200071 SE Advanced Seminar: Development and Education (2021S)

Contents: Longevity is one of the most important drivers of demographic change. However, the additional years are not evenly distributed across the lifespan. Instead, old age in particular benefits disproportionately from the increase in life expectancy, which has important implications for individuals and for society. Compared to earlier stages of life, old age is less structured by social norms. For the aging individual, old age is thus more or less an empty space in which one's own life can be shaped according to one's own plans and goals, free from external rules, obligations and constraints - albeit dependent on material and immaterial resources. The fact that old age is less structured by external norms offers freedom to the individual, but is also a challenge that requires planning and preparation. In this seminar, we will address factors that help or hinder this planning and preparation. These include social (e.g., societal images of age), cognitive (e.g., temporal perception, language), emotional (e.g., anxiety), and motivational (e.g., active coping) factors, as well as resources such as education, work, social relationships, religiosity, or lifestyle.

Objectives: The main objective of the course is the acquisition and application of knowledge on the topic of preparation for old age. The students are able to classify and critically receive the scientific literature on the subject. They are able to communicate their knowledge in writing and orally in relevant fields of action with both experts and laypersons. They are able to provide well-founded information about the topic and the open questions.

Methods: Reading, presentation and discussion of scientific texts on the topic. Summary of a text in a short form understandable for laypersons, which will be published on the website of the research area "Psychology of Aging", if applicable.