Amy Clotworthy

Amy Clotworthy

Assistant Professor

Member of:

  • Centre for Medical Science and Technology Studies

I have a Ph.D. in Ethnology and a Master’s degree (cand.mag.) in Applied Cultural Analysis, both from the University of Copenhagen.

In my position at the Center for Healthy Aging (CEHA), my research focuses on how health and social policies targeting older people influence the sociocultural dynamics of later life. I specialise in qualitative studies of health systems, medical education, and professional practices, and I aim to elucidate how public-health policies, programmes, and initiatives affect both health professionals and older people in everyday life. I am also interested in how people create relationships with new technologies and digital processes, and how this may influence health.

I have extensive experience with the design and implementation of ethnographic fieldwork projects, mixed-methods studies, and analyses focusing on people’s experiences of ageing in relation to national and municipal social, health, and eldercare policies, particularly home-based health initiatives such as 'reablement' programmes.

From 2020-21, I coordinated the research project, ‘Standing together – at a distance: how Danes are living with the corona crisis’, which was based at the Department of Public Health. This interdisciplinary project documented mental health in Denmark during the COVID-19 pandemic through a series of timed online surveys and qualitative interviews with specific population groups.

As coordinator, I was responsible for organising the project’s daily operations and coordinating work tasks related to analysing data from both the surveys and interviews as well as scientific communication and public outreach via the project’s website. I was also involved in public-outreach activities; e.g., writing scientific articles and analyses; building the project’s website; being interviewed by the Danish media; publishing debate articles in the Danish press; and contributing to international blog posts.

I am currently co-editor of Anthropology & Aging, the official academic journal of the Association for Anthropology and Gerontology, and the Life Course (AAGE). In this position, I am responsible for developing the journal’s editorial mission as well as reviewing all submitted manuscripts to determine the journal’s content. My co-editor and I manage a volunteer staff of four who collectively edit and publish two (soon three) issues per year; these include original peer-reviewed research articles as well as book reviews, debates, expert interviews, and visual work.

I have strong interdisciplinary and international networks from my longstanding collaborations with the Center for Healthy Aging (CEHA), the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), and the World Health Organization (WHO)/Europe. I am also an active member of several professional associations, research groups, and academic networks both in Denmark and in international contexts.

I am originally from the US, where I worked on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., before developing a career in publishing and corporate communications. I have lived in Denmark since 2008.

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