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COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES

ANNUAL EVENT SERIES: LABOR IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Photo collage including a doctor, construction workers, someone carrying a sack, a barista, a woman wearing a safety helmet, and a monk.

The Lepage Center will spend the 2024 – 2025 academic year exploring diverse and interconnected historical perspectives on labor, and on democracy.


The series of panels and talks will examine several historical topics including questions of race, class, and gender in labor history, as well as historical perspectives on gig labor, labor and incarceration, child labor, and migrant labor. The Lepage Center will alternate with a series on Democracy and its Discontents, focusing a historical lens on elections, citizenship rights, and other aspects of historical struggles for democracy.

 

Fall 2024 Labor, Democracy, and Special Events

Titles link to registration for upcoming events

Wednesday, September 11, 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.: The Death of Expertise and the 2024 U.S. Elections with Tom Nichols (Topper Theatre, Mullen Center for Performing Arts, Villanova University)

Featuring

  • Tom Nichols, PhD., staff writer at The Atlantic; professor emeritus at the Naval War College
  • Co-sponsored by the History Department, Political Science Department, Russian Area Studies, and Office of the Moulden Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Tuesday, September 24, 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.: American Democracy on the Eve of November's Election

Featuring

  • Kira Sanbonmatsu, PhD, Professor of Political Science and Senior Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics, Rutgers University
  • Michael Kazin, PhD, Professor of History at Georgetown University
  • Kevin Mattson, PhD, Connor Study Professor of Contemporary History at Ohio University
  • Moderated by Paul C. Rosier, PhD, Professor of History and Director of the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest at Villanova University

Tuesday, October 1, 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.: Labor and the Carceral State in Historical Perspective

Featuring

  • Elizabeth Swanson, PhD, Mandell Endowed Professor in Literature and Human Rights at Babson College
  • Jermaine Thibodeaux, PhD, Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies at the University of Oklahoma
  • Robert Chase, PhD, Associate Professor of History at Stony Brook University
  • Moderated by Anna Duensing, PhD, Assistant Professor of History at Villanova University

Tuesday, October 22, 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.: Music and Protest in Historical Perspective

Featuring

  • Claudrena Harold, PhD, Associate Dean for the Social Sciences and Edward Stettinius Professor of History at the University of Virginia
  • Steve Garabedian, PhD, Associate Professor of History, Intern Coordinator for History/Public History/American Studies, and Director for the Social Justice Minor at Marist University
  • Michael Kramer, PhD, Associate Profess of History and Director of Museum Studies and the Public History Minor  at SUNY Brockport
  • Moderated by Paul C. Rosier, PhD, Professor of History and Director of the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest at Villanova University

Wednesday, November 13, 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.: Labor and Immigration History

Featuring

  • Cindy Hahamovitch, PhD, B. Phinizy Spalding Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Georgia Athens; President of the Labor and Working-Class History Association; and Co-organizer of the Athens Film Project
  • Paul Ortiz, PhD, Professor of Labor History at Cornell University
  • Mireya Loza, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of History and the American Studies Program at Georgetown University
  • Moderated by Daniel Cortes, JD, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Clinic for Aslyum, Refugee, and Emigrant Services (CARES) at Charles Widger School of Law, Villanova University

Wednesday, November 20, 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.: The 100th Anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act in Historical Perspective

Featuring

  • Holly Guise, PhD, Assistant Professor of History at the University of New Mexico
  • Tsianina Lomawaima, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University
  • Kiara Vigil, PhD, Assistant Professor of American Studies, Dean of New Students, and Chair of Education, Amherst College
  • Moderated by Paul C. Rosier, PhD, Professor of History and Director of the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest at Villanova University

Spring 2025 Labor, Democracy, and Standalone Events

Thursday, January 23rd, 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.: Healthcare in Historical Perspective

Featuring

  • Paul Starr, PhD, Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, and Stuart Professor of Communications and Public Affairs, Princeton University
  • Nancy Tomes, PhD, Distinguished Professor of History, Stony Brook University
  • Elisabeth Rosenthal, Senior Contributing Editor, Health News Analysis, KFF Health News
  • Moderated by Paul C. Rosier, PhD, Professor of History and Director of the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest

Wednesday, January 29th, 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.: Technology and Labor in Historical Perspective

Featuring

  • Salem J. Elzway, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in History, University of Southern California
  • Mar Hicks, PhD, Associate Professor of Data Science, University of Virginia
  • Adam Quinn, PhD Candidate at University of Oregon
  • Moderated by Andy Liu, PhD, Associate Professor of History at Villanova University

Tuesday, February 26th, 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.: American Sports and Labor in Historical Perspective

Featuring

  • Louis Moore, PhD, Professor of History at Grand Valley State University
  • Victoria Jackson, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor of History, Global Sports Institute Faculty, and Director of Sports@IHR Initiative, Arizona State University
  • Thomas Oates, PhD, Associate Professor and Interim DEO of American Studies, Iowa
  • Moderated by Rick Eckstein, PhD, Professor and Sociology Director, Sociology and Crimonology, Villanova University

Wednesday, March 26th, 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.: Artificial Intelligence, Labor, and Society

Featuring

  • Devin Kennedy, PhD, Assistant Professor of History and Evelyn and Herbert Howe-Bascom Professor of Integrated Liberal Studies University of Wisconsin
  • Stephanie Dick, PhD, Assistant Professor in the School of Communications, Simon Fraser University
  • Aaron Mendon-Plasek, PhD, Assistant Professor in History and Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts, Purdue University
  • Finn Brunton, PhD, Professor in Science and Technology Studies, UC Davis
  • Moderated by Whitney Martinko, PhD, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Public History Program, Villanova University

Tuesday, April 8th, 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.: Comparative Populism and History

Featuring

Tuesday, April 15th, 7:00 p.m. – 8:15 p.m.: Nonbinary and Transgender History

Featuring

  • Beans Velocci, PhD, Assistant Professor in History & Sociology of Science at University of Pennsylvania
  • Nat DiFrank, MA, Project Manager for the Trans Oral History Project at the University of Pennsylvania
  • Nat Rivkin, PhD Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania
  • Moderated by Cait Graulau, Graduate Fellow for the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest at Villanova University

Monday, April 21st, 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.: Climate Change, Nature Disaster, and Oral History

Featuring

  • Stewart Weaver, PhD, The Franklin W. and Gladys I. Clark Professor of History at University of Rochester
  • Ricia Anne Chansky Sancito, PhD, Professor of English at Universidad de Puerto Rico
  • Liz Skilton, PhD, Associate Professor of History, Director of Public History, and J.J. Burdin and Helen Burdin/BORSF Endowed Professor in Louisiana Studies at University of Louisiana at Lafayette
  • Moderated by Paul C. Rosier, PhD, Professor of History and Director of the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest at Villanova University

More events on democracy, labor, and culture to come!

  

The Lepage Center records most of their events, making them accessible to the wider community. You can watch these recorded events on YouTube.