Researchers Marta Miquel, Marta Gort, Katerina Valentová and Inesa Shevchenko offer a new course on ageing and literature within the Open Classroom programme based on their research lines.

• In the first session, participants will become familiar with basic precepts of literary criticism focusing on ageing and gender studies in literature. Then, the work of the English writer Susan Hill will be presented as a paradigm, taking into account her creativity in a mature phase of creation, focusing on the discourse of ageing and gender. A case study of the short story "The Frente Room", published in 2016, will be carried out, in which the author brings into play certain stereotypes of old age and gender based on children's tales.
• The second session will focus on the analysis of Alice Munro's short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain". It will be based, on the one hand, on short fragments of the translation of the work into Spanish and, on the other hand, on its film version, Far From Her. A discussion-debate session will be set up around the themes of geriatric centres and marital infidelity in old age.
• During the third session, the participants will be introduced to the notions of the multiplicity of identity and creativity in old age through an older female character. The identities of the same person in the selected work will be compared in order to reflect on the stereotypical and negative notions of old age in contemporary society. The aim is to highlight the fact that identity is not stable, but is constantly evolving and is therefore linked to the ageing process.
• The fourth session will try to familiarise the audience with the basic tools for the interpretation of the graphic medium of the comic and the graphic novel in order to critically argue on the representations of old age in works by different contemporary comic authors such as Cristina Bueno and Raquel Franco, Daniel Cuello, Ana Penyas or Paco Roca. Based on selected fragments, the aim of this last session is to reflect on the visual representation of old age and creativity, and, on the other hand, on issues related to ageing, such as its position in society, the importance of friendship and family, illness and death.

Programming:

The 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th of March from 17:00h to 19:00h.

Pre-registration and enrolment:

Pre-registration for any of the courses, including those planned for the months of May and June, can be formalised from the moment the registration period opens on 31 October.

Pre-registration for any of the Open Classroom courses can be done on the following web page http://www.cfc.udl.cat/fc/curso/2654

Once you have pre-registered for the course you will receive an email, one month before the course starts, with the necessary information to formalise your enrolment.

Registration for the Open Classroom courses will open approximately one month before the beginning of the course and will remain open until FOUR DAYS BEFORE the beginning of the course. To start the course, it is necessary to have a minimum of 8 students enrolled.

The price for each course is 45,00€.