Labor Studies Committee
David Berger (Program Coordinator) Economics
Philip Cox Philosophy
John Fobanjong Political Science
Daniel Georgianna Economics
Everett Hoagland English
Betty Mitchell History
Penn Reeve Sociology and Anthropology
José A Soler Labor Education Center
Robert Waxler English
Advisor for the Minor and Certificate Program
David Berger Professor of Economics
A labor studies background can help students prepare for future studies in labor law and labor relations, offer an opportunity to work for labor organizations and advocacy groups, and provide experience in public policy matters including employment issues such as health care, privatization and new technology in the workplace.
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth offers both a minor and a certificate program.
The labor studies minor offers university degree-seeking students an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of work, workers and the institutions they create to advance their interests as citizens of the workplace, the community and the nation. Its primary goal is to focus the various humanistic perspectives derived from the liberal arts on the problems and conditions of labor in society. Consequently, it involves the study of labor history, political science, sociology, anthropology, economics, psychology, philosophy and literature. It seeks to convey to students an understanding of labor as a broad social force with a constructive role to play in the solution of national and community problems.
The certificate in labor studies was created primarily to serve the needs of working adults with a high school diploma or its equivalency, who are interested in learning more about labor issues. The aim is to help people prepare for a career in labor relations, advance in their unions, learn how to handle new issues in their workplace or simply better understand the rich experience of workers and unions.
Students with a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or above and a 2.5 or higher GPA in their majors are invited to enter the labor studies minor. A course of study should be constructed around an integrating theme such as labor and socio-economic theory, race, class and gender; or labor and American thought.
Return to: