This course examines the poor in modern America: from orphans in Chicago’s Home for the Friendless, to sharecroppers in the Great Depression, to Reagan’s notorious welfare queen of the 1980s. Students analyze primary and secondary sources to understand why people were poor and how they coped with the insecurity and instability of poverty, and to investigate America’s various anti-poverty crusades. Finally, considering the majority of non-white men and women living below the poverty line, students pay particular attention to race and gender and ask how Americans have responded to, and at times perpetuated, this disparity. Spring semester, alternate years.
Advanced Core Curriculum Designation: DD
Grade Basis: Letter Grade
Credits: 4.0
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