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This sophomore writing seminar considers questions of ethics and justice in thinking through contemporary issues in law and everyday practice concerning people with disabilities and the disability experience, including discrimination in the workplace, education, and public sphere. Beginning with an interrogation of the relationship between the law and ethics, we will then explore the history of disability policy and law, and in doing so, closely examine the implications of a number of Supreme Court decisions. We will conclude by evaluating global perspectives on the contemporary state as well as future of disability rights, particularly as they intersect with bioethical debates. As a writing-intensive seminar, this course will allow for the development of critical thought and reasoning in both oral and written communication.

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This course explores the varied experiences of ethnic Mexican workers in the United States from the early Industrial Period to the contemporary debates concerning the transnational effects of migrant labor. We will examine the ways ethnic Mexican men and women have organized at a regional, national, and international level, and in both rural and urban settings, for fair employment and civil rights. Close attention will be given to several historical factors that have helped shape Mexican American working-class identity. Ultimately, the course will determine how ethnic Mexican workers have contested their purported role as 'cheap' and 'tractable' labor to demand better wages, working conditions, and an end to the socio-economic discrimination they encountered. As this course is a writing seminar, we will spend a lot of in-class time discussing the material we read from both an analytical and writing-structure standpoint. Students will also be required to critique and revise their own writing.

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In this class we will get an inside view of labor-management relations by closely examining previously little known original documents that reveal how managers and workers conceptualized and used their own and their counterpart’s sense of identity. From psychological testing of middle-managers that measured employees’ sexual identity in the 1950s, to employers’ plans to instill race prejudice among previously integrated union members, we will zero in on a number of examples from the past and enjoy the richness and depth that only primary source evidence can offer. This is a writing seminar, and as such it places emphasis on producing thoughtful, well-written papers. Students will be graded on class participation (discussions, workshops, and exercises) and on six essay papers which they will have the opportunity to revise based on the feedback provided by the instructor and by their peers.

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This course reflects on two questions: how have women now gained more access to powerful leadership positions? Yet why do men continue to have far more access to powerful leadership positions? The course will be divided into three parts. First, we will place the subject of women, gender, and leadership in historical context. Second, we will move to the present to consider the status and experiences of women in different sectors (i.e., business, government), different organizations (i.e., corporations, unions), and different cultures. Third, we will use readings and discussions as a foundation to embark upon individual research projects. While this course fulfills the second writing requirement, students also will be expected to participate actively in discussion and to collaborate in small groups on selected assignments.

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The majority of existing union members are women and workers of color, and, since the mid-1980s, the majority of newly organized workers have been women of color, particularly Black women and recent immigrants from Latin America. Yet, with the exception of just a handful of unions, the labor movement still has been slow to build on this support and enthusiasm. This course will focus on the challenges and possibilities created by the changing demographics of race and gender in the contemporary labor movement. Through a combination of readings, small group discussions, guest speakers, and library and on line research, short essays and one longer research paper; the course will examine these issues from an historical, demographic, labor relations, and sociological perspective.

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In this elective, we will explore changes and continuities in women's work throughout 19th- and 20th-century America, defining work not just as paid labor but also as childbirth, childrearing, and unpaid domestic chores. Readings will focus on the experiences of individual women workers, the ways that sex-segregated labor has been socially and economically undervalued, and the norms affecting occupational boundaries.

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This course will explore aspects of the African American past during the 19th and 20th centuries through both the memoirs left by these men and women and biographical accounts written by historians. The interplay between the individual and the larger social, political, and religious setting is one point of emphasis. Assignments in the course include an occasional short essay, and a major term paper developed in consultation with the professor. So background in African American history is desireable.

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This course will study multiple aspects of colleges and universities. We will examine the public mission of higher education institutions and the way this has been altered by privatization and “corporatization” trends that encourage colleges and universities to function as market actors. Other topics to be explored include the changing structure of labor in the university, with the expansion of the administration, the reduction of tenure-track/tenured faculty lines, and the growth of contingent faculty and graduate student employment in teaching and research. The course will examine the impact of such trends and changes on faculty and student rights, including academic freedom, freedom of speech, due process, shared governance, and rights to unionize and collectively bargain.

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While the Brown decision seemed to end de jure segregation in America, a series of court cases and continuing housing, lending and other nationwide policies interfered with our Nation’s ability to end de facto segregation. This course will critically examine US and state Supreme Court decisions and civil rights commentary to try and understand what happened after the historic 1954 Brown decision in order to understand why many observers believe we are still more than less a segregated society.

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The majority of existing union members are women and workers of color, and, since the mid-1980s, the majority of newly organized workers have been women of color, particularly Black women and recent immigrants from Latin America. Yet, with the exception of just a handful of unions, the labor movement still has been slow to build on this support and enthusiasm. This course will focus on the challenges and possibilities created by the changing demographics of race and gender in the contemporary labor movement. Through a combination of readings, small group discussions, guest speakers, and library and on line research, short essays and one longer research paper; the course will examine these issues from an historical, demographic, labor relations, and sociological perspective.

Instructor Consent Required (Add)

Additional Information

This course will study multiple aspects of colleges and universities. We will examine the public mission of higher education institutions and the way this has been altered by privatization and “corporatization” trends that encourage colleges and universities to function as market actors. Other topics to be explored include the changing structure of labor in the university, with the expansion of the administration, the reduction of tenure-track/tenured faculty lines, and the growth of contingent faculty and graduate student employment in teaching and research. The course will examine the impact of such trends and changes on faculty and student rights, including academic freedom, freedom of speech, due process, shared governance, and rights to unionize and collectively bargain.

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The purpose of this course is to provide students with space to prepare an academic article of publishable or fundable quality. Each student will work on a project related to her/his research, and you must begin the semester with an outline or draft of a qualifying paper, dissertation chapter, manuscript or funding proposal that you want to develop. Each week will discuss a group of readings focused on the craft of social science writing and go over assigned writing exercises. Key issues we will discuss include: refining research questions, constructing relevant literature reviews, how to leverage empirical evidence to advance your argument effectively, journal selection, responding to reviewers concerns, seeking external funding, and practical tips for writing productivity. You will also be responsible for doing a close reading of a peer’s draft, and facilitating a workshop discussion. Everyone will get a chance to put their writing under the microscope at least once. While the course is geared towards PhD students engaged in academic research and publication, Masters-levels students are also invited to join.

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While the Brown decision seemed to end de jure segregation in America, a series of court cases and continuing housing, lending and other nationwide policies interfered with our Nation’s ability to end de facto segregation. This course will critically examine US and state Supreme Court decisions and civil rights commentary to try and understand what happened after the historic 1954 Brown decision in order to understand why many observers believe we are still more than less a segregated society.

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Pre-requisites: The course will be offered over four consecutive evenings. It will be open to both ILR and non-ILR students at the upper division and graduate level who have a sufficient background in the social sciences. Enrollment open to ILR and non-ILR juniors, seniors, and graduate students. Limited to 30 students. The proposed course will introduce students to the theory of collaborative or interest-based conflict resolution and will describe recent efforts to use these techniques to resolve important public policy issues. The course will be based substantially, but not exclusively, on the work of the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution, a national non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, which has been applying collaborative problem solving to issues of importance at the national policy level for several years. Three cases of collaborative decision making will be examined in detail: health care coverage and the Affordable Care Act; nutrition and wellness; and education reform. Robert Fersh, ILR B.S. ¿72, J.D. Boston University ¿75, the president of Convergence, and Richard Korn, ILR B.S. ¿71 and Ph.D. ¿79, the chairman of the board of trustees of Convergence, will serve as co-instructors in the course.