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Publication Perspectives on the Adult Life Course(2015-01-01) Tessler, RichardThe idea for this speech was to acquaint university students and faculty in China with the American literature on the adult life course. The basic idea is that the adult life course can only be understood by examining human lives in social context. That context is defined by the social roles which many adults play first as university students and later at work and then in families as spouses and parents. Because the timing, content, and duration of these roles vary so much, no two lives are the same. In analyzing the unique experiences of individuals I discuss 1) the influence of history; (2) the importance of time; (3) the ways in which our lives are linked to the lives of other people; and (4) the role of human agency.