Colloquium Set for Virtual Debut

Each fall for more than 20 years, the Cornell ILR School course catalogue has offered “ILRID 1500/2500 – First-Year/Transfer Colloquium,” a semester-long seminar that introduces students to industrial and labor relations as a discipline. 

This year, the theme of the colloquium will be “Dual Crises: COVID-19 and Racial Injustice,” with a series of faculty lectures focusing on the connections and research in ILR that address issues related to COVID-19 and/or racial injustice.

“These are extremely important issues, and they are related,” said George Boyer, senior associate dean for academic affairs and the Martin P. Catherwood Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations. “Within the field of work, people of color are disproportionately represented in many occupations and work settings with high exposure to the COVID-19 virus, and they are less likely to have access to adequate health care. The disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on persons of color has highlighted the extent of structural inequality in America.” 

“The ILR School is the premier institution for the study of work, and the promotion of racial equality and justice is a central issue within the world of work. The colloquium will expose our students to how ILR faculty within the fields of labor law, labor relations, history, organizational behavior, human resource studies and economics are addressing issues of racial inequality in the world of work.” 

Each section of about 20 students is led by a professor who becomes a “faculty mentor” to those in the class, while upperclassmen serve as peer mentors and provide resources for the first-year students during the fall semester and beyond. 

In addition, ILR Student Services will coordinate several sessions covering topics of diversity, wellbeing, and academic advising. 

The course, designed to help students transition into the school, is required for first-year students, and recommended for transfer students. 

“Colloquium began when the classroom wing of the building was demolished and rebuilt,” Boyer said. “We were worried about our new first-year students. They were arriving at Cornell without a home base, since all our classes had to be taught elsewhere. The colloquium was meant to give them an anchor to the school, and to make them familiar with ILR, what the faculty did research on, and what courses they would take in their time here. There was no theme at the beginning, and, indeed, themes are a recent addition. Originally, this year’s colloquium was going to be centered around the 75th anniversary of the ILR School, but the world has changed since March, and Dean Colvin thought it was important that the colloquium reflect these changes.”