The study of poverty is often dominated by sociologists and economists. Yet poverty and inequality are such a fundamental aspects of the human experience that many other disciplines have valuable contributions to make to our understanding of this phenomenon. How has poverty been portrayed in literature, and how has that changed over time? What are the moral and ethical dimensions of poverty in an affluent? How does the experience of poverty shape individual and group identities? Generally, what insights into the causes and consequences of poverty can be contributed by the Humanities, particularly English, history, philosophy, and religion?
To gauge the interest on campus in a broadly interdisciplinary program of activities concerning poverty, CURE sponsored a lunch with scholars from across the University. Those attending the lunch, shown below from left to right, are Lorraine C. Minnite (Public Policy), Joan Maya Mazelis (Sociology), Carol J. Singley (English), Christopher Fitter (English), Paul Jargowsky (Public Policy), Keith Green (English), John Wall (Childhood Studies, Philosophy and Religion), and Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn (Public Policy). Also attending was Natasha Tursi, Associate Director of CURE. Proposals for follow up activities are under development. Watch this space for updates.