OTL Book Club - Generation Me

Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 12:00 – 1:30 pm, 144 Purdy/Kresge Library (Simons Room) (Flyer, PDF)

Join us for the OTL Book Club, designed to offer faculty a chance to meet during lunch once a semester to discuss meaningful and interesting books. Our book this semester, Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled - And More Miserable Than Ever Before, by Dr. Jean Twenge takes a closer look at many of the students we’re seeing in our classes today. They are today's young people, a new generation with sky-high expectations and a need for constant praise and fulfillment. In this provocative new book, Twenge documents the self-focus of what she calls "Generation Me" - people born in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Herself a member of Generation Me, Twenge explores why her generation is tolerant, confident, open-minded, and ambitious but also cynical, depressed, lonely, and anxious.

Using findings from the largest intergenerational study ever conducted - with data from 1.3 million respondents spanning six decades - Twenge reveals how profoundly different today's young adults are - and makes controversial predictions about what the future holds for them and society as a whole. But Twenge
doesn't just talk statistics - she highlights real-life people and stories and vividly brings to life the hopes and dreams, disappointments and challenges of Generation Me. Join us as we discuss the implications of this book and attempt to better understand the “Generation Me” students in our own classrooms.

Registrants will receive a free copy of Twenge’s book prior to the discussion and lunch will be provided for all attendees. Space is limited to 10 participants, so reserve a spot soon and arrange to pick up your book by emailing us at otl@wayne.edu.