Gerontology minor prepares students for an aging world

From the classroom to clinical settings, students are rethinking aging and how to care for a growing population

An interdisciplinary minor, open to all students

The gerontology minor is open to students across Cornell and requires 12 credits. Students complete one of two core courses — HD 2180: Human Development: Adulthood and Aging or HD 2510: Social Gerontology: Aging and the Life Course — along with additional coursework drawn from across the university. With courses spanning multiple disciplines, from design to nutrition to public policy, the minor is designed to be flexible and easy to integrate into a wide range of majors.

“It’s about students getting knowledge that they don’t have from lived experience, and won’t have for another 50 years,” said Loeckenhoff.

As part of the minor, students also take part in hands-on experiences, working directly with older adults through research, community programs or clinical settings. For Cajoux, that work happens in long-term care facilities, where she serves as a certified nursing assistant. Much of the job is routine, helping with daily tasks and moving through the rhythms of care, but the moments that stay with her are the quieter ones.

“Allowing people to feel seen when it’s a vulnerable moment is really important,” she said.

"It's about students getting knowledge that they don't have, and won't have for another 50 years."

Corinna Loeckenoff

Janet and Gordon Lankton Professor of Developmental Psychology

From classroom learning to clinical experience

Many students first encounter the minor through its core courses. Dora John ’26, a human biology, health and society major, found it in HD 2180. “That class was very informative about what aging looks like in America,” she said. As someone planning a career in medicine, the connection was immediate. “The majority of the patients you see are typically elderly… and I wanted to learn more about this population.”

In a hospital setting, John worked with dementia patients experiencing confusion and disorientation: talking with them, reminding them where they were and helping ease moments of confusion and distress. The experience shifted how she saw aging. “They’re actually not very different—it’s like talking to a friend,” she said. It also deepened her understanding of the many factors that shape how people age: stress, environmental conditions and family connections.

For Ruizeng Wang ’26, a senior majoring in human development, the minor reshaped his academic path. After initially focusing on child development, he began exploring how environments and technology can better support older adults. “Gerontology opened a different part of my research interest,” he said.

Ruizeng Wang helping a participant in an aging exhibit

This spring, he brought that work into the public sphere by co-creating “Feel the Years,” an interactive exhibition that invited visitors to experience the physical and sensory realities of aging. Participants moved through everyday tasks while wearing a simulation suit: an exercise in translating research into something tangible. “We’re always tired of looking at all the statistics,” Wang said. “I wanted people to experience aging instead of just looking at the literature.”

Elizabeth Aldous ’26, a senior majoring in human biology, health and society, sees the field through a wider lens. “Gerontology is almost like a model for Human Ecology… it’s understanding people’s experiences and how that manifests in their health outcomes,” she said.

After transferring to Cornell, Aldous took an introductory aging course and kept going. Along the way, she participated in the GeriPal Immersive Research Program, a Human Ecology initiative which connects students with hands-on research experiences in aging, geriatric care and palliative care through Weill Cornell Medicine.

“To understand medicine, you have to not only know science: you have to know people,” she said.

Through that work, she now studies dementia caregiving, examining how social support and community resources shape outcomes for families navigating care. “There’s a common thread… a holistic approach to care… it’s not just the science, but how society shapes science and how science shapes society.”

Rethinking aging, and preparing for the future

Across their experiences in the gerontology minor, students begin to see aging differently.

For Cajoux, that shift becomes tangible in everyday moments of care. During her training as a certified nursing assistant, she was told that one resident with dementia might be difficult to connect with. But when she entered the room, something unexpected happened.

“There weren’t really words exchanged,” she said. “But we were smiling at each other… she was laughing.”

In that moment, she saw what studying aging has taught her: that connection, dignity and care can build bridges across generations.

Marie Cajoux and classmate working in an anatomy lab

Marie Cajoux ’26 (left) learning how to locate the liver on a patient using a mannequin. Photo by Margaret Tsai.

Elizabeth Aldous presenting her research poster

Elizabeth Aldous ’26 (left) presenting research findings from her experience in the GeriPal Immersive Research Program.

Dora John ’26 (left) receiving the top award at the Rice Speaking Awards. She spoke on using psychology to rethink AI in cancer care, inspired by research by Corinna Loeckenhoff. Photo by Margaret Tsai.

Interested in learning more about an aging world?

Add the gerontology minor to your Cornell coursework and explore how aging shapes individuals, communities and the future of care.

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