Certificate of Achievement in Gerontology

The Certificate of Achievement in Gerontology is available to all SU students—undergraduate and graduate, full-time or part-time. It requires 15 credits of aging-related coursework, including one core course. Students can usually take courses that count both toward their degree and the Certificate. Certificates are awarded upon graduation from Syracuse University, or upon completion of the Certificate requirements in the case of part-time non-matriculated students.

This Certificate of Achievement in Gerontology is currently available only to SU students and residents in Central New York. There are no online gerontology courses offered at SU at this time.

Application Form

An application form for the Certificate of Achievement in Gerontology is available online in .pdf format. You can download this form, fill it in, and mail it to the Gerontology Center, 426 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244-1020, or fax it to 315/443-1081.

Core Courses

Undergraduate students may choose one of these three courses to fulfill the core course requirement. Students working on the interdisciplinary Minor in Gerontology must take two of the three courses.

CFS 363 Introduction to Gerontology

SOC 365/WSP 364 Aging and Society

SWK 357 Processes of Aging

Graduate students have three core course to choose from.

SWK 657 Processes of Aging. Must be matriculated; not available to continuing education students.

SOC 664/WSP 664 Aging and Society

Spring 2010—LAW 741/PSC 700 Interdisciplinary Approaches to Aging Issues. Wednesdays 4:00-6:30, Professor Nina Kohn. This interdisciplinary course brings together students from a wide variety of disciplines—including law, medicine, social work, nursing, and public policy—to examine key issues of importance to older adults. Each class is devoted to a current topic ranging from end-of-life care to surrogate decision-making to elder abuse. Each topic is examined from multiple perspectives and readings are drawn from a wide variety of disciplines and sources.

The class is highly interactive in nature. Students will engage in complex problem solving exercises and interact with the exciting slate of guest lecturers who will help provide important perspectives to the topic of the day. All questions can be directed to Professor Nina Kohn, nakohn@law.syr.edu.

Electives

Syracuse University offers a wide variety of aging related courses for both graduate and undergraduate students that will meet the 12 elective credits requirement.  Courses may include aging in relation to economics, policy, health, sociology, psychology, research, ethics, etc.  Selected topic courses, clinical or field experience, as well as courses that are offered infrequently or irregularly count if appropriate.

Undergraduate Electives

For a list of undergraduate electives see the Undergraduate Gerontology Minor page on this website.

Graduate Electives include...

HTW 600 Health Literacy

LAW 763 Applied Disability Law, taught by Professor Arlene Kanter, is open to graduate students in any field and to law students. There are no pre- or co-requisites for this course. Professor Kanter's permission is required for non-law students. This course will examine disability law and policy from a variety of disciplines. Each student will work on a project that originated from a request for a local, national or international organization. In addition to completing a written paper on the topic, the student will prepare and present the results of his or her research and analysis to the class and hopefully to the "client" organization via video conferencing. Interested students may contact Professor Kanter directly by email to Kantera@law.syr.edu.

LAW 777 Elder Law, taught by Professor Nina Kohn. This course addresses ethical issues related to the competency assessment of elder clients; income maintenance, including Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, and other public and private pensions; Medicare and Medicaid; guardianship, long-term care, and estate planning. Additional topics may include employment discrimination, housing, health care decision making, and elder abuse. Open to non-law students with permission of Professor Kohn, Nakohn@law.syr.edu.

LAW 889 International Human Rights and Comparative Disability Law. Professor Kanter's permission is required for non-law students. Interested students may contact Professor Kanter directly by email to Kantera@law.syr.edu.

PPA 730 Demography, Aging, and Public Policy

PPA 781 Social Welfare Policy

PPA 782 Health Services Management

PPA 783 The Changing American Health Care System

PSC 612 The Development of the American Administrative State

SOC 880 Health and Health Policy. The course will focus on gender, race, class, and other inequalities linked to both health and health care. The first part of the semester focuses on the US and the latter part on global health and health care issues. Contact Professor Madonna Harrington Meyer, maharrin@maxwell.syr.edu, for permission to take the course.

SWK 765 Public Policy and Aging (spring). Prerequisite: SWK 611 or permission of Professor Eric Kingson, 443-1838. An examination of the public policy implications of the aging of the population of the United States within the context of global trends, including prospects for the first few decades of the 21st century. The implications of societal and individual aging for public policy analysis, formulation, and implementation at international, national, and state and local levels are examined. The impact of aging on the basic social institutions such as family, economic, political, and on the policies, goals, organization and delivery of social-health services are identified. Specific attention is given to the public policy implications and approaches to special populations and groups within the aging population.

SWK 778 Policy Advocacy and Practice (fall). Prerequisite: SWK 611 or permission of Professor Eric Kingson, 443-1838. This course provides knowledge of policy practice and related planning/policy analysis theory, methods, and skills applicable to social reform efforts in organizational, community, and political settings. The course explores technical, analytic, interpersonal, and political skills that enhance effective participation in the reform process. Readings, exercises, and assignments are directed at developing (1) understanding of the logic of policy inquiry, (2) capacity to identify and organize policy-relevant information/data, (3) methods of analytical and quantitative reasoning, and (4) communication skills, most significantly various forms of policy writing.