Growing Up

Surely an odd title for a course for people over 50. When I wrote the book on which this course will be based, I thought my target audience would be young people, their parents, and their educators. Instead, I discovered that all of us, regardless of age, wonder whether when, and to what extent, if, we’ve grown up. We’ll look at just what it means to be an adult, eschewing standard definitions; and in that context, explore such themes as mortality, power, fear of failure, identity, and relationships.

Required Reading: Frank C. Strasburger, Growing Up: Limiting Adolescence in a World Desperate for Adults, ISBN 978-1770975576.

Frank Strasburger has spent 45 years as an Episcopal priest, many of those as a campus chaplain. That experience helped him understand that the ways most of us think about growing up do not always lead to adulthood. Knowing that some children are surprisingly wise and mature while a great many adults are not is the paradox that led him over twelve years ago to write Growing Up. He is eager to share what he has discovered.