29731
Graduate Course
WiSe 12/13: Social Contexts of Ageing
Anita von Poser und Groß-Nädlitz
Comments
In their contribution to Times of Our Lives, Caw and Glahn (2010: 15) refer to actress Billie Burke who once said, "[a]ge is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese". The aim of this course is to show that age does matter! There is no doubt that people all over the world are constantly aging. Cultural notions about aging and the meanings and evaluations that are attributed to the different phases in life, however, vary from one social context to the other. We will draw on contemporary debates within the 'anthropology of age and aging' as well as related disciplines to answer questions such as the following: Is 'chronological age' a stable category with regard to cross-cultural discussions about aging? What does it mean to age in a particular society? How do people mark the transitions from one age phase to the next? How do people deal with elderhood and elderly care? In order to fully grasp social processes of aging and the human life cycle in general, selected essays will be read weekly and discussed in class. In addition, participants are asked to choose a particular subject which they will present in class.
Selected Literature:
Blatterer, H. & J. Glahn (eds.) 2010. Times of Our Lives. Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press.
Counts, D.A. and D.R. Counts (eds.) 1985. Aging and Its Transformations. Moving Toward Death in Pacific Societies. Lanham: University of Pittsburgh Press.
Dracklé, D. (ed.) 1998. Alt und zahm? Alter und Älterwerden in unterschiedlichen Kulturen. Berlin: Reimer.
Kollewe, C. & K. Jahnke (eds.) 2009. FaltenReich. Vom Älterwerden in der Welt. Berlin: Reimer.
Sokolovsky, J. (ed.) 1997. The Cultural Context of Aging. Worldwide Perspectives. New York: bergin and Garvey Publishers.
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15 Class schedule
Regular appointments
Mon, 2012-10-22 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2012-10-29 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2012-11-05 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2012-11-12 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2012-11-19 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2012-11-26 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2012-12-03 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2012-12-10 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2012-12-17 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2013-01-07 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2013-01-14 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2013-01-21 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2013-01-28 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2013-02-04 10:00 - 12:00
Mon, 2013-02-11 10:00 - 12:00