Hello,

I am a student in Educational Psychology 8070, Understanding and
Facilitating Adult Learning, taught by Daphne Greenberg. I am also a
white male, age 60. Rather than wax on about the natural resistance to
change in many of us, I wanted to quote something I read this week in
Merriam and Caffarella's Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide,
Second Edition, Chapter 6, pages 121-122: "Adults are rarely just black
or white, male or female, homosexual or heterosexual, or of one cultural
origin. Rather most adults come in many shades and variations. For
example, they may be female, but also white, of Hispanic origin, and a
lesbian; or they may be male, but also black of African origin and
heterosexual. Although this complexity makes it difficult to form any
generalizations, researchers nevertheless are working to untangle the
intersections of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and
ethnicity."

Context is so critical to adult learning and literacy and I am thinking
that you don't have the entire context of my quote above.  I will tell
you the chapter title is "Sociocultural and Integrative Perspectives on
Development" and the subheading is "Socially Constructed Notions of
Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexual Orientation." 

With that said, I sense some real value in combining the two lists.
Intersections may become more readily apparent to list participants who
had confined themselves so to speak to only one of the lists, and more
important than that, the combination of lists might encourage a list
participant to integrate his or her question or comment in such a way as
to capture the implications for women, racial groups, and the poor,
singly or in a particular combination. And if a question or comment is
concerned only with women, for example, it may still be posted and
addressed as in the past I would think because the professional respect
and understanding on the list would assure it. 

In sum, I am sure there were other and much better reasons for combining
the lists, but if one reason was to integrate, contextualize, or widen
the subject matter of both lists within one, then I think that in itself
might be worth the change.

Sterling Roth
PhD Student at Georgia State University
Also:  Director of University Auditing and Advisory Services at Georgia
State University
404-651-0570
fax 404-651-1440
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