University of Connecticut

Women & Poverty
WS 267-- Syllabus -- Fall 2000

Course Description:

This course will examine poverty in the United States with special attention to its effects on women and their families, including emphasis on race and class differences, and the policies that keep women in poverty and those that may help to bring them out of it.

Marita McComiskey

Meeting Time: / Location:

Wednesdays 12:30-3:00 PM / Room 443 Beach Hall

Additional Class Meetings

Meetings with presentation groups at a time and place to be determined by group.

Class Information:

Suggested Background Knowledge/Skills

Use of e-mail and the Internet will be briefly explained during the first class. If additional instruction is necessary, there are one hour basic courses offered at the Computer Center during the first few weeks of each semester.

A general understanding of sexism and how it relates to women and poverty will be addressed throughout the course. Several Reserve Readings (RR) that provide background in this area are available in the Reserve Reading Section of the Women's Studies Library (room 410 Beach Hall) or Online through the ECR (Electronic Course Reserve).

Course Organization:

Topic--Week 1 - INTRODUCTION TO WS 267 AND TO YOUR CO-EDUCATORS

Topic--Week 2 - THE WAR AGAINST THE POOR

Topic--Week 3 - WHYS & HOWS OF WELFARE REFORM

Topic--Week 4 - WHO ARE THE POOR?

Topic--Week 5 - WELFARE: MYTHS, REFORM, and REALITY

Topic--Week 6 - ATTEMPTING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF POVERTY

Topic--Week 7 - WHAT'S GOING ON IN CONNECTICUT?

Topic--Week 8 - WAR ON POVERTY or WAR ON THE POOR?

Topic--Week 9 - FACES OF POVERTY

Topic--Week 10 - OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND

Topic--Week 11 - MAKING ENDS MEET

Topic--Week 12 - THINKING & WORKING FOR CHANGE

Topic--Week 13 - FINDING A SOLUTION

Topic--Week 14 - SUMMARY AND WRAP UP: CLASS DECIDES TOPIC & FORMAT

Course Format/Activities:

Lecture, class discussions, e-mail communication, Internet searches, research project, class presentations, films, guest speakers, class exercises (such as calculating budgets and participating in class debates)

Books (Required):

For Crying Out Loud: Women's Poverty in the United States. Edited by Diane Dujon & Ann Withorn

1996 Boston: South End Press

Glass Ceilings and Bottomless Pits: Women's Work, Women's Poverty. Randy Albelda and Chris Tilly

1997. Boston: South End Press

So You Think I Drive a Cadillac: Welfare Recipients' Perspectives on the System and Its Reform. Karen Seccombe

1999 Boston: Allyn and Bacon

The War on the Poor: A Defense Manual. Randy Albelda, Nancy Folbre, and the Center for Popular Economics

1996. New York: The New Press

Welfare's End. Gwendolyn Mink

1998 Ithaca: Cornell University Press

Books (Optional): Choose One

Don't Call Us Out of Name: The Untold Lives of Women and Girls in Poor America.
Lisa Dodson. 1999 Boston: Beacon Press

Keeping Women and Children Last.
Ruth Sidel. 1998 New York: Penguin Books

Making Ends Meet: How Single Mothers Survive Welfare and Low Wage Work.
Kathryn Edin & Laura Lein. 1997 New York: Russell Sage

Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope.
Jonathan Kozol. 2000. New York: Crown Publishers

Out of Sight Out of Mind: Homeless Children and Families in Small-Town America.
Yvonne M. Vissing. 1996. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky

Readings on Reserve:

All books for this course are on reserve at the Homer Babbidge Library .

Reserve Readings are available online through the ECR (Electronic Course Reserve).
These readings are also available in the Women's Studies Library, Beach Hall room 410 where they may be signed out for up to 24 hours.

Mimi Abramavitz "The Gendered Welfare State" in Under Attack, Fighting Back: Women and WElfare in the United States. 1996 New York: Cornerstone Books. p. 83-108

Chuck Collins & Felice Yeskel with United for a Fair Economy "The Picture: Growing Economic Insecurity and Inequality" in Economic Apartheid in America. 2000 New York: The New Press p. 39-67

Talmadge Wright "Resisting Homelessness: Global, National, and Local Solutions" in Contemporary Sociology. 2000 vol.29 no.1 . p. 27-43

Sites of Possible Interest on the Internet:

References may be added throughout the semester. If you find relevant material on the Internet, let me know and I will add a link in this spot!

Additional Materials:

Access to a computer for word processing, e-mail, and connection to the Internet.

Student Evaluation:

In order to address different ways of learning and abilities of demonstrating the application of knowledge, a variety of evaluation methods will be used to assess your progress during this course.

Carefully read and re-read the guidelines for each component of the course that appear throughout the syllabus schedule. I have provided specific instructions to encourage you to do your best work, regardless of your particular learning style. The variety of grading criteria should enable you to demonstrate your academic strengths and to compensate for any areas in which you may have difficulty.

If you have any questions--ASK!

At various times throughout the semester there may be opportunities to attend on-campus lectures and/or events for extra credit. Such events will be announced in class as they arise but you may want to check out the events link to see what is going on around campus.

Assignments/Papers/Exams

Class Schedule

Weekly Reading Assignments

Email Responses

Weekly Thought Questions for Email Responses

Book Panel Assignment

Assignment for Budget Exercise

Assignment for Class Debate

Midterm Exam

Self Evaluation

Final Exam

Course Policies:

Attendance

Class Agreement

Class Participation

Email Responses

Grading

Late Work

Plagiarism

Student Feedback

Student Survey -

Send e-mail to: Marita McComiskey

Other Supplemental Material

As you discover glossary terms, references, books, media resources, Internet sites, and/or upcoming events related to course material, send them to me and I will add them to the appropriate links.

These sites will continue to be constructed throughout the semester!

As co-educators, we can all share in the process of teaching as well as learning.

Bibliography -

Calendar of Events

Computer Labs -

Critical Thinking Guide -

Glossary of Terms -

Internet Sites of Possible Interest

Media Resources -

Referencing -

Women & Poverty - WS 267

Marita McComiskey
mailto:mccomisk@uconnvm.uconn.edu
University of Connecticut - Women's Studies Program
Room 422, Beach Hall, Box U-181
354 Mansfield Road, Storrs, CT 06269
Office - (860) 486-1133 ~~~~ Fax - (860) 486-4789

Last Updated: August, 2000

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