Sages and Seekers: a Fieldwork Practicum

Brandeis University Fall 2015

EL 42a Sages and Seekers: A Fieldwork Practicum in Gender across Generations

 Engage in real-world relationships and fieldwork.  Help bridge generational gaps.  Test theories against concrete experience; create new theories.  Tackle real-world problems for which there are no easy answers in the book.  Gain your own fieldwork materials to use in base-class assignments.  Learn how to conduct qualitative fieldwork involving interviewing, participant observation, and data analysis; and/or gain experience planning and implementing an advocacy project.  Have the chance to work intimately with the instructor and a smaller group of dedicated students.  Use the experience to connect what you are studying in class to academic, personal, and career choices going forward.  Earn two credits while building your resume.  Challenge yourself and have fun! These are some of the aims of the 2-credit Experiential Learning (EL) Practicum course—Sages and Seekers: A Fieldwork Practicum in Gender across Generations—available as an option, by application, to students enrolled in the base classes of ANTH 144a Anthropology of Gender, ANTH 111a Aging in Cross-Cultural Perspective, ANTH 1a Introduction to the Comparative Study of Human Societies, or PSYC 37a The Psychology of Adult Development and Aging in the fall of 2015 or within the past year.

Class meeting times: Mondays 3:30-4:30 p.m. (beginning 9/21), Pearlman 203 Practicum meeting times: 9 Wednesdays from 4:00-5:30 p.m. from Sept. 30 through Dec. 2 (with no session during Thanksgiving week) at the Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (BOLLI) at 60 Turner Street, plus an additional 20 hours of individual project work. Instructor: Sarah Lamb, Phone 6-2211, [email protected] Office Hours: Thursdays 9:45-10:45, Fridays 1-2, and by appt., Brown 208

This supplemental course is designed to provide participants with experience interacting with elders and conducting fieldwork, interviews, and (as an option) community service in local settings. This interactive work will complement the kinds of questions asked and problems explored through the base classes, focused on examining beliefs and practices surrounding aging and gender in social-cultural context.

The EL course will meet with the instructor, Professor Sarah Lamb, for one hour per week, on most Mondays (following the ANTH 144a class) from 3:35-4:30 p.m. In addition, students will conduct an average of three hours per week of work beyond the classroom, participating (on nine Wednesday afternoons from 4:00-5:30 pm) as a “seeker” in the innovative and rewarding Sages & Seekers program (described below) and performing an additional individual fieldwork and/or community service project of their own design. Sages & Seekers (http://www.sagesandseekers.org/sagesandseekers/About_Us.html) is a non- profit organization designed to bridge the intergenerational gap between seniors and youth in order to generate the exchange of valuable wisdom, strengthen community, and dissolve age-related segregation. Sages & Seekers is partnering with the Brandeis-Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (BOLLI) to offer Brandeis students enrolled in EL 42a the opportunity to participate as “Seekers” in the intergenerational program. During this nine-week program, which will take place on Wednesday afternoons from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. from September 30th through Dec. 2nd (with no session Thanksgiving week), Brandeis students, the Seekers, will be matched with their own Sage or senior citizen partner. Each week different activities foster open communication and create forums in which to discuss life and discover commonalities between generations. The first meeting can be filled with ambivalence in both generations, which quickly melts into excitement as they discuss popular culture and participate in “speed dating” to break the generation barrier and find their match. Participants of both age groups discover that despite social, environmental, and technological differences that shape their varied lives, the human experience remains consistent. In addition, participants of both generations are fascinated to explore the ways some norms and understandings have changed over time, and how the personal life histories of the Sages and Seekers—concerning issues such as life aspirations, career paths/plans, gender, sexuality, immigration experiences, ethnic and religious identity, personal losses and gains—impact their understandings of self and the life course. The partnership will give the Brandeis students abundant materials to use in their papers for the base class, as well as provide opportunities to practice interviewing and participant observation fieldwork. The partnership will also provide illuminating case-study materials that students may use to explore how notions and experiences of gender have changed or remained consistent over time, and to critique, challenge and extend gerontological theories such as the popular paradigm of “successful aging.” Individual project involving fieldwork and/or community service: In addition to participating in the Sages & Seekers program, each EL 42a student will design and carry out an individual project or projects amounting to approximately 20 additional experiential-learning hours over the course of the semester. Students will be able to work with the instructor and brainstorm with each other to come up with their plans for the individual project. Possibilities include:  interviewing additional elders and analyzing the materials,  conducting comparative fieldwork and interviews regarding some dimension of gender among a younger generation, such as Brandeis students,  conducting additional participant observation fieldwork on aging in a relevant setting (such as at a local retirement community or senior center, at a running club for older athletes, with a Brandeis employee nearing retirement, with a religious leader who councils those facing death and dying, with the Waltham Group, etc.).  carrying out interviews for and composing a life history,  volunteering or interning at a relevant community institution,  writing and publishing a blog related to age and aging and/or gender,  working as a research assistant for an anthropology faculty member conducting research on aging or gender,  planning and implementing an advocacy product or activity.

2 Relationship to the base class: The EL work will be useful in providing data for the writing assignments in the base classes of ANTH 144a Anthropology of Gender, ANTH 111a Aging in Cross-Cultural Perspective, and ANTH 1a (should the EL class be taken during the same semester as the base class). The students and instructor will also use the weekly Monday afternoon class sessions as an opportunity to meet together for informal and collaborative discussion related to both the base-class and experiential learning materials. We will probe how our interactions with actual elders and others in diverse contexts support, extend, and/or challenge existing theories about aging and gender, and the practice of anthropology and of gerontology. The topics of aging and gender are both at the heart of Prof. Lamb’s own research agenda, and so she will be very interested in learning with and from the students participating in the practicum.

Course requirements and evaluation:  Participation in the Sages & Seekers program 25% o Attendance, engagement, etc.  Individual project work 25%  Participation in the practicum course 20% o Attendance, discussion, in-class exercises, LATTE postings  Two short critical reflection pieces (2-3 pages) @ 5% each 10%  Final Tribute for your Sage (2-3 pages + oral presentation) 10%  Final EL 42a oral presentation (5-7 minutes) 10%

This is a graded course. Attendance and participation are both crucial to the success of the course and to your performance. Faithful attendance in the Sages & Seekers meetings is also absolutely necessary out of respect and consideration for the Sage partners. Absence policy:  If you must miss a Sages & Seekers meeting due to an emergency or illness, please make every effort to notify your “Sage” and the instructor in advance. If you do need to miss an S&S meeting, then you will need to make up the additional practicum hours in your individual project work (as EL course guidelines require a minimum number of practicum hours per semester).  Any absences from the Monday class session will result in a lowered class participation grade (one-third of a grade per absence). In the case of emergency or illness, you may make up the missed class by submitting an additional short reflection essay related to that day’s topic/s: please be in contact with the professor for guidance. The instructor will provide written feedback to each student at several times over the course of the semester so you will know how you are doing. Guidelines, prompts, and rubrics for the individual project, critical reflection pieces, and final presentation will be distributed as the course gets underway. (Some assignment guidelines are also attached at the end of the syllabus.)

Learning goals of the practicum:  Work toward bridging generational gaps  Learn through experience how to conduct qualitative fieldwork involving project design, interviewing, participant observation, and data analysis

3  Connect real-world relationships and fieldwork to base class theories and knowledge, testing theories against concrete experience  Gain insight into how ideas and experiences surrounding gender have changed over the past sixty to seventy years in the United States  Reflect on academic, personal, and career choices going forward

Time commitment: a. One one-hour weekly class meeting with the instructor and classmates to reflect, discuss, collaborate, plan, workshop, troubleshoot, etc. (on Mondays from 3:30-4:30 p.m.; see schedule below). b. Three hours per week on average of practicum work to total approximately thirty-six hours over the semester. This will include participating in the nine weekly 1.5-hour Sages & Seekers events on Wednesday afternoons (from 4:00-5:30 pm from 9/30 through 12/2, skipping 11/25), and the time spent on planning for and carrying out the individual project. Seekers may also invite their Sage to accompany them to a Brandeis class and/or dining hall, etc., and Seekers may also be invited to a Sage’s BOLLI class or home. Such optional additional meetings may count toward your total practicum hours. c. An average of approximately one-two hours per week on other class-related work, including short writing and reading assignments, LATTE postings, browsing the media for relevant materials to bring to discussions, analyzing your fieldwork data, one-on-one meetings with the instructor, viewing one film, and preparing your final tribute for your Sage.

 In total, students are expected to invest approximately six hours per week into the two-credit practicum course, which will include class sessions, project work, assignments, and meetings directly related to the practicum project. [Note that Brandeis policy is that a 4-credit course requires 12 hours per week of in-class and prep time, so a two-credit course requires 6 hours per week of total class and prep time. Some students work more efficiently or slowly than these general guidelines.] Assigned readings: Only a few brief readings beyond those assigned in the base class will be required for the EL course. Do also plan to keep up with the base course readings, as we will make use of these in our discussions and analyses.

Community work/practicum hours: Plan to log your community work hours from Sages & Seekers and your individual projects WEEKLY. Those who would like Community Service credit may also log hours with the Office of Community Service website at: http://www.brandeis.edu/studentaffairs/communityservice/awardandtrackinghours/index.html. Please indicate what you did in the final box that reads “If you would like to include additional information about your community service hours please use the space below.” Do not include time spent doing the homework for the base course or the practicum (readings or writing assignments). It is required that the practicum/fieldwork hours for the 2-credit EL courses total a minimum of 36 hours over the semester.

How to apply: Enrollment in the EL 42a course is by signature only and is limited to students currently or previously (within the past year) enrolled in the base classes of ANTH 144a, ANTH

4 111a or, ANTH 1a or PSYC 37a. If you would like to apply, please send by email a short informal statement as to why you would like to take the EL course to Sarah Lamb at [email protected]. Please put “EL 42 Sages & Seekers application” in the subject heading.

Academic integrity: Please be careful to cite precisely and properly the sources of all authors and persons you have drawn upon in your work. Please take special care to indicate the precise source of all materials found on the web, indicating the correct URL address of any material you have quoted or in any way drawn upon. Keep in mind that plagiarism (from published or internet sources, or from another student) is a serious violation of academic integrity.

Accommodations: If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please contact me as soon as possible.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: If you enroll in an internship or experiential learning (EL) practicum course, and are required to pursue an activity off-campus as part of the course, you may be required to obtain authorization from the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services based on your student visa status BEFORE beginning the off-campus activity. Please email [email protected] to schedule an appointment with your ISSO advisor to determine if such authorization is required.

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See the course schedule and more details on the written and oral assignments below. During the class, additional guidelines and grading rubrics will be provided.

And: you might want to check out this blog—“Silver Century Foundation: Shaping the Aging Globe”: http://www.silvercentury.org/index.cfm

5 Class schedule:

M 9/21 3:30-4:30 pm class/discussion: Introductions; reflect on your goals; begin brainstorming for individual projects; introduce the Sages & Seekers program. Assignment: View “Fried Green Tomatoes” (1991 film) on LATTE: complete over the next two weeks. M 9/28 Sukkot: No Brandeis classes. T 9/29 This is a Brandeis Monday. 3:35-4:30 pm class/discussion: Exploring qualitative research techniques and using a critical social-cultural lens in your practicum work. How to use Sages & Seekers as a fieldwork opportunity. Prep for 1st Sages & Seekers meeting tomorrow! W 9/30 4:30-5:30 pm Sages & Seekers, 60 Turner Street (BOLLI). The first S&S gathering will focus on group ice-breaking conversations in which participants of both generations share their reflections and experiences on various topics. M 10/5 Shmini Atzeret: No Brandeis classes. Begin over this week to plan for and perhaps start your individual projects. See Assignment #1 due next week, 10/12. W 10/7 4:00-5:30 pm Sages & Seekers: Speed dating. Each Seeker will speak for 5 minutes with each Sage. Seekers submit their three favorite matches, and by next week each Sage and Seeker are paired off for intimate one-on-one discussions and interviews. M 10/12 3:30-4:30 pm class/discussion: Assignment #1 due in class and on LATTE: Reflections on your plans for your individual practicum work and what you hope to get out of Sages & Seekers (2-3 pages). Discussion: “Fried Green Tomatoes” (film on LATTE), brainstorming on interviewing your Sage beginning this week, and what readings and issues from the base class and Sages & Seekers have piqued your interest thus far and may motivate your individual projects and base class papers. W 10/14 4:00-5:30 pm Sages & Seekers: Each week now for the next several sessions you will begin talking with a new Sage (not your own) for about ten minutes, and then you’ll be paired off with your own Sage for conversation and interviewing. You may use the ten-minute discussions with new Sages as part of your fieldwork for any of your class papers or projects if you would like. M 10/19 3:30-4:30 pm class/discussion. Pre-class assignment: Please post on LATTE by midnight a few ideas for questions that you would like to ask your Sage over the coming weeks, with your final interview-based paper in mind. Feel free to browse each other’s ideas to help with your own planning. In class: Discussion of interviewing and fieldwork techniques, including field notes, recording interviews, and analyzing themes. Checking in on individual projects. W 10/21 4:00-5:30 pm Sages & Seekers M 10/26 3:30-4:30 pm class/discussion: Pre-class assignment: Explore representations of aging in US media and bring in your observations. Examples of media sites could include: ads, news stories, public health discourses, google image searches, promotional materials for retirement communities, etc. Do you think your Sages match or diverge from these representations? Think about how gender plays a role in media images of aging. W 10/28 4:00-5:30 pm Sages & Seekers M 11/2 3:30-4:30 pm class/discussion: Pre-class assignment: Post on LATTE by no later than 9:00 am on Monday (11/2) a quote from any of the base course’s readings to date, and reflect in just a few sentences on how the quote speaks to your practicum work and/or your experiences with your Sage. Brainstorming for the Sages & Seekers closing tributes (due 11/13). W 11/4 4:00-5:30 pm Sages & Seekers M 11/9 3:30-4:30 pm class/discussion: Workshop on preparing your Sages & Seekers tribute presentations (due this Friday, 11/13). W 11/11 4:00-5:30 pm Sages & Seekers F 11/13 Sages & Seekers tribute text due no later than Friday, 11/7, at 3 pm by email and LATTE. (See details below on the tribute assignment.) M 11/16 3:30-4:30 pm class/discussion: Workshop on integrating your Sages & Seekers experiences and interview materials into your final papers for the base Anthropology of Gender class.

6 W 11/18 4:00-5:30 pm Sages & Seekers--Tribute Ceremony: Each Seeker gives a final presentation serving as a tribute to their Sage and reflecting on what they have learned from their Sage (insights & new perspectives, life lessons, challenging preconceptions, etc.). These tributes will be published and presented to the Sages. Details TBA and below. M 11/23 Thanksgiving week: There will be no class or Sages & Seekers this week. M 11/30 3:30-4:30 pm class/discussion: Come prepared to reflect on how the EL and base course materials inform and impact your academic, personal, and/or career choices going forward. What were your motivations in taking this course and how have they changed? Possible careers related to aging/gerontology, gender, applied anthropology, and/or academia. W 12/2 5:00-6:30 pm Sages & Seekers: Final Sages & Seekers meeting: closing reflections, discussion, and socializing. M 12/7 3:30-4:50 pm: Final presentations (assignment #3) (see details below). Note that class may run past 4:30 this day.

On or before Friday, 12/18 (last day of the final exam period): Assignment #4 (final reflection) due by 3 pm on LATTE. See details below (next page). You may submit this final assignment much earlier if you would like.

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More details on the written and oral assignments appear below. During the class, additional guidelines and grading rubrics will be provided.

Assignment #1: Reflections on your plans for your individual practicum work and what you hope to get out of Sages & Seekers (2-3 pages). Due Monday, Oct. 12th in class and on LATTE.

The Sages and Seekers Tribute (Assignment #2)

 What: A 2-3-page (double-spaced) piece that each Seekers writes for his or her Sage. Each Seeker will read or perform her Tribute at the Sages and Seekers culminating ceremony on November 18th. Each Seeker will also present to his Sage, along with a rose, a copy of the Tribute in a folder prepared by the S&S facilitator which will include a few photos of you with your Sage. The Sages tremendously enjoy receiving the Tributes.

 When: A strong, full draft of the tribute is due no later than Friday, November 13th at 3 pm on LATTE and by email to [email protected]. Then look out for feedback via email, and submit your very final version of the tribute on LATTE, and via email to Prof. Lamb and the S&S facilitator (Margie Nesson, [email protected]) by no later than Sunday, Nov. 15th at 5 pm. You will perform the Tribute at the Sages & Seekers ceremony on Wed., Nov. 18th.

 Content: The Tribute has a few aims, including: o to express something of what you have learned from your interactions with your Sage, such as life lessons or insights or new perspectives (on life, or aging, or gender, or yourself, or being a person, or our society, or how to grapple with difficulties, or wisdom, or the importance of attitude, or social change, etc. …) o to convey a sense of your relationship with your Sage. o to make your Sage feel valued

7 o to convey something of who your Sage is as a person (but without feeling the need to present a whole biography)

 Feel free to craft the Tribute in whatever way feels right to you. There is no single standard format.

 You may wish to think of the tribute as a STORY, with a hook, interesting characters, plot (including tension or conflict, mystery or puzzle, building toward some resolution), details that paint a picture, and conclusion or moral.

 If you could express that you’ve learned something about life from your interactions with your Sage --- this is very valuable and incredibly powerful for them — to express that their life has had meaning, and that you’ve gleaned this meaning from them.

Assignment #3: Final Presentation: Monday, 12/7: 3:35-4:50 (open to the public or your friends, if you would like). Description: Present your project or summary of your work and experiences throughout the semester. Feel free to be creative! Some ideas for final presentations might be: a video or slide show, a poster, a booklet, a scripted skit, a speech, a pointed personal reflection, selected quotes from your elders and other fieldwork, portraits of two different elders or two women or men of different generations and your reflections . . . . All presentations should include specific quotes, details and/or observations from your practicum work and (when relevant) the base course. Length: approximately 5-7 minutes.

Assignment #4: Final Reflection: 2-3 pages, due by no later than Friday, 12/18 by 3 pm on LATTE (though you may submit it much earlier if you would like). This is an informal personal piece reflecting on what you have learned this semester through your interactions with elders and others in your practicum work (including Sages & Seekers and your accompanying personal project/s). Possible questions to consider: How have your interactions with elders impacted:  your own sense of your own life course and future aging?  your own understanding of gender and how gender conceptualizations and experiences have changed over time in our society?  your attitudes toward other older persons, your own family member/s, and/or older people in general?  your understandings of the base course materials (something about the relationship between theory and practice, perhaps)?  your sense of understanding of "life"?  your appreciation of your own life or of something about the human condition?  your own career plans?  your sense of social changes you think our society needs or that you would like to work toward?