Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University
Chad Kiewiet de Jonge
Shepherd Poverty Student
After my internship at DBEDC, I saw clearly that my black/white thinking about poverty was unrealistic...I realized that all parts of society, including individuals, community groups, and government agencies share responsibility for impoverished conditions, and at the same time, all can play an important role in decreasing poverty.
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Coursework and Research

  • Minor/Concentration Description
    The Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability offers a curricular and co-curricular program of study that enriches any major. Sustained and coordinated study in this program enables students to understand how their undergraduate and graduate studies can prepare them as future professionals and citizens to address the problems of poverty and establishing a decent minimum of human development for all people. Students completing designated requirements in this program receive notations on their transcript at graduation. The program director and coordinator of co-curricular education certify students for this notation when they meet the following requirements totaling at least 16 credits.
  • Poverty Studies in the Catalog
    Read the catalog entry for the Poverty Minor and peruse the descriptions of our interdisciplinary poverty courses.
  • Poverty and Human Capability Courses
    The Shepherd Program offers three interdisciplinary courses that are listed in the Poverty and Human Capability Studies section of the Washington and Lee catalog. All of these courses count toward a program concentration, as does Poverty and Human Capability 295 (Law 231). Poverty and Human Capability 101, 423 (or surrogate), and 450 are required for the program concentration.
  • Discipline-Based Courses
    These courses count toward a minor in Poverty and Human Capability. The program requires 10 hours of credit in addition to Poverty and Human Capability 101, 423 (or surrogate), and 450 or 453. Students must consult with the Program director to determine if the courses are appropriate to a coherent educational plan.* In addition to these disciplined-based courses, Poverty and Human Capability 102 and 295, and courses from the website page for "related courses" may be appropriate to meet this 10-credit requirement.
  • Related Courses
    These courses will count only where they fit with a student's specialized interest in the course subject matter and poverty, and the student focuses research papers and/or other projects on poverty. Students are advised to work with the instructor to set topics in advance of the course.
  • Courses and Learning through Service
    Courses with service-learning components provide students with co-curricular experience at community agencies that complement the academic goals of a course or major. The Shepherd staff assists faculty in the development and facilitation of service-learning components within traditional curricula. Service-learning components ideally require 2 hours of service per week, maintenance of a journal, and a final graded product demonstrating learned skills or student understanding of service work's relation to their academic studies. The Shepherd Program does not endorse ascribing grades for the completion of service as service.
  • Supplemental Courses
    Students engaged in the Shepherd Program courses may also find these courses of interest. They will not count for a minor in Poverty and Human Capability, but may be of interest to students who are minoring in poverty studies.
  • Student Papers
    Student Capstones and Thesis
  • Poverty Research Resources
    Links to important poverty related research sites

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