Gerontology Program

The Interdisciplinary program leading to a Minor or Certificate in Gerontology consists of 7 courses and is intended to provide a systematic grounding in the study of aging. While the requirements are the same for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education students, undergraduate matriculating students of Rhode Island College who successfully complete the requirements of the program will be awarded a MINOR in Gerontology; non-matriculating or graduate students will receive a Certificate in Gerontology.

The gerontology program has the following 8 major learning objectives:

1. Describe the interdependent processes of physical, psychological, and social aging
2. Be familiar with the biological, psychological and sociological theories of aging
3. Describe own attitudes toward and beliefs about old age, and be able to analyze attitudes towards aging expressed in literary and artistic depictions of aging
4. Know about the current condition of the older population, including cross-cultural and intra-cultural variations on aging
5. Be aware of the history of treatment of aging populations
6. Discuss the programs and policies that specifically impinge on that population
7. Understand the ethical complexities which surround issues with respect to aging
8. Understand appropriate methodological and analytic means for investigations of aging and old age