Student Life

A Busy Summer: Fellowship Gave UMB Gerontology PhD Student a Role in Boston’s Efforts to Back Housing With Services for Older Adults

How can cities analyze the costs of providing supportive housing for older adults and evaluate proposals from developers seeking municipal support? The not-so-surprising answer: It’s complicated. Ask Setarreh Massihzadegan, who began her second year in UMass Boston’s Gerontology PhD program… Continue Reading →

2021/09/15 1

Jan Mutchler to head UMass Boston Gerontology Institute

Professor Jan Mutchler, a faculty member at University of Massachusetts Boston for more than 20 years and the founding Director of the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging (CSDRA), has been appointed director of the Gerontology Institute at… Continue Reading →

2021/08/04 0

Gerontology PhD Grads Look Ahead to Next Career Step in a More Complicated Working World

By Claire Wickersham UMass Boston’s newest class of Gerontology PhD graduates are heading out into a world – and a job market – unseen by any of their predecessors. The good news: As a group, they have their immediate work… Continue Reading →

2020/05/28 0

The Virtual Semester: How UMass Gerontology Students are Adapting to Remote Learning While Campus Remains Closed

By Claire Wickersham Students are making a lot of adjustments in the spring semester driven online by the COVID-19 pandemic. New technology and different work environments bring a whole new meaning to work and home life balance. The good news:… Continue Reading →

2020/04/28 1

Zoom Boom: Gerontology Department Moves Online to Conduct 5 Virtual PhD Dissertation Defenses in 4 Days

Years of work, study and preparation came down to this final step: Defending PhD dissertations to a series of faces on a computer screen. Conversing with images of people, arranged like tiles on an electronic board, had become a suddenly… Continue Reading →

2020/04/17 0

What I Did on My Summer Vacation: Busy Gerontology Students Mixed Work with Pleasure

Summer is history. Most of UMass Boston’s gerontology students enjoyed the vacation break and hopefully some even found their way to chairs on a beach. But many also worked on gerontology research projects, attended professional events or participated in fellowships… Continue Reading →

2019/09/11 0

PhD Student Danielle Waldron Elected to Leadership Role at Gerontological Society of America

Danielle Waldron thinks it’s important for everyone to maintain a healthy balance between their professional and personal lives. One key: Jump on the right opportunities but don’t feel guilty about saying “no” now and then. The UMass Boston gerontology PhD… Continue Reading →

2019/08/27 3

A Year Later: 3 Gerontology PhDs Talk About Their Professional Lives After Graduation

One year ago, the Gerontology Institute blog brought together three newly minted UMass Boston PhDs to talk about their dissertation experiences. They discussed everything from original dissertation designs to the eventual defense of their work. The blog recently reached out… Continue Reading →

2019/05/24 0

Academic Life: The Education of a First-Year Gerontology PhD Student

This is the final post in a series of stories about the academic experiences of a first-year UMass Boston gerontology PhD student. By Caitlin Connelly It happened in the blink of an eye. My first year as a gerontology PhD… Continue Reading →

2019/05/22 0

Gerontology PhD Candidate Natalie Pitheckoff Examines Bonds Between Older Adults and Animals

Call it the Domino effect. Natalie Pitheckoff, a gerontology PhD candidate at UMass Boston, has spent years observing and studying the impact of pets on older adults, particularly those with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. Her proposed PhD dissertation involves analyzing… Continue Reading →

2019/04/16 2

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