Author Archives: Jenny Sasser, Ph.D.

About Jenny Sasser, Ph.D.

I am a freelance educational gerontologist, writer, community activist and facilitator. I am former 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 twenty (or more!) 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 inter-generational friendships and cross-generational collaborative inquiry. I am co-author, with Dr. Harry R. Moody of Aging: Concepts and Controversies (now in its 10th edition!) and first author, also with Moody, of the recently published Gerontology: The Basics, as well as author/co-author of several book chapters, articles and essays. I am on the Portland Community College Gerontology Program faculty.

Gero-Punk Contemplations: Seventy Cycles of the Sun

By guest Gero-Punk Simeon Dreyfuss This essay first appeared on the Gero-Punk Project blog eight years ago.  Its reprint comes about much as the original: Jenny sent me an article about a 70 year old mōlī having another chick—the biologists … Continue reading

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Gero-Punk Memorial: 3.11.2011

A decade ago, on March 11, 2011,  Japan experienced the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, followed by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.  On the same day, one year ago, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global … Continue reading

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Gero-Punk Ponderings: What kind of ancestor do you want to become?

What kind of ancestor do you want to become? To ponder such a question invites us to explore the realm of legacy, Gero-Punk style. +++ +++ Legacy can transcend the bounds of time-place-space. Legacy goes in all directions, is deeply, … Continue reading

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