URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Fall_2021_Melissa-McCarthy

T HE AG E - F R I END LY

UN I V E RS I T Y

Promoting Lifelong Learning and Interdisciplinary Research at URI

written by Hugh Markey

Interdisciplinary health promotion project members Deborah Riebe, Phillip Clark, Geoffrey Greene, Christine Ferrone, Faith Helm, and Bryan Blissmer.

In Professor Phillip Clark’s world, hanging out on the University of Rhode Island (URI) Quad on a spring morning would look a bit different from the current scene. Yes, there would be lots of young people sunning themselves on the grass and playing Frisbee. But there also would be older adults heading to their next class or engaged in discussion with younger students. Clark and his colleagues are proposing a new university environment, one that welcomes both traditional (younger) students pursuing a bachelor’s degree and adults at later stages of life, who are taking courses that interest them or are required for a new job or career change. For example, maybe they are retooling for another career at a later life stage and have to take certain courses that are required for that program to move into a new job or profession. “My sort of fantasy is that we’ll walk across the

Quad at some point, and you’ll see a lot of people who have gray hair,” Clark envisions. “That would be an expression of success.” Clark, a professor of gerontology at the University, is proposing new interdisciplinary research focusing on promoting a healthier old age. That research, in turn, can become a cornerstone of what’s called an Age- Friendly University. “Aging is one of those areas that we can see increasingly important globally as well as in the U.S. and then in our own state,” he says. “In fact, it’s been tied to Rhode Island’s economic development.” Southern New England has been suggested as a hub for services and products for older adults in much the same way Silicon Valley is a resource for technology. URI faculty members have been involved in initiatives to make Rhode Island an age-friendly state. Achieving that goal necessitates the participation of multiple academic disciplines. “The very foundation of this is to understand the

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