Life Course

Health and well-being are subject to the cumulative effects of experiences, environments, and other social and material relations that accrue over a life time.  At the same time, the life course is frequently inscribed with particular events, rites of passage, and other culturally inscribed milestones that affect how health is experienced and understood. Often termed crises or transitions, these culturally as well as biologically mediated moments require studies that are cultural as well biomedical. Transitions to old age, for example, may be as marked by social isolation as they are by alterations to our bodies. Early years and mid-life are as affected by cultural expectations and norms as they are by hormonal shifts.

Indicative topics for consideration include:

• Temporality
• Transitions and crises
• Ageing
• Gender
• Identity
• Social isolation and loneliness
• Social and biological interactions across the life course.