Susan Paulson was a visiting lecturer in the Department of Psychology at City University, London. In January 2010, she was awarded a PhD in Psychology, supervised by Dr. Carla Willig. She conducted ethnographic and narrative research on the meaning of dance, health and growing older.
She was awarded a Distinction for the MSc in Health Psychology at City University in February 2006. As a member of the British Society of Gerontology, she had been involved in research with older people for a number of years.
Sue died of cancer in June 2010.
Legacy Writings
Sue wrote the following papers, as well as her Ph.D. dissertation, in her last year of life. Each paper identifies a theme that she found in her data, and offers a quick snapshot of her findings for those who do not want to read the entire dissertation. Carla Willig polished these papers and arranged for their online publication in Generations Review, the newsletter of the British Society of Gerontology.
- Paulson, S. (2011) and Willig, Carla. ‘Dressing Up to Go Dancing’: Older People Forming a Community Identity for Themselves Through Special Dance Clothes.
- Paulson, S. (2011) and Willig, Carla. The Role of Music and Emotion in Older People’s Experience of Taking Part in Dance Groups.
- Paulson, S. (2011) and Willig, Carla. How Different Dance Forms Construct a Sense of Community Amongst Older People.
Refereed Publications
The full text of most of these publications is available upon request.
- Paulson, S. (2011). The Use of Ethnography and Narrative Interviews in a Study of 'Cultures of Dance'. Journal of Health Psychology 16 (1), 148–157.
- Paulson, S. (2008). “Beauty is more than skin-deep.” An ethnographic study of beauty therapists and older women. Journal of Aging Studies 22 (3), 256–265.
- Paulson, S. and Willig, C. (2008). Older Women and Everyday Talk about the Ageing Body. Journal of Health Psychology 13 (1), 106–120.
- Paulson, S. (2005a). How various ‘cultures of fitness’ shape subjective experiences of growing older. Ageing and Society, 25 (2), 229–244.
- Paulson, S. (2005b). The Social Benefits of Belonging to a ‘Dance Exercise’ Group for Older People. Generations Review 15 (4), 37–41.
Conference Papers
- Paulson, S. and Willig, C. (2007). How various ‘Cultures of Dance’ construct the Health of the Ageing Body. British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference, Sheffield. Abstract, PowerPoint, PDF
- Paulson, S. (2005). How cultural discourses influence older women’s talk about their own and others’ ageing bodies. International Conference of Critical Health Psychology, Sheffield.
- Paulson, S. (2004). “Beauty is more than skin-deep.” An ethnographic study of older women and beauty therapy. British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference, Surrey.
- Paulson, S. (2003). The social construction of ageing in a dance/movement group. British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Paulson, S. and Hanna, S. (2002). The Role of the Fitness Instructor in Changing the Subjective Experience of Ageing. British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference, Birmingham.
- Paulson, S. (2001). Paradoxes of the Ageing Body: Vulnerability versus Resistance. Third Cultural Gerontology Conference, Visby, Sweden.
- Paulson, S. (2001). Case-study of a Seventy-One Year Old Woman Talking About Her Body-Image. Centre for Ageing Conference, Oxford University.
- Paulson, S. (2001). Paradoxes of the Ageing Body: Comparison of Two Women in Their Seventies Talking about Their Own and Others' Body Image. British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference, Stirling.
- Paulson, S. (2000). Women and Ageing in Consumer Culture. ESRC Seminar, Oxford.
Book Reviews
- Ageing and Society 21 (4), 528–529: Latimer, J., (2000), The Conduct of Care; Understanding Nursing Practice, Blackwell Science Ltd., Oxford.
- Aging & Mental Health 5 (4), 395–396: Lawton. J., (2000), The Dying Process; Patients' experiences of palliative care, Routledge.
- Aging & Mental Health 5 (4), 396: K. D. Singh (1998), The Grace in Dying: How we are transformed spiritually as we die, Dublin: Newleaf.
- Sociology of Health & Illness 25 (1), 133–134. Twigg, J., (2000), Bathing — the Body and Community Care, Routledge.
PhD Thesis and Other Publications
- Paulson, S. (2010). An Exploration of How Various ‘Cultures of Dance’ Construct Experiences of Health and Growing Older. PhD Thesis and Appendices.
- Paulson, S. (2009). "Dance Promotes Well-Being." Poster.
- Paulson, S., (2002). "The Concept of Teamwork", chapter 6, pp. 105–118 in Muncey, T., and Parker, A., (eds.), Chronic Disease Management. Palgrave, Basingstoke.
- Paulson, S. (1991). Communication Assignments for Health and Caring. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.