Miami University

Aging in Diverse Contexts (GTY 2)

A significant paradigm shift has occurred within gerontology. The accumulation of research findings suggests that age alone predicts very little about the human experience. Instead, the impact of age and aging is mediated by a range of social and cultural factors. Social characteristics such as gender, race, and ethnicity, and societal factors such as economic development and cultural traditions combine to produce a diverse range of experiences and patterns of aging. Students are required to take the Tier 1 course and select one course from both Tier 2 and Tier 3. This thematic sequence begins with an overview of the social, cultural, and personal experiences of aging. The second course will provide the students with grounding in sociocultural analyses of the contexts of aging, and the third course is an in-depth exploration of the sources of variation in the aging experience.  Students completing this sequence will understand the ways in which the meanings and experiences of aging are shaped by social and physical location, and the ways in which diversity among the older population is produced.

Prefix/Number	Tier	Course Title	Credits
Required:
GTY 154	Tier 1	Aging in American Society	3
One of these:
GTY 260	Tier 2	Global Aging	3
GTY/SOC 318	Tier 2	Sociology of Aging	3
One of these:
GTY/SOC/WMS 463	Tier 3	Gender and Aging	3
GTY/FSW 466	Tier 3	Families in Later Life	3
GTY/BWS 472	Tier 3	Race, Ethnicity, and Aging	3
GTY 476	Tier 3	Environment and Aging	3

Health and Aging (GTY 3)

This thematic sequence explores health and aging. The Tier 1 course provides students with an overview of the processes of aging, especially in the United States.  In Tier 2, students select one of three courses, each of which examines health and aging from a different position along a continuum that ranges from the micro- to the macro/meso- level contexts.  Students select one of three Tier 3 courses. The Tier 3 courses offer students the opportunity to integrate academic and applied aspects of health and aging, either through exploration of moral issues in health care, secondary data analysis, or field experience in a health care setting.

Prefix/Number	Tier	Course Title	Credits
Required:
GTY 154	Tier 1	Aging in American Society	3
One of these:
GTY 356	Tier 2	Biopsychosocial Aspects of Health and Aging	3
GTY 357	Tier 2	Medical Sociology	3
GTY 335	Tier 2	Disability and Aging	3
One of these:
PHL 375	Tier 3	Moral Issues in Health Care	3
GTY 478	Tier 3	Racial/ Ethnic Disparities in Chronic Illness	4
GTY 476/576	Tier 3	Field Experience in Gerontology	3

 

Minimum credit hours for either thematic sequence: 9