History of HomelessnessPJ 5000-001

8:30 am – 9:45 am TR Corr Hall 103

Stephanie.Sena@Villanova.edu

Course Description

We will examine the diverse societal perceptions of homelessness and poverty, and how those perceptions have shifted over time. We will also study changes in government policy and how policy has affected homeless people. We will seek to understand the changing nature of homelessness. It is the intention of this course to provide a framework for understanding the root causes of the expansion of homelessness in the U.S., and to convey a sense of the experience of homelessness and its consequences. We will explore the current efforts to meet the immediate needs of people experiencing homelessness and understand how we can advocate for long term change which can prevent homelessness.

Learning Goals

1. To gain a greater understanding of how homelessness and societal reactions to it have changed over time.

2. To understand how homelessness is related to larger social and economic forces in U.S.

3. To gain an experience of and a "feel for" the situation of homeless people in order to have one's own observations to compare to the rhetoric of public debate and to use as a basis for clarifying one's own values and commitments..

4. To understand the history of services which have been developed to assist people who are homeless and to begin to develop one's own analysis of what is needed

5. To develop skills in critical thinking about social issues and social policy, and to apply those skills to questions related to homelessness.

6. To develop skills in thinking as a social scientist about social issues.

Required Readings

Kenneth Kusmer, Down and Out on the RoadDiane Ravitch, Reign of ErrorMichelle Alexander, The New Jim CrowScott Seider, SHELTER: WHERE HARVARD MEETS THE HOMELESSBarbara Ehrenreich: NICKEL AND DIMED: ON NOT GETTING BY IN AMERICA

Assignments

Responses to your assigned readings (50%).

You should send me your responses your assigned readings through WebCT each Sunday and Tuesday. (Due by 11:29 pm. Responses that are more than 1 minute late will receive half credit). Responses should be approximately

one double-spaced word document page in length. You should include 1. short summary of the readings 2.your thoughts and analysis of the ideas in the readings, and 3. at least three questions that the readings elicit. Your notes can be in paragraph or bullet point form.

Source Papers (20%):

Source Paper (20%):

You will have a 5-7 page paper due at the end of the semester. Your paper should include information learned from the books and lectures, as well as the first-hand experience of working at The Student-Run Emergency Housing Unit of Philadelphia. Your paper is worth 10% of your final grade.

Paper Topic Options:

1) Compare and contrast the experiences of poverty among selected individuals (two or three examples from each book will suffice) described in each of your source books, as well as from the people you meet at SREHUP. What are the critical factors which account for their poverty and homelessness? How different or similar are the lives of the people portrayed in each book, and in SREHUP? Consider in your comparative analysis "structural" versus "individual" factors which may help explain their poverties.

2) Examine the intersection of poverty and one of the following topics: race, housing, immigration, education, healthcare, or wages. You must use either The New Jim Crow or Reign of Terror.

3) Examine possible solutions to the problem of poverty and homelessness. What are the pitfalls and/or merits of each solution?

Midterm (10%):

Your midterm will consist of short essay questions about your readings.

Final (10%)

Your final will consist of short essay questions about your readings.

Writing Partnership (5)%:

For your source papers you will meet in two- or three-person teams to discuss, critique, and help revise each other’s papers before turning the papers are due. This work may be done on e-mail. Each team member should read and critique at least one complete draft of each paper. On the day that the assignments are due you must submit to me some evidence of work with your partners -- comments on your first draft, or a printout of email correspondence. You must allow time to actually incorporate your partner's suggestions; you cannot give your partner the paper the day before it is due, and then turn in two virtually identical papers, one with a partner's comments.

The reason for the partnership plan is twofold. First, writing is a process of inquiry, an opportunity to develop ideas and construct arguments. It pushes our thinking: every time we see something we have written we have to confront whether we actually believe what’s on the page or the screen. This process is inherently hard, and the partnership provides extra help with it, both intellectual and emotional. Secondly, writing is a process of communication, not a solipsistic exercise. Partnership provides you with an initial audience, a first reader, someone who can tell you whether you are making sense.

Attendance and Participation (5%):

Your attendance is mandatory in class and on your scheduled shelter shifts. You are entitled to three excused absences. You will drop one percentage point for every class that you miss after your three excused absences. Your weekly shelter shifts are also mandatory. You will drop one percentage point for every shift that you miss. You will also drop percentage points for sleeping, texting, or using your computer or phone while in class.

Grade Breakdown:Student Partnership: 5% Reading Assignments: 50% Source Papers: 20% Exams: 20%Attendance and Participation: 5%

Date Topics and recommended readingsT Jan 13 1st day of class

Explanation of class, SREHUPTH Jan 15 Homeless Statistics, DefinitionsT Jan 20 Stages of Homelessness/ Middle Ages

TH Jan 22 The Birth of Modern Homelessness: Industrial Revolution

T Jan 27 Ideas about Poverty: Thomas Malthus and the Myth of Overpopulation TH Jan 29 Ideas about Poverty: EugenicsT Feb 3 Treatment of Poverty: Orphan Trains and Foster CareTH Feb 5 Treatment of Poverty: Jacob Riis, The Jungle, muckraking, and

journalistic “passing” or “slumming”T Feb 10 Treatment of Poverty: White Industrial Savior Complex

Undercover Boss The Corporation, Case Histories Slavoj Zizek

TH Feb 12 Treatment of Poverty: Jane Adams and Service Learning T Feb 17 Race: The Power of an Illusion TH Feb 19 Race: The Power of an Illusion T Feb 24 Race: The Power of an Illusion TH Feb 26 Race: The Power of an Illusion T Mar 3 No Class: Fall Break

TH Mar 5 No Class: Fall BreakT Mar 10 Andre TH Mar 12 Framing the argument: Housing as a Right, and Cost of homelessness,

Ayn Rand vs. Karl MarxT Mar 17 Deinstitutionalization and HomelessnessTH Mar 19 Deinstitutionalization and HomelessnessT Mar 24 Schools as Pipelines for prison and homelessness TH Mar 26 War on DrugsT Mar 31 Urban RenewalTH Apr 2 Easter: No ClassT Apr 7 Change from industrial economy to service economyTH Apr 9 Special Groups: Age, Veterans, Foster Care, HIVT Apr 14 Housing

TH Apr 16 No Class- Thanksgiving T Apr 21 SolutionsTH Apr 23 Solutions T Apr 28 No Class- Deemed a FridayTH Apr 30 Solutions