CAWLS is delighted to welcome a new undergraduate program in work & labour studies to the field. What follows is a message from the new program’s coordinator and CAWLS member, Rob Kristofferson:
It is a great pleasure to announce the newest addition to undergraduate programs in work and labour studies in Canada: the Honours Bachelor of Arts in Work & Employment, at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford Campus.
This program provides a unique and broadly-based interdisciplinary investigation of the historical and contemporary dimensions of the experience of work and the developing terrain of employment in Canada and the globalized world. Students gain an understanding of the rapidly changing world of work through courses on innovative work arrangements, conflict resolution, global labour issues, labour history, collective bargaining, employment law, work-life balance, disabilities studies, occupational health and safety, workplace diversity, and much more. Students are encouraged to consider how the arrangements and contexts of work and practices within workplaces can further leverage social inclusion, diversity and the development of the whole person.
The program will appeal to students seeking a broad university education that also imparts job ready skills. Students can take the full four-year BA program, or can choose to take the Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Work & Employment in combination with one of two graduate certificates from Conestoga College: Human Resources Management or Career Development Practitioner. Students pursuing this route take courses for the Conestoga certificate program in their third year of studies in classrooms on Laurier’s Brantford campus. In just four years, students following this pathway can earn both a Laurier Honours BA degree and a Conestoga graduate certificate.
Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford Campus was started in 1999 with 39 students in one building. Today, the campus is comprised of 3000 students who take classes in buildings throughout Brantford’s historic downtown core. The campus offers primarily interdisciplinary undergraduate programs, though CAWLs folks would likely be especially interested as well in our MA Program in Social Justice & Community Engagement.
For further information is available on the program website: https://www.wlu.ca/programs/liberal-arts/undergraduate/work-and-employment-ba/index.html
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions at: [email protected]
