Building Inclusive, Poverty-Informed Communities

Catalog description

Poverty is fundamentally about scarcity—a lack of life’s basic human needs, which is not limited to what we may think such as food, water, and shelter. We often reduce poverty to simplistic terms: however, its profound impact affects people’s overall well-being and opportunities. This leaves impacted individuals, families, and communities experiencing a persistent threat to safety security, a lack of belonging, and learned helplessness. This course addresses both the immediate needs of individuals experiencing poverty and alternatives to creating sustainable, systemic changes to promote equity, inclusion, and belonging. This community-engaged/service-learning course examines Philadelphia place-based poverty, with variations in intensity and manifestation. Students will embrace a participatory and culturally humble approach to understanding root causes of poverty through a combination of lectures, immersive classroom experiences, site visits to local nonprofits, and service-learning placement assignments. Several classes will be held off-campus at various nonprofit sites in Philadelphia. Students will gain a deep understanding of the complex and multifaceted realities of poverty, underscoring the laws and policies that create and maintain widespread in the US. This course counts towards the Certificate in Global Human Rights as it places US Human Rights issues in the context of global human rights principles and treaties. This transformative and impactful service-learning course is designed for students who are passionate about inclusivity and reducing barriers. It aims to explore how nonprofits empower economically vulnerable individuals, families, and communities to achieve an improved quality of life. The Netter Center for Community Partnerships has designated this course as an Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) course because it integrates practical…