Teaching Labour History

History 207XJ

Winter, 1999

Canadian Labour History

Under Construction

Professor:

Dr. Gerald Stortz
Office: Rm 308 - SJC
Ph: 884-8111, ext 253

Required Texts:

Ian Radforth and Laurel Sefton McDowell, Canadian Working Class History: Selected Readings, Canadian Scholar's Press, Toronto, 1992

Desmond Morton with Terry Copp, Working People, Deneau and Greenberg, Ottawa, 1980

Marking Scheme:

Seminar Participation	30%
Research Essay	30%
Midterm Test	15%
Take-Home Final	25%
Total	100%

Seminars:

Most weeks there are two (2) lecture hours and 3rd hour devoted to a discussion of two or more assigned articles. There are no student presentations. Students are reminded that the final grade will be based upon the quality as well as the quality of participation, but that no marks are assigned for mere attendance.

The Research Essay:

Each student is required to prepare a research essay upon some aspect of Canadian labour history. This can be of the traditional labour variety, i.e., specific significant strikes, labour and politics, etc., or of the new working class history variety dealing with such matters as working class culture, religion and labour, women and the workforce, etc. All essay topics must: (1) be approved by the instructor; (2) be based on both secondary and primary research of an archival nature where possible; (3) be 10-12 double-spaced typewritten pages in length; (4) be fully documented in acceptable historical fashion. Students are advised to fully familiarize themselves with the Arts Faculty regulations regarding plagiarism as articulated in the introductory section of the University of Waterloo calendar. The essay is due Wednesday, March 16, 1999. No extensions will be granted except in unusual circumstances.

Test and Final:

There is a midterm test which will be held in class which will consist of both short answer and formal essay questions. The final exam which will be distributed with instructions the last day of classes (Tuesday, April 5th) will consist of formal essay questions. The completed exam will be due no later than noon, Thursday April 15, 1999.

Please Note: All written assignments should be placed in my slot is the essay dropm box, adjacent to the St. Jerome's University Library. The drop box is accessible anytime the front doors to the College are unlocked.

Lecture, Seminar Reading and Film Schedule

Subject to Change

Week Of:
January 3: 1. No Class: New Year's Day; 2. Introduction: Origin of Unions; No Seminars
January 10: 1. The Printers Strike of 1872; 2. Working Class Culture; Read: Fingard and Kealey in Radforth and Mcdowell, Canadian Working Class History: Selected Readings, (Hereafter, SR)
January 17: 1. Working Class Conditions; 2. The Knights of Labour; Read: Kealey and Palmer and McKay in SR
January 24: 1. The American Federation of Labor in Canada; 2. The Labour Theories of Mackenzie King; Read: Bullen and Baker in SR
January 31: 1. Mackenzie King and Labour Politics; 2. Ontario Labour and the First World War; Read: McCallum and Frager in SR
February 7: 1. The Winnipeg General Strike; 2. Ontario's Farm-Labour Government; Read: Brown and McDowell in SR
February 14: 1. Midterm TEST; 2. Film: "12,000 Men"; No Seminar
February 21: 1. NO CLASSES: STUDY WEEK
February 28: 1. The End to the Strike; 2. The On-to-Ottawa Trek and the Communist Party; Read: Iacovetta and Rouillard in SR
March 7: 1. Film: "Tommy Douglas: Keeper of the Flame"; 2. The Rise and Fall of the Ontario C.C.F.; 3. Film: "Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal Banks"; Pt. 1
March 14: 1. Canadian Labour and World War II; 2. The Windsor Ford Strike, 1945; No Seminar: all essays due noon, March 16th
March 21: 1. Post World War II Red Scare; 2. The Asbestos Strike; 3. Film: "Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal Banks"; Pt. 2
March 28: 1. The Merger Movement and the Formation of the New Democratic Party; 2. Women and the Workforce in Post World War II Canada
April 5: Distribution of Take Home Examination and Instructions