During an intensive one-week program, doctoral students and young researchers will work on various fields of Life Course research through a multidisciplinary approach (Sociology, Psychology, Social Psychology, Life-span Psychology, Social Demography and Social Policies) lead by internationally renowned experts.
In particular, the Winter School focuses on training the participants in the production of journal articles as a fundamental aspect of the academic career they are approaching: with a “learning by doing” approach, they will prepare collaborative articles going through all stages of the research process, heading towards a joint publication as a medium-term follow-up.
March 7-11, 2022
Thematic workshop: Networked Lives
Our lives are lived in networks. Through our personal contacts —family, friends, classmates, co-workers, neighbors, acquaintances— we make sense of the world around us and access many fundamental resources: information, advice, knowledge, practical and emotional support. These resources, an authentic (social) capital, influence our social position and well-being in key areas of life (i.e., work, family, leisure, health) and play a major role in the unfolding of the transitions that make up our personal trajectories. This workshop explores these relational aspects of the life course, explaining how many inequalities can be understood by studying the convoy of relationships surrounding us: who are our contacts? Why are they in our lives? Do they help us? How? Why?
The workshop is divided into two blocks to address these issues from a theoretical and empirical point of view, and ends with a session dedicated to the initial drafting of a manuscript in which the essential outlines of a publication are proposed: research questions, theoretical foundation, data collection and analytical strategy.
Tutors
Dario Spini, LIVES Centre, University of Lausanne
Mattia Vacchiano, LIVES Centre, University of Geneva
Eric Widmer, LIVES Centre, University of Geneva
March 8-12, 2021 | Online edition
Thematic workshops:
1. Life course lens on cognitive decline in later life
Social science and epidemiological research have showed that health is distributed along a social gradient, and social differences in cognitive health during later life have been broadly examined and established. The life course lens, however, enables one to examine the sources of this social gradient in health with a more comprehensive view, by exploring the role of various biological, psychological, and social mechanisms across the entire life of individuals.
This workshop uses a life course lens to examine the early origins of inequalities in cognitive status and cognitive decline during later life.
This project aims to conduct two forms of review:
1. A scoping review to synthetize the amount of evidence on the association between life course misfortune (during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood) and cognitive health status and decline in later life.
2. A mapping review identifying life course approaches used in the studies included in the scoping review, coupled with a visual synthesis of the degree of evidence supporting each framework. The scoping and mapping reviews will enhance mastery of the relevant literature and lay the foundation for original research on the topic.
Tutors
Stéphane Cullati, LIVES Centre, University of Fribourg
Kenneth Ferraro, Purdue University, USA
Stefan Sieber, LIVES Centre, University of Geneva
2. The impact of age-related stereotypes on (cognitive) ageing: myth or reality?
Compared to research on racism and sexism, age-related stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination (i.e. ageism) have only recently attracted the interest of scientists. The available literature points to an impact of age-related stereotypes on older adults’ cognitive and physical health, well-being, and daily functioning, both in the short and the long term. This workshop will address a number of questions to better understand these issues, including: are these stereotype-based beliefs valid in the real world? Do these stereotypes really impact ageing trajectories as well as cognitive capacities and performances? What are the mechanisms underlying these effects? Can we limit the impact of age-related stereotypes on older adults’ quality of life? How can we measure this potential impact of age-related stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination? Through the exploration of these research topics, the participants will be guided in acquiring basic practical skills that will help them to plan, navigate, and conduct a research project.
Tutors
Christian Maggiori, LIVES Centre, HES-SO – University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, School of Social work Fribourg
Erika Borella, School of Psychology, University of Padova
The online week was preceded by an introductory session. During the week of the program, intensive daily sessions of around 4 hours were scheduled, in order to involve participants across different time zones. Student participants received further tasks and a VIU elearning platform in order to share resources and readings.
April 1-5, 2019
This was the fifth edition of the LIVES Winter School, the first organized by Venice International University and led by the two VIU member universities: the University of Lausanne and the University of Padua.
Thematic workshops:
1. Integration and vulnerability. Transition to adulthood of migrants' descendants
The literature underlines the scarcity of relations between the research tradition of migration and integration and the tradition of life course research. The objective of this workshop is to build bridges between these two research traditions by focusing on the transition to adulthood of children of migrants.
Tutors
Jean-Marie Le Goff, University of Lausanne (Scientific Co-coordinator)
Ingrid Tucci, CNRS & Aix-Marseille University
Danilo Bolano, University of Lausanne.
2. Social representations of successful ageing
The workshop will provide an introduction to the social representations approach, successful ageing theories (including academic and lay perspective approaches), and also empirical studies addressing ageing well. At the end of the week, on the basis of the material developed, one or two collaborative papers will be planned, and jointly written and published after the workshop.
Tutors
Dario Spini, University of Lausanne (Scientific Co-coordinator)
Alberta Contarello, University of Padova
Daniela Jopp, University of Lausanne
Davide Morselli, University of Lausanne
Co-organizers
Venice International University (IT)
University of Lausanne & University of Geneva - Swiss National Center of Competence in Research LIVES (SW)
Università degli Studi di Padova - Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (IT)
KU Leuven, Faculty of Social Sciences (BE)
Affiliated institutions
Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS), University of Bremen & Jacobs University (D)
Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children & Families, Oregon State University (USA)
Centre for Population, Aging and Health, Western University (CA)
Ageing and Living Conditions Programme (ALC), Umeå University (SE)
For further information: summerschools@univiu.org
