Age and Aging in History

Home » Course Search »
Level: 
Master's
CEU credits: 
2
Academic year: 
2009/2010
Academic year: 
2010/2011
Semester: 
Fall
Start and end dates: 
7 Dec 2009
Co-hosting Unit(s) [if applicable]: 
Department of History
Stream/Track/Specialization/Core Area: 
Social and Political History in a Comparative Perspective
CEU Instructor(s): 
Ohad Parnes
Additional information: 
The seminar will be dedicated to the study of the historical and theoretical background of the modern understanding of age. We will begin by considering some general aspects of the historical study of populations, and the possible relations between demography and historical inquiry. From the historiographical perspective, we will discuss the role of age-related categories – like ‘generations’, ‘age-group’ - in the categorization and analysis of social and cultural developments. A couple of meetings will be dedicated to the history of age classifications in the modern era, in particular to the transformation of the perception and handling of ‘old age’ since the middle of the nineteenth century. We will discuss the role of various fields of knowledge in the construction and modification of age concepts since the beginning of the twentieth century – notably economical factors, demographical factors, as well as changes in the biomedical understanding of aging. Additional topics could be considered according to the specific research interests of the participating students.
Learning Outcomes: 
Course goals: A. To understand the cultural and historical dimensions of demographical knowledge. B. To acquaint students with the methodological issues involved in the study of the aging in an interdisciplinary manner. C. To encourage students to think reflect upon their perception of the aging body and to think about the role of culture and medical knowledge in shaping this perception.
Assessment : 
At least one oral report (a prepared, formal comment on the readings for the week, in ca. 15 minutes, identifying central themes and attempting to set an agenda for discussion) – 25% of the grade. Regular and active participation in class discussion – 25% of the grade. One written essay (ca. 3,000 words or 10-12 pages, topic and material to be discussed with the instructor, evaluated on the basis of its ability to address and answer key questions this course has been designed to raise) – 50% of the grade
Full description: 

    Approximate class schedule 

  1. Introduction: Why study age? Age as a historiographical and cultural category.
    1. Pat Thane: Old age, from: Companion to medicine in the twentieth century, London 2003, pp. 617-632. [pdf]
    2. Margaret Morganroth-Gullette: Aged by culture, Chicago 2004. Chapter 1: Trapped in the time machine, pp. 3-20.  [pdf]
  2. Age and aging before the twentieth century:
    1. Sarah Carvallo: Ageing in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. In: Science in context, Vol. 23, 2010, pp. 267-288.[pdf]
    2. Susannah R. Ottaway: The decline of life. Old age in eighteenth-century England, Cambridge 2004. Chapter 1: Who was “old” in eighteenth century England?, pp. 16-64. [pdf]
    3. Howard P. Chudacoff: How old are you? Age consciousness in American Culture, Princeton, 1989. Chapter 1: Blurred age distinctions. American society before 1850, pp. 9-28. [pdf]
  3. The new culture of age in the twentieth century.
    1. Howard P. Chudacoff: How old are you? Age consciousness in American Culture, Princeton, 1989. Chapter 4: Intensification of age norms; 1900-1920, pp. 65-91. [pdf]
    2. Howard P. Chudacoff: How old are you? Age consciousness in American Culture, Princeton 1998. Chapter 5: Emergence of a peer society, pp. 92-116. [pdf]
    3. Howard P. Chudacoff: How old are you? Age consciousness in American Culture, Princeton 1998. Chapter 6: Act your age: the culture of age 1900-1935, pp. 117-137. [pdf]
  4. The medicalization of age (I) The invention of geriatric medicine.
    1. W. Andrew Achenbaum: crossing frontiers. Gerontology emerges as a science, Cambridge, 1995. Chapter 1: Old age becomes a “problem” worthwhile investigating scientifically.[pdf]
    2. Ibid, Chapter 2: Setting boundaries to disciplined discoveries. [pdf]
    3. Hand-Joachim Kondratowitz: The medicalization of old age: continuity and change from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. In: Pelling, Margaret/Richard M. Smith (Ed.) Life, Death and the Elderly: Historical Perspectives. London 1991, pp. 134-164. pdf]
    4. Pat Thane: Old age in British History. Past experiences, present issues. Chapter 22: Inventing geriatric medicine, pp. 436-457. pdf]
  5. The medicalization of age (II): Gender differences and the invention of midlife.
    1. Elizabeth Siegel Watkins: the medicalisation of male menopause in America, Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 20, 1993, pp. 369-388.pdf
    2. Susan E. Bell: The medicalization of menopause, Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 24, 1987, pp. 535-542. pdf
    3. Margaret Morganroth-Gullette: Declining to Decline: Cultural Combat and the Politics of the Midlife, Charlottesville 1997. Chapter 5: Constructing the female midlife in contemporary fiction. pdf
    4. Margaret Morganroth-Gullette: Declining to Decline: Cultural Combat and the Politics of the Midlife, Charlottesville 1997. Chapter 8: The new gender politics of midlife bodies. pdf
    5. Howard P. Chudacoff: How old are you? Age consciousness in American Culture, Princeton, 1989. Chapter 8: Continuities and changes in the recent past, pp. 157-182. pdf
  6. Age and gender: the aging woman in the twentieth century.
    1. Simone De Beauvoir: "From maturity to old age", from: The second sex, New York 1982 (1952). pdf
    2. Pat Thane: Old women in twentieth-century Britain, in: Bothelho, Lynn/Pat Thane (Ed.) Women and ageing in British society since 1500. London 2001, pp. 207-230. pdf
    3. Stephen Katz: Charcot's older women: Bodies of knowledge at the interface of aging studies and women's studies, in: Journal of Women & Aging, Vol. 9, 1997, pp. 73 - 87.  pdf
  7. The biological explanation of aging and senescence: from Darwin to genes
    1. Helen Small: Evolved senescence, Chapter 8 of: The long life, Oxford, 2008, pp. 237-264.[pdf] pdf
    2. Thomas B. Kirkwood:. Ageing - future directions for research in the biology of ageing. Encyclopedia of the Life Sciences, London, 2003.[pdf]
  8. The rise of the notion of the 'aging population'.
    1. Pat Thane: Old age in British History. Past experiences, present issues. Chapter 17: The ‘menace’ of an aging population, the 1920s to 1950s, pp. 333-351. pdf
    2. Patrice Bourdelais: The aging population. Relevant question or obsolete notion? In: Johnson, Paul A./Pat Thane (Ed.) Old age from antiquity to post-modernity. London 1998, pp. 110-131. pdf pdf
  9. Historiography and historical demography
    1. Peter Laslett: “Necessary knowledge. Age and aging in the societies of the past, in: Kertzer, D./Peter Laslett (Ed.) Aging in the Past: Demography, Society and Old Age. Berkeley 1995, 81-106. pdf
    2. David I. Kertzer: “Toward a Historical Demography of Aging”, in: Kertzer, D./Peter Laslett (Ed.) Aging in the Past: Demography, Society and Old Age. Berkeley 1995, 363-384. pdf
    3. E. A. Wrigley, R. S. Schofield: The population history of England, 1541-1871 : a reconstruction. Chapter 1. [pdf]
    4. Michael Anderson. Historical demography after ‘the population history of England’, Journal of Interdisciplinary history, Vol. 15, pp. 595-617. pdf

  10. Generations in history / history of generations

    1. Hans Jaeger: Generations in History. Reflections on a controversial concept, History and Theory, Vol.  24, 1985, pp. 273-292.[pdf]
    2. Alan B. Spitzer: The historical problem of generations, American Historical Review, Vol 78, 1973, pp. 1353-1385.[pdf]
    3. Pierre Nora: 'Generation'. In: Pierre nora (ed.): Realms of memory: Rethinking the French past, Vol. 1, New York, 1996, pp. 499-531.[pdf]
    4. Ohad S. Parnes: On the shoulders of generations: the problem of heredity in 19th century science and culture. In:S. Müller-Wille & H. J. Rheinberger (eds.): Heredity produced. At the crossroads of biology, politics and culture. Cambdige 2007, pp. 315-345.[pdf]
    5. Jürgen Reulecke: Generation/generationality, generativity, and memory. In: Astrid Erll and Ansgar Nünning (eds.): Cultural memory studies. An international and interdisciplinary handbook, Berlin 2008.[pdf]
    6. Mark Roseman: Generation conflict and German history 1770-1968. In: Generations in conflict. Youth revolt and generation formation in Germany 1770-1968. Cambridge 1995.[pdf]
    7. Robert Wohl: The generation of 1914, Cambridge MA 1979. Chapter 1.[pdf] and Chapter 2.[pdf]

12. Aging in a comparative perspective

  1.  
    1. Lawrence Cohen: No aging in India. Alzheimer, the bad family, and other modern things. Berkeley 1998 (selected chapters).
    2. Margaret M. Lock: Encounters with Aging: Mythologies of Menopause in Japan and North America, Berkeley 1995, chapters 11, 12. pdf pd

13. (Final session) ‘Age studies’: a new scientific discipline?

 a.  Simone De Beauvoir: "Introduction", from: Old age, New York 1977 (1972).pdf

 b. Margaret Morganroth-Gullette: Chapter 10: Age studies as cultural studies, from: Aged by culture, Chicago, 2004, pp. 179-196

 c.   Margaret Morganroth-Gullette: Chapter 15: What is age studies?, from: Aged by culture, Chicago, 2004, pp. 101-119.