AMST 355  Class and Culture     Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph. D.
M - Th,  3:30 - 5:00             Office: CAS 110
CAS 228          Hours,  T:  9:30 - 11:00
Roger Williams University           MWF:  1:00 - 2:00
Spring Semester. 2009    Phone:  ext 3230
E-Mail:  amst355@gmail.com
Index



     
Click for the National Advertising Council's Campaign Against Child Abuse
For Monday, March 9

Read, in Shipler
#6,  Sins of the Fathers   pp.  142 - 173
Chapter 6 isolates a problem which runs throughout American culture but has special ramifications in the lower economic classes.  The problem is child abuse, and the particular focus is on ways that child abuse interacts with poverty to perpetuate it from generation to generation.  I know that numbers of you are psychology majors and may have taken one or more courses which are pertinent...classes in child or adolescent  psychology, or perhaps classes in abnormal psychology.  IF so, you’re more expert than I am, and I’ll try to draw on you for comments about Shipler’s observations.  Be ready to volunteer. 
There are some rays of hope here, as was the case in the previous chapter. Pay special attention to programs which make an effort to
break the cycle of poverty.   Note what motivated those who created the more successful programs, and what led to their particular insights.  For further information, visit the Prevent Child Abuse America Website.
The last time I offered this course, a number of
members of the class wondered if there was a way for
them to get involved.

The America's Second Harvest Network produced
"Hunger in America 2006," a comprehensive profile of
the incidence and nature of hunger and food insecurity
in the U.S.

  • Our study provides extensive demographic profiles of emergency food clients at charitable feeding agencies and comprehensive information on the nature and efficacy of local agencies in meeting the food security needs of clients.

  • The study is the largest of its kind. More than 52,000 individuals agreed to share their personal stories with us through face-to-face interviews at charitable emergency hunger-relief agencies like pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters

America's Second Harvest.

Should you wish to participate in the work of Second Harvest, you'll find access to opportunities on its home page.  The statistics, as disturbing as they are, probably do not represent the economic downturn of 2008-2009.

For Thursday, March 12

Read, in Shipler,
Chapter 7, Kinship pp.  174 - 200
Chapter 8, Body and Mindpp.  201 - 230
A few years back it was not
unusual for graduating seniors to
decorate their caps and occasionally
their gowns with signs like Thanks,
Mom and Dad, and You’ve
Always been There for Me.

Chapter 7 brings home the importance
of kinship as an asset when life takes
a horrific turn.  Note that kin as
Shipler uses the term extends beyond
relatives by blood or marriage into
the larger network of friends, church members, and others who provide  support in times of need.  When those networks fail we can find ourselves in dire times, indeed.  Some of this chapter may bring some of you close to tears, but it may also give you a sense of how, occasionally, persons rise to bad occasions through noble actions.
Click to read an interesting Mayo Clinic article on the importance of social support networks.
Click for a very interesting description of the evolving idea of friendship
How important is friendship, and how have concepts of friendship changed across the centuries?  How does a person's concept of friendship change across the span of his or her life?  The illustration at the left is linked to an interesting article on this.  Friendship may have different aspects in different social classes, as well, and to change one's class may require changing one's friends.  Is it worth it?
Chapter 8 brings us back to the biology of poverty.  Some of you who took U. S. History one will remember that Virginians like William Byrd of Westover complained of the laziness of those who lived on the fringes of society–in places like the edge of the Great Swamp.  We now know that malnutrition has its own set of burdens, some of them visible, some of them invisible, and that some of the charges that the poor are lazy or ignorant may neglect some of the effects of bad diet, including mental retardation.  We’ll look at this today.
This picture links to the photographic work of Jacob Holdt, who describes it as "A Danish vagabond's personal journey through the American Underclass. Caution: Many of the images are very disturbing, and some of the text is highly controversial. However, much of it is profoundly moving as well.
Philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein has devoted much of his energy to abolishing hunger in the United States.   The map at the left links to the Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America at the University of Rhode Island
Click for the report, Hunger in 2006
Click for NPR story on the study
This picture links to the photographic work of Jacob Holdt, who describes it as "A Danish vagabond's personal journey through the American Underclass. Caution: Many of the images are very disturbing, and some of the text is highly controversial. However, much of it is profoundly moving as well.
Remember your Samaritan paper is due today.  Submit it by blackboard.  Use Internet Explorer ot the installed browser on your Mac.  Don't use Firefox III.  It isn't compatible yet.  If you have any problems, let me know and I'll help.
News Flash.  I'm always finding new things of interest.  One that I discovered since publishing this web page was the National Center for Parents as Teachers.  Interesting, Pertinent--visit it by clickin on the logo.