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Athina Vlachantoni Senior Lecturer in Gerontology Social Sciences University of Southampton
So Gerontology is quite a niche area, and in the UK, I think there's currently three places that offer it. I think what makes us more distinguished in that area relates to the research-led teaching. So that means that whenever we have the opportunity, we try to sneak in live research projects and results into our teaching. It makes it much more interesting for both the tutors and the students.
Very often the students have the opportunity to actually conduct their own research dissertations in areas that relate to projects. So just to give you an example, a couple of years ago, one of our students re-analysed data from a project on the well-being of older people in Nairobi slums, and that was part of her MSA dissertation. So we offer students the opportunity to become part of this live research environment.
Students on the MSA gerontology distance learning pathway come literally from all over the world, which is sometimes a little bit challenging in terms of arranging Skype tutorials, but also very rewarding. Last year we were awarded ten commonwealth scholarships from the Commonwealth Commission. So this program is also enhancing capacity building in different parts of the world. I think the diversity of the body of students on the distance learning pathway really adds value to the program as a whole.
