In the 1960s, three-quarters of American children lived in families with two first-time married, heterosexual parents. Today fewer than half do. The conventional family has broken into a multitude of perfect families, including gay families, multiparent families, adoptive families, foster families, families built through assisted reproduction, single parent-headed families, and child-free families. What does it mean to be an "ideal family" in America today? And for families learning to deal with their exceptional children, to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent should they help them become their best selves?
In his books New Family Values and Far from the Tree, the Professor of Clinical Medical Psychology and bestselling author Andrew Solomon explores the startling proposition that diversity is what unites us all. The experience of difference within families is universal; these stories are everyone's stories. And themes of generosity, acceptance, and tolerance expand our definition of what it is to be human.
Each year the cathedral chooses a theme for inspiration and reflection, and in 2021 our theme is healing. Join Dean Malcolm Clemens Young for a conversation with Solomon about how to make peace with difference across generations.
About the guest
Andrew Solomon, Ph.D., is a writer and lecturer on politics, culture and psychology; winner of the National Book Award; and an activist in LGBTQ rights, mental health, and the arts. He is Professor of Clinical Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry) at Columbia University Medical Center, Lecturer in Psychiatry at Yale University, and a former President of PEN American Center. He is the author of the best-selling Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity (2012), Far and Away: How Travel Can Change the World) (2016) and New Family Values (2018) among others.
