ETHNC 2510 - Diversity Scholars: Land and Labor

Land and labor make all of our lives possible. This course centers the people whose labor supports our lives and the lands which nourish our survival. It is a people’s history course of our society that centers working class people, people of color, and indigenous peoples. Course material delves into the history of U.S. land management and labor practices which have produced a deeply unequal social and economic system. Through exploring systems such as chattel slavery, native dispossession, colonization, industrialization, and migrant labor, students will explore the ways in which power over land and labor is deeply tied to race, gender, and class. This course also centers the ways in which people of color, indigenous peoples, and workers collectively organize to transform their conditions and build more just and equitable societies. Students will also take part in a semester-long community-engaged learning component in which they connect course themes to their work at a community site. We hope students will leave with more food for thought on the following question: How can land and labor sustain us all equally and equitably?