WCPC faculty affiliates and others at the University of Washington offer a number of graduate and undergraduate courses that provide students with a multidisciplinary foundation in poverty issues and U.S. social policy, current topics and methods in poverty research, and opportunities for professional development and mentoring by WCPC Faculty Affiliates. Below are courses sponsored by WCPC and/or taught by WCPC Faculty Affiliates. The sidebar at the right lists other courses across schools and departments on the UW campus that touch on poverty.

DOCTORAL LEVEL COURSES

Advanced Poverty Seminar
Instructor: Robert Plotnick, Professor of Public Affairs
Offered Winter quarter.
Description of the 2010 course (.doc)
PbAf 573
This seminar provides a multidisciplinary introduction to poverty and antipoverty policies in the U.S. It will focus on how poverty is measured, its causes, and its consequences for children, as well as address the politics and evolution of US social welfare policy, compare US social welfare policies to those in other affluent countries, analyze the effects of specific policies on household income and poverty, and discuss how policies affect labor market, demographic and other behaviors, and the equity-efficiency trade-offs created by public policies. Readings will be drawn from the fields of developmental psychology, economics, political science, public policy, sociology, and social welfare.

Seminar Series on Poverty and Public Policy
Instructor: Jennie Romich, Associate Professor of Social Work
Offered every quarter.
Full information here.
Soc Wl 591B
The WCPC Seminar Series brings prominent national and local faculty to the UW campus to present their cutting-edge research on poverty and public policy. Approximately five seminars are offered each quarter and are open to UW faculty, UW graduate students from all disciplines, and members of the public who are interested in research on issues of poverty and inequality and related public policies.
One session each quarter is a student-oriented session for students who enroll for credit. This session provides opportunities for students to network with other students and with UW faculty from a variety of disciplines who are working on topics relating to poverty and inequality.
Time and Location: Seminars are held approximately every other week, typically on Monday afternoons from 12:30-1:30 p.m. with questions/discussion until 2:00 p.m. in the Parrington Hall Forum or Coomons (room 309 or 308, located on the third floor of Parrington Hall).
Topical Areas: Seminars are presented by faculty from a variety of disciplines addressing a diversity of topics that relate to the causes and consequences of poverty and inequality in the U.S. and to the development and evaluation of public policy responses.
Graduate Credit: Graduate students from all disciplines may receive 1 credit per term for participation in at least 4 of the seminars and completion of one assignment. Add codes and questions pertaining to graduate credit may be directed to wcpc@u.washington.edu.

MASTERS LEVEL COURSE

Asset Building for Low Income Families
Instructor: Marieka Klawitter, Associate Professor of Public Affairs
Winter 2012
PbAf 573
See description of this course here.
A new generation of social policy analysts and practitioners argue that building assets rather than income is the key to helping low income families prosper economically and socially. Governments and nonprofits have responded by developing new programs and retooling or repackaging old programs to support home ownership, education, and microenterprise.
This course will explore assets and finances for low income families primarily in the US. We will identify programs and policies targeted toward asset building and look at evidence of their efficacy. Using a multi-disciplinary perspective, we will examine the economic, social, and political contexts for these policies.
We will examine:
*How families make financial and asset decisions
*Policies to build assets (individual development accounts, tax credits, microfinance)
*Financial literacy and financial services
*Housing as a family asset in the age of foreclosure
*Small business development
*Education as asset
*Community level asset building
*Health as an asset
This course should provide students with a framework and analytical tools for evaluating issues and social policy and programs related to asset building and financial decision-making for low income families.
The requirements for this class will be class participation and presentation, two short papers (3-5 pages), and one longer paper on an issue of your choice (10-15 pages).

Poverty & Economic Security Public Service Clinic
Instructor: Robert Plotnick, Professor of Public Affairs
Two-quarter sequence, winter and spring.
PbAf 606B
This Public Service Clinic addresses topics such as income support programs, tax policy, child support, low income housing, labor market policies and programs for low and middle income workers, educational programs for at-risk children, teen childbearing, health insurance, and social services for low and middle income families. Agencies are invited to propose projects on suitable other topics as well.  Masters students at the Evans School work with public sector and NGO clients on poverty-related projects suitable for their Masters degree projects.

Housing and Social Policy
Instructor: Rachel G. Kleit, Associate Professor of Public Affairs
Offered Fall Quarter
PbAf 564
Offered 2011
This course focuses on the problem of affordable housing and its interrelationships with social problems in the United States. By the end of this class, you'll be able to answer the following questions:
* What's the problem--what exactly do we mean by affordable housing?
* What is the impact of housing on people’s lives? How do we use it variously as shelter, as investment, an asset, as a market commodity?
* How does the system of housing provision and finance in the U.S. deliver affordable housing? Who benefits the most?
* What are and should be people's rights with regard to housing?
* How can housing enable or prevent access to opportunity for minorities and low-income individuals?
* What lessons can we learn from the recent mortgage crisis for the future of housing policy?
We begin with an analysis of the causes, extent, and social dimensions of affordable housing problems. In order to understand the current context, we trace the history of housing policy at the federal, state, and local levels since the beginning of the 20th century, analyzing the political perspectives that have shaped the debates concerning affordable housing policy in the past and will shape them into the future. We explore the refocusing of affordable housing policy on social problems rather than the provision of affordable housing, including examinations of mixed-income housing, poverty dispersal policies, low-income homeownership efforts, and maintaining the long-term affordability of housing. Together we will examine the complex delivery and finance system for affordable housing as it has evolved through changing federal priorities, including federal, state, and local programs, the non-profit and private sectors, secondary lending markets, and the tax system. We end with an exploration of promising strategies for the future.