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CS92PROD
Poverty in the United States

HIST 142
Fall 2011 not offered
Crosslisting: AMST 142
Course Cluster: Urban Studies

This seminar will address the history of poverty and of poor people, focusing primarily on the production, consumption, and availability of food. We will take as our assumption that food, hunger, and nutrition are political issues that are vital to how states, corporations, and citizens understand their ethical obligations to, and power over, others. Placing events in the United States (such as the the food stamp program developed in the 1960s) in a comparative global context, we will think about how different states and societies interact over, negotiate about, and imagine solutions to the problem of feeding their people.

Essential Capabilities: Effective Citizenship, Designing, Creating, and Realizing
Students will learn to conceptualize and complete a research paper. They will use basic historical research methods to write a critical analysis of a governmental or non-governmental intervention in nutrition and/or the food supply; alternatively, they may choose to write about political or faith-based organizing around the production, distribution, and/or consumption of food. The paper will be completed in three distinct stages. In the first, students will choose a topic, consult with a research librarian about the available sources, and write up an evaluation of what they might use and where they think it may take them; in the second, they will write a rough draft and work on what to emphasize as an argument and how to complete the research; in the final stage, they will polish the paper and make a presentation to the class about their findings. At each stage, I will consult with the student and read drafts.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST
Course Format: SeminarGrading Mode: Student Option
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: None

Last Updated on MAR-28-2024
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