Lecture Series
Check the events calendar for upcoming lectures. You can also view our informative flyer.
Please join us for a lecture on
Tuesday, March 9th at 7:30 pm: at Academe of the Oaks
146 New Street in Decatur
In-reach and Out-reach: Gestures of Sexual Development in Boys and Girls
with Dr. Douglas Gerwin
In raising children, we are confronted by the extremes of sexism and what might be called neuter-ism. The first view (promoted, for instance, by advertising) insists boys and girls are radically dissimilar and encourages - even coerces - them to groom fundamentally different images; the second asserts that they are essentially the same and are merely conditioned - even compelled - by our society to behave in unlike ways.
Based on recent research in child development, we will recreate together the gestures of feminine and masculine growth in both girls and boys during their younger years and explore some of the psychological distresses they face during adolescence. These living, formative gestures may help us understand: Why do more girls than boys develop eating disorders? Why do more boys than girls exhibit attention deficit and hyperactivity? And, on the other hand, why in recent times are these gender gaps narrowing?
Douglas Gerwin, Ph.D. is Director of the Center for Anthroposophy, including Chair of its Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program, and Co-Director of the Research Institute for Waldorf Education. Himself a Waldorf graduate, Dr. Gerwin has taught for 30 years at university and high school levels in subjects ranging from biology and history to German and music. He is editor of four books related to Waldorf education - For the Love of Literature: A Celebration of Language and Imagination; Genesis of a Waldorf High School; The Andover Proceedings: Tapping the Wellsprings of Health in Adolescence; And Who Shall Teach the Teachers: The Christ Impulse in Waldorf Education - as well as author of various articles on adolescence and the Waldorf curriculum. Most recently he co-authored Survey of Waldorf Graduates, the first comprehensive look at how North American Waldorf graduates fare in college and beyond. He currently resides in Amherst, Massachusetts with his wife Connie, a Waldorf high school teacher of mathematics.
