A class of septuagenarians from Bishop's Grammar School and a group of older adults from Brno and Střelice met to discuss and work together. The National Centre for Family in cooperation with the Hanns Seidel Stiftung engaged them in the project Dialogues of Generations on the topic of ageing, led by sociologist Lucie Vidovićová. The topic of the meeting was ageing and ageism, i.e. age discrimination. The event took place on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 in the building of the Bishop's College in Brno.

The workshop was introduced by the director of the organizing National Centre for Family Marie Oujezdská, then the sociologist of the Centre for Research on Ageing (CERA), from the working group of the Department of Sociology of the Faculty of Social Studies of Masaryk University Lucie Vidovićová took over the direction of the meeting with her contribution "Ageing and the elderly as a topic of youth?" (Interview with her on the topic of ageing, When humour is part of life, offered by Czech Radio Brno #rozhlas #CroBrno).

The course acquaints students with basic approaches in the field of social gerontology by reviewing key concepts and problems. After graduating from the course, students will master the basic arguments in the field of population aging and understand the overlap of demographic phenomena for life in society. They will be equipped with concepts, approaches and methods for relevant sociological and socio-political practice.

Syllabus:

• Introduction and demography of ageing.
• To feel old age in my own skin.
• Ageing policies.
• Sociological research in older population.
• Ageing and public space.
• Ageing and housing.
• Sociology of age, ageing and old age.
• The economy of ageing.
• Old age and family.
• Psychology of ageing.

The course acquaints students with advanced concepts and controversies in the field of social gerontology. It is built as an overview of key topics which are in last decades high on research agenda in both Czech Republic and abroad.

Syllabus:

• Ageing and gerontosociology: next big thing?
• Ageing body.
• Longevity in people and societies: is age just a number?
• Sexuality and social networks.
• Key concepts of cultural gerontology.
• Ageing, place, and space.
• Social theories of ageing.
• Fourth age.
• Economy of ageing and pension systems.
• Cognition in later life.

Investigating specific research in hard-to-reach and under-studied populations. Lectures are composed of both quantitative and qualitative paradigm approaches and emphasis is put on practical know-how sharing and hands-on approach. Highly heterogeneous populations such as senior or prison population, who "defy" common sociological methods, will be discussed.

Syllabus:

• Typology of hard-to-reach populations and research. 
• Research in prisons, researching homelessness or drug addiction.
• Basics of communication with people with specific sensory limitations.
• Questionnaire and surveys.
• Specifics of research in the senior population from the perspective of agencies for marketing and social research.
• Research sources and platforms - data archives.
• Qualitative research interview.
• Research ethics and difficult topics.