懂色帝

For years, Associate Professor of Humanities Kate O鈥橦ara, Ph.D., has taught students to think critically about society, ethics, and the human experience, often centered around issues of social justice.

Her newest course took a more personal turn, inspired by encounters in doctors鈥� offices, caregiving conversations, and the daily realities of helping care for her aging mother.

鈥淚 saw how isolated some older people are, even if they have families,鈥� O鈥橦ara says. 鈥淭he loneliness, the ageism, the questions about what value older adults hold in American society became something I wanted to explore.鈥�

The result is Philosophy of Aging, a course launched at New York Institute of Technology this past academic year that blends philosophy, service learning, and creative expression. Rather than simply reading about aging, students were asked to engage with it directly, building relationships with older adults in assisted living communities and neighborhoods while exploring the philosophical and societal dimensions of growing older.

By the end of each semester, students who began the course nervous about talking with older adults they didn鈥檛 know, were creating deeply personal works of art inspired by discussions about loneliness, autonomy, memory, and the ways society often overlooks older generations.

鈥淪tudents went from being uncomfortable and unsure they were capable of completing meaningful service-learning projects, to becoming well-spoken and producing profound reflections about what they experienced,鈥� says O鈥橦ara.

The Philosophy of Aging course offered on the New York City campus brought together undergraduate students across majors and class years. To enhance lectures and readings, O鈥橦ara partnered with a local assisted living and memory care community, The Apsley, where students made weekly visits.

At first, the interactions were intentionally unscripted.

Students spent time talking with residents, helping with technology, participating in activities, and simply listening. Over time, many of those conversations evolved into deeper connections.

鈥淚nevitably, regardless of the activity, it would segue into these really wonderful organic conversations between the two generations,鈥� O鈥橦ara says. 鈥淪tudents realized how valuable it was to learn from someone who holds so much history.鈥�

The experience also challenged many assumptions students had about aging.

鈥淭hey heard firsthand how rushed older adults sometimes feel, especially around technology,鈥� O鈥橦ara says. 鈥淭he amount of compassion and patience my students showed was really quite touching.鈥�

When scheduling limitations prevented the assisted living partnership from continuing in the same format for the spring semester, O鈥橦ara redesigned the course. Students were asked to partner individually with an elderly adult in their own community, preferably someone outside their immediate family. Each student met regularly with that person throughout the semester while continuing philosophical discussions and reflective journaling in class.

Artistic Impressions

For architecture major Nawaf Alowaidi, the course offered a chance to better understand his own aging relatives through a new lens.

He spent the semester learning about his 80-year-old neighbor, joining in everyday routines like grocery shopping and errands while enjoying casual conversation. 鈥淢y goal was to join her in her daily activities rather than force her to have formal interviews,鈥� he says.

Alowaidi appreciated gaining the perspective from someone much older and says the experience helped him learn how to communicate better with people outside his own age group. 鈥淎lthough a common ground is not already there, it can always be made,鈥� he says. 鈥淥lder adults tend to love speaking with someone younger because they are just as intrigued about my generation as I am in theirs.鈥�

What struck him most was the emotional complexity of aging.

鈥淚 found it really interesting to learn how older adults may hide their loneliness,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 had not fully considered how being retired would alter the ability to create new memories.鈥�

For their final project, students were asked to translate their experiences into a 3-D artistic work. Alowaidi鈥檚 piece, titled 鈥淧ast Self,鈥� used a cereal box, clay, and flowers to symbolize the experiences and hardships his neighbor carried throughout her life. The project was inspired by a grocery shopping trip during which she repeatedly scolded him about his expensive cereal choices before eventually opening up about growing up with very little.

鈥淭he clay represents her trauma as it is now something that is hardening into her,鈥� he explains, 鈥渁nd the flower is how her scolding comes from a place of love.鈥�

Interdisciplinary studies major Nicole Luis Aguilar, whose grandparents live in Mexico, had little regular interaction with older adults before taking the course.

鈥淚 liked the idea of learning more about older generations and what they experience during this period of their lives so that I could educate myself and apply this new knowledge in future situations,鈥� she says.

Aguilar partnered with a 77-year-old woman that she met through her father鈥檚 construction work. Their required 45-minute visits routinely stretched into two-hour conversations over curated snack platters.

鈥淭he relationship we developed was very friendly and trusting,鈥� Aguilar says. 鈥淲e spoke of many different topics that ranged from casual to serious and deep but we both felt liberty to voice our feelings and opinions.鈥�

Her final artwork, 鈥淕rowth Across the Threshold,鈥� incorporated wood, mirrors, wire, flowers, and clay to represent the transformative power of stepping outside one鈥檚 comfort zone to connect with people from different generations.

鈥淢y piece represents the way we all go about our lives with knowledge from our own experiences and that alone isn鈥檛 enough. We don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 out there until we make an effort to understand and learn more about people, in this case, the elderly population,鈥� she says.

Lessons Outside the Classroom

For O鈥橦ara, those kinds of reflections demonstrate the difference between traditional lecture-based instruction and experiential learning.

鈥淥ften in a lecture course, students are passive recipients of information,鈥� she says. 鈥淗ere, they analyze ideas in class and then go out into the community and apply that knowledge. They bring their own lived experiences into the process.鈥�

O鈥橦ara鈥檚 teaching practices draw heavily from the work of Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire, particularly his concept of praxis, or the cycle of action and reflection used to transform the world.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly what students  do within a semester,鈥� O鈥橦ara says. 鈥淵ou see the transformation for them, but also for the people they interacted with.鈥�

Students also learned from one another. Because the classes included students from different disciplines, cultures, and age groups, discussions often revealed how perspectives on aging vary across communities.

Some students shared that in their cultures, placing elders in assisted living facilities would be uncommon or even uncomfortable. Others found unexpected common ground with the older adults they met, particularly around immigration, identity, and adapting to life in a new country.

鈥淚t was a comfort for the young person to hear those stories and the advice,鈥� O鈥橦ara says. 鈥淭here was some shared experience..鈥�

It wasn鈥檛 uncommon for students to develop sustained personal relationships. Alowaidi鈥檚 neighbor, for example, gave him a blanket that she sewed herself, which he now keeps on his bed. 鈥淚 came to view her almost as my own grandma,鈥� he says.

O鈥橦ara recently presented the course at the 10th World Conference on Qualitative Research in Madrid, Spain, where she discussed the project as a model for reimagining higher education as a space for authentic cross-generational connection and collaborative learning.

She hopes to continue expanding the course and eventually include nursing and medical students from the Long Island campus, who could bring additional perspectives to philosophical discussions about aging and care.

But regardless of how the course evolves, O鈥橦ara鈥檚 central lesson will remain the same: meaningful education does not stop at the classroom door.

By Ren茅e Gearhart Levy