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Note: Event start time is Central Time (CT).
Matthew Desmond, Ph.D.
Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology, Princeton University
Alex Kotlowitz
Bestselling author, journalist, and professor at Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University
Poverty, by America (Event 2 of 2)
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages? In his new landmark book Poverty, by America, acclaimed social scientist and urban ethnographer Matthew Desmond, Ph.D. draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.
Desmond is the Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology at Princeton University and the founding director of the Eviction Lab. His last book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award, among others. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Prof. Desmond is also a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine.
Prof. Desmond will be in conversation with Alex Kotlowitz, the author of four books, including his most recent, An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago, which received the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize. Kotlowitz’s first book, the national bestseller There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America, was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the 150 most important books of the twentieth century. He a professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
This event suitable for youth 12+. First 400 attendees will receive a free copy of Poverty, by America, 1 per household. The event will be recorded but not live streamed.
NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED.
Event Sponsors
- Baker Demonstration School
- Beacon Academy
- Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School
- Catherine Cook School
- Chiaravalle Montessori School
- Compass Health Center
- Connections for the Homeless
- Countryside Day School
- Evanston Scholars
- Evanston Township High School D202
- Family Service Center
- Francis W. Parker School
- Glencoe D35
- Gorton Center
- Haven Youth and Family Services
- Hyde Park Day School
- Illinois Student Assistance Commission
- Kenilworth D38
- Lake Bluff D65
- Lake Forest Academy
- Lake Forest Country Day School
- Lake Michigan Association of Independent Schools
- Leo Catholic High School
- Mindful Psychology Associates PC
- New Trier High School D203
- New Trier Multifaith Alliance
- North Shore Country Day
- Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy
- Rebel Human
- Regina Dominican College Preparatory High School
- Resurrection College Prep High School
- Roycemore School
- Santa Clara University School of Law
- Science & Arts Academy
- Stevenson High School D125
- The Academy at St. Joan of Arc
- The Alliance for Early Childhood
- The Avery Coonley School
- The Cove School
- The Family Institute at Northwestern University
- The Frances Xavier Warde School
- University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice
- University of Chicago Laboratory Schools Parents’ Association
- Wilmette Public Library
- Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District
- Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart
- Youth & Opportunity United (Y.O.U.)
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