A collaborative project of the Center for Spirituality and the Social Work Program
Housed in the Center for Spirituality (CFS), The Elderhood Institute is a contemplative continuing education program that focuses on issues in aging for professionals who work with elders in social work, health care, education, business, and ministry. Greater wisdom is brought to the table as elders themselves are invited to be active participants at Institute events. Further, students in professional programs also participate.
The Institute takes seriously this “quest for wisdom,” which is one way to describe spirituality. Interest in the study and practice of spirituality of all sorts has increased remarkably in the past three decades. Surprisingly perhaps, this has occurred not only in academia and in institutionalized religious settings, but also in public discourse. Spirituality development may be considered as the quest to connect questions of personal life and broader culture with questions of deeper meaning.
Such an understanding of spirituality identifies three components that can be applied with particular attention to the process of aging.
These three components are:
The “embodied” nature of human beings, which implies an attentiveness to, and a valuing of, the bodily aspects of aging
The “relational” nature of people and their communities, which leads to valuing intergenerational realities
The “transformative” component, which tends to the dynamic and positive process of aging
Locating the Institute in CFS flows directly from the mission of CFS, which emphasizes that the multi-faceted nature of spirituality includes attending to the social dimensions of spirituality. Incorporating the voices of persons who are poor, oppressed or otherwise marginalized by society is a key component of the Center’s mission. CFS works closely with other units of the College, co-sponsoring various programs and events and emphasizing that authentic spirituality culminates in work on behalf of justice and peace.
Thus, in collaboration with the Social Work Program at the College, the Center for Spirituality, through its Elderhood Institute, provides a forum in which—rather than feeling overwhelmed and discouraged at the “graying” of society—people can find ways to acknowledge and value the process of maturing into elderhood. Extended longevity holds a great deal of promise as well as challenge. The Institute addresses often neglected aspects of spirituality that are embedded in the new realities of the aging process.
Professor JoAnn Burke, Department of Social Work and Anthropology, serves as program coordinator for Institute events. These include major conferences, web seminars, as well as other events that address underlying issues and emerging needs related to elderhood.
The Elderhood Institute is a component of a broader CFS project entitled Spirituality Across the Lifespan.
For more information, contact JoAnn Burke, Associate Professor of Social Work, at 574-284-4513 or jburke@saintmarys.edu .
