The Millennials

Most of you - my 2305 and 2306 students - are members of the millennial generation. These are people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. They comprise one of the many political generations which have helped define politics in the United States since day one and even before. There are argument - good ones - that generational replacement is one of the principle factors driving changes in public policy. It's tough to understand the rapid change in policies regarding Gay marriage, and sexual orientation in general, without it.

With apologies to the Generation Xers and Baby Boomers in the class, I'll regularly post items related to this generation over the semester. It might help the millennials understand themselves better - and the rest of us can try to figure them out too.

Here are some items that might be worth your time to get comfortable with the concept and the uniqueness of the millennials.

- Quiz: How Millennial Are You?
- Wikipedia: Millennials.
- The Civic and Political Participation of Millennials.
- Harvard Institute of Politics: What Are Millennials Thinking?
- Pew Research Center: Millennials surpass Gen Xers as the largest generation in U.S. labor force.

And some informative charts - to help your ability to communicate visually.