Tamiment Seminar in Labor and Social History
New York University's Tamiment Institute and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives is launching a seminar in labor and social history that will begin in March of 2003. The seminar will take place at the Tamiment Institute which is on the 10th floor of New York University's Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South in New York City. We will meet on the second Wednesday of each month from 6:30 to 8:30 PM during the academic year.
We encourage the submission of papers that place the history or work, labor, and the left within broad cultural and political contexts. Our hope is that the seminar will be interdisciplinary, international in scope, and contribute to expanding the boundaries of labor and social history. It is conceived of as a venue for works in progress. Papers from all methodological perspectives are welcomed including those that draw on theoretical models, labor narratives, linguistic analysis, and new scholarship that relates history to memory. Some of the areas that we hope to explore include:
- Work, changing work processes, managerial structures, class formation, and the relationship between class and community
- Race, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation and their impact on the labor movement, labor politics, work culture, and the working class experience
- The new work culture of white collar professionals as well as blue collar work cultures and how these have changed over time
- The impact of globalization on labor, the nature of work, and the union movement
- The social reproduction of labor, and labor in the domestic sphere
- Labor and the left as shapers of public policy
- The role of left-wing writers, artists, and intellectuals
- The public representation of labor, and the way workers are portrayed in the nation's historical memory
The format of the seminar will be as follows: papers will be circulated in advance, presenters will take 10 to fifteen minutes to contextualize their work; this will be followed by a 15 to 20 minute formal comment, and a 60 to 75 minute general discussion.
New York University will reimburse presenters and commentators for travel expenses.
Those wishing to participate either by presenting papers, commenting, or by being part of the monthly seminar meetings, please contact: Michael Nash, Head, Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012, 212-998-2428, mn46@nyu.edu.
The other members of the organizing committee are Professor Brian Greenberg, Monmouth University; Professor Molly Nolan, New York University; and Professor Daniel Walkowitz, New York University.