成人教育作為一門學科的發展與研究──專訪美國成人教育著名學者莎潤˙梅里安

The Development and Research of Adult Education as a Subject─An Interview with Dr. Sharan Merriam, an Expert in Adult Education

莎潤˙梅里安（Sharan B. Merriam）博士是美國喬治亞大學成人教育系教授，美國成人教育界著名學者。梅里安1943年5月生於紐約，1978年在羅格斯（Rutgers）大學獲得教育學博士學位。她的研究領域和學術成就主要在成人教育的哲學基礎、成人的學習與發展、質的研究方法等方面。梅里安著作等身，先後3次獲得全美Houle學術獎，曾擔任《成人教育季刊》雜誌、《成人教育年鑑（1990）》的主編。由於對美國成人教育的傑出貢獻，2003年梅里安被入選國際成人與繼續教育名人堂。

Dr Sharan Merriam is professor in adult education of the University of Georgia， a well known scholar in both the United States and worldwide. In September 1， 2004 and at her office， representing of Open Learning Research， I interviewed her about the relevant topics such as the definition of adult education， the development and research of this filed， the relationship between adult education and distance education， and the American experience in developing adult education. Dr. Merriam answered our questions respectively.