Research Institute for Social Sciences

Sue has a professional background in health and social care. Caring for a family member who had dementia awakened Sue to older age inequalities, in particular older people’s human rights, carers’ rights, and gender and sexuality as dimensions of older age and care. After that particular caring role was over, Sue career changed, completing a Masters in Gerontology at Southampton University, a Graduate Diploma in Law with the College of Law, and then PGDip in ‘Gender, Sexuality and Human Rights’ at Keele University. Sue is now in her third year as a PhD candidate at Keele. Sue’s research explores equality issues in relation to older people with lesbian, gay and bisexual identities, from a feminist socio-legal perspective. She is supervised by Dr Ruth Fletcher (Keele University) and Dr Rosie Harding (Birmingham University).

Sue is a freelance trainer and researcher. She has worked with organizations in the UK, Canada and USA. She has assisted on several research projects whilst at Keele, including the ‘Duties to Care’ dementia project. For more information see the Dementia Project website. Sue is currently Project Researcher with the ReValuing Care team. For more information see the ReValuing Care website.

Sue was a Visiting Scholar, at the invitation of Professor Martha Fineman, at Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 13^th January 2011 – 27^th January 2011, and is a Global Affiliate of The Vulnerability and the Human Condition Initiative, Emory University. She was Chair and Convener of two LGBT ageing symposia at the British Society of Gerontology’s 2012 annual conference, held at Keele University. Sue is a member of: the Law and Society Association; the Socio-Legal Studies Association; and the British Society of Gerontology.  She is also a member of ‘Aging, Law & Society’, a newly formed Collaborative Research Network (CRN) within the Law & Society Association.

Publications

• Westwood, Sue (in press) ‘Researching Older Lesbians: Hearing Hidden Voices’, Feminism and Psychology.
• Westwood, Sue (in press) ‘Inequality of relationship recognition in later life: An argument about the limitations of contemporary law’, Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law.
• Westwood, Sue (2012) Sex for Life: From Virginity to Viagra, How Sexuality Changes Throughout Our Lives, by Laura M. Carpenter and John DeLamater (eds), Ageing and Society, 32: 1451-1452
• Westwood, Sue (2012) ‘“I May Be Older, But I Ain’t No ‘Elder”: A Critique of “Elder Law”’ Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review, 21(2): 485-510.
• Westwood, Sue (2011) ‘FLT Archive: A Rich Resource for Feminist and Socio-legal Research’, Feminism and Legal Theory Project, Summer, 1-8.
• Westwood, Sue (2009) ‘Age Discrimination in Health & Social Care Provision: Implications of Human Rights Act’. Unpublished thesis, Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), College of Law, Surrey.
• Westwood, Sue (2008) ‘Informal social support networks of older LGB people: Implications for formal care provision’. Unpublished thesis for MSc Gerontology, Southampton University.

Presentations

• Westwood, S. (2012) ‘Suicide Among Older Lesbians and Gay Men’, ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ panel on suicide, part of ‘Kicking the Bucket: A Festival of Living and Dying’, October 2012, Oxford, UK.
• Westwood, S. (2012) ‘Imagining Care Among Older Lesbians and Gay Men’, 'Resourcing Care' workshop, 19-20 September 2012, Keele University, UK.
• Westwood, S. (2012) ‘Services for Older LGBT people’, Keynote speech at LGBT conference, Warwickshire County Council. Don’t Assume…..Services for LGBT People’ at Northgate House Conference Centre, Warwick, UK, 5th September 2012.
• Westwood, S. (2012) ‘Gender, Sexuality and Law: The Added Dimension of Age’, Socio-Legal Studies AssociationAnnualConference, De Montfort University, Leicester, April 2012.
• Westwood, S. (2011) ‘LGBT Ageing in the UK’: Rainbow Health, Ontario, Canada, 17^th October 2012.
• Westwood, S. (2011) ‘Older people with LGB identities: a feminist social-legal perspective’, Sexuality and Legal Transformation, PECANS conference, Westminster University, London, 7th-8th April 2011.
• Westwood, S. (2011) ‘Connecting Social Gerontology and Feminist Socio-Legal Studies: The Marginalisation of Older People with LGB Identities’, Social Science PGR Conference, Keele University, 18th March 2011.
• Westwood, S. (2011) ‘The Ideal Woman is not Old’, The Ideal Woman, Queen’s University, Belfast, 11th – 12th March, 2011.
• Westwood, S. (2011) ‘Older people with LGB identities: a feminist social-legal perspective’, Feminism and Legal Theory Project: Feminism and Aging Workshop, Emory University School of Law, USA, 21st – 22nd January, 2011

Teaching Activities

• 2013: Sessional Lecturer, MA Safeguarding, Keele University
• 2012-12: Sessional Lecturer, LLM Gender Sexuality and Law, Keele University.
• October 2011: Guest Lecturer, ‘Law and Older People in the UK’: Elder Law seminar series, Beasley School of Law, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA.
• 2010-2011: Sessional tutor, undergraduate Tort seminar programme, Keele University.
• 2009-2010: Commissioned to design teaching module ‘Ageing, Diversity, Rights and Equality’ for MSc Gerontology, by Centre for Research on Ageing, University of Southampton.
• 2008 & 2009: Guest Lecturer, ‘LGBT Ageing in the UK’, MSc Gerontology seminar series, Centre for Research on Ageing, University of Southampton.

Other Activities

• October 2012: Founder and Coordinator of ‘Older LGBT Research and Practice’ JISCmail group.
• 2012: Convener and Chair of two conjoined symposia on LGBT ageing at British Society of Gerontology’s Annual Conference, Keele University, UK, 11^th-13^th July 2012.
• 2012: Workshop Facilitator across four themed workshops, at international conference, ‘What Do We Know about Loneliness?’, Age UK Oxfordshire & Campaign to End Loneliness, Merton College, Oxford , UK, 9^th-10^th July 2012.
• Moderator of panel on ‘Intersectionality’ at Aging in the US: The Next Civil Rights Movement?  Symposium,Beasley School of Law, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 22^nd October 2011.