Conference features expert on ageism

The first woman to have four books on the New York Times best-seller list will be the keynote speaker at the 10th annual Art & Science of Aging Conference. The theme of the February 13 conference is “Life Balance: Keep Moving Forward in the Third Age.”

Keynote speaker Ashton Applewhite has been writing about aging and ageism since 2007 in her blog “This Chair Rocks.” The New York Times calls her “a fresh voice in age studies.” She is a Knight Fellow, a New York Times Fellow and a Columbia Journalism School Age Boom Fellow.

Applewhite’s speech, “This Chair Rocks: How Ageism Warps our View of Long Life,” will take place from 9-10:30 a.m. in Loosemore Auditorium on Grand Valley’s Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

The conference includes 18 workshops on a wide range of topics including health care, retirement, healthy eating, exercise and pain management, and a closing session featuring the Life Reimagined program from AARP.

Life Balance: Keep Moving Forward in the Third Age
February 13
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus

As part of the conference, Grand Valley students will present their research on aging in a poster format, which will allow attendees to engage the students in discussions of their research.

The conference is sponsored by Grand Valley’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Health Professions and Kirkhof College of Nursing, as well as several community organizations including BeaconHill, Covenant Village of the Great Lakes, Geriatric Education Center of Michigan and Mercy Health.

For more information and to register, visit www.gvsu.edu/gerontology or contact Priscilla Kimboko, professor of gerontology and health care management, at (616) 331-6641 or [email protected].