SOC 4160

The Ethnography of Poverty and Inequality

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2026-2027 Catalog.

This course explores poverty and inequality in American society through the lens of ethnographic and other field-based research. We will read classic and contemporary texts which have shaped our understanding of how social inequality and exclusion constrain people's daily lives and how groups develop innovative responses to these constraints.

Enrollment Information Enrollment limited to: undergraduate students. Recommended prerequisites: PUBPOL 2300; PUBPOL 2250 or SOC 1101.

Distribution Requirements (CA-AG, D-AG, KCM-AG, SBA-AG), (SSC-AS), (CA-HE, D-HE, KCM-HE, SBA-HE)

Last 4 Terms Offered 2026SP, 2025SP, 2023SP, 2022SP

Learning Outcomes

• Think critically about the experiences of poverty and inequality in the United States.
• To gain a solid understanding of important classic and contemporary ethnographic texts and how they relate to each other.
• To develop an understanding of the methodological and theoretical approaches used by each author.
• To develop skills to write and present a research paper which incorporates ethnographic evidence.

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