Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2019 - LBST 328 D100

Labour Geographies (4)

Class Number: 7484

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 3 – Apr 8, 2019: Wed, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    60 units; LBST 101 or GEOG 221.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Examines contemporary debates in Labour Geography and geographical approaches to work and employment. Lectures explore the relationships between space, place and labour market change in the context of globalization and uneven development. Students with credit for GEOG 328 may not take this course for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

Labour Geographies introduces students to geographical approaches to work, employment and labour markets. Labour geographies start from the perspective that workers’ experiences and agency are central to understanding processes like colonialism, uneven development, globalization and neoliberalism. Labour geographers build on insights from geographical political economy, Marxism, feminism and post-structuralism to explore the answers to questions such as: how do working people shape spaces and places of labour and employment? How do workers’ struggles produce their own ‘spatial fixes’? How are geographies of global production, reproduction and migration reshaping labour markets in the global North and global South? And how does a geographical approach to Labour Studies help us understand technological change and precarity?

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Students will:

  1. Learn and apply geographical approaches and concepts to real-world issues affecting workers and their communities.
  2. Gain an understanding of labour geography and its development in response to critiques of geographies of labour and employment.
  3. Be able to understand and analyze critiques of—and challenges to—labour geography from more diverse labour geographies.
  4. Explore research methodologies in labour geographies, including qualitative and mixed-methods approaches.

Grading

  • Attendance and participation (incl. online tutorial participation) 15%
  • Film review assignment 10%
  • Midterm exam 30%
  • Labour history walking tour assignment 15%
  • Final exam 30%

NOTES:

Grading: The letter grade N (incomplete) is given when a student has enrolled for a course, but did not write the final examination or otherwise failed to complete the coursework, and did not withdraw from the course before the deadline date. An N is considered and F for purposes of scholastic standing.

Centre for Students with Disabilities: Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need classroom or exam accommodations are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Students with Disabilities (1250 Maggie Benston Centre) as soon as possible to ensure that they are eligible and that approved accommodations and services are implemented in a timely fashion.

REQUIREMENTS:

This course applies a flipped classroom model through weekly online tutorials. It also includes a fieldtrip* to downtown Vancouver.

*LBST /GEOG 328 has an optional fieldtrip and related assignment that may require travel by vehicle, public transit, or foot during the scheduled class hours. Students who do not wish to, or are unable to, participate in the fieldtrip will be provided with an alternative assignment. Further details can be obtained from the instructor.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

There are no required textbooks for this course, which draws on articles and book chapters, films and other texts. A complete list of readings will be provided in the full syllabus and made available on Canvas.

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS