US History: Workers' Perspectives ((4 Credits))

Catalog description

The course introduces students to examine American history through the struggles and victories of American workers. The American Revolution, the Civil War, Immigration and the Creation of the Working Class and the post-World War II era are the four key sections in history that will be examined. Working with primary documents, scholarly articles, and handouts, students explore the consequences and contested meaning of key episodes paying special attention to the role of working people in the development of the relative prosperity of the economy and the democratic inspiration of the country’s governing institutions. Students will also gain an understanding of how US workers and their institutions fit in with broader shifts in the national and international political economy. It is also only offered in-class at the college’s Harry J. Van Arsdale Jr. School for Labor Studies in New York City.