Office of Undergraduate Research

Shipwrecked! Intergenerational Arts Adventure

SHIPWRECKED is a series of participatory arts events exploring the costs of physical and social isolation on individuals and communities as we age. The project is a collaboration between UWMs Center on Age & Community, Sojourn Theatre, Interfaith Programs for Older Adults, and the Milwaukee County Department on Aging. More Americans are living alone than ever before. Older Americans are trying to stay at home as long as possible. More than 70% of older adults live in suburbs where the infrastructure is ill-prepared to meet their needs. Through intergenerational conversations, Shipwrecked! poses a series of compelling questions - what is, or will be our island? How do or will we get the services we need? How do great (and not so great) works of literature and media depict the emotional terrain of being Shipwrecked? Do they ring true? Or not so much? What is the allure of this isolated island life? Who/what are our modern day Sirens, calling us to wreck upon the rocks and wash ashore? Who/what are our modern day fog bells (the precursor to the fog horn)? Who/what are our modern day lighthouses?

Tasks and responsibilities:

Students will -conduct research on the impact of physical and social isolation on individuals and communities. -conduct research on current demographics and mapping in the Milwaukee region. -conduct research on the era of schooners in Milwaukee. -assist in building and maintaining research partnerships. -assist in the holding of creative discussions in the spring semester (2013). -create an informational packet that describes the overall project to potential participants, partners, and press.