Lecture Series

Each year, the CWCS sponsors approximately five on-campus presentations on Working-Class Studies. Most of these are co-sponsored with other Youngstown State University departments and programs, and all are open to the public. To ensure that local workers and community members are aware of these events and feel welcome, we reach out through press releases, advertising, radio interviews, and personal contacts, and in many cases we set up special opportunities for our visitors to meet with community people.

2011 - 2012 Series

Photographic Exhibition:  Women of the World:  A Photographic Journey of New Americans in the Mahoning Valley

Interviews by Rosemary D’Apolito, Professor of Sociology, Youngstown State University and CWCS Affiliate

Photographs by Maria Bleahu

Video Presentation by Launa Buettell, Mainstream Music & Video

Co-sponsored by the YSU Sociology and Anthropology Department, and the YSU Gerontology Department

“The New Jim Crow” Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Michelle Alexander, Associate Professor, Law, Stanford Law School; Civil Rights lawyer, advocate and legal scholar

Author of The New Jim Crow:  Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Co-sponsored by the YSU Office of Diversity, the YSU Department of Criminal Justice, Eastern Gateway Community College, Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative, New Bethel Baptist Church, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Planning Committee, Barnes & Noble, and the Buckeye Review.

Labor and Community Organizing:  Boundaries and Opportunities

Wade Rathke, Chief Organizer, Acorn International

Author of Citizen Wealth:  Winning the Campaign to Save Working Families

Co-sponsored by the YSU Sociology and Anthropology Department

Do Journalists Care about the Working Class?

George Packer, staff writer, The New Yorker Magazine, and CWCS Visiting Scholar

 Co-sponsored by the Journalism Program

2010 - 2011 Series

Social Formations:  Popular Culture and the Working Class

Kathleen Newman, Associate Professor, English Department, Carnegie-Mellon University

Author of Radio Active: Advertising and Consumer Activism, 1935-1947

Co-sponsored by the Department of Communications

Images of Youngstown: Landscapes in Film and Literature

Derrick Jones, Filmmaker and Instructor, Bowling Green State University,

Film: 631

Christopher Barzak, YSU English Department,

Author of The Love We Share Without Knowing

Co-sponsored by the YSU Africana Studies Program

Accountable Development and Smart Growth for Working-Class Communities

Greg LeRoy, Good Jobs First

Author of The Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation

Co-sponsored by the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative

2009 - 2010 Series

The Health Care Crisis and Working-Class Communities

Sherrod Brown, United States Senator, Ohio

Working-Class Communities and the Future of Manufacturing

Richard McCormack, editor, Manufacturing and Technology News and editor, Manufacturing a Better Future for America

Forum for Business, Economic, and Political Science Students and Faculty

Co-sponsored by Williamson College of Business Administration and the Alliance for American Manufacturing

Factories and Steel Workers: Constructions of Class in Contemporary Native American Literature

Michele Fazio, Assistant Professor, English, University of North Carolina, Pembroke

Winner of Working-Class Studies Association Best Dissertation Award 2009

Co-sponsored with the English Department

Kelly Pavlik: A Sociological Study of Reporting on the Man and the City

James Rhodes, Simon Research Fellow, University of Manchester (UK) and visiting professor at the Center for Working-Class Studies

Co-sponsored with the Sociology and Anthropology Department

2008 - 2009 Series

The State of American Workers

Steve Greenhouse, The New York Times, author of The Big Squeeze:  Tough Times for American Workers  

Co-sponsored by the YSU Journalism Program and Labor Studies Program

Understanding Work:  Two Perspectives on Workers’ Lives

Alessandro Portelli, Professor of Literature, University of Rome, La Sapenza

Tim Strangleman, Professor of Sociology, University of Kent (UK)

Teacher Workshop:  Learning about Work:  Hands-on Strategies for the Classroom

Alessandro Portelli, Professor of Literature, University of Rome, La Sapenza

Tim Strangleman, Professor of Sociology, University of Kent (UK)

Sherry Linkon, Co-Director/CWCS, Youngstown State University

Donna DeBlasion, Professor of History, Youngstown State University

Martha Pallante, Professor of History, Youngstown State University

Co-sponsored by YSU/Beeghly College of Education, YSU/College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, YSU/History Department Center for Applies History and the Ohio Humanities Council

Assignment Youngstown:  A Panel Discussion on 2008 Election Reporting on the Working Class and Youngstown

Jonathan Kaufman, The Wall Street Journal

Connie Schultz, The Plain Dealer

Marilyn Geewax, NPR

Moderator:  Todd Franko, The Vindicator

Co-sponsored by YSU/Journalism Program and The Vindicator

Reception prior to presentations sponsored by The New York Times

March 26, 2009, McKay Auditorium, 7:30 pm

New Approaches to Journalism and Reporting on the Working Class

Craig Duff, Chief Video Journalist and Director of Multimedia at Time.com

Co-sponsored by YSU/Journalism Program

New Approaches to Journalism and Reporting on the Working Class:  A Multimedia Workshop for Professional and Student Journalists

Craig Duff, Chief Video Journalist and Director of Multimedia at Time.com

Alyssa Lenhoff, YSU/Journalism Program

Co-sponsored by YSU/Journalism Program

Three Working-Class Poets

William Boggs, Slippery Rock University, Greatest Hits (Pudding House Publications, 2003)

Nancy Krygowski, Co-Director, Gist Street Reading Series, Velocity(University of Pittsburgh Press, 2007)

Naton Leslie, Siena College, Emma Saves Her Life (Turning Point Press, 2007)

Co-sponsored by YSU/Poetry Center and YSU/English Department

2007 - 2008 Series

Remembering Black Monday, 1977-2007: A Roundtable Discussion

Staughton Lynd, Attorney: Gerald Dickey, USW; Rev. Edward Wisheimer, Ecumenical Coalition; William Farragher, Youngstown Sheet and Tube

Co-sponsored by the Youngstown Historical Center, Mahoning Valley Historical Society Young Leaders’ Advisory Board, YSU Center for

Applied History, and the Office of Social Action/Diocese of Youngstown

Geographies of Hope and Despair for Atlanta’s Latino, African American, and White Day Laborers

Terry Easton, Marion Brittain Fellow, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007 Winner, Best Dissertation in Working-Class Studies

Co-sponsored with the YSU American Studies Program

Spinning Rebellion: The Attica Prison Uprising, the Media, and the (Mis)Shaping of Working-Class Politics in Post-19702 U.S.

Heather Thompson, Soros Justice Fellow, History Professor, University of North Carolina

Co-sponsored by YSU Journalism Program and History Department

The China Labor Conundrum: Engage or Sanctions?

Katie Quan, Director, Henning Center for International Labor Relations, University of California at Berkeley

Co-sponsored by the YSU Labor Studies Program, Williamson College of Business Administration

Real Country: Music and Language in Working-Class Culture

Aaron Fox, Associate Professor of Music, and Director, Center for Ethnomusicology, Columbia University

Co-sponsored by the YSU Music Department

2006 - 2007 Series

Accountability Efforts in U.S. Schools:  Examining the Impact Across Racial, Class and Linguistic Groups

Carlos Diaz, Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Florida Atlantic University

Co-sponsored by the Beeghly College of Education

Woman and Work in Modern China

Tong Xin, Director, Center for Chinese Workers,

Professor, Sociology Department, University of Peking

Co-sponsored by the Sociology and Anthropology Department and Labor Studies Program

Working Ohio/Working Youngstown:  A Photographic and Poster Exhibition

Steven Cagan, Photographer, and the Center for Working-Class Studies

Working Ohio/Working Youngstown:  Reception and Gallery Talk

Steven Cagan, Photographer, and Alyssa Lenhoff, Director, Journalism Program, YSU

Co-sponsored by the Journalism Program

Laughing Matters:  Entertainment Television’s Mockery of the Working Class

Pepi Leistyna, Professor, Applied Linguistics, University of Massachusetts (Boston)

Co-sponsored by the American Studies Program

2005 - 2006 Series

Wal-Mart and the Wal-Martization of American Industry

Thomas Palley, Former Chief Economist, US-China Economic and Security Commission and author of  Plenty of Nothing: The Downsizing of the American Dream and the Case for Structural Keynesianism

In conjunction with the showing of Wal-Mart:  The Hidden Costs of Low Prices

Co-sponsored by the Economics Department and the WCBA

Memorializing Steelwork:  Public Art in Youngstown

Greg Moring, Art Department/YSU and Sherry Linkon, American Studies/YSU

Co-sponsored by the Art Department and McDonough Museum

Poetry Reading

Diane Gilliam Fisher, CWCS Community Affiliate, author of Kettle Bottom and One of Everything

Co-sponsored by the English Department

The Ethical Challenges of Globalization

John Coleman, S.J.  Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, Professor of Social Values

Co-sponsored by the Philosophy and Religious Studies Department

Journalism of Work and Class

Paul Nyden, Senior Reporter, Charleston Gazette

Co-sponsored by the Journalism Program

2004 - 2005 Series

Homeland:  Middle America after 9/11

Dale Maharidge, ProfessorColumbia University and 1990 Pulitzer Prize winner

Co-sponsored by the Journalism Program

Intensive Care:  A Play

Jeanne Bryner, nurse and award-winning poet

Co-sponsored by the Nursing Department

Working-Class Conservatism:  From Hard Hats to NASCAR Dads

Jefferson Cowie, Professor, Cornell University, 2000 Taft Labor History Award winner

Co-sponsored by the History Department

Clash of Globalizations?:  The Politics of International Labor Rights

Thomas Greven, Professor, Political Science, Free University of Berlin

Co-sponsored by the Political Science Department

The African-American Freedom Struggle:  Shifting Visions and Strategies

Joe W. Trotter, Professor and Chair, History Department, Carnegie Mellon University

Co-sponsored by the Africana Studies Program

Understanding the Other:  Class and Journalism in America

Brent Cunningham, Managing Editor, Columbia Journalism Review

Co-sponsored by the English Department

New Working-Class Studies:  Past, Present and Future

Biennial Conference and the CWCS 10th Anniversary

2003 - 2004 Series

The Invisible Employers in Immigration Law Enforcement: The Case of the “Chandler Roundup” in Arizona

Mary Romero, School of Justice Studies, Arizona State University, author of Maid in the USA

Co-sponsored by the Criminal Justice Department

The Consequences of Class in Italian-American Culture

Fred Gardaphe, Italian/American Studies Program, SUNY-Stony Brook, President of the American Italian Historical Association and author ofLeaving Little Italy

Co-sponsored by the American Studies Program

The Relationship Between the Civil Rights Movement and the Labor Movement: Connections, Contradictions, and Contemporary Lessons

Dorian Warren, Political Science Department, Yale University and Erskine Peters Fellow in African-American Studies, University of Notre Dame

Co-sponsored by the Africana Studies Program and Labor Studies

Crossing Class Boundaries:  Blue Collar Roots, White Collar Dreams

Alfred Lubrano, reporter, Philadelphia Inquirer, contributing writer, GQ, and author of Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams

Press Day Presentation: Working-Class Roots and the Development of a Reporter

Co-sponsored by the Journalism Program

2002 - 2003 Series

The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit: The Website as Art, The Fifth Incarnation, DetroitYES.com”

Lowell Boileau, Artist

Co-sponsored by the McDonough Museum of Art

Race and Class in Youngstown

Panel featuring Al Bright, Rosemary D’Apolito, John Russo, and Homer Warren

Co-sponsored by the Freshman Reader Project

Preparing African-American Adolescents for Civil Society: Traditional African Values at Work

Emmanuel Babatunde, Sociology and Anthropology, Lincoln University

Co-sponsored with the Africana Studies Program

Country Music’s Gone to Town: Urbanization, Class Consciousness, and Country Music

Rachel Rubin, American Studies, University of Massachusetts/Boston

Co-sponsored with the English Department

Working-Class Autobiography

Tim Strangleman, Sociology, University of Nottingham

Working-Class Studies: Intersections of Class, Race, Gender, and Sexuality

The Sixth Biennial Conference

Co-sponsored by the Race, Gender, Class Project of Southern University of New Orleans

Exhibit: Solidarity Forever: Graphics of the International Labor Movement

from the Center for the Study of Political Graphics, Los Angeles

2001 - 2002 Series

Workers’ Life Stories in a Changing American Economy: Deindustrialization from the Bottom Up and the Inside Out

Michael Frisch, Professor of History and American Studies, University of Buffalo, Past president, American Studies Association, Author of Portraits in Steel

Co-sponsored by the American Studies Program

Housing Labor’s Unrest: Economic Restructuring, Immigration, and the Social Production of Scale in the Midwest

Jeff Crump, Associate Professor, Housing Studies Program, University of Minnesota, Founding member, Minnesota Center for Labor and Working-Class Studies.

Co-sponsored by the Geography Department

“Machine Gun” and Soldiers’ Blues: Jimi Hendrix, Vietnam, and Black Conscription

Kimberly L. Phillips, Associate Professor, History Department, College of William and Mary, Author of Alabama North: African-American Migrants, Community and Working-Class Activism in Cleveland, 1915-45.

Co-sponsored with Africana Studies Program

Composition in an Age of Compassionate Conservatism

Steve Parks, Director, Institute for the Study of Literature, Literacy, and Culture, Temple University

Co-sponsored with the English Department

Documentation of Working-Class Life: Unseen America and Class inAmerica

Esther Cohen, Creative Director, Bread and Roses: The Cultural Project of Health and Human Services Union1199/SEIU

Coordinator of the Unseen America Photographic Project

Louis Alvarez, Center for New America Media, producer of the PBS documentary, Class in America

Co-sponsored by the Labor Studies Program and Art Department