JUNIOR SEMINAR: WEALTH AND POVERTY IN URBAN AMERICA

Semester
Spring 2014
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Section
2
Number
191
CCN
71874
Times
W 10a-12p
Location
151 BARROWS
Course Description

Cities are the sites of some of the most extremes of poverty and wealth in the United States.  Groups representing these diverse interests often desire very different kinds of cities and different policies from city governments.  Businesses want a city that limits regulations and taxes, while the superwealthy may prize security and special amenities.  The superwealthy may also use their own money to support some types of activities but not others.  Low and moderate-income residents, by contrast, have less power to make government respond to their preferences for affordable housing and responsive public institutions.  We will examine the strategies that each of these groups uses to achieve its goals in cities, asking when and how the preferences of the less wealthy can prevail in urban settings.

 

The Junior Seminars are intense writing seminars which focus on the research area of the faculty member teaching the course. The seminars provide an opportunity for students to have direct intellectual interactions with faculty members while also giving the students an understanding for faculty research.

 

Junior seminars fulfill upper division requirements for the major.

 

Subfield:   American Politics

Prerequisites

Political Science Majors of Junior and Senior status (must be 3rd or 4th year students with at least 60 units completed) with a minimum overall UC GPA of 3.3.  Students must place themselves on the waitlist through TeleBEARS in Phase 1. Selection will occur around November 8, 2013.  Continued enrollment in the seminar will be contingent upon maintaining your overall UC GPA at 3.3 (i.e., an overall UC GPA of a 3.2999 will not suffice).  Priority may be given to students who have not yet taken a junior seminar.