Elizabeth MutranCenter on Minority Aging
University of North Carolina
CB #3465
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3465
betty_mutran@unc.edu
Presently the section has nine research groups. In many cases the research group meeting at the section's roundtable session is an informal discussion of: (a) what research those present are doing or planning, (b) recent books and articles of interest, (c) ideas for possible funding sources, or (d) where the cutting edge is and what research needs to be done next. With some of the groups formal papers are presented; with others the session is more an informal discussion. In some cases those present exchange drafts of papers for comment between meetings. We hope that eventually some participants will co-author articles, books, and grant proposals. Each research group has a great deal of autonomy with respect to what actually goes on at and between meetings. Thus you are urged to contact the chair of the research group of interest to you to get the full details with respect to a specific research group.
Below you will find a list of the research groups. If you are interested in joining any group, please contact the chair of that group and attend its meeting (in connection with the Section's roundtable session) at the next annual meeting of ASA. If you would like to be considered for a program listing in connection with your participation in the research group, please send the chair of the group a presentation title by the date listed for all regular ASA paper submissions. Be sure also to check with the chair because some will require a paper abstract or a draft of a paper as a condition for a program listing. Be sure to submit your name, address, phone, fax and e-mail numbers. Check with the chair of your research group for an idea as to how long and how formal your presentation should be.
A listing of the existing research groups follows. If you have an idea for a new research group, please contact Elizabeth Mutran, Chair of the Committee on Roundtables and Research Groups, to discuss what is involved in starting a new research group.
Elizabeth Mutran
Center on Minority Aging
University of North Carolina
CB #3465
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3465
betty_mutran@unc.edu
Co-chairs: Susan E. Kelly and Duane Matcha
Email: sekell01@ulkyvm.louisville.edu
and matcha@siena.edu
The purpose of this group is to provide a forum for innovative
empirical and conceptual work addressed to ethics and values in
aging. Recent interest in questions of ethics in aging fall into
two general trends: 1) dilemmas of clinical bioethics, which appear
to be precipitated by advances in medical technology and changes
in the health care delivery system, and 2) policy issues engendered
by the prospect of caring for rising numbers of dependent elderly.
We seek to encourage a core of scholars asking such questions
as: In what ways have politics of aging been affected, if at all,
by the emergence of interest in an ethics discourse? How do some
issues, micro and macro, become defined as ethical while others
do not? What happens to individuals and institutions when practices
such as ethics committees are established in nursing homes? What
are the meanings and sources of ethical expertise in aging? What
impact has sociological work had on the discourses and practices
of ethics, if any? What are the possibilities of offering reframings
of current discussion of ethics, values and aging that reflect
the theoretical and methodological tools of our discipline?
The group will facilitate professional interaction and encourage
the exchange of ideas and resources, including the development
of on-line activities and publication of an edited series of original
papers. This is an emergent area of sociological work; creative,
energetic participation is welcome.
[Top
of Page]Chair: Katherine M. Condon
Email: condonk@fiu.edu
This research group provides a forum for discussing new, ongoing, completed, or potential projects focusing on gender differences in the aging experience, elder care, work and retirement, public policy, political action, and/or other issues. Studies that explore the intersection between gender, class, and/or race/ethnicity are especially welcome. Our style is open and democratic. Above all else, the focus and trajectory of the group's activities are determined by the needs and interests of its participants. The group also seeks to encourage and to bring together scholars with different levels of experience. The group is co-sponsored by Sociologists for the Study of Social Problems and Sociologists for Women in Society.
[Top
of Page]Co-Chair: David Morgan
Email: morgan@pdx.edu
Co-Chair: Eliza Pavalko
Email: epavalko@indiana.edu
This research group provides a forum for those who study the full range of sociological issues that involve the life course. Our purpose is to promote networking and intellectual contacts that help us each stay connected to the ongoing trends and emerging directions in our field. We are particularly interested in hearing from scholars who are new to life course studies, and we strongly encourage graduate students to participate in our annual presentations. These discussions include presentations from not only those who are completing research projects, but also those who are in the initial stages of their work, as well as those who want feedback on a larger research agenda. Our group has sponsored an average of 12-15 presentations per year, addressing a wide variety of different age groups and using an equally diverse range of qualitative and quantitative methods. Suggestions for the 2000 meetings are welcome.
[Top
of Page]Chair: Tanya Fusco Johnson
Email: TanyaJ@hawaii.edu
The Aging Well Research Committee includes the study of those who are aging in health and wholeness as well as those who are challenged by disability and decline but respond to these losses in positive ways. The Aging Well Research Committee is engaged in a number of activities during the year. We publish an Aging Well Newsletter twice a year; we encourage members to present research on Aging Well at professional meetings; and we offer a Scholarship, which began at the ASA meeting in August, 1997, to a graduate student doing work in Aging Well. Funding for this Scholarship comes from royalties on a book entitled Aging Well: A Selected Annotated Bibliography, published by Greenwood Publishing Group in 1995. The book was written by four of our members: Ed Folts, Bette Ide, Tanya Fusco Johnson and Jennifer Crew Solomon. Members of our Research Committee, Patrick Fontane and Jennifer Crew Solomon have also edited a two-volume issue on Aging Well in the American Behavioral Scientist, November 1995 and January 1996. Presently, we have two initiatives - researching social indicators for aging well and exploring ways to conduct multidisciplinary, regional workshops on aging well. Our annual dues are $5.00. Those wishing to join should contact Tanya Fusco Johnson
[Top
of Page]Chair: Deborah M. Merrill
Email: dmerrill@jack.clarku.edu
This research group provides a forum for discussing new research on relations between elderly parents and adult children. It is hoped that the discussion will include the consideration of conceptual frameworks and analytic strategies, rather than only the presentation of new findings. Projects of all types and in all stages of development are welcome for discussion. Networking and collaboration are facilitated.
[Top
of Page]Chair: Eldon L. Wegner
Email: wegner@hawaii.edu
Our group offers a forum for discussing cross-cultural research on aging, and invite those doing research on foreign culture(s) to join us. At our meetings, we discuss research of all types and in all stages of progress, and presentations are generally quite informal. We also bring together scholars to encourage networking, collaboration, and exchange of information about upcoming international meetings, recent publications of interest, etc.
[Top
of Page]Chair: Judith Bograd Gordon
Email: jbgordon@charger.newhaven.edu
The purpose of this research group is to bring together scholars interested in increasing our knowledge about older women in academic settings. There is a great need for studies looking at the interaction of biography, social factors, organizational constraints and history that shape the career choice and life-course of older women in academic settings. We wish to catalyze problems and possibilities before us as we grow old together. In co-operation with SWS and SSSP, this working group has established a liaison with the ASA committee on the status of women in order to initiate new research.
[Top
of Page]Chair: Donald C. Reitzes
Email: socdcr@gsu.edu
The Work and Retirement Group meets in roundtable format at each annual meeting to discuss current interests regarding the behavior of older workers, retirees, and employing organizations. This year's session involved the participants in a discussion of the impact of pre-retirement influences on post-retirement self-esteem; factors affecting plans for retirement and what is associated with having no plans for retirement; and factors associated with the continuum of care post-retirement. We are interested in expanding our membership and hearing from scholars who are interested in a broad range of issues including decreased time spent in the labor force as well as issues post-retirement, such as increased activity in non-work roles.
[Top
of Page]Last updated: September 17, 1999