This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to various perspectives and philosophies that have dominated the discourse on urban poverty throughout history and into the contemporary present. The course is primarily concerned with the ways in which historical, cultural, political, racial, social, spatial/geographical, and economic forces have either shaped or been left out of contemporary debates on urban poverty. Of great importance, the course will evaluate competing knowledge systems and their respective implications in terms of the question of “what can be known” about urban poverty in the contexts of policy circles, social service intervention, and academic literature. We will critically analyze a wide body of literature seeking to theorize urban poverty, paying particular attention to the tradition of urban ethnography. Course readings span the disciplines of social welfare; sociology; anthropology; critical geography; history; and political science. Primacy will be granted to critical analysis of course readings, particularly with regard to the ways in which various knowledge systems create, sustain, and constrict meaning in reference to urban poverty.