Series Title: The Age of COVID-19
As a scholar of aging and gerontology…
What do you know, wonder, or worry is happening in your field site during this pandemic?
What lessons might the study of aging have to offer to the world, in the face of this crisis?
The Association for Anthropology, Gerontology, and the Lifecourse (AAGE) invites reflections that highlight questions, concerns, and observations relating to aging as a dimension of the COVID-19 pandemic. We envision short, conversational pieces that may be modest in the claims made, but draw on our individual and collective knowledge to offer questions, insights and perspectives from the anthropology of aging.
Over the coming weeks, we will be hosting a series of short research and reflective pieces on the Age of COVID-19. Pieces should be 500-800 words. We encourage you to supplement your piece with images or visual material! Please send your submission to Narelle.Warren@monash.edu
1 thought on “Call for posts: The Age of COVID-19”
Dear people: First, I hope you all are safe and well–and continue to stay so. I am an anthropologist and a Psychologist in Sonoma county, California. Of interest to AAGE: In terms of teaching, I have been teaching in the Older Adults Program at our local junior college. The “classrooms” are at senior residences. As with other places of instruction, everything is shut down.The college’s regular program has moved to Distance learning. this program has not yet Moved there. Consequently, the students Are not getting this form of enrichment and socializing. Most of the students are not Tech savvy. Many can just use their phones==and in a Simplified way. So, Distance learning may not be suitable just yet unless changes are made.
In terms of Therapy, I have been doing teletherapy, both phone and through visual platforms. This is all new to all of us. And it follows what is happening in telehealth. Like the students, some people are only able to use their phones and not computers. What Complicates all this is those people, including older people, who May have disabilities, such as hearing, sight, and concentration and memory.
Moreover, Sonoma county has experienced trauma in the last several years–with fires, floods, and electricity shutdowns. People in senior residences, nursing homes, and in private Residences have been transferred when a crisis has erupted. Some people have lost their Homes. This present pandemic retraumatizes Them, making their slow recovery from past crises harder.
I will write more as I learn more.