International Direct - Bachelor of Arts - Labor Studies

Program Description

International direct admission is for international students with advanced English-language skills. It focuses on academic, cultural, and professional growth so students can excel in school—and prepare for a successful future.

International direct students receive:

• Exclusive and rigorous academic coursework
• Priority access to in-demand courses that fit their interests
• Guidance from academic advisors and mentors
• Career development and networking opportunities
• Intensive classes with domestic students

Labor Studies is an interdisciplinary program that examines work, the workplace, workers, and their organizations. Drawing on the fields of economics, history, political science, sociology and other disciplines, courses in Labor Studies deal with such questions as:

• What roles do unions play in affecting the well-being of workers and of society more generally? How and why have those roles changed over the course of economic development in the United States and elsewhere?
• How do changes in the global economy affect work and workers?
• In the history of the United States and other countries, how have workers’ rights changed over time? How have broad political and economic developments affected those rights?
• What opportunities and challenges do workers face as racial, gender, and ethnic diversity changes in the labor force?
• What are effective methods of worker organizing and of collective bargaining by unions? How are organizing and the practices of unions affected by changes in the larger society?

By focusing on these sorts of questions, the University of Massachusetts Boston Labor Studies Program prepares students to provide critical analysis of historical controversies and to think strategically about social, political, and economic change. The program provides students with a strong foundations for a variety of occupations such as:

• Leadership, administrative, and research positions in labor unions and other social justice organizations
• Legal work, including but not only as lawyers
• Positions in government at state, local, and national levels
• Positions in non-government organizations (NGOs), working on issues from the neighborhood to the international level
• Teaching and related educational work at various levels.

The program also prepares students to be active participants in their own labor and community organizations. Indeed, students, faculty, and staff in Labor Studies are often members of and active participants in the organized labor movement and related social justice organizations.