This post originally appeared on the Gerontology Institute blog.
Professor Jan Mutchler with student Yu Mengting of Renmin University.
UMass Boston Gerontology professors Jeffrey Burr and Jan Mutchler delivered presentations at a conference hosted by China’s Remin University and other organizations in December. That was not especially big news.
But their speeches, as well as social events organized around the visit to China, were important just the same. Their trip was the latest of many small steps the Department of Gerontology at UMass Boston’s McCormack Graduate School has taken to build academic relationships in a country with one of the world’s biggest and fastest growing elder populations.
“This initiative is part of our effort to ‘look outward’ beyond the boundaries of the United States when it comes to gerontology research, teaching, and service,” said Burr, the department chair. “Countries in East Asia, like China, provide a wonderful opportunity to learn about the aging process through different cultural, social, and economic lenses.” Continue reading.