Working to Live, Living to Work

Description from DukeHub

Humans have always worked, but they haven't always had jobs. This course examines how different ways of making a living have shaped, and been shaped by, ideas about what counts as a good life. We will study major transformations in work over the past several hundred years, from agricultural labor to industrial factory systems to today's postindustrial, knowledge-based economy. The course focuses on how social institutions, cultural values, and collective action have driven these changes, as well as how individuals and groups have challenged them. In the final part of the course, you will carry out exploratory research on an element of contemporary work organization or culture of interest to you.

Skills

• research methodsAI review: "you will carry out exploratory research"

AI-resilient: 1 of 5 1/5

• No: Physical, lab or field work
• No: Live work with people
• No: Judgment someone is accountable for
• No: A craft you practice with your hands or body
• ✓Yes: Small, in-person format · seminar, 15 seats per section

The checks lean on Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025), which found generative AI applies least to physical work and hands-on work with people. A signal, not a promise. How the score works

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