Anthony DeStefanis Board Profile (Correction from Official Ballot)

I, Ryan Poe, mistakenly left off two full paragraphs of Anthony DeStefanis’ bio on the LAWCHA board member election ballots. Myself and the entire Labor and Working-Class History Association sincerely apologize to Anthony DeStefanis and the voting membership of LAWCHA for the mishap. Below is his entire biographical profile, with a link at the end to the rest of the candidate bios.

Anthony DeStefanis

I would encourage LAWCHA to develop and foster regional workshops for research presentation, discussion, and critique. The Pennsylvania Labor History Workshop, the Washington, D.C. Working-Class History Seminar, and the Michigan State Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives Brown Bag Series are some examples of existing workshops that bring labor historians, activists, and students together to discuss pre-circulated work in progress. I have benefitted enormously from presenting my research at regional workshops and they have helped me move my research forward even as I deal with the demands of working at a teaching focused school. These workshops are often organized by one person and they certainly could use some help in expanding their audience. LAWCHA is in an ideal position to promote research in labor and working-class history by supporting existing workshops and encouraging the formation of more of them.

LAWCHA should also continue to develop a focus on teaching. Rosemary Feurer, Randi Storch, and the Teaching Resources Committee have certainly moved this agenda forward in positive ways, and there is more to be done. For example, LAWCHA should sponsor OAH panels on teaching labor history and include such panels at LAWCHA’s own conferences. Labor should also consider devoting an issue of the journal to teaching labor history and making teaching a regular feature in the journal.

Finally, I would like to see LAWCHA continue telling labor’s story in op-eds and other media outlets. I would also work to encourage the organization to become more involved in campus activism. There is a wealth of knowledge among LAWCHA’s members about how colleges and universities operate as employers. I think we need to more effectively share experience and strategy as we advocate for and organize hourly workers, adjunct and contingent faculty, and tenured and tenure track faculty on our own campuses.