Nov 21, 2024  
2019-2020 Catalog 
    
2019-2020 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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HMNS 109 - Poverty & Society

(3,0) 3 Credits

Through the lens of economic class, this course examines the nature and effect of poverty within our communities and within the socio-political structures that surround them. Students will gain familiarity with poverty issues such as people’s views of poverty, poverty measurement, the characteristics of the poverty population, underlying causes of poverty, and government programs and policies that address poverty. Various theoretical perspectives are utilized in an effort to understand why particular individuals and families become trapped in the tyranny of generational poverty and what change agents are best able to raise people out of poverty. Questions to be addressed include: Who are the poor? Why does poverty remain so pervasive? How do economic processes contribute to poverty? Are people from particular racial and ethnic backgrounds or family types inevitably more likely to be poor? What are the effects of gender? Through a process of co-investigation, students assess their own position within a system of structured economic class (poverty, middle-class and wealthy environments) and develop solutions for solving individual, community and systemic problems that contribute to the perpetuation of poverty in the U.S. Assessment, analysis, and planning for change are key components of the course.


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