Teaching
Growing Up Poor Across America
Growing Up Poor Across America was a small seminar on quantitative reasoning through a single substantive problem: why do some U.S. cities appear to offer children from poor and disadvantaged families much stronger chances of upward mobility than others?
The course was designed as an on-ramp to SOC 305, giving sociology students more individualized preparation for working with and reasoning from quantitative data. Students studied intergenerational mobility, worked with the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, and learned how to turn empirical evidence into a clear argument.
Course Focus
The seminar used one applied question to build skills in data analysis, graphical communication, and statistical reasoning. The format made room for close support as students learned the basics of R, worked with a single dataset across the term, and developed final projects around the mobility question.
- Learn more about intergenerational mobility.
- Practice quantitative reasoning through one applied example.
- Prepare for SOC 305: Quantitative Social Science.
- Become familiar with a dataset that could support junior paper or thesis work.
Materials
Instructors interested in additional course materials are welcome to contact me.