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CS92PROD
Development of the American Welfare State
GOVT 245
Spring 2012
Section: 01  

What exactly is the American welfare state? What does it look like? Why do we have the policies that we do, and not others? In this course students will be divided into teams and assigned a city that they will study to find all the benefits available to a poor household in terms of housing assistance, income assistance, medical assistance, and nutrition assistance. In short, we will map out the current American welfare state, along the way seeing that it differs (sometimes dramatically) depending on where one lives. This course will also cover the history of how Americans have cared for themselves and others in times of need, starting in the colonial era and moving forward.

Essential Capabilities: Information Literacy
Students will work in teams to conduct research on their assigned locality, and then will generate a significant research paper. The research will be conducted remotely, and by the end of this course, students will be armed with a wide array of social science research abilities for studying contemporary policies. This course also has a strong historical element to it. There will also be a visit to the Wesleyan Special Collections and Archives to see how to conduct archival work and how such research can be incorporated into social science analysis.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS GOVT
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (GOVT)(GOVT-American)
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available

Last Updated on MAR-29-2024
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