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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

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.

Making Dances, Making Places: Tejano Labor Migration and Musical Community in the Midwest

Speaker: Richard Cruz Davila, Julian Samora Research Institute

Date/Time:
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
12:00pm - 1:15pm ET

From the 1940s through the 1970s, waves of Texas Mexicans migrated to Michigan and the Midwest in search of economic opportunity, bringing with them elements of their culture, including music and dance. Initially performed and enjoyed in the Midwest by Tejana/o migrants as a respite from the toils of farm labor or factory work, as these workers settled out of the migrant stream, Tejano dances became a crucial site of community building and placemaking in the foreign environs of the region.

Co-sponsored by the MSU Chicano Latino Studies program and the MSU Julian Samora Research Institute


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:

  1. Start at the MSU Library Homepage: https://lib.msu.edu
  2. Type in search box "Our daily work, our daily lives brown bag series"
  3. Click on "See More »" in the Books & Media box
  4. As of 4/4/23, there are 136 results for the series!

 

Labor Education Programs