Community members with a mix of work experiences and university students are participating in a new University of Minnesota-Duluth course on the history of the working class.
"American Working Class History and Culture: The Struggle for Control" is being taught by Erik Peterson of the University's Labor Education Service. It runs on 15 consecutive Wednesday nights this semester.
Over halfway through the course, the 30 students say they are glad to be there.
"It's been excellent, really exciting," said Mikael Sundin, a member of Painters & Allied Trades Local 106. He said Peterson deserves a lot of credit for the work he's done in putting the class together.
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"It's personally challenging and tough because I haven't been in a classroom setting for 25 years," Sundin said. "It's well worth the exchange of time and effort. Erik makes us dig. I think the older students are enjoying the class the most."
Sundin's tuition was paid by his local union. In return, he will teach a labor history segment to their apprenticeship classes.
A mixed group
Peterson said of the 30 students, 10 are from the community and 20 are UMD students taking the class for four credits.
"The UMD students are from all over the map in terms of departments and hometowns," he said. "They are freshmen to seniors."
Peterson said one of the great things about the class is the mix of folks with lots of work experience and those just entering the work force.
"We just read the book 'Rivethead' about life on the Ford assembly line and one of the young students asked if it really was like that," said Peterson. "Another student, Mike McDonald, who is a social worker, had worked the line making Ford Pinto wagons and said the author 'just described my life.'"
