Free Online Labor Studies Course: Nonviolence and Social Movements
How has the theory and practice of nonviolence shaped social movements in the United States and across the world? How can nonviolent movements confront the challenges facing us today? Join the Rev. James Lawson, Jr. and UCLA Labor Center Director Kent Wong for a 10-week Labor Studies course offered free to the public. In a series of conversations with prominent movement leaders, Rev. Lawson explores the development of nonviolent strategy in efforts to overturn segregation in the U.S. and Apartheid in South Africa, win rights for workers and immigrants, and contest mass incarceration.
For the past 20 years, Rev. James M. Lawson, Jr. has taught the undergraduate course Nonviolence and Social Movements offered jointly by the UCLA Labor Studies program, the Department of African American Studies, and the Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the course will be taught online allowing us to share elements of the UCLA course with the public.
Access the free course through the UCLA Labor Center Facebook, IRLE website, and YouTube channel. Supplementary readings are available for purchase at books.labor.ucla.edu.
(This course is available to UCLA students for credit, and listed as: Labor Studies M173, African American Studies M173, Chicana/o & Central American Studies M173)
Course Readings
Please order the readings that will be used in the course, and will enhance your knowledge and understanding of nonviolence. The first 2 books can be purchased at: books.labor.ucla.edu & A Force More Powerful can be purchased at most book retailers.
- Dreams Deported: Immigrant Youth and Families Resist Deportation ($10.00)
- A Force More Powerful, by Peter Ackerman and Jack Duvall ($19.95)
Course Updates
Stay updated, fill out this form to receive updates and communications regarding the course: tinyurl.com/NonviolenceSignUp
Syllabus
To watch all recorded lectures, please visit our Youtube channel.
| Streaming Date | Topic & Guest Speaker |
| 3/31/2021 | Soul Force and the Nonviolent Movement of America, 1953-1973 |
| 4/7/2021 | The Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike with Bill Lucy |
| 4/14/2021 | Black Lives Matter with Professor Melina Abdullah |
| 4/21/2021 | The Montgomery Bus Boycott |
| 4/28/2021 | The Nashville Sit-in Movement with Angeline Butler |
| 5/5/2021 | The Grape Boycott with Dolores Huerta |
| 5/12/2021 | The Hotel Workers of Los Angeles with Senator Maria Elena Durazo |
| 5/19/2021 | Nonviolence in the Global Community: The struggle against Apartheid in South Africa with Rev. Allan Boesak |
| 5/26/2021 | “Undocumented and Unafraid” with Leticia Bustamante & Hugo Romero |
| 6/2/2021 | A Conversation with Rev. James Lawson Jr. |
Additional Links
Podcast Episodes: Civil rights icon Rev. Lawson shares stories of how he discovered ‘soul force’ & the path of nonviolence, Re:Work
