S06 E04 | PhDs Who Union

C19: America in the 19th Century

Over the last few years, academia has seen a wave of labor action, especially by graduate workers. In this episode, Max Chapnick (Boston University) and Lawrence Lorraine Mullen (University at Buffalo), expand on their MLA 2023 panel on graduate worker labor organizing, exploring the relationship between labor unions, graduate student research, and pedagogy. Chapnick and Mullen start by revisiting brief audio clips from the MLA panel–including the contributions of graduate worker organizers Francesca Colonese (University of Washington), Johannah King-Slutzky (Columbia University) and Mushira Habib (University of Oregon)–and offered with their framing commentary. The hosts then conduct a follow-up conversation with King-Slutzky and Colonese, covering a wide range of topics including the relevance of close-reading Victorian poetry to union contract interpretation; the problem of Shaftesbury’s concept of the disinterestedness of art as disincentivizing investment in the humanities; and the ways organizing helps us see the nineteenth-century anew. Most importantly: when you’re done listening, go out and do some organizing! Post-production support was provided by Lizzy LeRud (Minot State University). Transcript available at https://bit.ly/S06E04Transcript