Poverty Symposium begins Oct. 21

American Poverty in Context, a fall symposium exploring issues of poverty and hunger in the U.S., will run from Oct. 21 to Oct. 29 and feature lecturers from the College community as well as nationally-recognized speakers.

“We really hope that students will come away from the symposium with a more complicated understanding of the issues at hand,” said Dan Murphy ’11, who is organizing the event along with Veronica Muoio ’11 and Yuan Lim ’12.

“Poverty can exert a pervasive influence on a person's life, affecting everything from health to housing to children's educational outcomes. It's important for Middlebury students to know what's at stake, and for whom,” added Murphy.

The symposium will begin the Thursday after midterm recess with guest lecturer Joel Berg. Berg is a former USDA Coordinator of Community Food Security and head of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger.  His lecture is entitled “Yes, We Can End Hunger and Poverty in the United States” and will discuss topics covered in his new book, All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America? Berg’s book presents a policy plan for the Obama administration to end child hunger in the U.S. by 2015.  Berg will speak at 7 p.m. in Dana Auditorium.

A community supper will be held on Oct. 22 from 4-8 p.m. at the Congregational Church.

The following week kicks off on Monday Oct. 25 with keynote speaker Harlan Beckley at 4:30 p.m. in the McCullough Social Space. Beckley has taught in the Religion department at Washington and Lee University since 1974 and is the director of the Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability at Washington and Lee.  Following his lecture, Beckley will speak with Tom and Nancy Shepherd, Washington and Lee alumni whose financial support makes the program possible, in an information session on the Shepherd program at 7 p.m. in the Davis Family Library room 201.

On Tuesday Oct. 26, Middlebury Professor of Economics Rober Prasch will give a lecture entitled “Poverty, Gender Politics, and the Origin of Labor Legislation in the United States” at 12:30 p.m. in Le Chateau 108.

Program Manager of Project Health Samantha Marder and Project Health volunteer Hannah Nichols will give a lecture entitled “Understanding Social Determinants of Health: Breaking the Link between Poverty and Poor Health” at 4:30 p.m. in McCardell Bicentential Hall 220 on Wednesday Oct. 27.  Project Health trains undergraduate volunteers to operate Family Help Desks in clinics in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York, Providence and Washington, D.C. These help desks connect low-income families with resources to find food, fuel assistance, housing or other resources.

Founder and Director of Good News Garage (GNG) Hal Colston will give a lecture on Thursday Oct. 28 at 12:30 p.m. in McCardell Bicentential Hall 220 discussing community action in New England.  In addition to directing GNG, which repairs donated cars and gives them to low-income families in New England, Colston also teaches a community service course at Champlain College.

Also on Thursday, Ingrid Pixley and Doug Sinclair will discuss “Housing Issues, Homelessness and Community Action in Vermont” in the Davis Family Library room 201. Pixley is the Property Manager for the local nonprofit Addison County Community Trust, which provides affordable housing to Addison County Residents. Sinclair is the co-founder of the Middlebury Community Care Coalition, which helps provide housing and food assistance to the local community.

The symposium will close on Oct. 29 with a student panel on summer anti-poverty internship experiences.