Ageing + Communication + Technologies (ACT): Experiencing a digital world in later life
Period: April 2014 – March 2021
Source of funding: Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
Project reference: 895-2013-1018
Partners: Concordia University (Canada), Brunel University (United Kingdom), Institute of Peruvian Studies (Peru), University of Graz (Austria), University of Miami (United States), Multimedia University (Malaysia), National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Romania), Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Catalonia, Spain), University Pompeu Fabra (Spain), Ryerson University (Canada), Trent University (Canada), Université de Montréal (Canada), Université Laval (Canada), University College London (United Kingdom), University of Brighton (United Kingdom), University of Eastern Finland (Finland), University of Gloucestershire (United Kingdom), University of Iowa (United States), University of Liverpool (United Kingdom), University of the West of England (United Kingdom), University of Utrecht (The Netherlands), York University (Canada), University of Ottawa (Canada), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel).
Principal investigator: Kim Sawchuk, Concordia University
Description: Ageing, Communication, Technologies (ACT) addresses the transformation of the experiences of ageing with the proliferation of new forms of mediated communications in networked societies. It considers how ‘digital ageism’ -the individual and systemic biases that create forms of inclusion and exclusion that are age-related- operates in subtle ways, and suggests strategies for change.
The project’s objectives are to: transform public discourses and understandings of age and ageing; include older adults as active agents and collaborators in our research agenda to develop appropriate languages, methods and ways to communicate intergenerationally and intra-generationally; develop curricula and teaching methods; provide a lasting collaborative platform for the theorization and critical analysis of the relationship between ageing and digital worlds; draw on the interdisciplinary expertise of our researchers who are working in a wide range of national and transnational settings; foster an inter-institutional sharing of resources and expertise on ageing and media for students, faculty, community workers and selected industry partners; and finally to create strong institutional partnerships and connections across academic institutions and non-academic organizations likewise concerned.
Case studies:
- Ageism and social media through the lens of the media ideologies: An exploratory research
- Grannies on the net
- Longitudinal analysis of smartphone usage
- Older audiences in the digital media environment: A cross-national longitudinal study
- Smartwatches, adoption(s) and appropriation(s)
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