Charting a Course in Gerontology

In this issue of Generations Journal, senior gerontologists describe their professional odysseys, mapping a complex landscape of personal, interpersonal, and sociocultural factors in the gerontology field. As the gerontologists age, their professional narratives are interwoven with autobiography. We are a group of emerging scholars who looked to this issue as a map of the field. We drew connections between our experiences and those of the senior scholars and found a common principle of proximity to study and describe aging, including multidisciplinary perspectives, closeness to our communities, and shared empathy across life stages-all of which are essential to gerontology.