LABR 155 A-Z - Special Topics in Labor StudiesSemester Hours: 3
Periodically
Exploration of important labor issues and their impacts on working people. Areas of investigation may include historical origins of and contemporary developments in labor-management relations, pay and benefit structures, occupational health and safety, employee participation, employment diversity and inequality, immigration, the youth work force, union organizing and leadership strategy, public sector collective bargaining, workplace rights and ethical issues, worker education and training, labor theory and research methods, unions’ role in politics, government labor regulations, labor-community relations, working class literature and film, media coverage of labor, human rights in the global labor market, comparative labor movements, and global unionism.
Current Special Topics
LABR 155G - Reading Karl Marx Today
This course is an intensive study of Karl Marx’s most important work, Capital, Volume One, from the perspective of the present. We will apply the Marxian categories to present-day capitalism, determining their contemporary relevance and usefulness. We will also review how capitalism itself has evolved since the time of Marx and consider whether economic changes necessitate an extension or an abandonment of the Marxian analytical framework. Students who complete this course will have developed their own well-founded conclusions regarding the strengths and limitations of the analysis presented in Capital, particularly regarding the applicability of this analysis to contemporary capitalism. This background will provide an excellent basis for further advanced work in any of the social sciences and/or humanities where many concepts that Marx originally proposed or developed are still used, often without attribution. No prior background is required.
Crosslisted as LACS 016D , ECO 154A
Prerequisite(s)/Course Notes:
Topics may change each semester. Students may repeat the course for credit when topics vary. Specific titles and course descriptions for special topics courses are available in the online class schedule.
View Course Offering(s):
Summer Session I 2026
Summer Session II 2026
Summer Session III 2026
Fall 2026
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