Strategic Corporate Research Summer School

2026 Strategic Corporate Research Summer School

Cosponsored by the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and the AFL-CIO

This weeklong course is for union staff and others who work or want to work in social change organizations that strive to make and keep corporations accountable, such as labor unions and workers’ centers, environmental justice groups, and community-based organizations. A longtime program of Cornell University, the SCR summer school is moving permanently to SLU.

Through hands-on techniques, the course teaches participants how to research corporate ownership, finance, organization, and power. By the end, students will be prepared to begin or advance in careers in strategic research and campaigns.  See course details.

The Summer School is offered by the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies as a graduate non-degree course. Applicants will register as CUNY students and receive one CUNY credit, but they will not be admitted to a degree program.

Applicants should have completed an undergraduate degree, though we will consider applicants with work experience in relevant fields even if they do not have an undergraduate degree. People who will be enrolled in an undergraduate program in the fall following the Summer School should not apply.

The SCR Summer School is for people committed to using research skills in service to the union movement and other corporate accountability and social movement organizations, either currently or in the immediate future after the course. People considering further education, such as graduate or professional school, should apply after completing those programs.

Summer School program instructors are committed to assisting successful participants in the program to find strategic corporate research positions within the labor movement. In the first 25 years of the program, more than 700 students were placed in top research positions in the AFL-CIO, CTW, UNITE HERE, SEIU, USW, LIUNA, IBT, UFW, UFCW, AFT, AFSCME, ATU, NNU, NYSNA, SAG-AFTRA, and in other unions across the United States and around the world.

However, please understand that we cannot guarantee that participants will find such employment.

Strategic research is an essential component of successful social movement campaigns. Graduates understand how to research corporate structure and power to develop campaigns that change corporate behavior.

Interact with and learn from strategic corporate research experts. Get to know our faculty and staff.

Email scrsummerschool@slu.cuny.edu