Professor Dr. Aagje Swinnen

Biography

Aagje M. C. Swinnen is a full professor of Aging Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, where she chairs the Department of Literature and Art. Originally trained as a literary scholar, she obtained her PhD at Ghent University, Belgium, in 2004. Over her twenty years of research, she has developed expertise in the fields of critical age(ing) and dementia studies. Swinnen has explored how representations of aging and dementia in literature, photography, and film can shape knowledge, identities, and bodies within specific historical contexts and power relations. In addition to narrative and visual analyses, she has investigated lay readers' responses to literary excerpts through book clubs and Shared Reading sessions, aiming to enhance understanding of experiences and attitudes towards aging. Her projects and collaborations seek to challenge cultural myths surrounding older age, particularly the problematic association of dementia with the loss of personhood, and aim to identify and develop counter-narratives. She employs artistic means, such as creative writing exercises and speculative workshops, alongside ethnographic and close listening research methods in dementia care. Swinnen has developed approaches in collaboration with societal partners, implementing guiding principles in psychogeriatric care in the Netherlands, inspired by foundational methods from the United States.

Research Interests