Spring School in Delhi, 20th-22nd February 2017
The Spring School of the project ‘Active Ageing’ (Heidelberg University and Jawaharlal Nehru University) entitled “Perspectives On An Age-Friendly Culture: Concepts And Methods” took place from 20th-22nd February 2017 at the Convention Centre, JNU. Prof. Dr. Andreas Kruse (Institute of Gerontology, Heidelberg University) and Prof. Dr. Minati Panda (Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University) co-chaired the first day, which started with a presentation by Mathieu Morand (co-founder Care 24) on Care 24, a for-profit organization which provides care from trained caregivers for eldery in Delhi and Mumbay. Diversity in India in general and in relation to age and ageing was the topic of Prof. Panda‘s talk. Prof. Kruse spoke about transcendence, elaborated on theories on ageing by the psychiatrist Victor Frankl and the psychologist Eric H. Erikson amongst others and their understanding of generativity refering it to the film “Wild Strawberries” by Ingmar Bergman, which was screened afterwards.
Prof. Dr. William S. Sax (Department of Anthropology, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University) and Prof. Dr. Mohan Rao (Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University) jointly chaired the second day of the spring school. Prof. Sax delivered a lecture on anthropological approaches and methods to Ageing, which was followed by the screening of the Indian film on dementia “Astu-So Be It” in presence of and a discussion with the central character Dr. Mohan Agashe (psychiatrist and actor).
Prof. Christiane Brosius (Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg University) and Prof. Surinder Jodhka (Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University) co-chaired the third day, which took place under the overarching topic of “Environmental Gerontology: Ageing in Place”. It consisted of a presentation on “ The demographic situation of Ageing in India” by Prof. K.S. James (Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, JNU), a plenary discussion led by the chairs and two student presentations. Presenting their own research, Mizaj K.S. (Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences, JNU) spoke about Musim women and ageing in Kerala and Esmé Tersteeg (Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies, HU) described her field-work in culture-sensitive old age homes in the Netherlands and it’s results. Participants were further introduced to and discussed the multi-media project “Elderscapes” – an interactive documentary offering insights into contemporary everyday life of older people from the middle class in urban South Asia (by Roberta Mandoki and Annika Mayer, PhD students at the HCTS, Heidelberg University).
Here you can find a detailed report of each day of the Spring School:
Second day, 21st February 2017
Here you can download the program of the Spring School (Pdf).