Teaching Working Class

Since the 1970s, working-class individuals have made up an increasing proportion of students enrolled in institutions of higher education. At the same time, working-class studies has emerged as a new academic discipline, updating a long tradition of scholarship on labor history and proletarian literature to include discussions of working-class culture, intersections of class with race and ethnicity, and studies of the representation of the working class in popular culture. These developments have generated new ideas about teaching that incorporate both a sensitivity to the working-class roots of many students and the inclusion of course content informed by an awareness of class culture. This volume brings together nineteen essays that offer innovative approaches to a class-conscious pedagogy. Although the contributors represent several fields―including English, history, labor studies, literature, speech communication, and American studies―they are united by the conviction that class matters in all kinds of courses. Their essays provide models for interdisciplinary teaching as well as guidance, encouragement, and insight for those wishing to incorporate class into their courses.

Sherry Lee Linkon is professor of English and coordinator of the American studies program at Youngstown State University, where she is also codirector of the Center for Working-Class Students.