Poverty, Public Policy and Controversy
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this course on how poverty gets defined, measured, and addressed through public policy in the United States and other countries. The syllabus works through competing policy frames that shape research and practice, tracing how definitions of poverty and the programs meant to relieve it have shifted over time. Readings and discussion questions examine the economic, political, and social forces that keep poverty persistent and periodically reframe it as a public issue, and ask whether social science can settle the debates that make poverty policy so contested. Materials include the full syllabus, readings list, and assignments as posted by MIT, free to access with no certificate offered. The course suits students of urban studies, sociology, or economics who want a grounding in how poverty is studied and argued over rather than just described.