How to Get Your Free Copy
Students
Students may pick up a copy of the book at the Adele H. Stamp Student Union at the Information Desk.
Faculty and Staff
Faculty and staff may pick up books in front of the Office of Undergraduate Studies, 2110 Marie Mount Hall.
If you wish to pick up boxes of books, please email us at fyb@umd.edu.
Since 1993, the First Year Book program has offered Terps the chance to read a book and discuss the ideas within it.
Join the discussion.
Reading Guide excerpts:
“We’ve been trained to see the poor as idle and unmotivated since the earliest days of capitalism,” says Desmond. He also writes that “these old tropes and stereotypes are dying.” When have you experienced these tropes and stereotypes? Do you think their power is in fact waning?
“To understand the causes of poverty, we must look beyond the poor,” notes Desmond from the outset, “which makes this a book about poverty that is not just about the poor. Instead, it’s a book about how the other half lives, about how some lives are made small so that others may grow.” How does this focus deepen the author’s arguments and proposed solutions?
What did you learn from Poverty, by America that surprised you?
