INSTRUCTOR:

J. Kevin Eckert, Ph.D.
Office: 359 ACIV
Telephone: 455-2960
Email: Eckert@umbc.edu
Office Hours: 1:00-2:30 Tuesday/Thursday;
By appointment

This course will investigate the processes of growing old in a variety of cultures. It will attempt to apply the concerns of anthropological research to the problems of aging in our own society. A major goal will be to understand the culturally differential experiences of aging across cultures to better understand the adaptations of the aged in American society.

Classes will be a combination of lectures, discussions, student presentations, occasional guest speakers and audiovisual presentations.

COURSE PARTICIPATION:

Undergraduate: Midterm examination-20%, final examination-20%, life history project- 25%, field project- 25%, class participation-- thoughtful comments, observations, and regular attendance-10%.

Graduate: Midterm examination-20%, final examination-20%, life history project-15%, book review project-15%, field project-20%, class participation-- thoughtful comments, observations, and regular attendance-10%. Students taking the course for graduate credit (SOCY 629) will do an additional book review project. Undergraduates who are planning to enroll in the 5-year BA/MA program in Applied Sociology should enroll for graduate credit.

PROJECTS:

Students will conduct several aging related projects.

Fieldwork project: Each student will conduct a small fieldwork assignment on a topic related to the course. Studies might include: interviews with persons possessing specialized knowledge in gerontology or service provision to the elderly; observations of age related settings such as day care programs, senior centers, or assisted living facilities. A special option will involve the Kernan Hospital, located in the nearby Woodlawn section of Baltimore. The Hospital is interested in having students from class participate in several projects related to community health needs and services for the elderly. Project options will be discussed during the second and third weeks of the semester.

Life history project: Each student will conduct a life history interview with an older person . The interviews will be tape recorded and analyzed for major life events, turning points, and themes in that person's narrative.

Book review project: In addition to the above projects, graduate students will write a critical review of an ethnography dealing with the personal experience of aging or an old age community. During the second half of the course, each student will make a brief presentation on the book (10-15 minutes) to the class. Suggested books include:

Aging and Adaptation: Chinese in Hong Kong and the United States. Ikels, 1983.

Growing Up and Growing Old in Italian-American Families. Johnson, 1985.

Changing Cultures Changing Live. Kiefer, 1974.

Limbo. Laird, 1979.

The Ends of Time. Savishinsky, 1991.

Uneasy Ending. Shield, 1988.

The Unseen Elderly. Eckert, 1980.

Small Board-and-Care Homes: Residential Care in Transition. Morgan, Eckert, Lyon, 1995.

Number Our Days. Myerhoff, 1978.

City of Green Benches: Growing Old in a New Downtown. Vesperi, 1985.

The Ageless Self. Kaufman, 1986.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

1. The Cultural Context of Aging. Sokolovsky, 1990.

2. The Twilight Years. Ariyoshi, 1987.

3. The Aging Experience. Keith and Associates, 1994.

4. Number Our Days. Myerhoff, 1978.

5. Other Cultures, Elder Years. Holmes and Holmes, 1995.

READING ASSIGNMENTS:

Guest speakers, greater or lesser class discussion of some topics, early or late arrival of films, and scheduling of graduate student class presentations may alter the sequencing and order of topics covered from week to week. However, keeping up with the readings listed below will assure that you are well prepared for each class.

1. Sokolovsky, 1990, pp. 1-11

2. Holmes and Holmes, 1995, Ch. 1

1. Hoover and Siegel, "International Demographic Trends and Perspectives on Aging" (Reserve)

2. Uhlenberg, "A Demographic Perspective on Aging" (Reserve)

3. Holmes and Holmes, 1995, Ch. 2

4. Fry, "Age, Aging, and Culture" (Reserve)

FILM: Valley of the Old Ones (Old People in South America)

1. Passuth and Bengston, "Sociological Theories of Aging" (Reserve)

2. Sokolovsky, 1990, Part 1," Culture, Aging, and Context"

3. Keith, et al., The Aging Experience, 1994, Introduction.

4. Marshall, "The State of Theory in Aging and the Social Sciences" (Reserve)

5. Hendricks, "Qualitative Research: Contributions and Advances" (Reserve)

1. Hareven, "The Life Course and Aging in Historical Perspective" (Reserve)

2. Keith, et al., The Aging Experience, 1994, Chapters 1 through 6

3. Uhlenberg and Miner, "Life Course and Aging: A Cohort Perspective" (Reserve)

4. Holmes and Holmes, 1995, Ch. 3

5. Moen, "Gender, Age, and the Life Course" (Reserve)

FILM: N!IA

1. Cowgill, "Theories of Aging and Types of Societies" (Reserve)

2. Holmes and Holmes, 1995, Ch. 4, 9

3. Goldstein and Beall, "Indirect Modernization and the Status of the Elderly in a Rural Third World Setting" (Reserve)

5. Keith, et al., The Aging Experience, 1994, Finish

FILM: "Three Score and Ten"

DUE: Life history project

SLIDES: "Aging among the Mende of Sierra Leone, West Africa

1. Simmons, "Aging in Preindustrial Societies" (Reserve)

2. Zimmerman, "Old Age Poverty in Preindustrial New York City" (Reserve)

3. Biesele and Howell, "'The Old People Give You Life': Aging Among !Kung

Hunter-Gathers" (Reserve)

4. Holmes and Holmes, 1995, Ch. 6

5. Ariyoshi, The Twilight Years. Ch. 1 -10

FILM: "The Spirit Possession of Alejandro Mamani"

1. Sokolovsky, 1990, Part 3

2. Ariyoshi, The Twilight Years. Finish

3. Holmes and Holmes, Ch. 5

1. Achenbaum, "Historical Perspectives on Aging" (Reserve)

2. Nydegger, "Family Ties of the Aged in Cross-Cultural Perspective" (Reserve)

3. Holmes and Holmes, 1995, Ch. 7

4. Myerhoff, Ch. 1 -4

FILM: "Number Our Days"

1. Sokolovsky, 1990, Part 4

2. Tripp-Reimer, "To be Different From the World: Patterns of Elder Care Among

the Iowa Older Amish" (Reserve)

3. Markides and Black, "Race, Ethnicity, and Aging: The Impact of Inequality" (Reserve)

4. Myerhoff, Finish

DUE: Book review project

BOOK REVIEW/PROJECT PRESENTATIONS

1. Sokolovsky, 1990, Part 5

2. Holmes and Holmes, 1995, Ch. 8, 10

BOOK REVIEW/PROJECT PRESENTATIONS

DUE: Field project reports