During the 2025-26 academic year, the newly formed Labor Studies Department will convene a series of public dialogues and research workshops on the theme, “Labor Studies Now.” Conversations will bring together faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, community leaders, and members of the public at-large to discuss urgent issues facing workers when it comes to social and economic inequality, environmental disaster, housing and food insecurity, and political turmoil.
The first conversation in the series features Kristoffer (Kit) Smemo, who explores whether organized labor can shape U.S. politics or is destined to play a junior role in a two-party system. In his new book, Making Republicans Liberal, Smemo shows how unions and the civil rights movement during the mid-twentieth century forced Republican leaders like Earl Warren, George Romney, and Nelson Rockefeller to swing left to win the votes of organized workers.
Date: Thursday, October 30
Time: 12 – 2:00 PM
Location: History Conference Room, 6275 Bunche Hall
