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Seminar 5:
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Population ageing is now a growing issue for politicians, and in our everyday lives. It is taxing the minds of policy-makers both in Australia and internationally. So what role does spirituality play in a long life? Professor Biggs will examine the different storylines available to us as we age, and the special value that a spiritual perspective brings to the mix. He will look at some of the alternative models of ageing arising from the major world religions and what evidence there is of the value of belief as we grow older. Finally he will look at the relationship between vulnerability as a common human experience, liminality as a sense of 'in-betweenness' and community as a way of prefiguring a world made new.
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Simon is Professor of Social Policy and Gerontology at the University of Melbourne and runs a research group on ageing at The Brotherhood of St Laurence. He has written widely on intergenerational relationships, identity and a long life, and policy responses to an ageing population. He came to Melbourne from Kings College London where he was Director of the Institute of Gerontology and has been on the World Economic Forum's special agenda council on ageing. His most recent book 'Negotiating Ageing: narratives for a long life' will be published by Routledge in 2017.