Is ageing always a precarious and vulnerable experience or can it be a portal to liberation and transcendence, or simply a natural part of our voyage through this life? How have writers imagined ageing?

The course ‘Ageing in Literature: Global South and Global North Perspectives’ will examine constructions of and attitudes to ageing in selected literary texts from the global south and global north. The aim is to examine, through the lens of literature, how economic, social and cultural factors can determine the experience of ageing in different parts of the world. 

By the end of the course, students will have:

• gained knowledge and understanding of literature from global south and global north;
• gained an insight into the contexts, frameworks  and critical literature about ageing;
• developed an understanding of the differences and similarities between representations of ageing in global south and global north literature;
• gained understanding and knowledge of the cultural, economic and social factors influencing the experience of ageing in global north and south, as represented in literature;
• deepened cultural understanding across global spaces and between generations on the challenges, precarities and valour of older people;
• acquired an understanding of how to read the literature of ageing in different genres (fiction and poetry);
• deepened their intercultural knowledge and understanding;
• exchanged knowledge and skills with students from a different culture.

Students are not required to do the assignment, but will need to do it if they wish to obtain the Credit points from their respective universities.

Queen's University, Belfast:

The Open Learning students will receive 5 CATS points at Level 1.

For more information on Credit Points (CATS - Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme), please visit the Open Learning Programme General Information page.

University of Hyderabad:

The Masters' students from University of Hyderabad will receive one credit within their Masters' programme.

The course Syllabus and all the related materials are available on the Course Contents section.