In July 2025, Aging in Data held a seminar at the Graz International Summer School Seggau (GUSEGG) at Seggau Castle in the Austrian province of Styria. The summer school organized by The University of Graz was celebrating its twentieth anniversary with the theme Time,Temporality, and Transition: State – Society – Religion. This year, Aging in Data funded six students to participate in the summer school. The aging in data seminar taught by Dr. Nicole Haring presented an intersectional approach to topics such as the datafication of aging, AI ageism, and speculative futures. Students were prompted to engage with questions about what it means to age in a world dominated by technology and how we can imagine a better future for all through creative research methods, literary analysis, and creative writing. As part of the seminar, students also attended guest lectures by Aging in Data affiliated scholars Stephen Katz, Joanna Redden, Andrea Rosales, and Cal Biruk. These lectures introduced students to the wide array of research happening under the Aging in Data project.
Three Aging in Data affiliated students presented their own research at the summer school’s poster presentation night. Amanda Bull, a PhD candidate in Social Gerontology at McMaster University presented her research on ageism in the workplace and anti-ageism policies. Dumitrita Dorina Hirtie, a PhD candidate in Communication Sciences at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, in Bucharest, presented a study exploring the experiences and communication needs of younger adults in Romania with professional interventions such as coaching, mentoring, counselling, and psychotherapy. Finally, Sara Skardelly, a PhD candidate at the Business Analytics and Data Science Center of the University of Graz, presented a research project that explores futures of care and communicative AI through computational, participatory, and speculative methods.
Outside of the Aging in Data seminar, the two-week long summer school immersed students in an international environment with over 80 students and professors coming from 28 different countries. This diverse setting fostered meaningful exchanges, both academically and personally, allowing for rich dialogues that are sure to resonate beyond the program.
