Professor Weisner's research focuses on a longitudinal sample of Euro American countercultural young adults of the 1960s and early 70s, now somewhere in their late forties and fifties. This group came of age as part of a cohort with a unique generational identity that influenced their future development as adults and how they raised their own children. In midlife, these individuals vary widely in their commitment to their countercultural values. Their children, now young adults themselves, exhibit some surprising continuities with, as well as some paradoxical differences from, the values of the 60s. The midlife experiences of the countercultural cohort are yoked in complex ways to past identities and to the coming of age of this new generation.

Cultural Functions of "the Midlife" in Contemporary America: Generations, Race, Class, Culture and History

This lecture is the third of a series given in conjunction with this CAS interdisciplinary initiative during the spring semester 2000. One of the foremost age theorists in America, Miller Endowment Visiting Professor Margaret Morganroth Gullette began the series in February with "The Contrived War Between 'The Boomers' and 'The Xers'". Katherine Newman, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University discussed "A Different Shade of Gray: Growing Old in the Inner City" in March.

Sponsored by: Center for Advanced Study

In conjunction with: Afro-American Studies and Research Program, Department of Anthropology, Department of History, Department of Speech Communication, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, School of Social Work, Women?s Studies Program.