Aging Faces in Aging Cities

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 24, 2017) — Stacy Torres has been selected by UAlbany’s Institute for History and Community Engagement as a Community Fellow for the 2017-18 academic year.

An assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and an associate at the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis of the University at Albany, Torres will be studying the changing needs of urban residents as they age.

Assistant Professor Stacy Torres' research revolves around aging, urban communities, gender, family and health.

“To understand local elders' lived experience of aging in place, I will conduct a qualitative in-depth interview study with approximately 45-60 elders,” Torres said. “I anticipate working with local community organizations to better understand the needs of older people in the area and to recruit potential interviewees.”

The fellowship project will expand on Torres’ research on aging in place with a special focus on minority and immigrant elders in Albany, a growing segment of the older population in the state and nationwide. Her research will look at how aging-related problems intersect with urban challenges, such as affordable housing, poverty, public transportation, crime, gentrification, urban blight and city services such as snow removal.

Torres and a team of students will work with local community organizations to recruit and interview subjects in the Albany area, beginning in early 2018. The students will assist in research design, and data collection and analysis. The project also has an oral history component, with interview subjects being asked about their lives in their communities over time as well as their as their experiences of aging.

“The ultimate goal of the interviews is to gather data about the experiences and needs of older adults in the community from their perspective to advance sociological literature and provide a historical lens into aging in place,” Torres said. “As the beneficiary of strong mentorship throughout my studies and career, I also hope the collaboration between me and my students will further opportunities for them to build their research skills, their experience with scholarly publishing, and ultimately their confidence as they advance in their studies.”

A native of New York and a first-generation college graduate, Torres has a B.A. from Fordham University, master’s degrees from Columbia University and NYU, where she also earned her Ph.D.

The Institute for History and Public Engagement was founded in 2015 with support of the University’s Compact Budget Process to serve as a liaison between the public and faculty and students in History, the Humanities and Social Sciences to bring university expertise to address community needs. The Community Fellows Program, inaugurated in 2016-17, is open to any UAlbany faculty member in the humanities.

For more information, contact the institute’s founding director John F. Schwaller, Professor of History, at [email protected].

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