3.7 Course Overviews: "L"
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Labour Studies (LBST)
(See also HIST 336, HIST 470, HIST 471, HIST 472, HIST 486, IDRL courses, ORGB 387, and SOCI 321)
Introduction to Labour Studies
3-Social Science
- Method of Delivery:
Home Study
or
Paced Study
This is the foundation course for the labour studies program. It is designed to provide students with a knowledge of the history and development of the place
of working people in society as well as an understanding of the contemporary environment in which working people live.
The first unit of the course discusses the general area of labour studies, while subsequent units focus on the history, sociology, and political economy of labour. If you are interested in issues such as the historical and contemporary experience of women in the workplace, the increasing militancy of public sector unions in recent years, or the legacies of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike and the 1983 British Columbia Solidarity movement, this course is for you.
Labour College of Canada: Introduction to Labour Studies
3 - Social Science
- Method of Delivery:
Home Study
or
Paced Study
+
Required Computer Component
This course introduces you to the field of labour studies. It was written by a team of Athabasca University professors from various academic disciplines. The course might best be described as a sampler of the types of subjects that can be pursued as part of labour studies. It begins with a general introduction to the field in Unit One. Following this you will find an overview of Canadian labour history, a survey of the social organization of work, an overview of labour law, and
an analysis of the relationship between politics, economics, and labour. By the time you complete the course you should understand the place of working people and the labour movement in society.
Delivery mode: The paced version includes a Internet-based computer conference.
Registration procedure: Potential students, who must be members of unions affiliated to the Canadian Labour Congress, register for this course through the Labour College of Canada, 2841 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1V 8N4.
Women, Workers, and Farmers: Histories of North American Popular Resistance
3 - Social Science
- Method of Delivery:
Home Study
This course considers the historical relationship between class, gender, and ideologies of resistance in North America. More specifically, it assesses the types of ideologies
Canadian and American women, farmers, and workers
created and utilized as they built social movements of resistance, opposition, and critique in the period between 1860 and 1960. During this century feminism, populism, socialism, labourism, and other ideologies came into
existence and were taken up by various people as they tried
to make sense of their place in industrial capitalist society. The primary aim of the course is to acquaint students with
the history of these ideologies and with the connection between the ideologies and social movements.
Prerequisite: none. LBST 200 or LBST 202 is recommended.
Women and Unions
3 - Social Science
- Method of Delivery:
Home Study
This course is about the relationship between women and unions in Canada. It looks at the development of unions around the turn of the century and how they responded to women who worked for pay and then the changes in the nature of unions over time and the impact of the growth of women members. In the current context, the course examines what unions have, and have not, bargained for to improve the conditions of women in the labour force; the place of women inside union structures; the concerns of minority group women and how the union movement is handling those; and the question of organizing the majority of non-union women workers. During the course students complete a series of written assignments. There are no examinations in this course. In the Internet version of the course there is an opportunity to discuss the course materials in a computer conference with other students.
Prerequisite: none. LBST 200 or LBST 202 is recommended.
Special Projects in Labour Studies I
3 - Social Science
- Method of Delivery:
Home Study
This course offers an opportunity for advanced students to pursue an extended research project under the direction of a course professor. The course of study may involve field, survey, archival, or library research and normally results in the production of a major paper. The first of these two special projects (see LBST 412) helps students specify and clarify a research topic. Students will be expected to develop a comprehensive background knowledge in the topic of
their choice. With the course professor, students develop a study and/or research proposal indicating the goals of the study, procedure for evaluation, and the time to completion. A major discussion paper and comprehensive bibliography will be expected in partial fulfilment of the course requirements.
Prerequisite: permission of the course professor.
Special Projects in Labour Studies II
3 - Social Science
- Method of Delivery:
Home Study
LBST 412 is for students who have already defined a research topic and have completed the background preparation for a library, survey, archival, or field project. As with LBST 411, the specific content, procedures, and evaluation structure of the course will be negotiated between the student and the professor. With the professor, students develop a study and/or research proposal indicating the goals of the study, procedure for evaluation, and the time for completion. Students undertake an original piece of research and fully document their conceptual framework, data, and conclusions in the form of a major research paper.
Prerequisite: LBST 411 and permission of the course professor.
What Do Unions Do?
Reading - 3 - Social Science
- Method of Delivery:
Home Study
This course investigates the theory and practice of trade unions in contemporary capitalist societies. In the course you will read some theoretical and conceptual material on trade union behaviour in capitalist societies, two book-length case studies of unions, and a book-length case study of a strike.
The purpose of the course is twofold. First, it will expand your theoretical understanding of trade unionism and the labour movement by having you think about the purpose of trade unions. Second, it will encourage you to think critically about actual trade union practice by analysing a series of case studies and by undertaking a research project that allows you to investigate more fully one of the issues raised in the course.
Prerequisite: none. LBST 200 or LBST 202 is recommended. The course is designed for students who have already completed some labour studies or related courses.
LEGAL STUDIES (LGST)
The Impact of the Canadian Charter on Labour Relations
3 - Applied Studies
- Method of Delivery:
Home Study
or
Paced Study
This course examines the impact the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has had, and will continue to have, on industrial relations.
The first two units establish the context by looking at the historical and constitutional perspectives of the Charter. The remaining five units examine various relevant provisions of the Charter that have implications for labour relations, such as freedom of association as it relates to the right to strike; equality rights; freedom of expression as applicable to labour relations; union security; and mobility and security rights.
The course will be of interest to those connected with
the labour movement or involved in industrial relations
or management.
Administrative Law
3 - Applied Studies
- Method of Delivery:
Home Study
or
Paced Study
This course will be of particular interest to those - in their professional or private lives - who are likely to deal with government at all levels. It discusses that branch of the law that deals with relationships between the individual citizen and government, whether at the federal, provincial, or municipal level. It also deals with boards, authorities, commissions, and committees created by government (e.g., the Local Planning Commission, the Workers’ Compensation Board, and the Local Taxi Commission - all creatures of provincial legislation). All of these administrative bodies are bound, in their deliberations and decisions, by the principles of administrative law.
In recent years, as government has had an increasingly significant effect on Canadians, the knowledge of administrative law has become important and relevant.
As individuals have had to deal more and more with government agencies, the need for a fairly well-defined
body of law has arisen and been responded to. It is in the interest of all citizens to be aware of this law.
Prerequisite: none; but the student is encouraged to take LGST 369 before taking this course.
Commercial Law
3 - Applied Studies
- Method of Delivery:
Home Study
or
Paced Study
Commercial Law gives students a practical knowledge of business law that enables them to participate in the managerial decisions of a business and allows them to recognize problems and situations that require the help of a lawyer. The basic content of the course consists of legal concepts, principles,
and precedents of commercial law and their application to business situations especially through the case-study method.
Note: the American version of this course is LGST 370.
Canadian Legal System
3 - Applied Studies
- Method of Delivery:
Paced Study
In any ordered society, social interaction requires a degree of predictability. Law, legal system, and legal process are essential elements for the stable functioning of society, because they provide a framework of rules governing a multitude of activities. The state, inter alia, by providing machinery for dispute resolution in civil cases, and for collecting of evidence in and trial of criminal cases, hopes to contribute to its population’s desired goal of an ordered society, in order to achieve fair and just outcomes, with the aim of instilling confidence in the justice system.
This course starts with some issues relating to historical, jurisprudential and philosophical legal concepts and principles. It discusses the theories relating to law as an instrument of social change. It then examines Canadian legal institutions, procedures, and processes. Some examples of the areas covered are: the distinction in, and explanation of, criminal and civil processes and procedures; the machinery of justice in, and understanding of, criminal and civil matters; from suspect to defendant; the role of the police and prosecutors; from defendant to convict; democratization of the procedures; the law of evidence in criminal cases; does, or should, the criminal law, especially as interpreted in light of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, overtly or unduly favour or protect suspects or victims?; the appellate process; and the delivery of legal services.
Local Government Law in Alberta
3 - Applied Studies
- Method of Delivery:
Home Study
or
Paced Study
This course provides practical knowledge of legal aspects of local or municipal governments of Alberta. While many voters and taxpayers understand local government poorly, they expect their local politicians to be more responsive to public needs than their federal or provincial counterparts. An understanding of the scope of municipal authority, ‘‘The City Hall,’’ is essential for analysing policies, proposing legislation, challenging planning decisions, or following financial and debt issues. This course views local government’s purpose in Alberta as nurturing a democratic spirit and providing the mechanisms by which democracy can be learned in the absence of party politics. The course examines various aspects of local self-government and legal implications of local autonomy within statutory and common law boundaries.
In the event of a discrepancy between the informal web site version and the printed 1999-2000 Calendar, the latter alone is to be regarded as the authoritative and legally binding source.
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