WORK AND EMPLOYMENT ISSUES: COURSES
WORK-1000. Labour and Social Movements in Canadian Society
An interdisciplinary introduction to the study of labour and social movements, focussing on their efforts to address the needs of workers, women, gays and lesbians, social and ethnic minorities, students, and the poor.
WORK-1500. Working for a Living
This course uses the students' own experiences of work to examine the economic, social, and psychological significance of paid and unpaid work in Canadian society, the tasks and values assigned to various kinds of work, and the relationship between work and living standards.
WORK-2000. Labour Law and Workers' Rights
This course examines the everyday application of employment law and human rights legislation to workplace issues. Students investigate the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers in unionized and non-unionized environments.
WORK-2500. Worker Health and Safety
An interdisciplinary examination of the political, legal, social, and economic aspects of occupational health and safety. This course covers the history of health and safety within industrial, office, and rural contexts in Canada and other parts of the world.
WORK-2400. Work and Equality
This course explores how paid and unpaid work are gendered, valued and rewarded. Students investigate how public policy, law, collective bargaining, and advocacy enhance equality in pay and working conditions for women and racialized workers. (Prerequisites: WORK-1500 or WGST-1000 or SACR-1100 (Also offered as Work and Employment Issues WGST-2400)
WORK-2180. Everyday Conflicts and Their Resolution
Students design and practice techniques for resolving everyday conflicts with friends and co-workers effectively and respectfully, and without damaging interpersonal relationships. Students learn to focus on the problem, not the person; identify and respond to hidden agendas and subvert personal attacks. Pre-requisite: Semester 3 or above standing or permission of the instructor. (Also offered as PSYC-2180 and SJST-2180)
WORK-2600. Women and Globalization
This course introduces students to gender-sensitive analysis of the role of women in the global economy. Course materials cover the place of women in the international division of labour, the role of women in export-oriented industries in the "Third World," and women as "homeworkers" in the First and Third World. Students will utilize relevant empirical material to develop critical thinking and an understanding of gender inequalities in the "development process." (Prerequisites: at least Semester 3 standing.)(Also offered as Women's and Gender Studies WGST-2600.)
WORK-2700. Speaking Truth to Power: Voice and Activism
An examination of contemporary struggles for social change with a particular focus on anti-consumerist and environmental justice campaigns. Students learn to create persuasive social justice messages. (Prerequisite: Semester 3 or above standing.) (Also offered as DRAM-2700, SJST-2700, and CMAF-2700)
WORK-3270. Social Movements
An examination of theories and case studies of world revolutions, class struggles, and various social movements, such as the feminist, gay and lesbian, labour, native, ecological, and other movements. (Also offered as SACR-3270 and SACR-3270.) (Prerequisites: SACR-1100/101 or WORK-1000; or Labour Studies students must have at least Semester 5 standing.)
WORK-3490. Canadian Labour History
A study of the development of the Canadian labour movement and an analysis of the Canadian working-class experience during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. (Also offered as History HIST-3490.) (Prerequisites: semester 4 standing. Labour Studies majors must have Semester 4 or above standing or consent of instructor.)
WORK-3500. Investigating Contemporary Workplace Issues
Students consolidate and enhance their knowledge of workplace rights and responsibilities by identifying and analyzing labour management problems in union and non-union settings. (Prerequisites: WORK-2000 and WORK-2500 and semester 5 standing.)
WORK-3700. Industrial-Organizational Psychology
The study of employees, workplaces, and organizations. Topics include job analysis and competency models, recruitment, selection, and decision making, performance management, training, group and team processes in organizations, employee attitudes, affect, and behaviour, motivation, leadership, productive and counterproductive work behaviour. (Prerequisites: PSYC-1150 and PSYC-1160; or Labour Studies students with at least Semester 4 standing; or consent of instructor.) (Also offered as PSYC-3700.)