On Wednesday, April 11, 2018, the Life Course Scholars cohort met for its weekly class meeting. During this class, we went over several readings from Worlds of Difference: Inequality in the Aging Experience, which is the book that is informing and supplementing our studies this quarter. This section of the book focused on the ways in which elders’ experiences are shaped by historical events, as well as cultural factors. However, even through experiencing a historical event together, such as World War II, for example, there are still many variations between the experiences of a generation of elders, which are determined by demographic factors such as race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status, among others.
In addition, the LCS cohort was shown a video where elders from around the world debunked stereotypes surrounding elderly people, such as that they talk too much, are frail, or set in their ways. Rather, these elders advocated for intergenerational appreciation and the value of communicating with people in different age groups. This video served as an introduction to a project wherein members of the LCS cohort will have to interview elders about ageist stereotypes and have them debunk those stereotypes. I am excited for this assignment because I took a methods course for sociology on qualitative interviewing last quarter that I thoroughly enjoyed. I am looking forward to this assignment, as it will allow me to gain a deeper insight into the essence of who elders are as people and what younger people are overlooking when they allow these stereotypes to inform their perceptions of them.
In addition, the LCS cohort did a check-in for our Healthy Aging Projects. Jackie and I have been making steady progress on our blog highlighting the Oral History Projects. The website is up and running, and we took steps to begin gathering previous OHPs from previous LCS cohorts. I am grateful for both of these projects, as both serve to provide a voice to elders and allows them to speak their truth. That is the most rewarding aspect of being a part of LCS for me, is allowing elders to be heard, and seeing how much they flourish, how much joy it brings to their life, when they are able to take advantage of those opportunities.
In addition, the LCS cohort was shown a video where elders from around the world debunked stereotypes surrounding elderly people, such as that they talk too much, are frail, or set in their ways. Rather, these elders advocated for intergenerational appreciation and the value of communicating with people in different age groups. This video served as an introduction to a project wherein members of the LCS cohort will have to interview elders about ageist stereotypes and have them debunk those stereotypes. I am excited for this assignment because I took a methods course for sociology on qualitative interviewing last quarter that I thoroughly enjoyed. I am looking forward to this assignment, as it will allow me to gain a deeper insight into the essence of who elders are as people and what younger people are overlooking when they allow these stereotypes to inform their perceptions of them.
In addition, the LCS cohort did a check-in for our Healthy Aging Projects. Jackie and I have been making steady progress on our blog highlighting the Oral History Projects. The website is up and running, and we took steps to begin gathering previous OHPs from previous LCS cohorts. I am grateful for both of these projects, as both serve to provide a voice to elders and allows them to speak their truth. That is the most rewarding aspect of being a part of LCS for me, is allowing elders to be heard, and seeing how much they flourish, how much joy it brings to their life, when they are able to take advantage of those opportunities.