Course Catalog - 2023-2024

     

HIST 305 - READING HISTORIES OF WORK

Long Title: READING HISTORIES OF WORK
Department: History
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Language of Instruction: Taught in English
Course Type: Lecture
Distribution Group: Distribution Group I
Credit Hours: 3
Restrictions:
Must be enrolled in one of the following Level(s):
Undergraduate Professional
Visiting Undergraduate
Undergraduate
Description: Work in the modern world is about earning a living, identity, creativity, morality, and much more. This course emphasizes discussion and writing about a common set of assigned readings. We read Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and other classic texts on work as well as important recent monographs on the experiences and meanings of work. The authors and settings of our readings are mostly European, but also extend to the Americas and other colonial and postcolonial societies since 1492. This class is useful for students who are pre-law, pre-HUM grad, or interested in economics or social theory. HIST 445 Writing Histories of Work is complementary to this course, but one does not require the other. While this course emphasizes longer, complex assigned texts and analysis, HIST 445 has fewer common readings and emphasizes individual research projects on student-chosen topics. The assignments for these two courses do not overlap.