WKU Home To Gerontology Group's New Journal On Aging

July 12, 2007

Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University’s Center for Gerontology is home to the “Journal of Aging, Humanities, and the Arts,” a new publication from The Gerontological Society of America.

“Our vision is that this international journal will create a forum for scholars and act as an incubator of fresh approaches and constructive dialog about the meanings, experiences and challenges of growing old,” said Dr. Dana Burr Bradley, Cliff Todd Distinguished Professor of Gerontology at WKU. “JAHA will support a large interdisciplinary cadre of researchers who work in the field of aging, but who perhaps would not all identify themselves as gerontologists.”

The journal’s inaugural double issue was released in late June. Printed four times a year by Routledge Journals, JAHA is the official publication of the Humanities and Arts Committee of the GSA.

Dr. Bradley called the journal’s publication a highlight of her career because the GSA hadn’t created an entirely new journal since 1961. “To have this journal housed at WKU’s Center for Gerontology in the College of Health and Human Services helps the University in its vision to become a leading American university with international reach,” she said.

WKU faculty and students also will participate in the journal’s publication by writing and reviewing manuscripts, Dr. Bradley said. Students in WKU’s Honors College also will develop a web portal that will expand on the print publication by providing additional material, documents and audio recordings.

By fostering a dialogue between the humanities and arts and the bio-medical, psychological, behavioral, and social sciences, Dr. Bradley and co-editor Dr. Anne M. Wyatt-Brown intend for the journal to challenge stereotypes, further the understanding of the aging process, and provide creative approaches to the exploration of issues pertaining to aging. Subjects addressed in the journal will include language and communication; literary production, reception, and analysis; biography and memoirs; human beliefs and spiritual values; art, music, drama, and dance therapy with older adults; narrative medicine in interactions with older adults and their families; issues of death and dying; creativity and aging; and social construction of age.

“Aging is a human experience and is one of the few experiences that all of us have in common,” Dr. Bradley said. “This journal will highlight aging issues in a real way and will use writers’ stories and their voices to help understand the human condition.”

Articles in the first issue cover such subjects as the presentation of old age in the cinema, King Lear’s struggle with aging, aging and desire in modern novels, the portrayal of aging in Native American stories, the Old Woman as new American hero, and the effect of cultural programs on the physical and mental health of older adults.

For future issues of the journal, the editors are seeking original work focusing on a common interest in age and the commitment to reaching readers from different humanities and arts disciplines in several categories. The second issue features contributions from an international perspective, demonstrating a commitment by Drs. Bradley and Wyatt-Brown to make this an international journal.  It is scheduled for publication in November to coincide with the GSA’s annual meeting.

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the oldest and largest national multidisciplinary scientific organization devoted to the advancement of gerontological research. Founded in 1945, its membership includes more than 5,000 researchers, educators, practitioners and other professionals in the field of aging. The Society’s principal missions are to promote research and education in aging and to encourage the dissemination of research results to other scientists, decision makers and practitioners.

More information about the “Journal of Aging, Humanities, and the Arts” is available online at http://www.geron.org/press/jaha.htm; a sample of the journal can be viewed at www.informaworld.com/1932-5614.

For subscription information, or to order a sample copy, contact Taylor & Francis, Customer Service Department, 325 Chestnut St., Ste 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106; call 1-800-354-1420 Ext. 216; or email customerservice@taylorandfrancis.com
               
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Dana Burr Bradley at (270) 745-2356.