HDFS 249N provides a basic introduction to concepts, theoretical perspectives, and key empirical studies on adult development and aging. Students will become familiar with key developmental trends and challenges that must be addressed to achieve healthy growth and development throughout adulthood and late life. The course addresses changes in physical health, cognition, and psychosocial functioning (including mental health, social roles and relationships, and transitions in work and retirement); and the implications of these changes for issues such as risk of disability, dementia, caregiving, and end-of-life decisions. For each topic, students will become familiar with major theoretical frameworks, approaches to empirical research, and findings from empirical studies. Key features of this course are its attention to: how biological, cognitive and social changes combine to influence overall adaptation and throughout the aging process; the ways in which adult development and aging occurs in the context of families, social relationships, neighborhoods and communities, and the larger cultural context; and how theories and empirical findings can be applied to promote healthy adult development and aging. 

ENGL 15 is a rhetorically based experience in reading and writing that will prepare you both to understand the communications that surround you and to succeed in your own communication efforts. The goal of ENGL 15 is to help you build on what you already know how to do as you become a more confident reader and writer. You will become more attuned to your goals as a writer, more aware of the ongoing conversation surrounding the topic, and more resourceful in terms of the appropriate delivery of your information, the rhetorical appeals at your disposal, and the needs and expectations of your audience.