UPCD 321: Fundamentals of Housing

This course examines the institutional setting of housing in the United States with a focus on moderate and low-income communities. Using a combination of historical, sociological, financial, and political economy perspectives, students will examine the role and interdependence of institutional actors in housing development. These institutional actors include different levels of governments, private for-profit corporations, and nonprofit organizations. Students will learn the approaches undertaken by different configuration of these institutional actors to address housing issues in a variety of political, economic, and social contexts. Finally, students will examine various housing issues (affordability, discrimination, gentrification, homelessness) and attempts to address these issues, paying particular attention to the ways that these issues differentially impact groups across lines of race, ethnicity, and socio-economic status.