UMass Boston

Labor Studies Minor

Deepen Your Knowledge of the Workplace, Worker’s Rights & Labor Dynamics.

UMass Boston’s Labor Studies Minor explores workplaces, workers, unions, and labor organizations. This interdisciplinary program draws from economics, history, political science, sociology, and more. It examines critical questions like: 

  • How have unions impacted workers and society, and how have these roles evolved?
  • How do global economic changes affect labor and workers?
  • How have workers’ rights evolved?
  • What are the challenges and opportunities as the labor force becomes more diverse?

This program equips you with critical analysis and strategic thinking skills. It opens doors to careers in labor unions, social justice organizations, legal professions, government positions, and education. 

Expand Your Studies

How to Apply/Declare

Current Undergraduate Students: Declare or change your minor by completing an Undergraduate Program Add/Change form.

Prospective Undergraduate Students: Apply for admission to UMass Boston by completing an application. Start by reviewing the first-year and transfer application pages for important information about requirements, deadlines, and application status checks. Use the links below to apply: 

Apply as a First-Year Student

Apply as a Transfer Student

Curriculum

Required Course (3 Credits)

  • LABOR 210L - Labor and Working Class History in the United States 3 Credit(s)

Electives (15 Credits)

Take five courses from the list below. At least three must be LABOR courses.

  • LABOR 240L - Work, Environment, and Revolution in Latin America 3 Credit(s)
  • LABOR 315 - Labor, Community, and Social Justice Organizing 3 Credit(s)
  • LABOR 325 - Workers’ Rights and Human Rights 3 Credit(s)
  • LABOR 275L - Learning to Labor: Work and Education in US History 3 Credit(s)
  • LABOR 330 - Race, Class, and Gender at Work: Divisions in Labor 3 Credit(s)
  • LABOR 335 - Globalization and Labor 3 Credit(s)
  • LABOR 340 - Field Placements in Workers’ Organizations 3 Credit(s)
  • LABOR 345 - Labor and Sex Trafficking in a Global Economy 3 Credit(s)
  • LABOR 390L - Working-Class Boston 3 Credit(s)
  • AFRSTY 350L - Race, Class, and Gender: Issues in US Diversity 3 Credit(s)
  • AMST 360 - Work, Society, and Culture in Modern America 3 Credit(s)
  • AMST 405 - The Immigrant Experience 3 Credit(s)
  • AMST 440L - United States in a Global Context 3 Credit(s)
  • ECON 339 - Political Economy of International Migration 3 Credit(s)
  • ECON 391 - Unions and Collective Bargaining 3 Credit(s)
  • ECON 420 - Gender and Economics 3 Credit(s)
  • ENGL 373 - Working-Class Literature 3 Credit(s)
  • POLSCI 335 - Law and Public Policy (A) 3 Credit(s)
  • POLSCI 406 - Politics of Food Security 3 Credit(s)
  • WGS 355L - Gender, Development, & Globalization 3 Credit(s)
  • WGS 360 - Gender, Culture, and Power 3 Credit(s)
  • WGS 394L - Radical Voices of Resistance: Gender, Race and US Social Movements 3 Credit(s)

Completion Requirements

Complete 18 credits from six courses, including one required labor studies course and five electives (three of which must be Labor courses).

Grade: No courses with a grade below C- may be applied toward the minor.
Pass/fail: No courses taken pass/fail may be applied toward the minor.
Residency: At least four courses for the minor must be completed at UMass Boston.

Contact

Labor Resource Center
Wheatley, 4th Floor, Room 144/21
617.287.7267
laborresourcecenter [@] umb.edu

workers in picketing line

Labor Resource Center

Learn more about Labor Resource Center offerings

Explore the Labor Resource Center
Students rehearse orchestra playing flutes.

College of Liberal Arts

Learn more about the faculty, research, and programs that make up our College of Liberal Arts.

Explore the College of Liberal Arts

Next Steps

Declare or Change Your Minor Request Info About UMass Boston Undergraduate Admissions