5:00 - 8:15 MTWRF |
143 Grise Hall |
Professor: |
|
| Douglas Smith | |
| 104 Grise Hall | Phone: (270) 745-2152 |
| Department of Sociology | Email: Douglas.Smith@wku.edu |
| Western Kentucky University | Webpage: www.wku.edu/~Douglas.Smith/ |
| 1906 College Heights Blvd. #11057 | |
| Bowling Green, KY 42101-1057 | |
| Office Hours: By appointment. | |
Poverty ranks among the most persistent, pernicious and controversial of social problems. Comparatively high rates of malnutrition, morbidity and mortality, and sub-standard housing, low education, and low self-esteem are but a few of the regrettable correlates of poverty. While most agree that poverty needs to be ameliorated, antipoverty programs and policies have always generated vigorous debate. Moreover, the majority of antipoverty programs have assumed an urban setting. The purpose of this seminar is to provide comprehensive understanding of the rural America's poverty problems. We will consider the implications of alternative definitions of poverty; the characteristics of the poor and the relationship between the poor and the rest of society; the theoretical causes of poverty; and the policies that we have used to ameliorate rural poverty. This course seeks to provide students with an understanding of how rural poverty is studied by scholars and the various contexts in which we understand this issue.
This course is a reading-and-discussion course. Discussions will focus on primary source materials. Each student brings a wide variety of experiences, assumptions and theoretical starting-points and are encouraged to bring thoughtful comments to class and listen to those of others. Students are required to attend all class meetings and come to discussions having already read and thought about the texts.
The first objective of the course is to increase the level of awareness of the nature and scope of poverty in contemporary rural America. The second objective is to develop an understanding of the explanations for existence of poverty. And thirdly, to encourage students to critically examine the public policy options for dealing with poverty in rural areas.
There will also be a supplementary packet available via CD-ROM.
Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Office for Student Disability Services, Room 445, Potter Hall.
The Office for Student Disability Services telephone number is (270) 745-5121, (270)
745-5004 V/TDD.
You should discuss any accommodation you need with them and they will give you a form listing the approved accommodations to give to me to sign. This process should be completed by the end of the second week of class.
Please DO NOT request accommodations directly from me (Dr. Smith) without a letter of accommodation from the Office for Student Disability Services.
Class attendance is mandatory. Each absence will reduce the student's semester points by one. More than 5 absences will result in a grade of 'F' for the semester.
There will be daily in-class quizzes. These will be brief (5-10 questions), covering materials presented in the previous class meeting and the readings assigned for the day of the quiz. The quiz may also cover sections of the books that you are to be reading. Each quiz will be worth 2.5 percent of your final grade. There will be no make-up quizzes given.
In addition to readings on the Courseinfo site, three books have been assigned. The Freeman text, which I will make available on CD-ROM, will be involved with the final. The other two books are to be reviewed by the students. The first review dealing with Nickel and Dimed will be due on the 2nd Monday. The second review will be of a book from the professor's collection will be due on the 3rd Monday. Review Guidelines will be posted.
Near the end of the course, the student will be asked to perform a self-assessment
of their participation in this course. This assessment will be due at the start of the class on the day the course is evaluated. It will not be accepted after the course is evaluated.
NOTE: Dates and Course materials may be changed at the professor's discretion.
Hart, John Fraser. 1995. "'Rural' and 'Farm' No Longer Mean the Same." in Emery N. Castle (ed.), The Changing American Countryside. Pp. 63-76. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
Wilkinson, Kenneth P. 1993. "Rural and Social Interaction." in Kenneth P. Wilkinson, The Community in Rural America. Pp. 54-8. Middleton, WI: Social Ecology Press.
Weber, Bruce A. 1995. "Extractive Industries and Rural-Urban Interdependence." in Emery N. Castle (ed.), The Changing American Countryside. Pp. 155-67. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
Rodgers, Harrell R. 2000. "How Many Americans Are Poor?" in American Poverty in a New Era of Reform. Pp. 9-24. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharp.
Summers, Gene F. and Jennifer Sherman. 1997. "Who's Poor in Rural America?" In Working Together for a Change. Pp. 6-7. Verona, WI: Park Printing.
Nord, Mark. 2004. "How Many U.S. Households Face Hunger... and How Often?" Amber Waves. http://www.ers.usda.gov/amberwaves/February04/pdf/findings_householdhunger.pdf
Rodgers, Harrell R. 2000. "The American Poverty Population." in American Poverty in a New Era of Reform. Pp. 25-9. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharp.
Miller, Kathleen K. and Bruce A. Weber. 2003. "Persistent Poverty and Place: How Do Persistent Poverty Dynamics and Demographics Vary Across the Rural-Urban Continuum." Measuring Rural Diversity Series. http://srdc.msstate.edu/measuring/series/miller_weber.pdf
Davis, Kingsley and Wilbert E. Moore. 1945. "Some Principles of Stratification." American Sociological Review 10(2): 242-49.
Tumin, Melvin M. 1953. "Some Principles of Stratification: A Critical Analysis." American Sociological Review 18(4): 387-97.
Gans, Herbert J. 1972. "The Positive Functions of Poverty." American Journal of Sociology 78(2): 275-89.
Seiyama, Kazuo. 2000. "The Modern Stratification System and Its Transformation." International Journal of Sociology 30(1): 7-36.
Lewis, Oscar. 1966. "The Culture of Poverty." Scientific American 215(4): 19-25.
Rural Sociological Society Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty. 1993. "Human Capital Theory" In Persistent Poverty in Rural America. Pp. 42-9, 64-7. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Rural Sociological Society Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty. 1993. "Major Existing Theories" In Persistent Poverty in Rural America. Pp. 8-19. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Dwight B. Billings and Kathleen M. Blee. 2000. "Conventional Models of Appalachian Poverty and Politics." In The Road to Poverty: The Making of Wealth and Hardship in Appalachia. Pp. 8-17. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Rank, Mark R.; Hong-Sik Yoon; and Hirschl, Thomas A. 2003. "American Poverty as a Structural Failing: Evidence and Arguments." Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 30(4): 3-29.
Rural Sociological Society Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty. 1993. "Poverty in Rural America: Trends and Demographic Characteristics." In Persistent Poverty in Rural America. Pp. 20-38. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Gibbs, Robert. 2001. "New South, Old Challenges." Rural America 15(4): 2-6. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ruralamerica/ra154/ra154a.pdf
McGranahan, David A. 2001. "New Economy Manufacturing Meets Old Economy Education Policies in the Rural South." Rural America 15(4): 19-27. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ruralamerica/ra154/ra154c.pdf
Beaulieu, Lionel J. Melissa A. Barfield and Katherine L. Stone. 2001. "Educated Workforce, Quality Jobs: Still Elusive Goals in the Rural South." Rural America 15(4): 28-35. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ruralamerica/ra154/ra154d.pdf
Watts, Amy. 2000. "Income Inequality Trends in Kentucky." Foresight: A Publication of the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center 7(3): 5-6. http://www.kltprc.net/Foresight/Chpt_42.htm
Fitchen, Janet M. 1994. "Residential Mobility Among the Rural Poor." Rural Sociology 59(3): 416-36.
Nord, Mark. 2001. "Household Food Security in the Rural South: Assuring Access to Enough Food for Healthy Lives." The Rural South: Preparing for the Challenges of the Millennium, No. 21. Mississippi State, MS: Southern Rural Development Center.
Whitener, Leslie. 2001. "Housing Poverty in Rural Areas Greater for Racial and Ethnic Minorities." Rural America 15(2): 2-8. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ruralamerica/ra152/ra152c.pdf
Jensen, Leif, Jill L. Findeis, and Qiuyang Wang. 2000. "Labor Supply and Underemployment in the Southern United States." Southern Rural Sociology 16: 96-124.
Findeis, Jill L., Leif Jensen, and Quiyang Wang. 2000. "Underemployment Prevalence and Transitions in the U.S. Nonmetropolitan South." Southern Rural Sociology 16:125-47.
Sennett, Richard and Jonathan Cobb. 1972. The Hidden Injuries of Class. Pp. 46-50, 121-136. New York: Vintage Books.
Levine, Robert. 1997. "Time Literacy." In A Geography of Time. Pp. 187-190. New York: Basic Books.
Dunbar, Roxanne A. 1997. "Bloody Footprints." In Matt Wray and Annalle Newitz (eds.), White Trash: Race and Class in America. Pp. 73-86. New York: Routledge.
Goad, Jim. 1997. "Playin' Hard." In The Redneck Manifesto. Pp. 126-37. New York, NY: Touchstone.
Lee, Matthew R.; Maume, Michael O.; and Ousey, Graham C. 2003. "Social Isolation and Lethal Violence Across the Metro/Nonmetro Divide: The Effects of Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Poverty Concentration on Homocide." Rural Sociology, 68(1): 107, 25p,
Rural Sociological Society Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty. 1993. "Persistent Rural Poverty and Racial and Ethnic Minorities." In Persistent Poverty in Rural America. Pp. 173-99. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Horton, Hayward Derrick and Beverlyn Lundy Allen. 1998. "Race, Family Structure and Rural Poverty: An Assessment of Population and Structural Change." Journal of Comparative Family Studies 29(2): 397-406.
Saenz, Rogelio. 2000. "Earning Patterns of Mexican Workers in the Southern Region: A Focus on Nonmetro/Metro Distinctions." Southern Rural Sociology 16: 60-95.
Beale, Calvin. 2004. "Anatomy of Nonmetro High-Poverty Areas: Common in Plight, Distinctive in Nature" Amber Waves http://www.ers.usda.gov/Amberwaves/February04/pdf/features_anatomyofhigh-povertyareas.pdf
Institute for Women's Policy Research. 1998. "Women's Economic Security and Poverty." Pp. 26-28 in The Status of Women in Kentucky. Pp. 26-28. Washington, DC: Institute for Women's Policy Research.
Snyder, Anastasia R. and Diane K. McLaughlin. 2004. "Female-Headed Families and Poverty in Rural America." Rural Sociology 69(1):127-149.
Harris, Rosalind P. and Julie N. Zimmerman. 2003. Children and Poverty in the Rural South. SRDC Policy Series. http://srdc.msstate.edu/publications/srdcpolicy/harris_zimmerman.pdf
Weber, Bruce, Mark Edwards, and Greg Duncan. 2003. "Single Mother Work and Poverty Under Welfare Reform: Are Policy Impacts Different in Rural Areas." National Poverty Center Working Paper Series. http://www.npc.umich.edu/publications/working_papers/paper7a/03-07.pdf
Rogers, Carolyn. 2003. "Rural Income, Poverty, and Welfare: Rural Child Poverty." http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/incomepovertywelfare/ChildPoverty/
Video: The Forgotten Americans.
Rural Sociological Society Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty. 1993. "Rural Elderly and Poverty." In Persistent Poverty in Rural America. Pp. 259-91. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Quant, Sara A. and Pamela Rao. 1999. "Hunger and Food Security Among Older Adults in a Rural Community." Human Organization 58(1): 28-35.
Rogers, Carolyn C. 2000. "Changes in the Older Population and Implications for Rural Areas." Rural Development and Research Report No. 90. 36 pp. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/rdrr90/rdrr90.pdf
Rural Sociological Society Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty. 1993. "The State, Rural Policy, and Rural Poverty." In Persistent Poverty in Rural America. Pp. 292-325. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Danbom, David B. 1995. "Agriculture and Rural Life at the End of the Twentieth Century." In Born in the Country: A History of Rural America. Pp. 253-270.
Rodgers, Harrell R. 2000. "The American Welfare System." in American Poverty in a New Era of Reform. Pp. 83-130. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharp.
Winicki, Joshua, Craig Gundersen, and Dean Jolliffe. 2002. Issues in Food Assistance—How Do Food Assistance Programs Improve the Well-Being of Low-Income Families? ERS Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Report No. FANRR26-9. 4 pp. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/fanrr26/fanrr26-9/fanrr26-9.pdf
Zimmerman, Julie N. 1998. "Getting Involved in Welfare Reform: Answers to Commonly Asked Questions." http://www.ca.uky.edu/SNARL/SEEDPubs/WelfRefAnswerstoQuestions.PDF
Zimmerman, Julie N. 1999. "Policies and People: Welfare Reform in Kentucky." Rural Issues Brief No. 1. http://www.ca.uky.edu/SNARL/RuralIssueBriefs/PoliciesandPeople.pdf
Zimmerman, Julie N. and Lori Garkovich. 1998. "The Bottom Line: Making Ends Meet in Rural Kentucky." http://www.ca.uky.edu/SNARL/SEEDPubs/MonthlyBudget.PDF
Zimmerman, Julie N., Deb Kershaw, and Lori Garkovich. 2000. "It's Not Just the Numbers: A Monthly Budget Case Study Update." http://www.ca.uky.edu/SNARL/SEEDPubs/MonthlyBudgetUpdate.PDF
Henry, Mark S. and Willis Lewis. 2001. "Welfare Reform: Remedy for Persistent Poverty in the South?" Rural America 15(4): 59-67. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ruralamerica/ra154/ra154g.pdf
Zimmerman, Julie N. and Thomas Hirschl. 2002. "What do We Know? Welfare Reform in Rural America." Rural Issues Brief No. 8 http://www.ca.uky.edu/SNARL/RuralIssuesBriefs/Brief8.PDF
Zimmerman, Julie N. and Thomas Hirschl. 2002. "Why don’t We Know More? Research and Welfare Reform in Rural America."
Rural Issues Brief No. 9 http://www.ca.uky.edu/SNARL/RuralIssuesBriefs/Brief9.PDF
Pickering, Kathleen. 2000.
"Alternative Economic Strategies in Low-Income Rural Communities:
TANF, Labor Migration, and the Case of the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation." Rural Sociology 65(1): 148-67.
Whitener, Leslie A., Robert Gibbs, and Lorin Kusmin. 2003. Rural Welfare Reform: Lessons Learned. Amber Waves http://www.ers.usda.gov/Amberwaves/June03/pdf/awjune2003ruralrefromfeature.pdf
Ribar, David C. and Karen S. Hamrick. 2003. "Dynamics of Poverty and Food Sufficiency." Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Report No. (FANRR36) 33 pp. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/fanrr36/fanrr36.pdf
Connell, Carol L., Kathy Yadrick, Agnes Hinton, and Joseph Su. 2001. Food Insufficiency and the Use of Food Assistance Programs in the South. Southern Rural Development Food Assistance Policy Series. http://srdc.msstate.edu/focusareas/health/fa/fa_1.pdf
McConnell, Sheena, and James Ohls. 2001. "Food Stamp Participation Rate Down in Urban Areas But Not in Rural." FoodReview 24(1): 8-12. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/FoodReview/Jan2001/FRV24I1b.pdf
Cason, Katherine L., Ruby H. Cox, and Janie L. Burney. 2002. "Do Food Stamps Without Education Improve the Nutrient Intake and Food-Related Behaviors of
Recipients?" Southern Rural Development Food Assistance Policy
Series. http://srdc.msstate.edu/focusareas/health/fa/fa_4_cason.pdf
Monroe, Pamela A., Carol O’Neil, Vicky V. Tiller, and Jennifer Smith.
2002. "The Challenge of Compliance: Food Security in Rural Households Affected by Welfare
Reform." Southern Rural Development Food Assistance Policy
Series. http://srdc.msstate.edu/focusareas/health/fa/fa_5_monroe.pdf
Barber, Gerard M.; Stacy D. Shade; Daniel McAdam; and Robert Daugherty. 2002. Welfare Reform: Overview of Kentucky's Five-Year Experience.
Barber, Gerard M., Ramona Stone; Stacy D. Shade; and Betty Shiels. 2002. Welfare Reform: Impact of Time Limits on Clients.
All Contents © 2005, Douglas Clayton Smith
Last Revised: 06/13/05.