Poverty, public policy and controversy
Bachelor's degree
In Maynard (USA)
Description
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Type
Bachelor's degree
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Location
Maynard (USA)
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Start date
Different dates available
This course covers topics and questions such as: What is poverty? How is it defined and measured in the United States and other countries? What are the different program designs that countries use to relieve poverty? To answer these questions, the course examines the main public policy frames that guide theory, research, policy, and practice. How do the definition and policies to deal with poverty change over time? What are the economic, political, and social forces that contribute to the persistence of poverty and its periodic reframing? Can social science to help to resolve the public policy debates that make poverty and its relief so controversial?
Facilities
Location
Start date
Start date
Reviews
Subjects
- Social Science
- Public
Course programme
Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Much social controversy in the 1990s has been concerned with how society should respond to poverty, and the related issues of welfare, out of wedlock births, homelessness, crime, and drugs. This course investigates how particular societal responses are a function of the values, political and policy issues, as well as social science findings that are brought to these controversies. The course will examine both what we know about poverty and related behaviors from social science research and how this knowledge is incorporated into public discourse. The structure of each class is a combination of lecture/presentation and group discussions with groups totaling no more than 20 students.
The assignments are due on the following dates:
There are readings that will be handed out in class.
Students are responsible to complete all readings found in the required texts and reader prior to class.
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Poverty, public policy and controversy