Poverty in America POVERTY IN AMERICA IN NON FICTION AND FILM Course Number UGS 303 Instructor Miguel Ferguson E mail Address miguelf mail utexas edu Unique Number 65860 65870 65880 Office Number SSW 3 122b Semester Fall 2009 Office Phone 232 5914 Meeting Time Place Thursday 1 00 4 00 Office Hours Thursday 11 00 1 00 or by appt Utopia Theater in School of Social Work TAs Dana Duncan danalduncan gmail com Cristina Benavides cristinabenavides mail utexas edu Office Hours By appt I Course Description This course introduces students to the critical issue of poverty in the United States past and present Using literature novels investigative journalism and film not textbooks the course explores an array of issues associated with poverty in America From turn of the century muckraking journalism that exposed the horrors of tenements and stockyards to contemporary depictions of poverty in the era of welfare reform mass home foreclosures multi billion dollar bank bailouts and cash for clunkers this course examines works of film and writing that have both shamed and stoked our national conscience In the process we will also learn about the causes of poverty trends in poverty over time and with regard to specific vulnerable groups and what we can do to end poverty as we know it II Books 1 King of the Hill by A E Hotchner 2 Change Me Into Zeus s Daughter by Barbara Robinette Moss 3 The Working Poor by David Shipler 4 Caught in the Storm by M Ferguson H Neuroth Gatlin S Borasky III Films 1 3 5 7 Matewan New Harvest Old Shame Legacy Sin Nombre 2 King of the Hill 4 Roger Me 6 When the Levees Broke Acts I II 1 Poverty in America IV Course Requirements The entire class will meet once a week on Thursdays to discuss a book watch a film or listen to a lecture Students will also attend one of three discussion section on Fridays led by course TAs to take quizzes or further discuss material covered in class Over the course of the semester we will read four books and watch seven films Though this is a large format course contributions from each student are still needed to advance the learning process Students will be expected to come to class on Thursdays and individual discussion sections on Fridays prepared to participate in class learning Film Book Quizzes Students will be given five 5 quizzes on a random basis throughout the semester The quizzes will be given during the respective discussion sections on Friday and will cover information covered the previous day in class This will include information about the book or film as well as any pertinent lecture material so it will be important for students to be thoroughly familiar with the films books and lecture material discussed in class the previous day Each quiz will be worth 10 of the overall grade Short Film or Poverty Script Working in groups of three the final exam will consist of a short film 5 10 minute or poverty script students will create related to the subject of poverty Students must meet with the instructor prior to selecting their film or script topic but may pursue a variety of alternatives as a means to meet the requirements of the assignment More information on the short film poverty script project will be given during the third week of class Class Participation Students will be graded on the quality of their contribution to the collective learning pursuits of the class including participation in class e mail discussions and office visits with the instructor or TAs Since attendance is a key condition of participation more than two absences will result in a letter grade at least one grade below an A Each subsequent absence will reduce the overall participation grade by one letter grade Students will provide a written assessment of their participation on the last discussion section meeting of the semester Dec 4 Service Assessment In order to gain firsthand experience with the issue of poverty students will be expected to complete 10 hours of service with an organization that works with and or provides services to lowincome populations Students will be required to submit written verification from an agency employee that the ten hours of service has been completed At the end of the semester students will provide a written assessment of their 10 hour service and overall class participation to the instructor The assessment should be 2 3 pages in length 12 point font 1 5 spaced and answer the following Provide a brief history of the organization and the services it offers Why did you choose this organization and type of volunteer work What sort of work did you do What specific low income population s did you serve What are the main poverty related problems being experienced by this population What other type of assistance does this population need Summarize your overall experience 2 Poverty in America Grade Formula Class Participation Service Assessment Book Film Quizzes 5 Short film or Poverty script 15 10 50 25 Grades will be determined as follows 100 94 89 87 79 77 V A B C 93 90 86 84 76 74 AB C 83 80 B73 70 C Course Schedule Books in bold films underlined Topic of Study Readings and Assignment Due Dates Aug 27 Overview of the Course Rules for Conscious Living Sept 3 MATEWAN Well intentioned labor leader Joe Kenehan Chris Cooper arrives in Matewan W Va to unionize the coal mine workers But his efforts to organize the coal company workers spark one of the most violent incidents in the history of the 1920 21 Coal Wars Tensions grow between the minors and the company men igniting a powder keg of racial hostility corruption and betrayal Talkin bout poverty Trends size scope causes demographics Sept 10 Sept 17 Sept 24 Oct 1 KING OF THE HILL A young boy struggles on his own in a run down motel after his parents and younger brother are separated from him in Depression era St Louis King of the Hill Library Workshop NEW HARVEST OLD SHAME A CPB Frontline update of Edward R Murrow s classic 1960 documentary Harvest of Shame that revisits the migrant farm workers who annually travel from Florida to the mid West and back From their decrepit housing and inadequate medical benefits to the substandard wages and lack of access to ordinary labor law protections 800 000 migrants thirty years after Murrow s expose still live in labor camps and suffer working conditions as bad if not worse in 1990 than they did in 1960 3 Poverty in America Oct 8 Change Me Into Zeus s Daughter The War on Poverty and LBJ s Great Society Oct 15 ROGER ME In this blistering