Human Development & Fam Sci: Psychology of Aging

This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of psychological aspects of aging and identifies key lessons and facilitative practices for supporting positive aging. Prerequisites: HDF 2610, HDF 2890; PSYS 2002, EDFS 3090, SOC 2500, or SWSS 3670; minimum Junior standing.

Prereqs enforced by the system: HDF 2610, HDF 2890; PSYS 2002, EDFS 3090, SOC 2500 or SWSS 3670; Minimum Junior standing

This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of psychological aspects of aging as broadly conceptualized. Students will gain core knowledge and understanding of both normative and non-normative biological, psychological, and social age-related changes in middle and, especially, late adulthood. Attention will also be paid to institutional and societal factors that affect middle and late adulthood. In addition to learning about these aspects of adulthood, key lessons and facilitative practices for supporting positive aging will be explored. A guiding question throughout the course will be: What does it mean to age positively, and how do we, as social service professionals, support positive aging?

Note: This course was last taught by me in Fall 2018. Here I offer the expectations I had at that time and that I expect to have for Fall 2024. The class was run as a combination lecture and seminar course. Students were expected to come to class having completed all required readings and assignments, and to be prepared to engage in small and large class discussions and other activities. Classes themselves were a mix of lecture and discussion or small group activities. Experts were brought in at times to share their area of expertise with students.

In Fall 2018, three exams were used, one at the conclusion of each major section of the course. This helped reinforce the important content we were studying via class lectures and readings. For Fall 2024, I have not yet decided how students' learning and understanding will be evaluated. I expect to use some of the following: reading-related papers, student presentations, exams, and a final literature review paper or critical analysis of a popular book about aging. Students may also be partnered with someone in old age to have conversations with and learn about this person's aging experiences and perspectives on aging, helping to bring the course material to life.