Jason DeParle, a senior writer at The New York Times, will discuss his book,American Dream:Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nations Drive to End Welfare,at the University of Notre Dame at 3 p.m. Feb. 24 (Thursday) in 102 DeBartolo Hall.
Sponsored by Notre Dames Department of Economics and Policy Studies and the Robinson Community Learning Center, DeParles talk is titledWelfare to Work:A Closer Look at a Diverse Population in Transition. **
Published by Viking Books in 2004,American Dreamfollows the lives of threeMilwaukeewomen in one extended family as legislative changes are pushed through Congress andWisconsinin the wake of a 1996 law removing 9 million women and children from welfare rolls.Drawing on more than a decade of reporting, DeParle traces the familys story back six generations to a common ancestor, aMississippislave, to exploreAmericas struggle with poverty and dependency.
According to Nathan Glazer, professor of sociology atHarvardUniversity, DeParles bookwill become a classic account of the lives of the American poor.
The author ofDead Man Walking,Sister Helen Prejean, praisedAmerican Dreamsasthe Les Miserables of our day.Ken Auletta of The New Yorker said,In this book, Jason DeParle demonstrates why he is the foremost poverty reporter inAmerica.
A graduate ofDukeUniversity, DeParle won a George Polk Award in 1999 for his reporting on the welfare system and was a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.A frequent contributor to The New York Times Magazine, his articles includeWelfare to Work:A Sequel,What Welfare to Work Really Means,andRaising Kevion.
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