The US is unusual among rich democracies in many ways, but perhaps none more so than in the very high rates at which Americans are poor, homeless, and otherwise lacking in those things required for survival, health, and physical and emotional well-being. This course will help you develop the knowledge and intellectual tools, using the best available data and research, to describe the scale and scope of that need, focusing on those with very low incomes and those without stable housing. It will also help you develop a deeper understanding of the causes of poverty and homelessness, and the consequences of them too -- not just upon individual and families, but ultimately upon entire neighborhoods, communities, and the nation as a whole. We will also attend to issues of global poverty and inequality, in developed and less developed nations alike.