HON 1103: Labor Histories & the Future of Work
Course Description
As new college students, you begin your educational journeys in a climate of uncertainty about the future of labor. You set schedules, choose majors, and prepare to enter the workforce in the wake of pandemic rhetoric about “essential and inessential workers” and against a backdrop of news and magazine headlines about the rise of AI and automation, “quiet quitting,” and “The Great Resignation.” At the same time, you enter an institution of higher learning during a period publicly labeled a “crisis,” in which conversations about contingency, precarity, and the erosion of academic freedom loom beneath the surface of the day-to-day operations of universities worldwide. In this class, we will confront 21st-century concerns about labor and interrogate the cultural scripts we’ve all received about what work is—that we must love it; that it must be a source of joy, affirmation, and personal fulfillment; that it offers a clear path toward upward mobility and financial stability, etc. We will discuss how these ideas about work tie into local and global histories of labor and labor movements, our own professional experiences and relationships to work, and our individual/cultural perceptions of our economic and employment prospects. Most importantly, we will search for new narratives to make sense of the work we do and will go on to do in our lives.
English 1103 is an advanced composition course and an intensive writing class designed to help students communicate clearly and concisely in academic settings and for a variety of audiences. You will learn to think critically, develop a sense of style, and manipulate language, images, and other media to explain and analyze different ideas. The primary goal of this class is to integrate reading, writing, research skills, and digital innovation to produce effective arguments
Dr. Shannon Finck • August 22, 2023