future semesters
Special Note Regarding Vaccinations and the COVID-19 Pandemic:
Hamilton College is requiring all students to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 prior to participating in Hamilton study away programs including Hamilton’s New York City Program. The College believes this policy is the best way to resume a full range of activities while protecting the health and safety of our students and the communities in which we operate. Some students may be eligible for — and will need to show documentation of — religious or medical exceptions, but the New York City Program hopes to achieve 100 percent compliance with this vaccination requirement. Moreover, for the New York City Program, in-person internships and many of our integral cultural and theme-related activities are likely to require proof of vaccination or proof of a very recent negative COVID-19 test. Hamilton’s policy is in place notwithstanding changes in local, state, or federal health regulations.Fall 2022
Labor Markets: NYC as a Classroom
Director: Derek Jones, Professor of Economics
Phone: 315-859-4381
Email: djones@hamilton.edu
- One credit for the concentration in Economics
College 395 Labor Economics
An experientially grounded examination of selected theoretical and empirical questions concerning the labor market. Topics will include: what are labor markets?; who participates in the labor market and how intensively?; labor demand; human resource and compensation systems in different sectors; labor unions in the private and public sectors; regulated and unregulated work in New York City; unemployment; membership in labor unions; economic effects of unions. We will meet once a week in-house and sometimes also at city-wide events (usually both).
College 396 Independent Study
Supervised tutorial ending with a substantial written project that integrates experience and learning from the internship with an academic perspective and knowledge gained in the seminars or other tutorial readings.
College 397 Internship
Approximately 32 hours per week (M, T, TH, F), paid or unpaid. Not graded but Cr/NC; Work experience with an organization or business or school or agency appropriate to the theme of the course; Internship should reflect your interests and planned concentration while still allowing you to contribute to the program’s classroom discussions; Appropriate examples include banks and financial institutions, media companies, law firms, regulatory agencies, labor unions; Weekly electronic journal entries chronicling and reflecting upon the experience required. End of semester evaluation by supervisor.
College 398 EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR RELATIONS IN THE GLOBAL CITY
Responses to the Climate Crisis in the Global City. An introduction to issues in the broad field of employment and labor relations. Definitions, methods and evolution of the field. The employment relationship and major institutions. Job security, working conditions, work-life balance, human management resource policies, including methods of compensations. Field trips to sites and cases to illustrate key historical events and contemporary issues.
Spring 2023
Labor, Immigration, and Reform in New York City's History
Director: Maurice Isserman, Professor of American History
Phone: 315-859-4414
Email: misserma@hamilton.edu
Immigrants today account for over forty percent of New York City’s workforce. That percentage has grown in recent decades, as new waves of immigrants from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Central and South America have moved to the city. But there has never been a time in the past three centuries when immigrants were not a vital component of the city’s working class population. New York City’s history is thus intimately bound up with the history of labor and immigration, and the history of reform movements working on behalf of the immigrant working class. These movements for social and economic justice sometimes drew on inspiration from abroad but were rooted in American beliefs in equality and community. They profoundly influenced American politics and social life both inside and beyond New York City, from the 19th century down to the present. We will explore this complex, interrelated history, both in our reading assignments and discussions, and by exploring the streets and neighborhoods that witnessed and shaped three centuries of working class immigrant life.
College 395: Film Series
College 396 Independent Study
Your 20-25 page independent study paper should consider some aspect of the history of labor, immigration, and/or reform in New York City. It can also draw upon your internship experience. The resources of the Tamiment Library at New York University and the New York Historical Society will likely be helpful to you.
College 397 Internship
Work experience with a firm, organization, agency, or advocacy group appropriate to the theme of course, four days a week. Weekly electronic journal entries chronicling and reflecting on the experience.
College 398 Seminar: Labor, Immigration, and Reform in New York City’s History
Immigrants today account for over forty percent of New York City’s workforce. That percentage has grown in recent decades, as new waves of immigrants from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Central and South America have moved to the city. But there has never been a time in the past three centuries when immigrants were not a vital component of the city’s working class population. New York City’s history is thus intimately bound up with the history of labor and immigration, and the history of reform movements working on behalf of the immigrant working class. These movements for social and economic justice drew on inspiration from abroad, and profoundly influenced American politics and life outside New York City, from the 18th century down to the present. We will explore this complex, interrelated history, both in our reading assignments and discussions, and by exploring the streets and neighborhoods that witnessed and shaped three centuries of working class immigrant life. We begin with 18th century artisan protest, and conclude with Occupy Wall Street.
Fall 2023
International Trade and Globalization
Director: Jeffrey Pliskin, Associate Professor of Economics
Phone: 315-859-4143
Email: jpliskin@hamilton.edu
Spring 2024
Everyone Eats: Food Culture, Security, Sustainability, and Media in New York City
Director: Naomi Guttman, Professor of Literature and Creative Writing
Phone: 315-859-4780
Email: nguttman@hamilton.edu
Fall 2024
Inequality in U.S. Cities
Director: Paul Hagstrom, Professor of Economics
Phone: 315-859-4146
Email: phagstro@hamilton.edu
Spring 2025
Inequality, Identity, and Immigration
Director: Steve Orvis, Professor of Government
Phone: 315-859-4310
Email: sorvis@hamilton.edu
Fall 2025
Innovation in the Global City
Director: Chris Georges, Professor of Economics
Phone: 315-859-4472
Email: cgeorges@hamilton.edu
Spring 2026
Photography and Arts Leadership in the Global City
Director: Robert Knight, Associate Professor of Art
Phone: 315-859-4266
Email: rbnight@hamilton.edu