Courses

All courses carry 3 credits unless otherwise specified.

605 Labor Research
The principles and techniques of labor advocacy research. Includes survey research, qualitative methods, and corporate research techniques.

677 Labor Relations in the Public Sector
Labor relations processes in federal, state, and local government. Special attention to statutory requirements.

679 Women and Work
The role of women in the work force and in the trade union movement with historical, social, and economic emphasis.

696 Independent Study
Topic not covered by other course work. Consultation with faculty member required.

696D Internship Seminar
Research and writing seminar. Focus on writing and editing skills, student presentations of research, and peer review. Credit, 6.

697A Special Topics: Advanced Research Methods
Develops substantive research skills in the areas of corporate and industrial analysis to inform union strategy development in support of organizing, bargaining, corporate, sectoral, and regional campaigns and strategies.

697C Special Topics: U.S. Labor History
Examines development of capital-labor relations, U.S. unions, labor relations systems, and working class culture from the early 1800s to present.

697E Special Topics: Labor Education
Models of labor education including popular education, union skills training, and other educational approaches designed to empower workers and build their unions. Hands-on experience in curriculum development as well as critical analysis of materials.

697F Special Topics: Labor in the U.S. Economy
Introduction to labor economics. Addresses issues such as income inequality, poverty, unemployment and underemployment, declining real wages, bargaining power, and capital flight.

597W Special Topics: Organizing
Introduction to the principles and practices of union organizing. Topics include theories of organizing, internal and external organizing, and a case analysis of current organizing campaigns.

697J Special Topics: Collective Bargaining
An overview of the theory and practice of collective bargaining. Includes analysis of different approaches to bargaining, the negotiations process, contract campaigns, and implementing a contract under the law.

697M Special Topics: Work Reorganization
Work reorganization under its many titles, including “lean production,” “partnership,” and “worker empowerment.” The theory and practice of work reorganization, focusing on developing union strategy to respond effectively.

697O Special Topics: Labor and Politics
Critical examination of labor’s legislative and political activities. Topics include theories of political power, the history of the labor-liberal alliance, labor’s relations with the Democratic Party, and third-party alternatives.

697P Special Topics: Labor in a Global Economy
Examines globalization from both a theoretical and strategic perspective. Focus on the core challenges that economic internationalization presents for labor, and the means by which the U.S. labor movement can rebuild itself into an effective international force.

697Q Labor and the Media
Examination of the evolving relationship between labor and the media and also how unions communicate with their own members in an effort to build power for themselves and the people they represent.

697S Labor and Community: Coalition and Conflict
Analysis of different models of labor-community coalitions. Includes theories of labor as a social movement, issues of race and gender, coalition building with faith-based communities, student organizations, living wage movements, and other groups.

699 Master’s Thesis
Maximum credit, 6.

741 Introduction to Labor Studies
Examines contemporary issues confronting workers and their unions, in both theoretical and practical terms.

742 Labor and Employment Law
Introduction to federal law governing labor unions, the right to organize, and collective bargaining. Topics include historical examination of labor law in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the operation of the National Labor Relations Board, and the National Labor Relations Act.

745 Labor Dispute Settlement
Principles and procedures for resolving labor disputes through negotiation, mediation and arbitration.

746 Comparative Labor Movements
Labor movements and systems in various countries. Combines individual country-studies with a cross-national topical approach.

773 Labor Arbitration
Theories, principles, and processes of resolving workplace conflict through private judicial systems.