This course includes coverage of historical development, labor law basics, and contemporary issues. It also discusses a survey of labor unions in the United States; focusing on their organization and their representational, economic, and political activities.

This course explores the struggles of working people to achieve dignity and security from social, economic, and political perspectives. It also explores a survey of the origin and development of unions and the labor movement from colonial times to the present.

This course serves as an orientation for the study of labor history. It explores both critical and historical methodologies based on primary and secondary sources, biases, and interpretations. Discussions focus on selective questions and events.  

This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary and advocacy approach of labor studies. Exploring labor’s role in society, the class will look at how unions have changed the lives of working people and contributed to better social policies. Discussions will highlight the relationship of our work lives to our non-work lives and will look at U.S. labor relations in a comparative framework.

Required for all Labor Studies program majors. This course provides an introduction to the Labor Studies degree and to the knowledge and skills needed by students to progress toward a degree in a reasonable time frame. Students will learn how to build a plan of study that takes advantage of both credit for prior learning and new learning opportunities.

Emphasis for this course is placed on developing learning portfolios as foundation documents for academic self-assessment and planning and as applications for self-acquired competency (SAC) credit. This course applies only as elective credit to labor studies degrees.

This course explores statutes and common-law actions protecting income, working conditions, and rights of workers. Topics include workers’ compensation, unemployment compensation, fair labor standards, Social Security, retirement income protection, and privacy and other rights.

This course explores the globalization of trade, production, and migration and the effects of these processes on American workers. Through reading, discussion, and problem formation, students will critically think about the ways global processes and policies impact American workers’ daily lives, analyze existing historical and current justifications for offshore production and the dismantling of barriers to trade and investment, and explore alternatives to these policies.

This course emphasizes development and organization of collective bargaining in the United States, including union preparation for negotiations; bargaining patterns and practices; strategy and tactics; economic and legal considerations.

This course evaluates organizational leadership issues for union, community, and other advocate organizations. It analyzes leadership styles, membership recruitment, and leadership development. It examines the role of leaders in internal governance and external affairs, including committee building, delegation, negotiations, and coalition building.

This course explores various approaches and problems in private- and public-sector organizing. Traditional approaches are evaluated in light of structural changes in labor markets and workforce demographics. Topics range from targeting and assessments to committee building and leadership development.

This is a capstone experience for associate degree students.

This course examines how work is organized and how jobs are evaluated, measured, and controlled. It explores social and technical elements of work through theories of scientific management, the human relations school of management, and contemporary labor process literature.

This course uses a political economy framework to explore and compare countries’ systems of labor relations, drawing from at least three continents. It analyzes the diverse approaches to the structure of twenty-first century labor law and social policy. It focuses on the role of organized labor in the global economy, patterns of breakdown in the enforcement of labor and employment law, and union and nonunion political and bargaining responses.

This course addresses local manifestations of global problems confronting society, workers, and the labor movement. Students will cooperatively analyze issues, propose potential solutions, and engage in activities or practices that address globally driven local issues. Students will identify governmental, non-governmental, and charitable organizations that aid in ameliorating local problems. As a final project, students will design collaborative solutions based on our contemporary global situation in which work is characterized by flexibility, insecurity, and geographic mobility.

This course covers practical and theoretical perspectives on strategic planning, budgeting, and organizational decision making. It addresses the needs and problems of union leaders by studying organizational change, staff development, and cohesiveness within a diverse workforce. This course may be repeated for up to 3 credits with department approval.

This course examines the relationship between religion and the labor movement as it has developed in the United States over the course of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Students will analyze the approach taken by religious institutions concerning workers’ issues and assess the tradition in which workers of faith connect to more secular concerns for social and economic justice.

This is a variable-title course. The transcript will show a different subtitle each time the course is taken. Some courses focus on contemporary or special areas of labor studies. Others are directed toward specific categories of employees and labor organizations. Inquire at iulabor@iupui.edu

This course helps uses historical, analytical, and comparative perspectives to examine labor movements and labor relations in industrial societies. It also emphases interactions between unions and political organizations, national labor policies, the resolution of workplace problems, the organization of white collar employees, and the issues of worker control and codetermination.

This course applies classroom knowledge in the field.

This course can be used as a classroom seminar or directed reading course. It addresses current issues, historical developments, and other labor-related concerns. Topics may vary each semester.

This is a variable-title course. L490 can be repeated for credit with different subjects. The transcript will show a different subtitle each time the course is taken. Some courses focus on contemporary or special areas of labor studies. Others are directed toward specific categories of employees and labor organizations. Inquire at Labor Studies offices.

Self-Acquired Competency (SAC) can be awarded for learning gained outside of the university setting such as learning derived from union activities and/or workplace experiences. Students must demonstrate and document that their learning is equivalent to college-level material.

To be considered for SAC credits, students must:

The student will prepare an extensive portfolio under the guidance of a Labor Studies faculty member and be interviewed by two Labor Studies faculty to determine the extent of the candidate’s knowledge of the portfolio subject matter. The determination of credit hours awarded will be based on the portfolio and interview content. The student will be responsible for paying tuition for the academic credits awarded. This is a variable-credit course worth 1 to 15 credits and may be repeated twice for a maximum of 30 credits.