First Week

Course Introduction:

The origins of the contemporary homelessness crisis in America

Assignment:

Kusmer, Kenneth L. Down & Out, on the Road: The Homeless in American History

Second Week

Topics:

The Dustbowl, the Great Depression, and the birth of the modern American concept of Homelessness

Assignment:

Steinbeck, John.  The Grapes of Wrath

MOVIE ONE

Third Week

Topic:

The Hobo as an American Icon

Assignment:

Kennedy, William.  Ironweed

Fourth Week

Topic:

Iconoclasm:  The Faces of American Homeless Women Today

Assignment:

Liebow, Elliot.  Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women

MOVIE TWO

Fifth Week

Topic:

Prepare for Reading Days Service-Learning Trip

Assignment:

Hilfiker, David.  Not All of Us Are Saints: A Doctor's Journey With the Poor

ORGANIZATION PAPER DUE AT THE START OF CLASS ON FRIDAY OF WEEK FIVE

Sixth Week

Topic:

Prepare for Reading Days Service-Learning Trip

Assignment:

Egger, Robert. Begging for Change

READING DAYS (FRIDAY-TUESDAY):  SERVICE-LEARNING TRIP

Seventh Week

Review for midterm exam

ORGANIZATION PRESENTATIONS DURING WEEK SEVEN

MOVIE THREE

Eighth Week

Topic:

Mental Illness and Homelessness

Assignment:

Failer, Judith Lynn. Who Qualifies for Rights: Homelessness, Mental Illness, and Civil Commitment

MIDTERM EXAM ON FRIDAY OF WEEK EIGHT

Ninth Week

Topic:

Home is where the heart is:  keeping a family together on the streets in the '80s

Assignment:

Kozol, Jonathan.  Rachel and Her Children: Homeless Families in America

MOVIE REVIEW ONE DUE AT THE START OF CLASS ON FRIDAY OF WEEK NINE

MOVIE FOUR

Tenth Week

Topic:

Home is where the heart is:  keeping a family together in the shelter today

Assignment:

Nunez, Ralph daCosta with Naomi Sugie. Beyond the Shelter Wall: Homeless Families Speak Out

SERVICE PAPER DUE AT THE START OF CLASS ON FRIDAY OF WEEK TEN

Eleventh Week

Topic:

Addiction, homelessness, and a voice from the urban wilderness

Assignment:

Stringer, Lee.  Grand Central Winter: Stories from the Street

RESEARCH WORKSHOP AT LIBRARY DURING WEEK ELEVEN

SERVICE PRESENTATIONS DURING WEEK ELEVEN

MOVIE FIVE

Twelfth Week

Topic:

Welfare Reform and homelessness

Assignment:

Hays, Sharon. Flat Broke With Children: Women in the Age of Welfare Reform

Thirteenth Week

Topic:

The working poor in America today

Assignment:

Ehrenreich, Barbara.  Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

MOVIE SIX

Fourteenth Week

RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS DURING WEEK FOURTEEN

Review for final exam

MOVIE REVIEW TWO DUE AT THE START OF CLASS ON FRIDAY OF WEEK FOURTEEN

Finals Week

RESEARCH PAPER DUE DURING FINALS WEEK

CHECK FINALS SCHEDULE FOR DATE OF FINAL EXAM