Maturity and Aging

Catalog description

This course is the third course in the human development series in the Psychology program at the University of Bridgeport. In this series, we discover the challenges and rewards of various life stages. We discuss biological, cognitive, emotional and social change through the lifespan and relate the course material to our own lives. This course engages us in important questions about health, longevity, aging, death and dying and life and living. We will emphasize the topics of healthy living, ageism, grief, bereavement and the dying process as it relates to individuals and to caregivers. We will consider historical and cultural differences, but will focus on present day American life. We will also consider the many positive aspects and rewards of the aging and dying process. Perhaps most importantly, we’ll emphasize making the most of our lives given the inevitability of our own aging death. The course will be interactive and focused on our own experiences and reactions. There will be a series of current, original readings that we will discuss in class. We will watch at least one video that deals with aging and another that deals with death and dying. We will have a series of guest speakers who will share their work. Finally, we will choose two different personal experiential projects and report on our experiences.