STORY AND PHOTO CAN BE FOUND AT:http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/2005/051206.T-Fingerman.aging.html
Note to Journalists: Publication-quality photos of artificially aged students are available at http://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/+2005/aging.jpg and http://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/+2005/aging-mugs.jpg
Newswise — Young graduate students in Karen Fingerman's gerontology class got a new sense of what it means to grow old when they looked in the mirror and saw an older person looking back.
Fingerman, an associate professor in child development and family studies, teamed up with Joel Ebarb, an assistant professor in visual and performing arts, in an experiment to see how students reacted to looking older. Ebarb used stage makeup techniques to visually age two 25-year-old students.
"I wanted to give the students a sense of how real aging is and that it will happen to them," Fingerman says. "I think it's hard to imagine your face older, especially for someone in their 20s. Seeing themselves as an old person might change that and help them in their work with aging populations once they leave Purdue."
The students were part of a class called Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Aging, a graduate-level course required for students who minor in gerontology. Students major in all areas, including pharmacy, fitness, nutrition, finance and other disciplines related to aging populations.
"Increased life expectancy is the most profound change in the history of human existence," Fingerman said. "Life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century, so it's our duty as educators to give our students the background to effectively work with that population."
Purdue is the only university that offers a dual doctorate in gerontology. Guest lectures introduce students to experts in gerontology on Purdue's campus. The students examine major sociological, psychological and biological theory and research in the field of aging.
"We cover the aging process from cells to Social Security," Fingerman says.
Related Web sites:
Child Development and Family Studies: http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/cdfs/
Center on Aging and the Life Course: http://tholian.sla.purdue.edu/gerontology/index.htm
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