LABOR CAFÉ
Labor Curious?
Visit the Labor Café — where ND talks work!
The Labor Café convenes the Notre Dame community for casual yet critical conversation on contemporary questions about work, workers, and workplaces. What rights and protections should those who work for others have? What’s the proper role for government in the economy? How should we address enduring problems of inequality, poverty, and lack of opportunity? And what does Catholic social tradition have to say about these labor questions? Participants choose the concrete topics, all people are welcome, and all opinions are entertained.
Getting a (Decent) Job in Today’s Economy
Fri., Jan. 23, 5:00p-6:00p, Geddes Hall Coffeehouse
There’s a lot of chatter in the public sphere on the current challenges facing young people, college grads, and the unemployed more generally in finding paid work in the American economy. Join me as we discuss some recent news and opinion pieces and hear from those currently undergoing the job search process.
To access non-required reading to get the conversation started, check out our Zotero group library.
Affordability Agendas: Competing Paths Forward for the American Economy
Fri., Feb. 13, 5:00p-6:00p, McNeill Gallery, Geddes Hall
Everyone is talking about “the affordability crisis,” from politicians, pundits, and policy advocates to anti-poverty groups, labor activists, workers, and consumers. Let’s dig in to the facts and the arguments animating the debates on the best paths forward for the American economy.
To access non-required reading to get the conversation started, check out our Zotero group library.
Decarbonization & Dignity at Work: Climate, Jobs, Faith, & Moving Forward
Fri., Mar. 20, 5:00p-6:00p, McNeill Gallery, Geddes Hall
Who benefits, and who bears the costs, of the our carbon-centric economy? Is there an inherent tension between economic development/good jobs and a healthy environment/sustainable futures? Join our special guest facilitators Professor Ryan Juskus, whose teaching and research centers on the social, religious, and moral dimensions of environmental and climate challenges, and his student Mallory Dam, who wrote a paper for Juskus’s class called “The Hidden Contract,” which is included in the Zotero group library of non-required reading to get the conversation started.
How Should We Memorialize Social Movements?
Fri., Apr. 24, 5:00p-6:00p, McNeill Gallery, Geddes Hall
This month, the discussion will focus on how to memorialize social movements, focusing on Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and the personification of the Farm Workers’ cause.