Doctoral Program

Doctoral Courses Available for New Poverty Researchers

The Center is currently developing a program of study for doctoral students in the social and behavioral sciences and the graduate professional programs (including Social Work, Public Affairs and Public Health). Two courses in this program are currently being offered, and are listed below. The program of study will provide students with a multidisciplinary foundation in poverty issues and U.S. poverty and social policy, expose them to current topics and methods in poverty research, and provide opportunities for professional development and mentoring by Faculty Affiliates. This program is coordinated with the Center’s Seminar Series on Poverty and Public Policy to introduce students to leading poverty scholars and to provide an opportunity for in depth discussion of their research. The center is currently working on establishing this program as a formalized program of study.

Poverty-Related Courses

Integrative Seminar on Health Disparities: The Case of Tobacco

Biweekly Winter-Spring (2007-2008) meets in the Spring: 4/9, 4/23, 5/7, 5/21, and 5/24 in SOC WORK 306 3:30-5:20

SOCW 598, SLN 17338, HSERV 590, PSYCH 550C

Course Instructors
Jennifer Stuber PhD Assistant Professor of Social Work (206)616-3874 Email	Brian Flaherty PhD Assistant Professor of Psychology (206)616-0402 Email

Course description
This seminar will introduce multiple disciplinary perspectives on, potential explanations of and interventions for health disparities. We will apply seminal readings in the field of health disparities to the case of tobacco use and tobacco related disease to make discussions more concrete and potentially impactful. This course is dually relevant for scholars interested in health disparities generally and for those interested in tobacco related disparities.

Why focus on health disparities in the context of tobacco use and prevention? Cigarette smoking is the single most preventable cause of disease and death in the nation and in Washington (WA) State. Some demographic groups have higher smoking rates than others, and other groups have lower overall smoking rates but suffer disproportionately from tobacco related morbidity and mortality. Demographic groups suffering from tobacco related health disparities include those defined by socioeconomic position, race or ethnicity, disability, geographic location, sexual orientation or gender identity and age. Local and nationally known scholars in health disparities will serve as discussants in the seminar.

Advanced Poverty Seminar

Instructor: Robert Plotnick, Professor of Public Affairs

Two-quarter sequence, offered winter and spring.

Winter 2008: Tuesday 1:30-4:20
Spring 2008: Tuesday 1:30-4:20 SWS 30
PubAf 573

Prerequisite: Doctoral students in any discipline; advanced master's level students by permission of instructor.

This seminar provides a multidisciplinary introduction to poverty and antipoverty policies in the U.S. It will extend over two quarters. Winter term will focus on how poverty is measured, its causes, and its consequences for children. Spring term will 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.

Spring term begins by examining the evolution of the US welfare state and the politics of antipoverty policy. This material, along with our understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty from winter term, provides essential background for the remainder of the term. We will use most of the term to analyze current antipoverty policies, their effects on poor children and adults, and how the policies might be better changed to increase their antipoverty impact. Policies designed to affect the market, human capital, income support, welfare, asset-building, health, child development, and marriage promotion will be examined.

The seminar is for students from the social sciences and applied social sciences who are interested in taking a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding these issues and in improving their abilities to critically assess policy relevant social science research. Students are expected to have had at least two graduate level courses in quantitative methods, with an emphasis on applied regression analysis.