3:00 PM
George Martin Hall, Room 207
St. Thomas University

In line with the threefold young culture, during Israel's first decades, the principal civil and military institutions were led by youngsters, while older people were marginalized.

What happens when the Israeli youngsters – the members of the founding generation – reach later life? How do “real” Sabras manage the gap between their actual aging and their never-aging culture? In this lecture hosted by the Third Age Centre, Dr. Gabriela Spector-Mersel will address the origins of the never-aging Israeli story and refer to several strategies that older Sabras employ to preserve a sense of worth and continuity in the face of the youthful culture. The uniqueness of the Israeli case highlights the crucial role of culture in shaping the personal experience of getting – or growing – old.

Dr. Gabriela Spector-Mersel is a faculty member in the School of Social Work at Sapir College and chairperson of the Aging Branch at Sadot Center for Research and Interventions. She is also the Qualitative Research Interest Group chairperson and the Narrative Research Interest Group advisor at Mofet Institute, Israel. Her research areas include gerontology, gender in later life, and narrative theory, research, and pedagogy.

This is a free event and no registration is required. Free parking in the Windsor/Montgomery St. parking lot. Wheelchair accessible from the ramp at the back of George Martin Hall (off the Upper Quad). For more information, call 452-0526 or email 3rdage@stu.ca.