RCSSCI 230 - Poverty, Inequality, and Discrimination
Winter 2023, Section 001
Instruction Mode: Section 001 is  In Person (see other Sections below)
Subject: RC Social Sciences (RCSSCI)
Department: LSA Residential College
See additional student enrollment and course instructor information to guide you in your decision making.

Details

Credits:
4
Requirements & Distribution:
SS
Repeatability:
May not be repeated for credit.
Primary Instructor:
Start/End Date:
Full Term 1/4/23 - 4/18/23 (see other Sections below)
NOTE: Drop/Add deadlines are dependent on the class meeting dates and will differ for full term versus partial term offerings.
For information on drop/add deadlines, see the Office of the Registrar and search Registration Deadlines.

Description

In 1958, economist J.K. Galbraith claimed that poverty in the U.S. was no longer “a massive affliction [but] more nearly an afterthought.” Four years later, Michael Harrington published The Other America, exposing the persistence of mass poverty despite the general prosperity of the nation. For over 50 years, the poverty debates have continued to focus on the visible and invisible poor.

This class will briefly explore some historical issues around poverty — the challenges and controversies around the various definitions of poverty, the debates in the late 1950s and early 1960s around the existence of poverty in the U.S. — but the majority of the course will focus on contemporary discussions of poverty, gender, race, family structure, and sexual orientation.

We will use as our primary text, a new two-volume anthology of essays, The Economics of Inequality, Poverty, and Discrimination in the 21st Century (2013). These articles span a wide range of discussions on the causes of and possible solutions to poverty in the U.S. We will look at labor and housing issues, immigration and welfare issues, prison and schooling issues.

For more information, contact the instructor, David Burkam (dtburkam@umich.edu).

Course Requirements:

  1. a journal with brief reactions to the readings
  2. shared responsibility for leading class discussions
  3. occasional brief writing assignments inspired by our readings
  4. a term paper on a poverty-related topic of the student’s choosing

Intended Audience:

This introductory course is open to all LSA students. It also serves as a gateway course for the Social Theory and Practice major in the Residential College.

Schedule

RCSSCI 230 - Poverty, Inequality, and Discrimination
Schedule Listing
001 (LEC)
 In Person
34387
Open
7
 
-
MW 3:00PM - 5:00PM
1/4/23 - 4/18/23

Textbooks/Other Materials

The partner U-M / Barnes & Noble Education textbook website is the official way for U-M students to view their upcoming textbook or course material needs, whether they choose to buy from Barnes & Noble Education or not. Students also can view a customized list of their specific textbook needs by clicking a "View/Buy Textbooks" link in their course schedule in Wolverine Access.

Click the button below to view and buy textbooks for RCSSCI 230.001

View/Buy Textbooks

Syllabi

Syllabi are available to current LSA students. IMPORTANT: These syllabi are provided to give students a general idea about the courses, as offered by LSA departments and programs in prior academic terms. The syllabi do not necessarily reflect the assignments, sequence of course materials, and/or course expectations that the faculty and departments/programs have for these same courses in the current and/or future terms.

Click the button below to view historical syllabi for RCSSCI 230 (UM login required)

View Historical Syllabi

CourseProfile (Atlas)

The Atlas system, developed by the Center for Academic Innovation, provides additional information about: course enrollments; academic terms and instructors; student academic profiles (school/college, majors), and previous, concurrent, and subsequent course enrollments.

CourseProfile (Atlas)