[ Golden Gater Online - September 18, 1997 ]
Given that most of us will have to work for a living, it's surprising that SF State has the only labor studies undergraduate program on the West Coast. What may be less surprising is that it's one of the fastest growing departments on campus.
The labor studies department brings that inevitable aspect of work into the spotlight by teaching us about its role in our lives. For the first time in the department's history, some of the labor studies classes were not only full but had to turn away students. In fact, Labor 250, the introductory course in the study of labor, had no room for over 35 people on a wait list.
"This never use to happen in labor studies," said Brenda Cochrane, director of the labor studies department.
The number of labor studies majors has more then doubled in the last four years, said Cochrane, The number of students taking some classes in the departments has swelled up to three times.
Cochrane attributed the sudden popularity of the program to having more labor study classes satisfying General Education and Segment III requirements.
"We just became more visible on campus," she said.
According to Cochrane, the program gives students an economic, cultural and political perspective about work and its impact on our lives.
"When we started the program 19 years ago, the idea was to get a bachelor's degree in labor studies," Cochrane said.
The core of the program includes classes such as Labor Economics, Women and Work, and Affirmative Action.
Most of the program's graduates go on to become union leaders, labor lawyers or labor relations board leaders.
"The statistics show that most people with this degree do something socially conscious," said Dionne Singleton, a labor studies graduate who now works at the SF State Career Center.
"I work here because I want to assist people get jobs," Singleton said. "Everyone works, but everyone does it for different reasons."
Historically, San Francisco is known for its pro-labor union attitudes so it is not surprising that the only labor studies undergraduate program on the West Coast is here.
Those interested in continuing their education in labor studies have to turn some place else. SF State doesn't offer the master's degree in labor studies yet, but the students always have the option of getting their masters in social studies with the emphasis in labor studies or considering Cornell University in New York, which has a labor studies, post-graduate program.
Although the department has received a lot of attention recently, it is certainly not a new development on campus. The program has been growing ever since it first launched 19 years ago.
"At that time there were a lot of people on campus interested in labor issues," Cochrane said.
Labor councils all over the Bay Area, including San Francisco, support the program not only in concept but in action. The program got as much as $30,000 in scholarships and grants just from the Bay Area labor councils alone.
[ Golden Gater - September 18, 1997 ]