Urban Poverty - Course Descriptions

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Public Policy [6]

PUB PLC M214: Poverty, the Poor, and Welfare Reform (4)
Major policy and research issues concerning poverty and social welfare policy directed toward the poor in the U.S. S/U or letter grading. Prof. Yeheskel Hasenfeld [7]

PUB PLC 234. Labor Markets and Social Policy. (4)
Lecture, three hours; outside study, nine hours. Examination of analytical tools and conceptual models needed to understand policies directed toward people in lower tail of income distribution. Concepts include static and dynamic labor supply, labor demand, compensating differentials, human capital, and economic models of immigration and crime. Letter grading. Prof. Jeffrey Grogger [8]

PUB PLC M295: Law and the Poor (4)
Designed for graduate students. Study of major income-maintenance programs in the U.S., with emphasis on interaction of moral attitudes toward the poor and structure and implementation of the law, policy, and administration. Current reform consensus and major reforms. Letter grading. Prof. Joel Handler [9]

PUB PLC CM230: Labor Markets and Public Policy (4)
Designed for graduate students. Survey of major topics in economic analysis of labor markets and public policies toward the labor market. Topics include labor force trends and measurement, compensation determination, productivity, internal labor markets, human capital, union wage effects, unemployment, and minority and female labor-market experience. Concurrently scheduled with course C142. S/U or letter grading. Prof. Daniel Mitchell [10]

PUB PLC 271: Urban Poverty, Workforce Development, and Public Policy (4)
Examination of how urban labor markets function, particularly low-skill labor markets, and exploration of how public and private interventions affect outcomes for disadvantaged populations. In first half of course, major theories of low-skill workers' labor market problems in employment and wages; in second half, employment and training programs, policy initiatives and implementation, and new directions in workforce development. Letter grading. Prof. Michael A. Stoll [11]

GEOGRAPHY [12]

GEOG 230. Political Ecology. (4)
Seminar, three hours; reading period, three hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Exploration of theoretical constructs and approaches to analyses of development and the environment associated with political ecology. Examination of relations between poverty, ecological degradation, and global restructuring. Case studies of changing production organization and ecology of land-use patterns within different and emergent economic and political contexts. S/U or letter grading.

URBAN PLANNING [13]

URB PLN C266. Global Environment and Development: Problems and Issues. (4)
(Formerly numbered C252.) Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Questions of population, resource use, Third World poverty, and the environment. Analysis of global economic restructuring and its connections to changing organization of production and resulting environmental impacts. Examination of emergent local and regional coalitions for self-reliance and sustainable development. Case studies from Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the U.S. Concurrently scheduled with course CM128. S/U or letter grading.

Urban Poverty Undergraduate Courses

MPP students are able to take some of these undergraduate courses listed here if they have not had them as undergraduates. These courses will not count toward the 80 units for the MPP degree. Graduate students can petition to take up to 8 units of upper division undergraduate courses to count toward their graduate degree. This petition will require the permission of the graduate faculty advisor and the Public Policy Department Chair. Approval of this petition will be made on a case-by-case basis.

URBAN PLANNING [13]

URB PLN M121. Issues in Latina/Latino Poverty. (4)
(Same as Chicana and Chicano Studies M121.) Lecture, three hours. Examination of nature and extent of urban and rural poverty confronting Latina/Latino population in the U.S. Special emphasis on antipoverty policies of government and nonprofit organizations and social planning and economic development strategies. Attention also to literature on the underclass. Letter grading.

URB PLN CM128. Global Environment and Development: Problems and Issues. (4)
(Same as Geography M128.) Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisite: Geography 5. Designed for juniors/seniors. Questions of population, resource use, Third World poverty, and the environment. Analysis of global economic restructuring and its connections to changing organization of production and resulting environmental impacts. Examination of emergent local and regional coalitions for self-reliance and sustainable development. Case studies from Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the U.S. Concurrently scheduled with course C266. P/NP or letter grading.

URB PLN 192. Urban Policy and Planning. (4)
Examination of current urban planning and policy issues and debates, such as normative theories of good urban form, metropolitan organization and governance, economic development and growth management, edge cities, spatial mismatch hypothesis, urban poverty, racial/ethnic inequality, gender and urban structure, sustainability, and future of cities. P/NP or letter grading.

SOCIOLOGY [14]

SOCIOL 107. Urban Poverty and Public Policy in the U.S. (Field Component) . (4)
Requisite: course 144. Corequisite: one course from Geography 150 or 159A through 159E. Supplements and enriches students' academic understanding of urban poverty and the underclass by personal exposure and direct observation in a field setting. Students required to develop a plan of service in a local social service agency and observe policy formulation and implementation. P/NP or letter grading.

SOCIOL 144. Urban Poverty and Public Policy in the U.S. . (4)
Historical overview of urban poverty and social welfare programs; ongoing debates about causes and consequences of poverty.

CHICANA AND CHICANO STUDIES [15]

CHICANO M121. Issues in Latina/Latino Poverty. (4)
(Formerly numbered 121.) (Same as Urban Planning M121.) Lecture, three hours. Examination of nature and extent of urban and rural poverty confronting Latina/Latino population in the U.S. Special emphasis on antipoverty policies of government and nonprofit organizations and social planning and economic development strategies. Attention also to literature on the underclass. Letter grading.

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