Most electronic communities have little crossover communication with each other, beyond specific linkages to other sites. So there is scant crossover among the world of academia, the "world of work," and the virtual world of social media. The objective of this research is to examine e-learning communities across academic disciplines to explore "crossover" research in multiple academic disciplines, as well as in e-learning and adult learning, to see if there could be key issues brought to the foreground that affect adult learners and student retention. In addition to conducting historic research across a number of academic disciplines, the study also provides a case study that could reveal insights into factors that shed more light on adult learners and retention in online courses by traversing academic disciplines to achieve thicker research and contribute to the body of research on online adult learners in a range of academic disciplines. [For the full proceedings, see ED562107.]