Our Daily Work, Our Daily Lives
"Our Daily Work / Our Daily Lives" is a joint project that focuses on the artistic traditions of workers and on workplaces as contexts for the expression of workers culture. The richness and diversity of workers' experiences and workers culture is explored and presented through an ongoing series of exhibits, lectures, and presentations; writing and research projects; reunions; and demonstrations and discussions.
The program was established in 1992 and is coordinated by the Michigan Traditional Arts Program at the MSU Museum and the Labor Education Program in the College of Social Science's School of Human Resources and Labor Relations.
Our Daily Work, Our Daily Lives Brown Bag Series - Fall 2025/Spring 2026
All presentations take place in the Green Room, 4th floor, MSU Library from 12:00pm - 1:15pm ET, and are available as an online webinar at https://msu.zoom.us/j/97496813137. The password is odwodl.
Clad in the Working Class: Blue-Collar Style and American Folk Music
Speaker: Micah Ling, Michigan Traditional Arts Program
Date/Time:
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
12:00pm - 1:15pm ET
Good Workers, Government Workers: Public Memory and the Murrah Building Bombing
Speaker: David McCarthy, MSU Residential College in the Arts and Humanities
Date/Time:
Monday, October 6, 2025
12:00pm - 1:15pm ET
Putting WKZO on the Map: The Voices and Industrial Landscape of ‘Western Michigan at Work’
Speaker: Michael Laney, MSU Libraries
Date/Time:
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
12:00pm - 1:15pm ET
‘All You Can Write Is What You See’: Woody Guthrie, Working-Class Troubadour
Performers: Chris Walz, Folk Performer
Date/Time:
Friday, November 14, 2025
12:00pm - 1:15pm ET
In conjunction with the Ten Pound Fiddle
Mighty Fine Hammer: African Americans, Work and the Power of Song
Performers: Hubby Jenkins, Folk Performer
Date/Time:
Friday, January 30, 2026
12:00pm - 1:15pm ET
In conjunction with the Ten Pound Fiddle
Soccer as Work and Play: A Congolese Life Story, from Colonialism to Globalization
Speaker: Peter Alegi, MSU Department of History
Date/Time:
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
12:00pm - 1:15pm ET
Smooth as Silk: Working Women of the Belding, MI Silk Mills (1902-1908)
Speaker: Jenelle Thelen
Date/Time:
Monday, March 23, 2026
12:00pm - 1:15pm ET
The Musical Tanner: Negotiating Work, Music, and Belief in Revolutionary Boston
Speaker: David Stowe, MSU Religious Studies
Date/Time:
Friday, April 3, 2026
12:00pm - 1:15pm ET
Our Daily Work, Our Daily Lives Audio Archive
Thanks to all of the folks at the MSU Vincent Voice Library who have worked with us to create this archived set of recordings for Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives.
Follow these steps to access all of the recordings we have cataloged thus far:
- Start at the MSU Library Homepage: https://lib.msu.edu
- Type in search box "Our daily work, our daily lives brown bag series"
- Click on "See More »" in the Books & Media box
- As of 4/4/23, there are 136 results for the series!