and initiatives aimed to address population aging.
In the practical component of the course, we will use a place-based education & participatory action approach based on storytelling, to examine how these global themes resonate in The Hague. The Hague is part of the World Health Organisation’s senior friendly city network and as such an excellent case-study in understanding how global policies on aging translate into local practices. We are fortunate to be able to collaborate with Stedion Housing cooperation, working in one of their assisted living facilities in collaboration with the Thesis Hub The Hague-Southwest
You will work in small groups whereby you collaboratively work with older residents to make visible and tangible to a broader public, what ‘future-proofing’ aging might look like from the perspective of older residents. Per group you will submit one storybook as final product of the course. You will present and discuss your preliminary findings to the older participants using feedback to adapt your product and you will present your final product to a representative of the The Hague Municipality.
You will also submit an annotated reflection portfolio which you build over the course in which you actively engage with the (theoretical literature) we read in and outside of the course.
Course Objectives
Knowledge:
Students can analyse the relationship between the formal institutions around old age care and societal ideas about aging and care.
Students can critically compare a different ideological stances on global population aging.
Students can connect local aging challenges to global aging debates.
Students acquire knowledge of storytelling as a participatory action appraoch
Skills:
Students learn how to collaborate in groups and in co-creation with older people.
Students acquire knowledge of participatory methodologies
Students know how to use storytelling to voice perspectives of older residents of the Hague and present them to policy makers.
Timetable
Timetables for courses offered at Leiden University College in 2025-2026 will be published on this page of the e-Prospectus.
Mode of instruction
Introductory, plenary lectures in combination with place-based education. Be prepared to spend time ‘in the field’. Lectures take the format of workshops where the instructor will guide your independent learning process, both in terms of reading, policy analysis and participatory action research, with a focus on storytelling. Time will be made in-class to hone your ethical awareness, data and analysis skills and prepare your storytelling product. Homework consists of reading and independent ‘fieldwork’ with older residents in the Hague. A minimum of two meetings with the class and older residents will be facilitated in addition to this.
Assessment Method
Curl up with a Novel: 20%
Community project and product: 50%
Reflection portfolio: 30%
Reading list
Lamb, S. (2017) Successful Aging as a Contemporary Obsession. Global Perspectives. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press
A novel on aging from the reading list, TBA
A reading list will be made available a week before the course commences.
Registration
Courses offered at Leiden University College (LUC) are usually only open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Leiden University students who participate in one of the university’s Honours tracks or programmes may register for one LUC course, if availability permits. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator, course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr. Josien de Klerk, Brieffies, j.de.klerk@luc.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
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