Research Institute for Social Sciences

Doing a PhD has given me the opportunity to restore some direction and discipline to my professional life after a dispiriting period working freelance in the neo-liberal wilderness of targets and outcomes. My time at Keele has been rich and varied and besides the strength of the gerontology tradition, I have really valued the close postgraduate links between the social sciences and humanities research institutes. I have been a contributor to 'Late-life creativity and the new old age', the AHRC joint programme between Keele and Kings College, London and I am about to present as work in progress a paper entitled 'Age, generation and moral responsibility in Dickens: reconfiguring "The Old Curiosity Shop"'. I have presented two papers at internal conferences at Keele, one, in 2011, on generational conflict on the internet - 'The sooner you're all gone the sooner the rest of us can get on with fixing the sh*t that you left behind' - and the other, in 2012, on methodological issues - 'The fit between design and analysis: work in progress on "Reconnecting the Disconnected"'. As part of an ongoing series of reports reflecting on my own community work practice I also ran a workshop at the Keele International Gerontology Spring School in April 2012: 'Community development: work-shopping activity with older people in a historical context.' I have reviewed books for the Sociological Review and the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships. Despite the cost - my home is in London - I've been committed to being often on campus. Having an office next door to the university library has been a great pleasure, as has the Abbott Ale in the Sneyd Arms, while the whiff of manure off the fields in February brings back strong memories of a Cheshire childhood. Best of all has been the opportunity to study alongside students diverse in age, in class background, and national origin: long live the Moser first-floor kitchen comrades!

If, and when, I graduate I'll be 63. My background has been in community development with older people in London. I would like to carry out research for a few years looking at age relations and historical change, community development and participation, and social and cultural issues relating to ageing. I would be keen to contribute to reviving interest in the politics of ageing among political scientists.

“Reconnecting the Disconnected: A Study of Manchester City Council's Intergenerational Initiative 2010 – 2013”

In recent years Manchester has been at the forefront of developments to meet the needs of an ageing population. There has been a city-wide commitment to become a generationally-connected, ‘age-friendly' city and to strengthen community life by bringing younger and older people together. Manchester City Council's Joint Health Unit, the Beth Johnson Foundation and Keele University's Centre for Social Gerontology are now working together to research and evaluate what has been happening. I am examining both existing intergenerational work and new initiatives. My research will document the way Manchester has developed its approach, and explore how it is being put into practice. This a qualitative study, using narrative research methods, bridging the disciplines of social policy, sociology, social gerontology and narrative theory to contribute to the understanding of both community development and intergenerationality.

Conferences

I have helped organise two postgraduate conferences since I came to Keele in January 2010.

'Life after a PhD for researchers on ageing and later life' BSG ERA and Centre for Social Gerontology, Keele, 9/12/2011

'Living and Researching Later Life' BSG Emerging Researchers in Ageing conference 10/07/2012"

Presentations

British Society of Gerontology conference papers:

Plymouth University: July 2011. 'Reconnecting the Disconnected: A Study of the City of Manchester’s Intergenerational Initiative 2010-2013'

Keele University: July 2012. 'Professional responses to relations between young and old: a sociocultural typology for intergenerational practice'