From religion to careers to social activities -- many topics surfaced when undergraduate students in Regina Logan's Adulthood and Aging class talked with older adults from Chicago and Evanston. Their discussions on November 11 marked the second "intergenerational exchange" held at the School of Education and Social Policy on the Evanston campus.
Twelve guests talked with the students in small groups, answering questions inspired by readings the students had done on grandparenthood, retirement and widowhood. These older adults are regulars at the Mather Lifeways "cafés" on East 83rd Street on the South Side of Chicago and Belmont Avenue on the North Side of Chicago, as well as residents of The Mather independent living facility in Evanston.
Prior to the class the students had been studying late adulthood as a stage of life. "We've been talking about adult lives in the abstract and then students see it in the flesh," says Logan, research assistant professor and a winner of the Outstanding Professor Award at SESP this year.
"People have amazing stories. ... The students like hearing stories about people's lives," says Logan, who finds that the intergenerational exchange often changes students' attitudes of what it means to be an older adult. "Students realize that sometimes old people are invisible to college students. They don't think old people are interesting and that everyone has a story to tell."
The course starts by investigating the life stage of emerging adulthood, beginning at age 18. "We discuss the issues that emerging adults face," says Logan, who describes how her class then proceeds to a study of young adulthood, when she presents a panel of new parents. Later the students study midlife and the issues of development at that stage.
At the end of fall quarter, the students in the class will visit the Mather Pavilion assisted living facility in Evanston. To prepare, they will hear a talk by a representative from the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Feinberg School of Medicine. After the study of old age, students go on to study death and hospice care.
For a final project, students will interview a person over the age of 70 about his or her life. "It's a great way to look at research on adulthood and apply it," says Logan. If students interview a grandparent, the family then has a "wonderful history" about a family member.
The intergenerational exchange remains a highlight of Logan's class, and at least one student from last year's class has stayed in touch with an older adult she met through the event. This year, students requested a field trip to the Mather Lifeways cafés to continue their discussions.
