SPECIAL LECTURE
by professor
WILLIAM RANDALL
8th March, Friday, 2024
ROOM: Spatele Amfiteatrului, fourth floor, 12:00
Abstract
Gerontology is a multi-disciplinary field that explores the complexity of aging from a variety of angles: psychological, sociological, physiological, etc. The sub-field of narrative gerontology—which draws on research in narrative psychology, narrative sociology, and literary theory—is grounded in the conviction that we humans are hermeneutical beings, that we make sense of our lives and our worlds through what are primarily narrative processes. We are “the story species”, which means that we age not just biologically but biographically as well. This presentation will outline a number of key concepts in a narrative perspective on later life, such as narrative environment, narrative development, the narrative challenges of later life (e.g., narrative foreclosure), the practice of narrative care with older adults, and the vision of aging as adventure.
Biography
William (Bill) Randall is Professor Emeritus of Gerontology at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada, and a Derek Brewer Visiting Fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University (Lent 2024). Educated at Harvard University, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the University of Toronto, he has helped to pioneer a unique approach to the study of aging known as “narrative gerontology.” He is founding co-editor of the online journal Narrative Works and the author or co-author of over 70 scholarly publications, including ten books. Among these are Reading Our Lives: The Poetics of Growing Old, by Oxford University Press, and The Stories We Are: An Essay on Self-Creation by the University of Toronto Press. www.williamlrandall.com
