Prof Aagje Swinnen (A.M.C.)

Swinnen’s areas of expertise are critical age(ing) studies and critical dementia studies. Her main research topics include:

• Expert readings of age ideologies (and their intersections) in literature, photography, and film
• Lay readings of literature about later life, the normalized life course, and loneliness
• The meaning of participatory arts activities (specifically spoken word-based activities, such as the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project, TimeSlips, and Shared Reading) in dementia care settings
• The way professional artists understand and give meaning to creativity in the later stages of their career
• The development of more age just universities

Current externally funded projects:

NWO Social Sciences Humanities Division, Open Competition M

Re-Imagining Burnout and the Cultural Narrative of Productive Adulthood through Literature (Sep 2025–Sep 2028), as co-applicant with Prof. Dr. Sarah de Mul (Open University, NL), partners: De Culturele Apotheek & NOBCO

Dutch Cultural Participation Fund, Program Creating Culture Together (Samen Cultuur Maken)

Vertelgeluk: Verhalen en gedichten als oppeppers voor mensen die leven met dementie (Sep 2024–2026), as partner in the project of Akke Visser and Marije Wilmink from De Culturele Apotheek