MIDMAC Website

Other data sources on midlife,
aging, and the life course:

HRS and AHEAD

Wisconsin Longitudinal
Study (WLS)

National Survey of Families
and Households (NSFH)

National Longitudinal
Studies

Institute for Social Research:

ISR's homepage

Survey Research Center

ICPSR

• Download Mail and Phone Questionnaires

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Summer Workshop on Midlife in the United States

May 31 through June 4, 1999
University of Michigan (Institute of Social Research)
Ann Arbor, MI

The Midlife in the United States Summer 1999 Workshop will be a five-day workshop which brings together renowned researchers in the area of aging and adult development, with graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and assistant professors who are hoping to expand their research in the area of aging and adult life. The purpose of the workshop is twofold:

1. to teach young scholars about the content and structure of the newly-released MIDUS (Midlife in the United States) survey data set, collected under the auspices of The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development (MIDMAC);
2. to provide young scholars a forum where they may present and discuss their research ideas with senior researchers, spanning the fields of sociology, psychology, public health, economics, and anthropology.

A follow-up conference is being planned for summer 2000, where participants from the summer 1999 workshop will present their original research based on MIDUS data, and will discuss their work with senior researchers. MIDMAC is an interdisciplinary research group that consists of 13 scholars from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds. The network was established in 1989 to study a little-known period in the life-span: middle age.

MIDMAC network members, including David Featherman (Department of Sociology, University of Michigan), Hazel Markus (Department of Psychology, Stanford University), and Carol Ryff (Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin), as well as other members of the University of Michigan faculty, including Robert J. Willis (Department of Economics) will lead discussions on cutting-edge topics in life course research. Discussions will focus on diverse topics such as: bridging quantitative and qualitative methods; exploring the meaning of the "good life;" exploring the interface between social structural factors and microlevel experiences; and bringing "the body" (or biological factors) back into social science research.

The program will accept 10-15 young scholars (i.e. persons who have earned their PhDs in the last five years) for the five-day workshop. All travel expenses, including airfare, meals, and lodging will be paid by the MIDMAC Network of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Applicants should submit a vitae; a one-page summary of their past research experience and current research interests; a writing sample (e.g., a published paper, dissertation chapter, or seminar paper); and a 1-2 page proposal outlining the specific research question(s) they hope to explore at the workshop. The selection committee will purposively select participants so that a broad range of academic disciplines, including psychology, sociology, economics, anthropology, and public health are included.

Applications should be sent NO LATER than February 15, 1999 to: Deborah Carr, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Michigan, 500 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1382. For further information, call 734-763-1220, or send e-mail to carrds@umich.edu.