Our application for renewal, including a list of committed partners is due at the National Endowment for the Humanities on February 1, 2007. Funding will begin in October of 2007; the first program The Elderquest in Today’s Movies and Novels: A New Model for the New Old Age will begin in the Spring of 2008, and a second program, tentatively titled, Aging and Gender: Movies and Novels about Men and Women Aging—alone and together, will begin in the spring of 2009.

Participating LLIs will be asked to commit for both years, and each LLI will host the program, choose its own facilitators, receive logistical support, training, and course materials from our sponsor, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and some financial support from the NEH , although a minimal financial commitment is also required. (This last is required by the NEH before it will commit its funds to the project).

The Program (which we are now in the process of revising so that we can make it even better than it was last year)

The Elderquest, an archetype that images aging as the last and most important of life’s transformative journeys (rather than a time for retirement and withdrawal) is as old as Homer and Sophocles, but it has been largely overlooked. Now, however, thanks to the longevity revolution, more and more of us are growing older and older, and many of our film makers and novelists have rediscovered this old archetype and its increasing relevance. It’s central to an increasing number of films—from Wild Strawberries to About Schmidt—and an equal number of contemporary novels. More than the reemergence of an old archetype or the creation of a whole new kind of movie and story, The Elderquest presents us with compelling and increasingly numerous models for how the new, longer, healthier old age can and should be lived.

Logistics:

Films will be presented in VHS or DVD format so a large room with a video projection system is essential and our grant requires that all programs be free and open to the public as well as the members of your LLI. The program is eight weeks in length and should be conducted weekly sometime between February and the end of June. We have already produced a study guide (currently being revised and improved) to be used by facilitators and have just compiled a new list of film clips to be used in the introductory presentation.

If you want to know more about how your LLI can become involved in this exciting and increasingly relevant project, one that will both delight and instruct your members and increase your profile in the local community, please consult our website at www.olli.umb.edu Once there click on Elderquest. After that, please contact Project Director, Chuck Nicholas, at either 978-526-9228 or 617-287-7406 or email him at either chucknicholas@verizon.net or charles.nicholas@umb.edu He will be back in touch immediately to answer your questions and provide you with more details as well as an official letter of commitment which must be returned to Elderquest staff before December 7, 2006.

Thanks for your interest, and thanks to The Elderhostel Institute Network and Nancy Merz Nordstrom for helping us to reach you all.

October 11, 2008
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