Course 2: The Universal Experience of Aging

| Aging, Culture and Experience | The Universal Experience of Aging |
| Aging and Culture | Culture, Health and Aging |

DESCRIPTION
COURSE ORGANIZATION
COURSE REQUIRMENTS
EVALUATION PROCEDURES
REQUIRED TEXTS
MATERIALS ON RESERVE
CLASS SCHEDULE

This interdisciplinary seminar was developed by a sociologist and an anthropologist for first-year undergraduates at New College, the all-honors campus of the Florida State University system. Our primary goal was to provide students with exposure to a variety of perspectives on aging through r eadings that clearly demonstrated each author's approach to the subject. Our secondary goal was to encourage active seminar participation and the development of strong library research skills among new students in a very demanding academic program. While the social sciences provided the main framework for discussion and analysis, we also included oral history, philosophical commentary, fiction, drama, and several documentary films. Two plays, Albee's The Sandbox and Vonnegut's Fortitude, were acted out by members of the class; each student then led the discussion of his or her character. Research paper topics were open; each topic was approved on the basis of a short proposal with attached bibliography. The take-home final included broad, conceptual questions which were best illustrated with detailed examples from the readings. This course, which has been offered twice, was designed for team teaching, but it could be easily modified for an anthropologist or sociologist working alone. top of page

THE UNIVERSAL EXPERIENCE OF AGING

Spring 1997

Maria D. Vesperi Office: (941) 359-4358

College Hall 233 Home:(813) 896-1109

DESCRIPTION:This course will offer a cross-disciplinary approach to the universal experience of aging. A selection of topics such as kinship, work, mental health, and perceptions of physical well-being will be explored, using materials that illustrate a range of social and cultural responses. These topics will also be examined in the larger context of concepts of selfhood and individuality, the meaning of death, and historical changes in the wider society. Drawing on the background developed from this overview, students will then engage the contemporary debates on such issues as medical ethics, institutionalization, and intergenerational conflict. top of page

COURSE ORGANIZATION: Seminar. top of page

COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Midterm paper, small group presentation and final take-home examination, plus regular attendance and participation. top of page

EVALUATION PROCEDURES: Students will be evaluated on the basis of written work, group presentations and contributions to the seminar discussion. Assignments will not be accepted for review beyond stated deadlines. Students who miss more than two classes will be dropped from the seminar. top of page

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Counts, David and Dorothy Counts. 1996. Over the Next Hill: An Ethnography of RVing Seniors in North America. Peterborough, ONT: Broadview.

Delaney, Sarah. 1994. Having Our Say. New York: Dell.

Sarton, May. 1973. As We Are Now. New York: W.W. Norton.

Savishinsky, Joel. 1991. The Ends of Time: Life and Work in a Nursing Home. New York: Bergin & Garvey.

Sokolovsky, Jay, ed. 1997. 2nd edition The Cultural Context of Aging: Worldwide Perspectives. New York: Bergin & Garvey. top of page

MATERIALS ON RESERVE top of page

Achenbaum, W.A. a nd P.A. Kusnerz. 1978. Excerpts from Images of Old Age in America. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute of Gerontology.

_____.1994. "Images of Old Age in America 1790-1970 -- "After a Second Look." In Shenk, Dena and W. Andrew Achenbaum, eds. Changi ng Perceptions of Aging and the Aged. New York: Springer.

Albee, Edward. 1959. The Sandbox. In Two Plays By Edward Albee. New York: Signet.

Anderson, Robert. 1980. "I Never Sang for My Father." In Lyell, Ruth, ed. Middle A ge, Old Age. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Janovich.

Atchley, Robert. 1992. "Critical Perspectives on Retirement." In Cole, Thomas, ed. Handbook of Humanities and Aging. New York: Springer.

Beckett, Samuel. 1956. Malone Dies. New York: Grove Press.

Berger, Raymond. 1996. "The Older Homosexual Man in Perspective." From Gay and Gray. New York: Harrington Park Press.

Bever, E. 1982. "Old Age and Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe." In Old Age in Preindustrial Soc iety, Sterns, P. (ed.). New York: Holmes and Meier.

Brubaker, Timothy H., and Carol M. Michael. 1987. "Amish Families in Later Life." In Gelfand, Donald E., and Charles M. Barresi eds. Ethnic Dimensions of Aging. New York: Springer. < p>Charon, Rita. 1991. "The Case: A Relative Stranger." Second Opinion 16:51-56

Fischer, David. 1978. Growing Old in America. Chapters I and II. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Francis, Doris. 1992. "Artistic Creations from the Wo rk Years: The New York World of Work." In Calagione, John, Doris Francis and Daniel Nugent, eds. Workers' Expressions: Beyond Accommodation and Resistance. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Freeman, Mary W. "A Mistaken Charity." In The Revolt of Mother and Other Stories.

Gadow, Sally. 1986. "Frailty and Strength: The Dialectic in Aging." In Cole, Thomas and Sally Gadow, eds. What Does It Mean to Grow Old? Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Groger, Lisa. 1995. "Health Trajectories and Long Term Care Choices: What Stories Told By Informants Can Tell Us." In Henderson, J. Neil and Maria D. Vesperi, eds. The Culture of Long Term Care: Nursing Home Ethnography. New York: Bergin & Garvey.

Hart, C.W.M., Arnold Pilling & Jane Goodale. 1988. Excerpts from The Tiwi of North Australia. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Hashimoto. 1993. "Family Relations in Late Life: A Cross-Cultural Perspective." Generations Winter 1993.

Hazan, Haim. 1990. "The Construction of Personhood Among the Aged: A Comparative Study of Aging in Israel and England." In Sokolovsky, Jay, ed. The Cultural Context of Aging: Worldwide Perspectives, 1st edition. New York: Bergin & Garvey

Holstein, Martha and Thomas Cole. 1996. "Reflections on Age, Meaning and Chronic Illness." Journal of Aging and Identity. Vol.1 no.1.

Jury, Mark. 1976. Gramp. New York: Grossman.

Kaufman, Sharon. 1986. The Ageless Self . Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

Kimmel, Douglas. 1992. "The Families of Older Gay Men and Lesbians." Generations Summer 1992.

King, Stephen. 1993. "My Pretty Pony." From Nightmares and Dreamscapes. New York: Viking.

Lessing, Doris. 1994. "The Old Woman and the Cat." In Oxford Book of Aging. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Luborsky, Mark and Robert Rubinstein. 1987. "Ethnicity and Lifestyles: Self concepts and situational contexts." In

Gelfand, Donald E., and Charles M. Barresi, eds. Ethnic Dimensions of Aging. New York: Springer.

Myerhoff, Barbara, and Deena Metzger. 1992. "Aging and the Aged in Other Cultures" and "The Journal as Activity and Genre." From Remembered Lives: The Work of Ritual, Storytelling, and Growing Older. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Rowles, Graham. 1980. "Growing Old Inside: Aging and Attachment to Place in an Appalachian Community." In Daton, Nancy and Nancy Lohmann, eds . Transitions at Aging. New York: Academic Press.

Sacks, Oliver. 1985. "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat." From The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

Sarton, May. Selections from: Plant Dreaming Deep (1958-1967); House by the Sea (1974-1975); At Seventy (1982-1983); Encore: A Journal of the Eightieth Year (1991-1992).

Schoeman, Ferdinand David. 1991. "Commentary." Second Opinion 16:57-63.

Sterling, Bruce. 1996. Holy Fire . New York; Bantam

Tsuji, Yohko. 1994. "Japanese Mortuary Rituals: For the Living and For the Dead." paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Anthropological Association, Atlanta, GA.

Vesperi, Maria. 199 5. "Nursing Home Research Comes of Age: Toward an Ethnological Perspective on Long Term Care." New York: Bergin & Garvey.

Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. 1974. Fortitude. In Wampeters Foma and Granfaloons. New York: Delacorte.

Woodward, Kathleen. 1991. Excerpts from Aging and Its Discontents: Freud and Other Fictions. Bloomington, IN: Indiana Univ. Press

Yamamoto, Y. 1994. "The Seats Remain in the Village: The Bond Between the Living and the Dead in Nias." paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Anthropological Association, Atlanta, GA.

CLASS SCHEDULE top of page

Month: Februrary March April May

February

OVERVIEW OF SOCIOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES

4: COURSE INTRODUCTION

Sokolovsky, Introduction, The Cultural Context of Aging (CCA)

VIDEO: Pulling Together: Community Doukhobor Elders

6: Kinsella, ""The Demography of an Aging World" (CCA); Myerhoff, "Aging and the Aged in Other Cultures" (R); Woodward, "Introduction" (R)

AGING IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

11: Fischer, Parts I, II Growing Old in America (R); Bever, "Old Age and Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe" (R); Achenbaum (R, optional, two selections)

TRADITIONAL FAMILY/INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONS

13: Cattell, "African Widows, Culture and Social Change" (CCA); Luborsky and Rubinstein, "The Dynamics of Ethnic Identity and Bereavem ent Among Older Widows" (CCA)

18: Hart, Pilling & Goodale, excerpt from The Tiwi of North Australia (R); Freeman, "A Mistaken Charity" (R)

20: Peterson, "Age of Wisdom" (CCA); Weibel-Orlando, "Grandparenting Styles" (CCA); Brubaker, "Amish Families in Later Life" (R)

PERCEPTIONS OF HEALTH/FRAILTY

25: Barker, "Between Humans and Ghosts" (CCA); Gadow, "Frailty and Strength: The Dialectic in Aging" (R); Groger, "Health Trajectories and Long Term Care Choices" (R); Deppen, Luborsky and Scheer, "Marietta Evers" (CCA, optional): Kuhn (handout)

27: Henderson, "Dementia in Cultural Context" (CCA); Sacks, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" (R)

VIDEO The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

March top of page

WORK/RETIREMENT

4: Counts; Atchley, "Critical Perspectives on Retirement" (R)

6: Counts, continued; Francis, "Artistic Creations From the Work Years" (R)

CONCEPTS OF SELF/MENTAL HEALTH

11: Hazan, "The Construction of Personhood Among the Aged" (R); Holstein and Cole, "Reflections on Age, Meaning and Chronic Illness" (R); Lessing, "The Old Woman and the Cat" (R); Luborksky & Rubinstein, "Ethnicity and Lifestyles" (R: optional)

13: Woodward, "Reading Freud," (R); Kaufman, excerpts from The Ageless Self (R)

18: Woodward, "The Mirror Stage of Old Age" (R); King, "My Pretty Pony" (R)

AGING IN PLACE

20: Rowles, "Growing Old Inside: Aging and Attachment to Place in an App alachian Community"

VIDEO: Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern

MIDTERM PAPER DUE

25, 27: SPRING BREAK

April

LIFE HISTORY

1: Sarton; Myerhoff and Metzger, "The Journal as Activity and Genre" (R); Sarton (R, optional)

3: Delaney

CAREGIVING/SOCIAL SUPPORT

8: Akiyama, Antonucci, Campbell, "Exchange and Reciprocity among Two Generations of Japanese and American Women" (CCA); Ikels, "Long-Term Care and the Disabled Elderly in Urban China" (CCA)

10: VIDEO: Mr Nobody

15: Rosenberg, Complaint Discourse, Aging and Caregiving among the Ju'hoansi of Botswana" (CCA)

GROUP PRESENTATION: Anderson, "I Never Sang for My Father" (R)

17: Hashimoto, "Family Relations in Late Life" (R); Berger, "The Older Homosexual Male in Perspective" (R); Kimmel, "The Families of Older Gay Men and Lesbians" (R)

INSTITUTIONALIZATION

22: Vesperi, "Nursing Home Research Comes of Age," (R); Savishinsky

24: Savishinsky, continued; Savishinsky, "Understanding Life Backwards" (CCA); Jury, Gramp (R, optional)

DEATH AND DYING

29: Woodward, "The Transitional Object of the Oldest Age," (R); Beckett, excerpts from Malone Dies (R); GROUP PRESENTATION: Albee, The Sandbox (R)

May top of page

1: Tsuji, "Japanese Mortuary Rituals: For the Living and For the Dead" (R); Yamamoto, "The Seats Remain in the Village: The Bond Between the Living and the Dead in Nias" (R)

MEDICAL ETHICS, CONCERNS FOR THE FUTURE

6: Glascock, "When Is Killing Acceptable" (CCA); Charon, "The Case: A Relative Stranger" (R); Schoeman, "Commentary" (R)

8: Sterling, excerpt from Holy Fire (R)

GROUP PRESENTATION: Vonnegut, Fortitude (R)

13: Sokolovsky, "Bringing Culture Back Home" (CCA); Fry, Dickerson-Putman, Draper et al, "Culture and the Meaning of a Good Old Age" (CCA)

15: Jenike, "Gender and Duty in Japan's Aged Society" (CCA)

VIDEO: The Happiness and Longevity Club

FINAL ASSIGNMENT DUE

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