The studies in this volume up to this point represent the end point of a collaborative process that began in the 1980s. In this chapter we will take you back on our journey through this process, from the initial planning session to a series of workshops and a good many research meetings. The authors of the preceding chapters are not a perfect match for the authors of papers at the workshops. Consistent with the nature of workshops, some new working arrangements developed out of the discussion sessions.

The nature of cross-disciplinary study is best experienced by taking on the roles of the historians and the developmentalists in their struggle to work out a common ground. We hope that the lessons of this collaborative process will inform and strengthen cross-disciplinary ventures in the years to come.

The proposal

Responding to the rapidly expanding interest in aging across the life span, a group of social scientists led by Matilda Riley of the National Institute on Aging formed a committee (circa 1977) at the Social Science Research Council to pursue a deeper, multidisciplinary understanding of human development over the life course, with particular emphasis on the middle and later years (Elder, 1985; Sorensen, Weinert, & Sherrod, 1986).