Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph. D.
Office: GHH 215
Hours M, W, F,  11:00 - 12:00
T:  2:00 - 3:00 and By Appointment
Phone:  (254) 3230
AMST 355  Class and Culture
M, W, F, 1:00-1:50
GHH 208
Roger Williams University
Fall Semester, 2012
INDEX
E-Mail: mswanson@rwu.edu
For Wednesday, August 29
For Friday, August 31
I’ll do the traditional things for the first day.  I’ll welcome you, and thank you for taking Class and Culture, I’ll introduce you to the class website and explain how the online syllabus will constitute the “real” syllabus for the course.  I’ll introduce you to Bridges and some of the features we’ll be using there, and I’ll introduce what we’ll do on Friday.
From the Class Website page for this week,
Download and read The Pew Report on Segregation by Income
Warning.  There are a lot of statistics here.  Don’t let that scare you off.  Obviously no one is expected to memorize these–me included.  But what I want to have you do is get a sense of the generalizations–both for the country as a whole, and for the various regions and metropolitan districts. 

Be aware of the variations, in terms of time, place, and/or in terms of dollars.  For example, take a look at the chart Definition of Household Income Groups on p. 23.  What has happened across time?  What was the minimum income for the upper class in 1980.  What is the minimum income now?  What does that suggest to you? 

In your journal, speculate a little about what this all means for American Society.  How is the general community affected by the widening segregation by income
Click on either map to visit the City Data page for New Bedford Massachusetts.  The scale below the maps represents median househoold income for each tract, the paler the color the higher the income. See if you  can locate the two census blocks I've clicked upon.  You'll be able to explore further data.  A muse in your journal about your thoughts on this would be much appreciated.