Sample Syllabi - Course 3: Aging and Culture

Messages: can be left in my mailbox in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work or with the Gerontology Program Assistant in Fretwell 450E (547-4520).

AGING AND CULTURE

This course will examine the processes of aging in various social and cultural contexts. We will seek to understand the contributions of an anthropological perspective to the study of age and aging. We will also apply the concerns and methods of anthropological research to the experience of aging in our society (remember this goal when you complete the readings and written assignments).

Framework and Expectations: top of page

1. Class sections will be a combination of lectures, discussions and audiovisual presentations.

2. Grades will be based on the following:

Mid-semester Exam 15%

Final Exam 15%

Class Assignments 50%

Class Participation 20%

Attendance policy: Students are expected to attend punctually all scheduled sessions in the courses for which they are registered and are responsible for completing the work from all class sessions.... Whenever possible, students are expected to seek permission of the instructor prior to absences (UNC Charlotte Catalog: 27).

3. This class will be run (as much as possible) as a seminar. Regular attendance is expected, but is not sufficient. Your active involvement in class activities and discussions is expected. There will be no make-up exams unless arrangements have been made in advance. Points will be deducted from assignments which are handed in after the class period during which they are due.

4. The required texts are available in the UNC Charlotte Bookstore and the assigned readings in the schedule refer to chapters in these textbooks:

(S)Sokolovsky, Jay (editor), The Cultural Context of Aging - WORLDWIDE PERSPECTIVES, second edition. Greenwood, 1997.

top of page

(H&H) Holmes, Ellen Rhoads and Lowell D. Holmes, Other Cultures, Elder Years, second edition, Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage Publications, 1995.

5. Each student will be required to complete four projects which are described in the following schedule. The projects generally will be discussed in class on the day on which they are due. These assignments must all be typed and completed according to the instructions provided here and in class.

6. This is a Writing Intensive course and we will be working explicitly on improving your writing skills. You are encouraged to work with the instructor to improve your written assignments through re-writing. The quality of your writing will be considered an integral aspect of your course grade. Your final grade on each assignment will be used to compute your course grade.

7. As a Writing Intensive class, both the mid-semester and final will be essay exams.

Academic Integrity

Students have the responsibility to know and observe the requirements of The UNC Charlotte Code of Student Academic Integrity (Catalog pp. 24-25). This code forbids cheating, fabrication or falsification of information, multiple submission of academic work, plagiarism, abuse of academic materials, and complicity in academic dishonesty. Any special requirements or permission regarding academic integrity in this course will be stated by the instructor, and are binding on the students. Academic evaluations in this course include a judgment that the student's work is free from academic dishonesty of any type; and grades in this course therefore should be and will be adversely affected by academic dishonesty. Students who violate the code can be expelled from UNC Charlotte. The normal penalty for a first offense is zero credit on the work involving dishonesty and further substantial reduction of the course grade. In almost all cases the course grade is reduced to F. Copies of the code can be obtained from the Dean of Students Office. Standards of academic integrity will be enforced in this course. Students are expected to report cases of academic dishonesty to the course instructor.

SCHEDULE top of page

Aug. 26, 28 Introduction: the Anthropology of Aging and the Life Cycle

& Sept. 2 Reading: (S) "Starting Points: A Global, Cross-Cultural View of Aging," pp.xiii-xvi, and xxiv-xxvi.

(H&H) chapter 3

Written Assignment 1: (due Sept. 2) top of page

Write a 2-4 page essay describing yourself at 70 years of age. Discuss for example, what you think you will look like; where you will be living; what your life will be like. Describe what you might do during a given day. Be creative but explain your ideas.

Sept. 4, 9 The Cultural Context of Aging

& 11 Reading: (S) "Culture, Aging and Context," Introduction to Part 1, pp.1-15

Ch. 2 - Rosenberg

(H&H) chapter 6

Written Assignment 2: (due Sept. 11)top of page

1) Interview 4 people (a male and a female pair, ages 15-21 and another pair ages 60-80). These people should ideally not be close relatives and they should not be interviewed at the same time.

Obtain the following information from each of them: 1) What is "old age"? How do they define it? How are "old" persons identified; can one observe differences (e.g. behavior, appearance)? How does one change from non-old to old? Are there different levels of oldness or old age? Note differences between the answers of males and females and persons of different ages.

2) Compare your results to either the Ju'hoansi people or the Samoans discussed in the readings.

Sept. 16-18 Cross-Cultural Methods and Theory for Anthropology of

Aging

Reading: (H&H) chapter 1

(S) rest of "Starting Points," pp. xvi-xxiv

(S) Kinsella - ch 1

(S) Fry et al. - ch 5

Sept. 23 Growing Old in Pre-Industrial Society: Gerontocracy or Gericide?

Reading: (S) ch 3 - Glascock

Sept. 25 - The Cultural Construction of Intergenerational Ties

Oct. 9 Reading: (S) Introduction to Part II, pp. 125-137

(No class Oct.2) (S) Weibel-Orlando - ch. 6

(S) Vesperi - ch. 7

(S) Akiyama, Antonucci and Campbell - ch 8

(H&H) chapter 4

Written Assignment 3: (due Oct. 7)top of page

1) Interview a grandparent (ideally a grandmother/grandfather pair). Find out the basic dimensions of their relationship to their grandchildren (note differences between male and female grandparents). Write a summary of your findings and

2) Compare your results with Weibel-Orlando's data on Native Americans. Your paper should be 4-6 pages, including both parts 1 and 2.

Oct. 14 Mid-semester Exam

Oct. 14-16 Longevity: Long Living Peoples

Reading: (H&H) chapter 2

Oct. 21-28 Modernization and Societal Transformation

Reading: (S) "Aging, Modernization and Societal Transformation,"

Introduction to Part III, pp.179-189

(S) Cattell - ch. 4

(S) Sokolovsky - ch. 9

(S) Jenike - ch. 10

(S) Zelkovitz - ch. 11

(H&H) chapter 9

Oct. 28 Guest Speaker: Charles Butler, Director, Services for Adults, Mecklenburg DSS

Oct. 30- Age and Ethnicity -- Does Ethnicity Really Make a Difference?

Nov. 6 Reading: (S) Introduction to Part IV, pp. 253-261

(S) Sokolovsky - ch. 12

(S) Peterson - ch. 13

(S) Yee - ch. 14

(S) Luborsky and Rubinstein - ch. 15

(H&H) chapter 7

Nov. 11-20 Community, Environment and Aging

Reading: (S) Introduction to Part V, pp. 317-329

(S) Shenk and Christiansen - ch. 16

(S) Tsuji - ch. 17

(S) Dickerson-Putman - ch. 18

(S) Sokolovsky and Cohen - ch. 19

(S) Sokolovsky - ch. 20

(H&H) chapter 5

Written Assignment 4: (Due November 20)top of page

Read the ethnography you have selected with the approval of the instructor. Write a 4-6 page typed paper focusing on the life cycle in that society, particularly the later stages of life. If your selection is about a particular aspect aging in American society, describe this aging experience within its cultural context.

Nov. 25- Health, Aging and Culture

Dec. 9 Reading: (S) Introduction to Part VI, pp. 391-405

(S) Barker - ch. 21

(S) Henderson - ch. 22

(S) Deppen-Wood, Luborsky and Scheer - ch. 23

(S) Ikels - ch. 24

(S) Shield - ch. 25

(S) Savishinsky - ch. 26

(H&H) chapter 8

Dec. 11 Implications for the Aged in American Society

(Putting It All Together)

Reading: (H&H) chapter 10

top of page