Hunger & Homelessness

Catalog description

This course provides an overview of the history and socio-political responses to the issues of housing instability and food insecurity in the United States. Students will be challenged to set aside their own ideas of what it means to be “poor” and develop an understanding of what peoples’ lives are like when they do not have access to adequate food, housing, and other basic needs. Attention will be given to service provision through both governmental and private non-profit organizations. Further emphasis will be on the current trends in policy and programs that serve the very poor, and the conflicting societal values that shape the American social welfare system. When Offered: Fall only, Odd years