Ashton Applewhite Public Lecture at UNC Charlotte

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Research shows that ageism, while commonly experienced, is misunderstood and produces many negative life, work, and health outcomes. Like other forms of discrimination, ageism is based upon stereotypes and negative biases, which are often unconscious. These biases taint interactions in many areas of daily living, leading to the exclusion of people from groups and opportunities in educational, healthcare, employment, and other community settings. Ageist thinking can also contribute to emotional pain, although we often fail to recognize such microaggressions in our own behavior. Additionally, ageist assumptions are internalized at a young age and lead to our own negative outcomes as we age. Despite the current societal climate, where self-examination relating to biases of race, sex, and gender is earnestly encouraged, ageism still tends to be overlooked.

The Gerontology Program at UNC Charlotte is hosting Ashton Applewhite to raise awareness of this overlooked intersection of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Applewhite is a nationally recognized voice in the effort to address both ageism and ableism by helping attendees to uncover their own ageist and ableist biases, and to think more broadly about how this affects older adults and our own, aging selves. Applewhite, who will talk about the cringey experiences that motivated her to write This Chair Rocks, is the 2022 recipient of the Maggie Kuhn Award and is on FemaleOneZero’s 40 over 40—The World’s Most Inspiring Women list for 2022. She has also received past recognition from Forbes, PBS, and several other organizations that have acknowledged her trailblazing work.

Registration links are on the attached flyer. Please register in advance so that we have an accurate headcount.

The Gerontology Program at UNC Charlotte thanks its sponsors, the UNC Charlotte Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Centralina Area Agency on Aging, Southminster, Gamma Psi chapter of Sigma Phi Omega, UNC Charlotte Department of Sociology, UNC Charlotte Office of Interdisciplinary Studies, and UNC Wilmington College of Health & Human Services. Project team includes Drs. Cynthia Hancock, Kendra Jason, Christine Davis.