|  BEYOND
"SPARE CHANGE":
THE REAL STORY
OF HOMELESSNESS
Scott Myers-Lipton
This workshop will explore the issue of homelessness beyond
what most of us see on the streets or learn from the media.
We will discuss the root causes of homelessness and poverty,
and consider solutions to ending both. More specifically,
the class will explore the individual and structural explanations
of poverty and homelessness; the changes in capitalist economics
and politics of the past 30 years; discrimination and racism;
homeless shelters as a response; mental illness and substance
abuse; the welfare system and schools; and the possibility
of change from the bottom up.
Within this informed context, you will have an opportunity
to reflect on your own social identity in relation to social
class and explore what it means to be a citizen in a democracy
faced with these issues. In dialogue with other participants,
you will examine social solutions, as well as personal responses,
to poverty and homelessness.
| Scott Myers-Lipton,
Ph.D., is an associate professor in the
Department of Sociology at San Jose State University
where he currently teaches a course on homelessness
and poverty. He has published seven research articles
in scholarly journals on issues of community activism
and social justice. In addition, he has developed
and implemented social justice leadership programs
with an emphasis on homelessness and poverty reduction
at the University of Colorado, St. Mary's College
of California, and San Jose State University.
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