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Postdoctoral fellowship in Aging, Digital Spaces, and Social Interaction with the ABLE (Aging, Art/Tech, Longevity) project at Pulse Lab

Position filled!

We thank all applicants for their interest in this position. We are no longer receiving applications at this time.

Position Details

Job title Postdoctoral Fellow
Area of research Pulse Lab, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON.
Remuneration $45,000/year
Supervisor Dr. Paula Gardner
Academic unit Communication Studies & Media Arts
Faculty of Humanities
Union Local CUPE Local 3906
Bargaining unit Unit 3
Date of posting May 10th, 2023
Application deadline May 25th, 2023
application review begins May 19th
Start date Flexible (June 15th, 2023 — July 1st, 2023)
Duration ~24 months (June 15th, 2023, to May 30th, 2025)

Position Description

Tasks include administrative and communication management of the 5 regional sites in the ABLE Village project network; project management including timelining, network communications, supporting a rigorous co-design approach in regional nodal groups; tracking and supporting the development of deliverables in all 5 regional nodes, including: a Qualitative Assessment Tool; “ArtPlay” projects/games at each nodal site; supporting ABLE Village platform development (McMaster); supporting collaborative writing of white papers, journal articles and conference proposals and presentations. The postdoctoral fellow also provides supervisory support for PhD and MA student researchers; and serves as a key liaison with partner organizations and participant partner leaders to ensure excellent communication, exchange and co-design practices with attention to inclusion, diversity, equity and access. The position is supervised by Dr. Paula Gardner, McMaster University and Pulse Lab Director, and co-supervised by Dr. Kim Sawchuk, Concordia University, ACT Lab Director.

Work Location and Flexibility

This is a dual remote and in-person position. Hours worked will be flexible. The postdoctoral fellow will be required to attend in-person meetings at McMaster University as needed with team members and/or stakeholders. Remote and in-person meetings will be arranged to accommodate the schedules of all team members.

Pay Rate

$45,000/year stipend; applicants can co-apply with the PI for additional funding opportunities to support this position. The position will be contracted for one year and is renewable for a second year.

Application Details, Deadline, and Start Date

Applicants should send a letter of application, CV and a list of 3 references with contact details to Dr. Paula Gardner (gardnerp@mcmaster.ca).

Applications will be accepted May 1st to 25th, 2023; Review of applications begins Friday, May 19th, and will continue until the position is filled.

The position will begin or June or July 2023, depending on candidate availability and processing of paperwork. Please also feel free to reach out with any questions.

Applicants must have permission to work in Canada.

Project Background

The ABLE Village project builds on a digital game platform called ABLE that we have been building in Pulse lab for 8 years with a highly interdisciplinary team. The ABLE platform has evolved through various iterations, to its current form as on-line, co-located game platform to encourage socialization, play, art creation and movement among older adults. At this time, it is designed with a critical disability approach to ensure wide access by individuals with a range of abilities and their friends and family. Our new funding allows us to expand the ABLE platform into a virtual, highly accessible village for use by an expanse of older adults, and to focus on thriving while aging—engaging, learning, making, etc. Community partners are positioned as project co-leads and the project deeply engages, via co-design practices, diverse community and university participants in Hamilton, Montreal, Halifax, Fredericton and Winnipeg. The ABLE Village project builds on expertise brought by the ACT lab (Concordia, PI Dr. Kim Sawchuk) with extensive experience in critical aging studies and community arts practice. The team also benefits from the expertise of faculty co-applicants and collaborators in critical aging studies, computer science/arts design and co-design, recreational studies, Physical Occupational Therapy and Nursing, among other expertise. Uniquely, the project positions community aging organizations as lateral, active partners in the design of ABLE Village and its spaces, tools and game and art experiences. The current ABLE app is at this link; it has a few frames that on-board users; it can be viewed and tested at: https://ableplatform-qa.herokuapp.com/.

 
We are no longer accepting applications at this time.
 


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