Ideas about women's work have changed greatly over time in American history, but not always in the way you may have expected. For example, in the colonial period work was done in the home so women performed many tasks aside from childrearing that were crucial to the economy, such as care of livestock, gardening, etc. Likewise, immigration and the kinds of work performed by immigrant women has also varied greatly, and often pushed typically genderized boundaries. In this Seminar, you will consider the variety in women's work today and explore the many factors involved in the labor of women outside the home.

Question 1: What do you think it would have been like to have been an immigrant to the United States in the late 1800's?

Question 2: Which experience that you have read about do you identify with most?

Question 3: Why are labor and immigration interconnected?

Question 4: How does women's workplace activism impact labor issues?