Aging in Culture and Society

Anthropology Department Fall 2016 Brandeis University

ANTH 111a Aging in Cross-Cultural Perspective

Class: Tuesday and Friday, 9:30-10:50 (Block G), Schwartz Hall 103 Instructor: Sarah Lamb, Phone 6-2211, [email protected] Office Hours: Thursdays 4:30-5:30, Fridays 11-12, and by appt. Brown 208 (mailbox in Brown 229) Teaching Assistant: Sasha Martin ([email protected])

Beliefs and practices surrounding aging constitute a fundamental part of any culture or society. In this course, we examine aging as a means to scrutinize the ways people in a diversity of societies conceptualize what it is to be human (their personhood); envision the proper relationships among individuals, genders, the family, the market, and the state; respond to political economies and particular moments in history; and answer abiding human questions about how best to live. One aim of the course is to reveal and critically examine the taken-for-granted and often unacknowledged cultural assumptions surrounding aging in the United States. We also learn to recognize and confront ageism in both our broader society and ourselves. Another aim is to enhance students’ knowledge of other societies, including those in India, Japan, China, and Mexico. The course also uses the study of aging to investigate profound processes of social and demographic change around the world today. The class contains a field research and interview component, enabling students to gain exposure to ethnographic research techniques and to conduct their own anthropological interviews.

Key themes of the course include:

 the diverse ways people envision and organize the life course  scholarly and popular models of “successful” aging  values surrounding independence, dependence and interdependence  questions such as whether it is normal or not to live alone  the medicalization of aging in the U.S.  menopause as a bio-cultural phenomenon  gender, sexuality and the life course  learning to recognize ageism  the ways age intersects with other identities and inequalities  cultural perspectives on dementia  religion, spirituality and aging  diverse ways of thinking about and preparing for dying  how processes of globalization and transnational migration are impacting experiences of aging  the dramatic transformation in country after country of the key sites of aging and elder care—from the multigenerational, co-residential family, to an increasing reliance on the individual, the market and the state (including the rise of the notion of elder housing). We will examine both the intriguing parallels and also the profoundly different meanings of such trends across cultural, political-economic and historical contexts.  Why do so many in the U.S. devalue old age, and is this devaluation true elsewhere?  competing answers to the question of where is the best site of elder care—the individual, the family, the market or the state?—and how best to live across the life course? Lamb, ANTH 111a, Fall 2016 Page 2 of 11

Our principal sources will consist of rich ethnographic texts emerging from scholars’ intensive fieldwork in various communities (such as in the U.S., India, Japan, China, and Mexico). We will also examine as revealing cultural texts some prevalent U.S. social scientific and medical models of aging (such as popular theories of “successful aging”) as well as documents pertaining to government policies and laws (such as Social Security pamphlets, and recent laws in India and China mandating that children support elderly parents). We will use such texts to investigate the ways in which scientific theories and policies surrounding aging (in the U.S., as in any nation) are profoundly influenced by folk or cultural understandings. This is a Writing Intensive (WI) class, so some sustained attention to writing, with opportunities for revision and honing writing skills, will take place throughout the course. The course also meets requirements for: Non-Western and Comparative Studies, South Asian Studies, HSSP, Psychology, and Sociology. This course is also designated as an Experiential Learning course. Experiential learning means that you will not just “receive” information; rather, you will be actively engaged in the learning process, co- constructing knowledge with your peers and instructors (professor and TA) throughout the semester. Class meetings will focus on in-depth discussion and critical reflection on the day’s reading and visual materials. Students will also be encouraged to become actively involved in developing their own writing and critical thinking skills, through opportunities to select their own paper topics, revise the shorter papers as many times as they would like, and develop a final research project motivated by their own particular academic and personal interests. The class also focuses on connecting theory with practice, another dimension of experiential learning, as each student will conduct independent interview and/or fieldwork-based research with older people, exploring how actual people’s lives do or do not support the themes, debates, and models we are examining in the course, and how your own original data may be used to push forward theoretical models in anthropology and gerontology. Finally, experiential learning involves connecting course materials to your own personal, academic, and career goals going forward. Students who have taken this class report coming away with a much deeper and more nuanced sense of their own aging process and visions for how—as individuals and as a society—we may approach aging well.

Required readings: Books are available in the bookstore and on reserve in the Goldfarb Library. Additional required articles will be available through LATTE, marked with (LATTE) in the syllabus. Readings will amount to approximately 75-150 pages per week. Please complete the reading before the class listed in the syllabus. A few short films and film excerpts will be viewed in class (& most are available on reserve if you wish to study and re-view). These three required books will be read in approximately this order:

 Sarah Lamb, White Saris and Sweet Mangoes: Aging, Gender and Body in North India (University of California Press 2000). This book is usually available free online if you would prefer not to purchase a hard copy: http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view? docId=ft458006c0;brand=ucpress .  Thomas Edward Gass, Nobody’s Home: Candid Reflections of a Nursing Home Aide (Cornell University Press 2004)  Margaret Lock, Encounters with Aging: Mythologies of Menopause in Japan and North America (University of California Press 1995) Lamb, ANTH 111a, Fall 2016 Page 3 of 11

Course requirements: Class participation @ 25% 4 one-page essays based on course materials @ 5% each = 20% Interview & Analysis midterm assignment (4-5 pages) @ 20% Final research paper (10 pages) @ 35%

Expected workload: Success in this four-credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend an average of approximately 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, writing papers, research, etc.).

Class participation: This is a significant portion (25%) of your grade. Class participation includes:  1) attendance,  2) timely completion of reading assignments (before class on the date listed in the syllabus),  3) thoughtful contribution to class discussions, including participation in small-group activities and some pre-posting of ideas on LATTE (requiring careful reading), and  4) occasional "pop” in-class writing responses, in which you will be asked to make critical reflections on the day’s readings.

Since class participation is so important, if you foresee problems attending class, or keeping up with the reading, you should consider dropping this class! Regarding attendance: Students are permitted two free absences; if you need to miss more than two classes for any reason, you may mitigate the negative impact on your class participation grade by submitting via email informal reflections on the day’s readings within three days of the missed class.

Note: Using laptops and smartphones for non-class-related purposes during class on a regular basis will result in lowering your class participation grade by one full grade (so, from an A to a B, or a B+ to C+). We will give one warning only, and after that, it is up to you to put away your devices or suffer the grade reduction.

Written work: Writing assignments will provide the opportunity to work on the key elements of academic writing: thesis, evidence, analysis, structure, style, and revision. Timeliness: Work submitted after the due date and time will be lowered by one third of a grade for each day (or fraction of a day) late, except in cases of documented illness or emergency. Work submitted later than 15 minutes beyond the start of class will be considered one day late.

One-page essays: Each student will write four one-page essays over the course of the term. Each essay will be based on one or more of the assigned reading materials for sections I-X of the course. Everyone must complete their first one-page essay by Friday, 9/16. After that, you will choose which sections to write on, and your essays will be due no later than the first class period immediately following the chosen section (thus, if you choose to write on something in section III, your essay will be due no later than the first day of section IV at the beginning of class). No late essays will be accepted. Topics: You will decide what to focus each 1-page essay on. Each essay must have a thesis, evidence (which will consist largely of data, quotes, examples, etc. from the readings) and analysis. Format: Your essay must fit onto one page of an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper –but, you can use any legible font (probably 10, 11 or 12- point), and any spacing (single, double, or 1.5). Sources: Your essay must engage with (citing carefully, using quotes and page numbers) at least one course text from the chosen section. Grading and revision: If you wish, you may revise any of the one-page essays, and you will ordinarily receive the higher grade. However, after the first one-page essay, if your essay’s original grade is at or below a C+, then the highest cumulative grade you will be able to receive on the essay is a B+; this is to prevent your submitting intentionally sloppy work. Lamb, ANTH 111a, Fall 2016 Page 4 of 11

Note that we are expecting a serious, organized, rigorous short essay (and not merely a rambling “response paper”)—with thesis and motive, evidence (including quotes & citations), analysis, structure, and effective writing style. It is perfectly fine if you would like to incorporate materials from the one-page essays into your longer Interview & Analysis or final papers.

Interview & Analysis assignment: This 4-5-page assignment (due Tuesday, Oct. 25th) will give you an opportunity to interview someone in depth (and perhaps engage in some supplementary participant observation research: observing while participating in some of the daily activities of the person’s life). Your interviewee should be an older person. In some cases, you may be able to interview more than one person. The instructors can help you find interviewees if you need some help: let us know. Your write-up should have two primary goals: 1) You should try to present a snapshot of the person(s), so that the reader feels as though they have met the individual(s); 2) You should aim to link the particulars of the person(s)’s life and perspectives with concepts, themes, debates and/or theories we are discussing in the course, while drawing carefully on materials from at least two course texts in the paper (using quotes, citing pages numbers). This paper may be rewritten, and you would receive an average of the two grades. The due date for the optional revision will be two weeks after you receive back the original, graded paper with feedback from the instructors.

Final research paper or mini ethnography or in-depth interview & analysis paper: The 10-page final research paper will give you an opportunity to explore in some depth a topic of interest to you pertaining to some aspect/s of aging. The paper should be based on your own original research (potential sources include: interviews, participant observation fieldwork, academic books or articles, anthropological ethnographies, medical texts, media coverage, etc.). If you choose to do a fieldwork-based mini ethnography, potential research sites could include a retirement community, a nursing home, a community senior center, a religious or political organization or club in which older people are active, a lifelong learning class or center such as at BOLLI (the Brandeis-Osher Lifelong Learning Institute), a hospice, the “singles” table in the Brandeis faculty center largely populated by retired faculty, certain individuals’ homes, etc. If your paper is interview based, you must engage in in-depth interviewing with more than one person or over an extended period of time. All research papers must also make use of theories or perspectives from at least three different course readings. This paper is a staged writing exercise:  A paper proposal (describing the paper’s general topic and proposed sources of data) will be due on Friday, Nov. 4th.  A thesis, preliminary outline and bibliography will be due on or before Wednesday, Nov. 23rd.  The final paper will be due on Thursday, Dec. 15th.

Graduate students: will arrange several additional meetings with the instructor and may design particular writing assignments to meet their needs.

A 2-credit Experiential Learning (EL) Practicum course—EL 42a Sages and Seekers: A Fieldwork Practicum in Gender across Generations—will be available as an option, by application, to students enrolled in the base class of ANTH 111a Aging in Cross-Cultural Perspective in the fall of 2016. For more information, see the EL 94 syllabus posted on the ANTH 111a LATTE site. Some spots may also be available (by application, space permitting) in the Sages and Seekers program for volunteer students not taking the whole 2- credit course. These students would participate in the 9-week Sages and Seekers program at BOLLI only. Schedule: 9 Tuesdays from 4-5:30 at BOLLI (the Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute next to Brandeis) and as a class on Thursdays from 3:30-4:30. Lamb, ANTH 111a, Fall 2016 Page 5 of 11

Those participating in Sages and Seekers (for credit, or as a volunteer) may choose not to write the midterm Interview & Analysis paper, while focusing their final paper on the in-depth interview and fieldwork materials they will achieve through interacting with their Sage. These students may choose either to weight their final research paper at 55% or to make their 4 one-page essays worth 10% (rather than 5%) each.

Academic integrity: You may only submit your own original work in this course. Please be careful to cite precisely and properly the sources of all authors and persons you have drawn upon in your written 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. Plagiarism (from published or internet sources, or from another student) is a serious violation of academic integrity. Remember, you must indicate through quotations and citation when quoting from any outside source (internet or print). Please refer to Section 4 “Maintenance of Academic Integrity” of the Brandeis Rights and Responsibilities booklet: http://www.brandeis.edu/studentaffairs/srcs/rr/RR13_14.pdf.

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.

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I. Introduction to the course and some of its key themes: understanding age and aging in cultural context. Aging as a window into visions of who we are as persons and how best to live. Simone de Beauvoir: “If we do not know what we are going to be, we cannot know what we are” (Simone de Beauvoir 1972: 12).

In general, plan to complete the assigned readings before class on the assigned date. Some modest adjustment to the readings may be made over the course of the semester.

Friday, 8/26: Introduction: 1st day of class. Learning to recognize ageism (in our society and selves), and why is aging so super interesting? No reading due this day.

8/30 Malcolm Johnson, “The Social Construction of Old Age as a Problem.” In The Cambridge (Tu) Handbook of Age and Ageing, edited by Malcolm L. Johnson (2005): pp. 563-571. (LATTE) W. Andrew Achenbaum, “Ageing and Changing: International Historical Perspectives on Ageing.” In The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing, edited by Malcolm Johnson (2005): pp. 21-29. (LATTE) Assignment for discussion: Bring to class an example of a representation of aging in our society (perhaps from a news story, advertising, a google image search, literature, a conversation you overheard . . .).

Models of aging: as tragic or meaningful? to be combatted or embraced? Ageism and its intersections with racism, sexism, and heterosexism.

9/2 Simone de Beauvoir, “Introduction” and “Preface,” Old Age (1972): pp. 1-14. (LATTE) (Fr) Imani Woody, “Aging Out: A Qualitative Exploration of Ageism and Heterosexism among Aging African American Lesbians and Gay Men,” Journal of Homosexuality 61(1) (2014): 145-165. (LATTE) Begin reading White Saris and Sweet Mangoes, beginning with the Preface: pp. xi-xiii. Check this out: http://www.teenvogue.com/story/why-your-anti-aging-regimen-should-start-now . Lamb, ANTH 111a, Fall 2016 Page 6 of 11

II. Aging, family relationships, and understandings of what it is to be a person. Case studies from India, China, and the U.S.

9/6 Sarah Lamb, White Saris and Sweet Mangoes: pp. 27-37 (from chapter 1, “Personhoods”) and pp. (Tu) 42-69 (chapter 2, “Family Moral Systems”). Recommended: Chapter 3 “Conflicting Generations”. In class: Excerpts from the Bollywood blockbuster film, “Baghban.” (Read pp. 42-44 from chapter 2 in S. Lamb’s Aging and the Indian Diaspora on LATTE before or after class if you’d like more background and context on the film.)

9/9 White Saris and Sweet Mangoes: pp. 115-143 (chapter 4). (Fr) In class readings of Hindu and Buddhist texts.

9/13 Atul Gawande, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (Metropolitan Books 2014): (Tu) chapter 1 “The Independent Self”: pp. 11-24. (LATTE) Charlotte Ikels, “Introduction.” In Filial Piety: Practice and Discourse in Contemporary East Asia, edited by Charlotte Ikels (2004): pp. 1-15 (begin on p. 2, “Filial Piety: What is It?”). (LATTE) In class thesis workshop.

III. Competing models of “successful aging” and ideals of aging well. A critical examination of the North American “successful aging” notion as a contemporary cultural and biopolitical project.

9/16 John W. Rowe and Robert L. Kahn, “Foreword: Toward a New Gerontology: The MacArthur (Fr) Foundation Study of Successful Aging” and chapter 2: “The Structure of Successful Aging” (1999): pp. xi-xv & 36-52. (LATTE) Andrew Weil, M.D., “Introduction,” Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Well-Being (2005): pp. 3-7. (LATTE) First one-page essay due (on or before this date, at the beginning of class and on LATTE).

9/20 Harry Moody, “From Successful Aging to Conscious Aging.” In The Cultural Context of Aging, (Tu) Jay Sokolovsky, ed. (2009): pp. 67-76: Read especially pp. 67-72: OK to skip or skim the rest. (LATTE) Stephen Katz, “Busy Bodies: Activity, Aging, and the Management of Everyday Life,” Journal of Aging Studies 14 (2000): 135-152: Read especially the Abstract & Intro (pp. 135-136), and pp. 144-148; OK to skim or skip the rest. (LATTE) Julia Rozanova, “Discourse of Successful Aging in The Globe & Mail: Insights from Critical Gerontology.” Journal of Aging Studies, 24 (2010), 213-222: Focus on the Abstract & Intro (pp. 213-214) and Discussion (220-221); OK to skip or skim the rest (LATTE). T.D. Cosco et al, “Deathless Models of Aging and the Importance of Acknowledging the Dying Process,” CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal 185.9 (June 11, 2013): p. 751. (LATTE) Assignment for discussion: Bring to class a media or public health representation of “successful aging.” Lamb, ANTH 111a, Fall 2016 Page 7 of 11

9/23 Abigail T. Brooks, “Aesthetic Anti-Ageing Surgery and Technology: Women’s Friend or Foe?” (Fr) Sociology of Health and Illness 32(2) (2010): 238-257. (LATTE) Recommended: Hailee M. Gibbons, “Compulsory Youthfulness: Intersections of Ableism and Ageism in ‘Successful Aging’ Discourses,” Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal 12 (2&3) (2016): 70-88: I recommend reading at least the first page or two: very provocative and accessible! (LATTE) Recommended: Jeanne Hilton et al, “Perceptions of Successful Aging among Older Latinos, in Cross-Cultural Context,” Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 27 (2012): 183-199: Read the introduction and analysis sections, and tables 2, 3 and 4. (LATTE) Recommended: Sarah Lamb, “Permanent Personhood or Meaningful Decline? Toward a Critical Anthropology of Successful Aging,” Journal of Aging Studies 29 (2014): 41-52. (LATTE) Assignment for discussion: Informally interview two people (of any age) regarding their visions of successful aging or aging well. In class: brief successful aging “quiz” (details TBA, as part of class participation based on this section’s readings).

9/27 Thought exercise: comparing anti-obesity and successful-healthy aging projects in North (Tu) America—“doing it for health”: biopower, biopedagogies and biocitizenship at work. Body image and identity. Marc LaFrance et al, “Life Lessons: Learning About What It Means to Be Fat in the North American Mass Media.” Cultural Studies—Critical Methodologies 15(3) (2015): 350-360. (LATTE) Claire Carter, “Still Sucked into the Body Image Thing: The Impact of Anti-Aging and Health Discourses on Women's Gendered Identities.” Journal of Gender Studies 25(2) (2016): 200-214. (LATTE)

IV. Elder housing: The rise of the notion of the old age home: diverse histories, cultures and experiences. Case studies: What social-moral values, political-economic principles, and understandings of personhood are revealed through elder housing in the U.S. and abroad?

9/30 Begin reading Thomas Gass, Nobody’s Home: Candid Reflections of a Nursing Home Aide (2004): (Fr) Preface and pp. 1-72. In class: View visual coverage of various kinds of senior residential facilities in the US and abroad.

Monday and Tuesday, 10/3 and 10/4: Rosh Hashanah: No Brandeis classes.

Plan to keep reading Nobody’s Home over the week between our class meetings (an engrossing and provocative book!)

10/7 Continue Gass, Nobody’s Home: 73-144 (or read ahead to finish the book). (Fr) Recommended: Julia Twigg, “The Body, Gender and Age,” Journal of Aging Studies 18 (2004): Read section “4. The body in deep old age”: pp. 64-67. (LATTE) Assignment for LATTE posting and discussion: Select a quote from Gass that really strikes you, post it and make a brief comment.

10/11 Complete Nobody’s Home: pp. 145-189. (Tu) In class: Workshop on Interview & Analysis project, and consider:

V. State-based elder care in cultural, historical and political-economic context; examining cultural assumptions embedded in aging policies.

10/14 Choose one of the following readings (we’ll send around a sign-up sheet): Lamb, ANTH 111a, Fall 2016 Page 8 of 11

(Fr)  Akiko Hashimoto, “Cultural Meanings of ‘Security’ in Aging Policies.” In Caring for the Elderly in Japan and the U.S.: Practices and Policies, Susan Orpett Long, ed. (2000): pp. 19-27. (LATTE)  Sarah Lamb, “Changing Families and the State” in Aging and the Indian Diaspora: Cosmopolitan Families in India and Abroad (2009): pp. 235-267. (LATTE)  Independent research on coverage of China’s new parental care law (e.g., http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/02/world/asia/china-elderly-law/ )

VI. Gender, sexuality, body image, and aging: Gendered identities in later life. Menopause as a biocultural phenomenon. Is there a male menopause? The medicalization of aging and sexuality.

10/18 Catherine Silver, “Gendered Identities in Old Age: Toward (De)Gendering?” Journal of Aging (Tu) Studies 17 (2003): 379-397: Read especially sections 1 and 3-5: pp. 379-381, 383-390; the rest is recommended only. (LATTE) Margaret Lock, Encounters with Aging: Mythologies of Menopause in Japan and North America (1995): Prologue: Scientific Discourse and Aging Women: pp. xiv-xliv. Reconsider the Abigail Brooks article from Section III.

10/21 Yewoubdar Beyene, “Menopause: A Biocultural Event,” in J. Sokolovsky, ed. The Cultural (Fr) Context of Aging (2009): pp. 93-103. (LATTE) Margaret Lock, Encounters with Aging: chapter 1 (“The Turn of Life”): pp. 3-30.

Tuesday, October 25th: Brandeis Monday. This class will not meet. Interview & Analysis assignment due by midnight on LATTE.

10/28 Lock, Encounters with Aging: chs. 2-3 and Epilogue: pp. 31-77, 370-387. (Fr)

11/1 Lamb, White Saris and Sweet Mangoes: ch. 6 (“Transformations of Gender and Gendered (Tu) Transformations”): pp. 181-212. Recommended: Aimee van Wagenen, Jeff Driskell, and Judith Bradford, “‘I’m Still Raring to Go’: Successful Aging among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Older Adults.” Journal of Aging Studies 27 (2013): 1-14. (LATTE) Recommended: Richard Lee, “Work, Sexuality, and Aging among !Kung Women.” In In Her Prime: New Views of Middle-Aged Women, edited by Virginia Kerns and Judith K. Brown (1992): pp. 35-46. (LATTE) Film excerpts shown in class: “Still Doing It: The Intimate Lives of Women Over 65” (Director Deirdre Fishel, 2004)

11/4 Barbara Marshall, “Medicalization and the Refashioning of Age-Related Limits on Sexuality,” (Fr) Journal of Sex Research 49(4) (2012): pp. 337-43. (LATTE) Emily Wentzell, “Aging Respectably by Rejecting Medicalization: Mexican Men’s Reasons for Not Using Erectile Dysfunction Drugs,” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 27(1) (March 2013): pp. 3-22. (LATTE) Amy Lodge and Debra Umberson, “Age and Embodied Masculinities: Midlife Gay and Heterosexual Men Talk about their Bodies,” Journal of Aging Studies 27 (2013): 225-232 (LATTE) Lamb, ANTH 111a, Fall 2016 Page 9 of 11

VII. Retirement, work, class, and productivity.

11/8 Joel Savishinsky, “The Volunteer and the Sannyasin: Archetypes of Retirement in America and (Tu) India.” The International Journal of Aging and Human Development 59(1): 25-41 (2004). (LATTE) Liesl Gambold, “Retirement Migrants: The Global Flow of the Non-Working.” Anthropology News 49(5), May 2008: p. 21. (LATTE) Caitrin Lynch, “Working Retirement: Age and Value in a Suburban Factory.” Anthropology News 50(8), October 2009: pp. 22-23. (LATTE) In class: view excerpts from “Pensioners, Inc.” (U.S.), “We’re Still Working” (India), and images of retirement.  Due by no later than today (Nov. 8th) in class if you have not yet completed at least two one- page essays: Either your 2nd one page essay (on section VI) OR a plan as to when you will complete the next three essays, including the section topics and due dates (note the date limits indicated later in the syllabus).

VIII. Cultural approaches to dementia.

11/11 Reconsider materials from Nobody’s Home and choose one quote from the book to bring to class. (Fr) Janelle Taylor, “On Recognition, Caring and Dementia,” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 22(4) (2008): pp. 313-335. (LATTE) and http://depts.washington.edu/mbwc/news/article/time-to- redefine-successful-aging Recommended: Lawrence Cohen, “Toward an Anthropology of Senility: Anger, Weakness, and Alzheimer’s in Banaras, India.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 9:314-34 (1995). (LATTE) Film excerpts shown in class: “A King in Milwaukee.” Filmmaker David Greenberger.  Research paper proposal due.  Very last day to submit your second one-page essay (though you may be finished with them all by now!)—on section VII.

11/15 William E. Deal and Peter J. Whitehouse, “Concepts of Personhood in Alzheimer’s Disease: (Tu) Considering Japanese Notions of a Relational Self.” In Caring for the Elderly in Japan and the U.S.: Practices and Policies, edited by Susan Orpett Long (2000): pp. 318-333. (LATTE) John Traphagan, “Brain Failure, Late Life and Culture in Japan” (CCA): pp. 568-575. Film: “Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter.” Filmmaker Deborah Hoffmann (1994, 44 min.) (shown in class and available on reserve).

IX. Globalization and transnational migration: implications for aging.

Friday, 11/18: This class will not meet in person (the professor and TA will be at the American Anthropological Association meetings in Minneapolis).  Instead, please read the below short story and view the film on LATTE, and then post a few brief comments and reflections on LATTE by midnight.  Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, “Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter” (short story), in The Unknown Error of Our Lives (2001): 1-34. (LATTE)  Film on LATTE: “Acting Our Age” by filmmaker Gurinder Chadha (1992, 30 min.)

X. Religious and spiritual perspectives on aging: How do religious/spiritual beliefs and practices impact the experience of aging? Does religion (tend to) increase with increasing age? According to Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish and Christian perspectives, what lessons can we learn from contemplating aging? Lamb, ANTH 111a, Fall 2016 Page 10 of 11

11/22 Reconsider relevant materials from Sections I & II, and think about your own traditions. (Tu) H.G. Koenig, “Religion, Spirituality and Aging” (an editorial), Aging and Mental Health 10(1) (January 2006): 1-3. (LATTE) Anna Corwin (anthropologist), “Why Do Nuns Outlive the Rest of Us? Six Tips for Healthy Aging” http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/six-things-nuns-know-about-healthy-aging (Sept. 27, 2013). (follow link on LATTE) Recommended: Autumn Alcott Ridenour, “The Coming of Age: Curse or Calling? Toward a Christological Interpretation of Aging as Call in the Theology of Karl Barth and W.H. Vanstone,” Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 33(2) (2013): 151-167. (LATTE) Recommended for those interested in exploring US self-help literature on aging and spirituality:  Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Ronald Miller, ch. 1 “The Vision of Spiritual Eldering,” in From Age-ing to Sage-ing: A Profound New Vision of Growing Older (1995): pp. 11-30 (LATTE);  Lewis Richmond, “Growing Older and Wiser” and “Lightning Strikes” (chs. 1-2) in Aging as a Spiritual Practice (2012): pp. 3-23. (LATTE)  Last day to submit your “condensed writing” revision of one paper of your choice (by 11:55 pm/midnight on LATTE) (guidelines distributed in class on 11/8).  Last day to submit your third one-page essay (on section IX).

Wed. through Friday: Nov. 23-25: No class: Thanksgiving recess.

XI. Attitudes towards death and dying: preparations for the body and its deterioriations in later life; forging senses of control over uncontrollable situations? Medicine and being mortal.

11/29 Reconsider relevant earlier course materials (e.g., from Hindu and Buddhist perspectives), and the (Tu) “Epilogue” from Nobody’s Home (especially relevant and provocative pp. 183, 188-89). Anthony Glascock, “Is Killing Necessarily Murder? Moral Questions Surrounding Assisted Suicide and Death,” in J. Sokolovsky, ed., The Cultural Context of Aging: pp. 77-92. (LATTE) Film excerpts shown in class: “The Ballad of Narayama” (by Imamura Shohei, 1983): (Recommended as background, read pp. 224-225 of the Brenda Jenike article on LATTE)  Draft thesis, preliminary outline and bibliography for the research paper due on LATTE and in class.

12/2 Siv Kristin Ostlund, “Doctors, Nurses & Patients: Who Has Control Over Death and Dying?” (Fr) Anthropology of Consciousness 11(1-2): 77-89 (2000). Atul Gawande, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (2014): Introduction, pp. 1-10. (LATTE) Katy Butler, “What Broke My Father’s Heart,” The New York Times (June 18, 2010). (LATTE) Film: “Number Our Days.” Filmmaker Lynne Littman, based on the anthropological fieldwork of Barbara Myerhoff with a community of elderly Jews in Venice, CA. (1983, 29 min.), viewed in class and available on LATTE if you’d like to re-view. Excerpts from Frontline documentary film “Being Mortal” (2015) [Summary: Frontline follows renowned New Yorker writer and Boston surgeon Atul Gawande as he explores the relationships doctors have with patients who are nearing the end of life. The film investigates the practice of caring for the dying, and shows how doctors are often remarkably untrained, ill-suited and uncomfortable talking about chronic illness and death with their patients.] Last day to submit 4th one-page essay (on section X or XI).

XII. Last day of class. 12/6 Synthesis and closing reflections. Final research paper workshop. (Tu) Last day to submit any one-page essay revisions. Lamb, ANTH 111a, Fall 2016 Page 11 of 11

Thursday, 12/15: FINAL RESEARCH PAPER DUE by 5 p.m. on LATTE.

Recommended reading for the future: Roz Chast, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? New York: Bloomsbury, 2014.