LAKEHEAD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
Issues in Social Gerontology: Soci/Gero 4515
Dr. Sharon-dale Stone						      Winter 2006
Office:  RB2038					           Mon & Wed, 2:30-4:00
Phone:  343-8530			   email: sharondale.stone@lakeheadu.ca
Course Description:
This advanced seminar course introduces students to critical and interdisciplinary perspectives in social gerontology, to examine issues related to well-being and quality of life for people over the age of 65, with a particular focus on factors that allow for and/or detract from opportunities to fully engage in social life. 
This upper-level course is organized as a combination of lecture and seminar, with primary emphasis on seminar discussion. In keeping with the advanced nature of the course, students are expected to actively participate in critically discussing issues raised in readings.
Evaluation (for details, see Assignments section of outline):

Assignment	Due Date	Weight	
Comment papers (3)	Variable	30%	
Seminar participation	Each class	15%	
Presentation outline	Variable	10%	
Presentation	Variable	25%	
Final paper	April 3	20%	
Required Readings
There is no textbook for purchase. Required readings are drawn from books and articles that have been placed on reserve in the library, or that can be borrowed from the professor.
Books on reserve at the library:
Andrews, Gavin J., and Phillips, David R. (eds.) Ageing and Place: Perspectives, Policy, Practice. NY: Routledge, 2005) ABBREVIATED AP
Cole, Thomas R., Kastenbaum, Robert, and Ray, Ruth E. (eds.) Handbook of the Humanities and Aging (2nd Ed.). (NY: Springer Publishing, 2000)
Featherstone, Mike, and Wernick, Andrew (eds.), Images of Aging: Cultural Representations of Later Life. (London: Routledge, 1995)
Hazan, Haim. Old Age: Constructions and Deconstructions. (NY: Cambridge University Press, 1994)
Jamieson, Anne, Harper, Sarah, and Victor, Christina (eds.) Critical Approaches to Ageing and Later Life. (Buckingham, UK: Open University Press, 1997) ABBREVIATED CA
Minkler, Meredith, and Estes, Carroll L. (eds.) Critical Gerontology: Perspectives from Political and Moral Economy. (Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing, 1999)
Readings from other books and journals are on reserve as articles. Some journal articles are available as PDF and are starred (*)

Schedule of Weekly Topics and Readings

1.	Wed Jan. 4	Course Introduction and Expectations	

2.	Jan. 9-Jan. 11	Old Age as a Social Construction
•	Hazan, Ch 1 & 2 (pp. 13-32) of Old Age: Constructions and Deconstructions
•	Thane, “The History of Aging in the West.” Pp. 3-24 in Handbook of the Humanities and Aging
•	Bytheway, “Talking about Age.” Pp. 7-15 in CA
•	Hareven, “Changing Images of Aging and the Social Construction of the Life Course.” Pp. 119-134 in Images of Aging
Focus Question: How is old age currently defined and how can we justify our definitions?	
	
3.	Jan. 16-Jan. 18	Critical Approaches in Social Gerontology
•	Achenbaum, “Critical Gerontology.” Pp. 16-26 in CA
•	Jamieson & Victor, “Theory and concepts in social gerontology.” Pp. 175-187 in CA
•	Kontos, “Multi-disciplinary Configurations in Gerontology.” Pp. 24-35 in AP
Focus Question: How does a critical approach to social gerontology differ from a biomedical approach, and how does it complicate understandings of old age?	
	
4.	Jan. 23-Jan. 25	Ageism, Attitudes Towards Aging, and the Role of the 				Media
•	Bytheway & Johnson, “Cataloguing Old Age.” Pp. 176-187 in AP
•	McConatha et al., “Attitudes Toward Aging.” International Journal of Aging and Human Development 57 (2003): 203-215*
•	Ellis and Morrison, “Stereotypes of Ageing.” International Journal of Aging and Human Development 61 (2005): 57-73*
Focus Question: What is ageism and how is it supported in various forms of media?	
	
5.	Jan. 30-Feb. 1	 The Aging Enterprise and the Medicalization of Old Age
•	Estes, “The Aging Enterprise Revisited.” The Gerontologist 33 (1993): 292-298*
•	Estes and Binney, “The Biomedicalization of Aging.” The Gerontologist 29 (1989): 587-596 (article on reserve)
•	Hausdorff et al., “The Power of Ageism on Physical Function in Older Persons.” Journal of the American Geriatric Society 47 (1999): 1346-1349 (article on reserve)
Focus Question: What are examples of the aging enterprise, why is it successful, and who benefits from its existence?	
	
6.	Feb. 6-Feb. 8	Health, Illness and Disability
•	Stahl and Feller, “Old Equals Sick: An Ontogenetic Fallacy.” (article on reserve)
•	Oldman, “Later Life and the Social Model of Disability.” Ageing & Society 22 (2002): 791-806*
•	Grenier, “The contextual and social locations of older women’s experiences of disability and decline.” Journal of Aging Studies 19 (2005) 131–146*
Focus Question: What are some disabling features of contemporary society that prevent old people from having a sense of well-being?	
	
7.	Feb. 13-Feb. 15	Social Creation of Dependency
•	Kaufman, “The Social Construction of Frailty: An Anthropological Perspective.” Journal of Aging Studies 8 (1994): 45-58 (article on reserve)
•	Raphael et al., “Frailty: A Public Health Perspective.” Canadian Journal of Public Health 86 (July-August 1995): 224-227 (article on reserve)
•	Aronson, “Elderly people's accounts of home care rationing: missing voices in long-term care policy debates.” Ageing & Society 22 (2002): 399-418*
•	Boyle, The role of autonomy in explaining mental ill-health and depression among older people in long-term care settings.” Ageing & Society 25 (2005): 731-748*
Focus Question: How can we reduce the incidence of frailty?	
	
8.	Feb. 27-Mar. 1	Independence, Dependence, and Interdependence
•	Cott & Gignac, “Independence and Dependence for Older Adults with Osteoarthritis or Osteoporosis.” Canadian Journal on Aging 18 (2000): 1-25 (article on reserve)
•	Secker et al., “Promoting Independence: But Promoting What and How?” Ageing &Society 23 (2003): 375 –391*
•	Mack et al., “Perceived Risks to Independent Living.” The Gerontologist 37 (1997): 729-736*
Focus Question: How does the biomedicalization of old age encourage us to see dependence as inevitable? How does attending to the views of old people change ideas about independence?	
	
9.	Mar. 6-Mar. 8	Social Construction of Retirement
•	Phillipson, “The Social Construction of Retirement.” Pp. 315-327 in Critical Gerontology: Perspectives from Political and Moral Economy
•	Atchley, “Critical Perspectives on Retirement.” (article on reserve)
•	Ekerdt & Clark, “Selling Retirement in Financial Planning Advertisements.” Journal of Aging Studies 15 (2001) 55-68*
Focus Question: Who benefits from the institutionalization of retirement and who is left out of popular discourse about retirement?	
	
10.	Mar. 13-Mar. 15 	Retirement Communities
•	McHugh, “The ‘Ageless’ Self? Journal of Aging Studies 14 (2000): 103-115*
•	McHugh, “Three Faces of Ageism: Society, Image and Place.” Ageing &Society 23 (2003): 165 –185*
Focus Question: What are the benefits and drawbacks of age-segregation? What would happen if most old people lived in retirement communities?	
	
11.	Mar. 20-Mar. 22	Volunteer Work and Well-Being
•	Narushima, “’Payback Time’.” Ageing & Society 25 (2005): 567-584*
•	Warburton & McLaughlin, “’Lots of Little Kindnesses’.” Ageing & Society 25 (2005): 715-730*
•	Boneham & Sixsmith, “The Voices of Older Women in a Disadvantaged Community.” Social Science & Medicine 62 (2006): 269-279*
Focus Question: Is the promotion of volunteering in the community a useful way to address ageism? Why or why not?	
	
12.	Mar. 27-Mar. 29	Quality of Life in Old Age
•	Wilhelmson et al, “Elderly people’s perspectives on quality of life.” Ageing & Society 25 (2005): 585-600*
•	Gabriel & Bowling, “Quality of life from the perspectives of older people.” Ageing &Society 24 (2004): 675 –691*
•	Borglin, Edberg & Hallberg. “The experience of quality of life among older people.” Journal of Aging Studies 19 (2005) 201–220*
Focus Question: How can society promote good quality of life in old age? What would need to change?	
	
13.	Apr. 3	Review	

ASSIGNMENTS
Seminar Participation (15%)
Attendance in class and participation in class discussions is an important component of this course, and is a way for you to demonstrate your understanding of issues raised in the readings.  Students are expected to contribute to every class discussion.  Thus, you need to read and think critically about the required readings so that you will be prepared to discuss them in class. Your class participation mark will reflect the degree of thoughtful and critical reflection shown by you as you engage with course material.

Comment Papers (30%)
You are required to write 3 comments papers (1 1/2 – 3 pp. each, or 500-800 words each) to critically comment on required readings for one week. You are free to choose any 3 weeks for comment, but you may not hand in a comment paper for the week of your presentation.  Each comment paper is worth 10% and will be due at the beginning of the Monday class during which we discuss the readings. Late comment papers will not be accepted.
In your comment papers, you must:
•	give full bibliographic information on the readings at the top of the 1st page
•	briefly summarize the main point(s) of each reading
•	identify ways in which the readings relate to each other, how they support or contradict each other, and how they shed light on the week’s focus question
•	pay attention to the guidelines for written work on the last page of this outline

Presentation and Final Paper (total 55%)
You are expected to collaborate with 1 other student to give a 40-50 minute presentation (including 10-15 minutes of discussion facilitation) on one of the topics on the course outline starting January 23 (week 4). You are expected in your presentation and paper to incorporate but also go beyond discussion of the week’s required readings. There are 3 components to this assignment:

1. Presentation Outline (10%)
Due 1 week prior to presentation.
Provide a 1-2 page outline of your presentation to include:
•	title
•	names of presenters
•	thesis statement to focus the presentation (see <http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/thesis_statement.shtml>
•	brief (1-2 paragraphs) summary of presentation
•	topics and points to be covered in the presentation
•	2-3 discussion questions on relevant issues
•	list of at least 5 relevant references (in addition to required readings)

2. Presentation (25%)
Two students collaborate on a 40-50 minute class presentation (including 10-15 minutes of discussion facilitation), to follow the format of the presentation outline handed in the week before. You will be evaluated on the clarity and depth of analysis shown, ability to clearly explain complex ideas, ability to identify critical issues and engage the class in a discussion of those issues.

3. Final paper (20%). Due April 3.
15-17 pages (plus references) to be based on your presentation.
To be written in standard essay format with an introduction, body, and conclusion. Write in paragraphs: one idea per paragraph and each idea developed, connect the paragraphs together, avoid grammar and spelling mistakes, watch your sentence structures to make sure ideas are clearly expressed.

Guidelines For All Written Work
•	work must be typed & double-spaced (with margins at least 1” on all sides)
•	do not use a font size that is unusually small or unusually large (preferred fonts are Times Roman 12 pt. or Arial 11 pt.
•	do NOT include a cover page, but write your name at the top of the first page
•	number your pages
•	write in essay form, not point form
•	pay close attention to length requirements
•	do not place your work inside a folder
•	do not staple your pages together but use a paper-clip
•	hand in your work on time!  Late papers will not be accepted
•	failure to adhere to these guidelines will result in marks being deducted from your work