Author Archives: Jenny Sasser

About Jenny Sasser

I am currently Chair of the Department of Human Sciences and Director of Gerontology at Marylhurst University. I joined the faculty as an adjunct member of the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies program in 1997 and since that time, I've been involved in designing many on-campus and web-based courses and programs for adult learners, including in Gerontology. As an undergraduate I attended Willamette University, graduating Cum Laude in Psychology and Music; my interdisciplinary graduate studies at University of Oregon and Oregon State University focused on the Human Sciences, with specialization areas in adult development and aging, women’s studies, and critical social theory and alternative research methodologies. My dissertation became part of a book published in 1996 and co-authored with Dr. Janet Lee--Blood Stories: Menarche and the Politics of the Female Body in Contemporary US Society. Over the past fifteen years I have been involved in inquiry in the areas of creativity in later life; older women's embodiment; sexuality and aging; critical Gerontological theory; transformational adult learning practices; and cross-generational collaborative inquiry. I am co-author, with Dr. Harry R. Moody of Aging: Concepts and Controversies (7th edition). I live in Portland, Oregon with my daughter Isobel Coen and our dog Happy. I have been on the planet 46 years.

Gero-punk Tribute: Happy Birthday, Gramma Jewell

  Today is my Gramma Jewell Cochran Hotz’s 91st birthday.  If there is a singular human being who is responsible for inspiring me to become a gero-punk, my Gramma is to thank. My Gramma comes from poor, scrappy folk. No … Continue reading

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Gero-Punk Report: I am not a sandwich.

Whew, what a week! But I am glad to report that my close-in people and I made it through and are only temporarily worse for the wear. I woke up early today, earlier than I’d usually be up on a … Continue reading

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Gero-Punk Preoccupations: “Live in the layers, not on the litter”

The events of this week have left me disoriented, disconcerted, rough around the edges. Three nights in a row I slept soundly – which surprises me given how I have been spinning  like a top — yet three mornings in … Continue reading

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