In this fascinating new project, Gemma Carney and Paula Devine are working with Jane Lugea (School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen's University) to investigate how the language of contemporary fiction represents the minds of characters with dementia.

The research includes mind style analysis of fictional texts, to explore how the language represents the cognitive experience of these characters i.e. their mind styles. A series of reading groups will investigate how readers respond to these mind styles.

For more information, visit the DementiaFiction blog or follow @FictionDementia on Twitter.  

ARK's latest publication is A Better Way Forward: towards a Zero-COVID Island. In this Policy Brief, Helen Dolk (Ulster University) explores the policy decisions that need to be made to make the island of Ireland COVID free.

ARK produces a range of publications, including Research Updates, Policy Briefs, and ARK Features. Most of these are available online. For a full list of publications, as well as links, visit our Publications page.

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Welcome to Angel Leira Pernas, a new PhD student associated with the ARK Ageing Programme. Angel is based in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social at Queen's University Belfast, and his project is called 'Material Memoirs on the Journey of Life'.

This inter-disciplinary project will investigate social aspects of ageing, with a view to uncovering what it means to live a long life. The project will adapt and develop The Lively Project's method and approach to engage with individuals aged 70+ to capture the diversity of experiences and vulnerability in old age

Angel's supervisors are Dr Gemma Carney and Dr Leonie Hannan (School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, QUB).

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The Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS) is a wide-ranging database of people and their major life events. It brings together data from the Health Card Registration data, Census returns (1981, 1991, 2001 & 2011), Vital Events (births, deaths and marriages), Migration and Property data. It covers 28% of the Northern Ireland population, and 50% of households.

The NILS Research Support Unit has received ESRC funding for a further five years, and ARK is delighted to be collaborating with them during that time. Watch this space for updates!

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In each of our newsletters throughout this year, we will highlight previous research or events that ARK has carried out since 2000, in order to mark our 20th anniversary.

In October 2016, Gunhild Hagestad led a masterclass on 'Moving beyond age-segregated research: Why linking studies of children, life course and ageing is important'. Discussants included Madeleine Leonard (the role of 'generation' in childhood studies), Gemma Carney (political economy of ageing societies), and Danielle Blaylock (integration and segregation).

The event highlighted the important role that different generations play within families, and the impact that age segregation has. A video of the seminar is available on the ARK Ageing Programme website.

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In September's ARK newsletter, we highlighted the COVID-19 and Vulnerable Groups project, which is analysing the representation of vulnerable groups in the media during the pandemic.

On 12 November, Gemma Carney will be talking about the project as part of the Social Sciences Response to the Pandemic seminar. This free online event is organised as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science - click here to register.

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ARK is Northern Ireland's social policy hub. Established in 2000 by researchers at Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University, its primary goal is to increase the accessibility and use of academic data and research. Most of our dissemination is via our website at www.ark.ac.uk, which is divided into five main areas:

• Surveys
• Projects
• Resources
• Publications
• Events

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