Welcome to More than a Song: Adventures in Lifelong Learning and Adult Education! This blog is a personal narrative, a sharing of information, and a medium for commentary. I hope you will enjoy it.

As a long-time denizen of higher education, and as a devoted lifelong learner, I have been engaged in formal and informal learning activities throughout my adult life. Much of my ongoing learning has been for cultural enrichment and personal growth. I love history, music and singing, mystery and suspense novels, sports, travel, and bad weather. I’m even developing an appreciation for art, as attested to by the photo above, taken at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts! These learning experiences will form a big focus of this blog. I believe we are in a golden age for adult education and lifelong learning. I will happily share some of my adventures here.

In addition, I have been strongly influenced by, and have enjoyed warm associations and friendships with, pioneering adult educators such as Ronald Gross and the late John Ohliger. In fact, I discovered the works of both Ron and John before I could even legitimately claim to be an “adult”! I would later make contact with them, including personal visits and many email exchanges. Their embrace of lifelong learning and independent scholarship, joined by a spirit of eclectic curiosity, have stuck with me for the long haul. In the case of John Ohliger, his unpublished memoir helped to inspire the title of this blog, as an early post here explains!

I also am fortunate that my vocation complements my love of learning. My “day job” — and often my evening job, too — is that of law professor. Since 1994, I’ve taught at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, specializing in employment law, public interest law, and law & psychology. I’ve developed a significant subject-matter expertise in workplace bullying, mobbing, and abuse. You can get a sense of my academic work by visiting my professional blog, Minding the Workplace. (I’m proud to say that MTW has attracted some 1,800+ subscribers and some 1.2 million page views since its 2008 launch.)

So, here’s to the joy and reward of learning throughout our lifetimes. I appreciate your readership. Thanks for stopping by.

David Yamada
dyamada@suffolk.edu