Issues in Work and Working Life
Section 64315
- Note: There has never been a better, or more urgent, time to examine work and working life. The COVID-19 pandemic brought to a crisis point many of the contradictions that had long been building in relation to work in the United States and around the world: the increasing gulf between CEO and worker pay; the valorizing rhetoric around heroic workers like teachers and nurses versus their actual conditions on the job; the conventional wisdom that hard work leads to success contrasted with the reality of millions of Americans working multiple jobs while stuck in poverty; and the long struggle for social-democratic safety nets for workers and their families. This thematic of WRIT 150 invites you to think and write critically about a variety of issues related to work, workers, and the workplace today, and to interrogate the way work intersects with some of the most dynamic social, political, and economic forces of our time, including struggles for civil rights and against exploitation, attempts to navigate the ongoing pandemic, and the challenges posed by climate change. Given that the majority of American college undergraduates are also workers (according to recent estimates, almost 70 percent of college students hold a job while enrolled), and given that almost every student will at some point enter the workforce after their time in formal educational settings, this course affords students the opportunity to examine the current and future landscapes of their own working lives.
- Session Dates (session code 001)
- First day of classes:
- Monday, August 21, 2023
- Last day to add:
- Friday, September 8, 2023
- Last day to change to Pass/No Pass:
- Friday, September 8, 2023
- Last day to drop without a mark of "W" and receive a refund:
- Friday, September 8, 2023
- Last day to withdraw without a “W” on transcript or change pass/no pass to letter grade:
- Friday, October 6, 2023
- Last day to drop with a mark of "W":
- Friday, November 10, 2023
- Last day of classes:
- Friday, December 1, 2023
- End of session:
- Wednesday, December 13, 2023