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that the longshoremen had refused to unload
cargo from South Africa,” he explained.
“Now that was power that campus politics
would never have,” he realized. “It deepened
my interest not just in organized labor, but
in how class worked in the strange and allegedly
classless realm of U.S. history.”
Cowie espouses two values in his research
and personal life: freedom and responsibility.
“All areas I have been drawn
to are areas of great autonomy,” he says.
“Cornell gives me absolute freedom and
supports me. What a gift!” Responsibility,
he says, is important not just in your obligations
to other people, and to society, but
also in your obligations to yourself. Severing
the ties with his family was an important
first step for him. “Finding ways to separate
from one’s family of origin, not in a major
way but in developing one’s independence,
is a key component to finding yourself.” The
professor’s advice to any student is to have
faith in your inner voice and to search out
a path of your own. It may be scary, but
you’ll find it most fulfilling to take this level
of responsibility for your own life and let it
guide your decisions. It will scare him when
his own two children do it, but he is sure
they will.
Jeff describes ILR students as quick and
bright, and he finds engaging them in the
learning process is extraordinarily rewarding.
He strives to know his students and
prefers classes where he can grade papers
himself in order to better know them. He
also caps the size of his classes to better allow
for first-hand knowledge of his students.
It is not always easy because the demand
for his classes outweighs his availability and
class capacity. “A good professor imparts
knowledge, and an even better one teaches
students how to think,” he explained. “But
the best offer models for living and acting in
the world. I would like to succeed in all those
categories.” He constantly tweaks his teaching
methods in response to course reviews.
For example, Jeff lengthened lectures to
integrate more discussion time. Then he
dropped some of the mandatory TA-led
discussions in favor of voluntary drop-in
discussions. This has improved the quality
of the discussions in Cowie’s opinion. “Only
the most motivated and prepared students
show up for voluntary discussions.”
The author of Capital Moves: RCA’s Seventy-Year
Quest for Cheap Labor, Cowie has
received numerous fellowships and grants,
as well as teaching and research awards,
including the Philip Taft Prize for the Best
Book in Labor History for 2000. He has extended
his RCA research to investigate similar
issues in Taiwan. Other areas of current
research include studies of environmental
issues, politics, and popular culture. He has
an edited volume on deindustrialization
due out this summer, is working on a booklength
study of workers and national civic
culture in the 1970s, and one day he may
just write a book on Bruce Springsteen. Says
Cowie: “The lyrical thread that runs through
his musical creations rings true to my life.”
In talking to him, one hears Cowie’s own
lyrics conveying a true passion for history—
for research, for writing, and for teaching.
ILR is fortunate to have him sharing his enthusiasm
with our students.
FACULTY NEWS
Jeff Cowie is as comfortable facing a class as he is facing a sheer vertical rock face. Both present
challenges and outstanding rewards.
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