SOCY1096.01: Aging and Society
Fall 2015
Tuesday/Thursday 10:30-11:45 am
Cushing 209
Professor: Sara Moorman
Office: 404 McGuinn Hall
Office hours: Wednesdays 2:30-3:30 pm; Fridays 9:00-10:00 am
E-mail: moormans@bc.edu
Teaching Assistant: Calista Ross
Office: 410D McGuinn Hall
Office hours: Tuesdays 12:00-1:00 pm; Thursdays 1:30-2:30 pm
E-mail: calista.ross@bc.edu
About the Course
“Age doesn’t matter unless you’re a cheese,” quipped actress Billie Burke (the Good Witch in
The Wizard of Oz). Nevertheless, age does matter within societies. This class will cover specific
topics in four general areas of sociological study: roles and relationships (e.g., within the family),
inequalities (e.g., ageism), institutions (e.g., health care), and social change (e.g., the aging of the
population). By the end of the course, you will have acquired a new approach to thinking about
how you and others age in the social world and the ways in which age is portrayed in the media.
Required Reading
The bookstore has ordered:
Blechman, Andrew D. 2008. Leisureville. (ISBN 9780802144188)
Kessler, Lauren. 2007. Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimer’s. (ISBN 0670038598)
Loe, Meika. 2011. Aging Our Way. (ISBN 9780199797905)
Sarton, May. 1973. As We Are Now. (ISBN 9780393309577)
These books are also available on 2-hour reserve at O’Neill Library.
If you need financial support to buy books, please contact the Montserrat Coalition—go to Brock
House at 78 College Road, call 617-552-8865, or e-mail montserrat.coalition@bc.edu.
The remainder of the reading – marked on the schedule below with asterisks – is available on
electronic reserve through the library website or our class Canvas page.
Canvas
Visit the Canvas page for this course regularly for announcements, grades, course materials, a
copy of the syllabus, etc. I promise you that everything you’ve ever needed (or wanted) to know
about this course is posted, so look before you e-mail. If you e-mail me and don’t get an answer
within 48 hours, it’s because you don’t need me to tell you the answer to your question.
SOCY1096 Aging and Society
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Schedule
Date
Topic
Reading
September 1
Introduction to the
Course
Age and the Informal
Structure of Society
-none-
September 3
Leisureville chapters 1-3
September 8
Leisureville chapters 4-6
September 10
Leisureville chapters 7-9
September 15
Leisureville chapters 10-12
September 17
Leisureville chapters 13-14, epilogue, and
afterword
September 22
Age and the Formal
Structure of Society
1. “Life at the top in America isn’t just
better, it’s longer” by Janny Scott*
2. Online:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/op
inion/sunday/my-motherskeepers.html?_r=0
September 24
“Should we ration health care for older
people?” by Harry Moody*
September 29
1. “What are we going to do with Dad?”
by Jerald Winakur*
2. “Memory lessons: A doctor’s story” by
Jerald Winakur*
October 1
“What is the future for Social Security?” by
Harry Moody*
October 6
Online: http://crr.bc.edu/specialprojects/books/the-social-security-fix-it-book/
October 8
What Is Aging? The
Biology
“If humans were built to last” by S. Jay
Olshansky*
SOCY1096 Aging and Society
October 13
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1. “Blue zones” by Dan Buettner*
2. Online:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/fa
shion/dinner-with-blue-zones-solutiondan-buettner.html
October 15
1. “Leisure of the theory class” by Greg
Critser*
2. “Of love and sex and the CR longevity
phenotype” by Greg Critser*
October 20
Dementia, Caregiving
and Long-Term Care
As We Are Now through page 66
October 22
As We Are Now pp. 67 – end
October 27
Finding Life chapters 1-4
October 29
Finding Life chapters 5-9
November 3
Finding Life chapters 10-14
November 5
Finding Life chapters 15-19
November 10
Finding Life chapters 20-24 and epilogue
November 12
Longevity and WellBeing
Aging Our Way prologue, introduction, and
lesson 1
November 17
Aging Our Way lessons 2-4
November 19
Aging Our Way lessons 5-7
November 24
Aging Our Way lessons 8-10
November 26
NO CLASS: Thanksgiving
December 1
Aging Our Way lessons 11-13, postscript,
epilogue, and appendix
1. “Making needles, making lives” by
Caitrin Lynch*
December 3
2. “No chains on the seats” by Caitrin
Lynch*
SOCY1096 Aging and Society
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December 8
1. “Anna Wilmot” by Neenah Ellis*
2. “Sadie and Gilbert Hill” by Neenah
Ellis*
3. “Having our say: The Delaney sisters’
first 100 years” by Sarah Delaney*
Academic Honesty
Your work must be your words and ideas. When writing papers, use quotation marks around
someone else’s exact words and identify whose words they are. If you come across a good idea,
by all means use it in your writing, but be sure to acknowledge whose idea it is. Failure to
comply will result in (a) automatic failure of the assignment, and (b) a report to the Dean and the
Committee on Academic Integrity. For further information, please review the College’s policies
on academic integrity here: http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/stserv/academic/integrity.html
Accommodations
If you are a student with a documented disability seeking reasonable accommodations in this
course, please contact Kathy Duggan, (617) 552-8093, dugganka@bc.edu, at the Connors Family
Learning Center regarding learning disabilities and ADHD, or Paulette Durrett, (617) 552-3470,
paulette.durrett@bc.edu, in the Disability Services Office regarding all other types of disabilities,
including temporary disabilities. Advance notice and appropriate documentation are required for
accommodations.
Assessment
Grading scale
A+
none at Boston College
B+
87 – 89%
C+
77 – 79%
D+
67 – 69%
F
below 60%
A
B
C
D
93 – 100%
83 – 86%
73 – 76%
63 – 66%
ABCD-
90 – 92%
80 – 82%
70 – 72%
60 – 62%
Assignments
Task
Percentage of grade
Due date
Discussions
15%
December 8
Age norms project
25%
September 24
Policy paper or dementia book review
30%
October 15 (policy)
November 19 (dementia)
Life history interview
30%
December 8
SOCY1096 Aging and Society
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Discussions: Many of our readings will provoke discussion and debate. That’s hard in a class of
60, so we’ll break into small groups pretty often. Always come to class having done the reading
and considered the thought questions posted on Canvas. You’ll be randomly assigned to a small
group that you’ll keep for the whole semester. When I call for small group discussion, you’ll talk
with your group and with myself and the TA as we circulate around the room. Someone will
keep the “minutes” of your discussion – you’ll rotate this task so that the note-taker isn’t always
the girl with nice handwriting – and you’ll all sign them and turn them in at the end of class.
But professor, I have a game / doctor’s appointment / job interview that day! Your
whereabouts are not my business, and I (and your group members) understand that things come
up. But if you want a good discussion grade, you need to find a way to contribute to your group.
Maybe that means that you contribute more on the days when you are in class. Maybe that means
that you e-mail your thoughts on the reading to me and your group members ahead of time so
that we can include your ideas. Whatever you do, it’s your responsibility to (a) come up with a
creative solution, (b) get your group’s agreement that your solution fulfills your obligation, and
(c) let me know about it.
Everything else: Scores on three writing assignments will determine the rest of your grade. I’ll
provide you with much greater detail on these assignments as they get closer. Here are the
basics:
(1) Age norms project. The question we’ll address in this project is: Do BC students identify age
norms for men and/or women in contemporary American society? You’ll survey some fellow BC
students and share your data with the class. Then you’ll use the data to draw some conclusions
about the current functions of age in our society, and you’ll compare and contrast your
conclusions to those of the authors we read.
(2) Policy paper. As we’ll learn, reforms to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are
necessary to sustain these programs into the future. If you choose this paper option, you’ll
identify a problem facing one of these programs, research and explain several methods for
solving it, and take your own stand on the issue. You can choose to write this paper or the
dementia book review, whichever interests you more.
(3) Dementia book review. As We Are Now and Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimer’s are
about the same topic, but they have very different viewpoints and come to very different
conclusions. In your review, you’ll describe those viewpoints and conclusions, compare and
contrast them, and provide your personal interpretation. You can choose to write this paper or the
policy paper, whichever interests you more.
(4) Life history interview. You will interview someone aged 65 or older. Your interview and
paper will cover three themes: (i) Personal life events (e.g., childhood, education, work,
marriage, children/grandchildren), (ii) Societal life events (e.g., war experience,
inventions/technological changes, cultural trends, political events), and (iii) Life review (e.g.,
what would your interviewee do differently if s/he could? What is s/he most proud of? What
advice does s/he have for a person who is in college today?)
Paper Submission
All papers are to be uploaded to Canvas by 11:59 pm Eastern time on the due date. I do not
accept papers in hard copy or via e-mail. Papers submitted after 11:59 pm on the due date are
late and will lose a letter grade a day. That is, a paper submitted on time is worth, at best, an A.
SOCY1096 Aging and Society
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A paper submitted between midnight and 11:59 pm of the day following the due date is worth, at
best, a B.
If you wish to avoid the late penalty, you must make arrangements with me in advance, or you
must provide proof of extenuating circumstances (e.g., doctor’s note, funeral program) or a letter
from your class dean. Do not ask me for personal extensions unless you have a very good reason.
There are very few good reasons. Good reasons do NOT include: “I have four tests that day!” or
“It’s my birthday next weekend!” or “My computer is broken!” Always plan ahead, and keep a
backup.
Regrade Policy
If you are not content with a paper grade:
• You have two weeks following the receipt of the grade to ask for a regrade. After that,
the grade stands.
• You must take your request to the person who graded your paper. I won’t adjust the TA’s
grading, and the TA will not adjust my grading.
• You must explain in writing specifically why you feel your paper merits further
consideration. Your grader has given you extensive comments; respond directly to those
comments.
• You need to realize that a request for a regrade is exactly that. You grade might rise, but
it might stay the same or even drop.
Extra Credit
Any extra credit opportunities will be made available to the entire class, and will be announced
both in class and on Canvas.