Poverty: Who, What, Why

Many of us have seen the ugly face of poverty. But what is poverty? Why is poverty so prevalent? Who are the poor? What are the underlying causes of poverty? Why is poverty a disease of the whole society, not just the poor? Why are certain racial and ethnic groups more likely to fall into poverty? What are the goals and purposes of social welfare programs? What are the limits of policy? How can we act as a community to eliminate poverty?

This intensive weekend course will explore poverty in the larger social context of increasing social inequality and use sociological theories to investigate various aspects of poverty and its particularities in the U.S. We, as a learning community, are going to dig deep into how to effect change through collective action.