This course explores the conditions and causes of poverty in the United States and the economic, social, and political responses to it. During the first half of the course, we will examine who is considered poor––in contrast to who is considered working-class, middle-class, wealthy, and ultra-wealthy––in the US, and discuss various causal theories of why income is distributed in the way that it is. During the second half of the course, we will evaluate policies aimed at addressing poverty in the US, and evaluate how well they have reduced poverty and what remains to be done. Our study will be attuned to how race, gender, age, and immigration status condition one’s experience and risk of being impoverished in the US. We will also compare economic redistributive policies in the US to those in other countries. Not offered every year.
Prerequisites: Student has completed/is in the process of completing 30 credits