College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Aging and Longevity Studies Faculty
Mercedes Bern-Klug, PhD, Director of the Aging and Longevity Studies Program
Mercedes Bern-Klug is a professor and the Director of the School of Social Work. Research interests include: long-term care; psychosocial issues in advanced chronic illness; nursing home social work; end-of-life issues; funeral arrangements; demography of population aging. She is editor of the book, Transforming Palliative Care in Nursing Homes: The Social Work Role (Columbia University Press).
Professor Bern-Klug teaches:
Global Aging (Online, asynchronous. View a 3 minute overview video) - This course is designed around the United Nations' Principles for Older Persons.
Death & Dying Across the Lifespan (In-person, selected semesters)
May Guo, PhD, Associate Professor
May Guo is a faculty member in the School of Social Work Research Interests: Family gerontology; mental health in later life; intergenerational relations; health disparties; (im)migration; cross-cultural research; social welfare research.
Professor Guo teaches:
Aging Matters: Introduction to Gerontology (In-person).
Richard MacNeil, PhD, Emeritus Professor
Richard MacNeil is an emeritus (retired) faculty member in the Department of Health and Human Physiology. His area of scholarly interest is Leisure Studies. He and colleague Michael Teague are co-editors of the book Aging & Leisure: Vitality in Later Life, published by Brown and Benchmark. Professor MacNeil teaches Aging Matters: Introduction to Gerontology asysnchronous and online during fall, spring and summer semesters.
Jean Gordon, PhD, Associate Professor
Jean Gordon is faculty member in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Her scholarly interests focus on neurogenic language disorders. She teaches Aging Matters: Introduction to Longevity and Communication Disorders and Aging.
Mark Holbrook, PhD, Lecturer
Mark Holbrook is a member of the Biology Department. He teaches Biology of Aging, both in-person and online.
Elana Buch, PhD, MSW, Associate Professor
Elana Buch is a member of the Anthropology Department. She conducts research related to home care workers. She teaches, Anthropology of Aging, The Anthropology of the Beginnings and Ends of Life, and Anthropology of Caregiving and Health.
Julianna Pacheco, PhD, Associate Professor
Julianna Pacheco is a faculty member in the Political Science Department. Her area of scholarship is health care policy. She teaches the "Politics of Aging" class both in-person and on-line. Click here for her C.V.
Brian Kaskie, PhD, Associate Professor
Brian Kaskie is a faculty member in the College of Public Health. His scholarly interests include mental health policy, and Medicare and Medicaid. He teaches Psychology of Aging in-person, usually in the spring semester, and Medicare and Medicaid Policy, every other year.
Sara Sanders, PhD, MSW, Professor
Sara Sanders is a faculty member in the School of Social Work.Her scholarly interests include: Dementia, end-of-life, and care for prisoners. She teaches Death & Dying in-person, in the fall.
David Gould, MA
David Gould is an administrator in the Belin-Blank Center and teaches Mapping the Creative Legacy.