Earlier this semester, I published a Blog Post written by a student as part of my fall Seminar course assignments. Ezeck Warren, a 2L student at Penn State Dickinson Law, wrote an important update on “Community-Based Paths for Aging in Place: NORCS and Villages.” Ezeck paved the path for other students!

Now I have the happy task of choosing additional student submissions for publication. Keep an eye on this Blog for additional timely topics! To make it easy to follow, I recommend choosing the “Subscribe” option for the Elder Law Prof Blog. It is free and you can unsubscribe easily whenever you tire of receiving email updates.

It is appropriate that I’m writing this post on Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. This year, my special thanks go to Professor Vanessa Gruben, the Director of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa, and the Centre’s Associate Director, Dina Idriss-Wheeler, who helped to inspire and guide our seminar students throughout the fall semester, especially by offering Canadian perspectives on key topics.

A year ago I was a Fulbright Fellow residing in Canada and in residence at University of Ottawa. had the idea for this “comparative” course while attending a great research conference co-sponsored by Bruyere Health Research Institute and uOttawa, challenging us to “Imagine the Future” for health research. One of the specific dares was to imagine the future without disabilities or Alzheimer’s Disease.” Many of my seminar students took a similar approach in selecting their topics this semester!

Photo of Katherine C. Pearson Katherine C. Pearson

Katherine C. Pearson is a Professor of Law and the Arthur L. and Sandra S. Piccone Faculty Scholar at Penn State Dickinson Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Her scholarship focuses on laws and policies connected to aging and she has frequently included age-related issues…

Katherine C. Pearson is a Professor of Law and the Arthur L. and Sandra S. Piccone Faculty Scholar at Penn State Dickinson Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Her scholarship focuses on laws and policies connected to aging and she has frequently included age-related issues in her teaching of courses on contract law, conflicts of law and nonprofit organizations law.  She is a regular speaker for continuing education programs, both for consumers and lawyers, to address cutting edge concerns in consumer protection for older adults.  She is the author of articles and chapters on access to justice, senior living options including continuing care and life plan communities, long-term care financing and filial obligations, and is the co-author of a treatise, The Law of Financial Abuse and Exploitation (Bisel 2011).

She authored chapters for the Research Handbook on Law, Society and Ageing, published in 2024 as part of a series on law and society handbooks offered by international publisher Edward Elgar. She is a 2024-2025 Fulbright Scholar in Canada and was in residence at the University of Ottawa in the Fall of 2024 as the Research Chair in Health Law, Policy and Ethics.  Her earlier experience as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar (based at the Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, and working in Ireland, Portugal, and the U.K. in 2009-10), resulted in publications, including an article with an international, historical perspective on ethical concerns for attorneys representing older adults, entitled “The Lesson of the Irish Family Pub,” published by Stetson Law Review.

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