Blog Action Day: Understanding Poverty via CCV’s Social Sciences Courses

Today, the Community College of Vermont is participating in Blog Action Day 2008. This annual nonprofit event aims to unite people around the world on one issue on the same day. This year's topic is poverty. Messages from several members of the CCV community will be posted here throughout the day. The following post is submitted by Yasmine Ziesler, an academic advisor and coordinator for Social Science courses at CCV Burlington.


Courses in the social sciences at CCV Burlington provide students with a diverse array of opportunities to explore and understand issues of poverty. Here are a few examples:

Students in Lawrence Ziegler’s “Introduction to Cultural Anthropology” course gain an introduction to domestic poverty issues via this video clip:

Larry also draws on his own research and book, Resistance in an Amazonian Community, to explore issues of poverty and political resistance.

“Introduction to Sociology” faculty Michael Ohler draws on his professional experience at the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) and conducts class meetings at the COTS Waystation during college hunger and homelessness week.

I use my own book to facilitate an exploration of poverty and resistance, and we do an analysis of food policy, hunger, and the international financial institutions (IMF, World Bank, WTO, etc.) I've also started using relevant music to start each class and bring us back to the subject after a break (Sweet Honey in the Rock "Are my Hands Clean?" and Utah Phillips "We Have Fed You All For a Thousand Years" for instance) and much more!