Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2021 - SA 375 D100

Labour and the Arts of Living (A) (4)

Class Number: 3208

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 11 – Apr 16, 2021: Wed, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Instructor:

    Natasha Ferenczi
    nferencz@sfu.ca
    Office Hours: Fr 11:30-13:30 or by appointment via BB Collaborate Ultra

  • Prerequisites:

    SA 101 or SA 150 or SA 201W.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Introduces sociocultural approaches to labour by examining the relationship between work and life in different parts of the world. Students will be given opportunities to reflect on their own working lives and aspirations for future employment. Topics include precarity, informality, unemployment, wageless life, work and citizenship, and post-work politics. Students who have taken SA 360 in Spring 2016 are not eligible to take this course for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

In what ways do experiences, values and life aspirations shape our work trajectories in life? How do work conditions and trajectories, in turn, shape our lives? What is generated by these dynamic relationships between labour and arts of living and what tensions emerge between the desire for meaningful employment and self-expression, and precarious social and economic realities? These questions seem to be of particular significance today, given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on labour, homelessness and global markets, alongside social movements occurring globally that are challenging entrenched power structures (e.g. Black Lives Matter, protests against US Immigration Law enforcement and Greta Thunberg and Mohamed Nasheed calling for action to mitigate climate change, to name a few).

This class will focus on recent changes in labour experiences and meaning of work from a global perspective, exploring the effects of neoliberal processes and processes of commodification of land and food on emerging configurations of labour, as well as innovations in informal labour practices, often in response to precarity. We will use important sociocultural concepts to examine a variety of ethnographic contexts, including catadores working in the world’s largest garbage dump in Rio de Janeiro, Cambodian, Hmong and Lao Matsutake mushroom pickers in Oregon, transitions from Fordism to finance in Mumbai, unauthorized migrants crossing the Sonoran Desert of Arizona to evade U.S. border patrol, and botanical healers in Talamanca, Costa Rica, as we explore the ways people negotiate everyday living. Students will also be encouraged to reflect on their own labour experiences, which often involve work while earning a university degree, and their work aspirations after obtaining their degree.

Grading

  • Weekly reading responses 15%
  • Group news media presentation 15%
  • Critical short essays (2 x 15%) 30%
  • Peer review 5%
  • Final media project 20%
  • Participation 15%

NOTES:

Grading: Where a final exam is scheduled and the student does not write the exam or withdraw from the course before the deadline date, an N grade will be assigned. Unless otherwise specified on the course syllabus, all graded assignments for this course must be completed for a final grade other than N to be assigned. An N is considered as an F for the purposes of scholastic standing.

Grading System: The Undergraduate Course Grading System is as follows:

A+ (95-100) | A (90-94) | A- (85-89) | B+ (80-84) | B (75-79) | B- (70-74) | C+ (65-69) | C (60-64) | C- (55-59) | D (50-54) | F (0-49) | N*
*N standing to indicate the student did not complete course requirements

Academic Dishonesty and Misconduct Policy: The Department of Sociology & Anthropology follows SFU policy in relation to grading practices, grade appeals (Policy T 20.01) and academic dishonesty and misconduct procedures (S10.01‐S10.04). Unless otherwise informed by your instructor in writing, in graded written assignments you must cite the sources you rely on and include a bibliography/list of references, following an instructor-approved citation style.  It is the responsibility of students to inform themselves of the content of SFU policies available on the SFU website.

Centre for Accessible Learning: Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need classroom or exam accommodations are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (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.

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

Please see SFU Bookstore website for information on textbook purchase options.

REQUIRED READING:

Millar, K. (2018). Reclaiming the discarded: Life and Labor on Rio’s Garbage Dump. Duke University Press.

Tsing, A. (2015). The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the possibility of life in Capitalist ruins. Princeton University Press.

Additional readings will be available through Canvas, the SFU Library, or otherwise online as noted.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Kasmir, S. & Carbonella, A. (2018). Blood and Fire. 2nd ed. Berghahn Books.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

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

TEACHING AT SFU IN SPRING 2021

Teaching at SFU in spring 2021 will be conducted primarily through remote methods. There will be in-person course components in a few exceptional cases where this is fundamental to the educational goals of the course. Such course components will be clearly identified at registration, as will course components that will be “live” (synchronous) vs. at your own pace (asynchronous). Enrollment acknowledges that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes. To ensure you can access all course materials, we recommend you have access to a computer with a microphone and camera, and the internet. In some cases your instructor may use Zoom or other means requiring a camera and microphone to invigilate exams. If proctoring software will be used, this will be confirmed in the first week of class.

Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need class or exam accommodations, including in the current context of remote learning, are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112).