Scholar Visits UA to Speak on Tax Policy, Working Poor

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Katherine Newman, renowned scholar and the James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, will visit The University of Alabama campus to speak about the impact of Alabama’s tax policy on the working poor.

Newman will talk about her book, “Taxing the Poor: Doing Damage to the Truly Disadvantaged” on Friday, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. in 205 Gorgas Library on the UA campus.

Newman’s 2011 book discusses Alabama’s tax system, which Newman considers to be regressive, and its impact on struggling families. Newman’s talk will be free and open to the public.

Her visit to the UA campus is hosted by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences and co-sponsored by UA’s department of political science, School of Social Work, Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility and the student chapter of Alabama Arise, a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of 142 congregations and organizations promoting public policies that improve the lives of low-income Alabamians.

In 2008, Newman was the featured speaker at an Alabama Arise tax justice event, and proceeds from her latest book will be donated to the organization.

Newman has appeared on numerous media outlets, including “Oprah” and PBS’s “Bill Moyers Journal.” She is a widely published expert on poverty and the working poor, and she has written or co-authored 11 books.

She has focused much of her scholarly work on the lives of the working poor and mobility up and down the economic ladder. She also has investigated, among other issues, the history of public opinion’s impact on poverty policy and school violence and the impact of globalization on young people in Italy, Spain, Japan and South Africa.

Newman has served on the faculty at Princeton University, Harvard University, Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego, in 1975 where she majored in sociology and philosophy. She earned a doctorate in anthropology in 1979 from the University of California, Berkeley.

Newman’s lecture will be followed by a reception hosted by Friends of Alabama Arise at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21 at First Presbyterian Church, 900 Greensboro Avenue in Tuscaloosa. Newman will speak briefly and take questions. For more information on the reception, contact Ruthie Sherrill at 205/292-3762 or email Brenda Boman at Brenda@alarise.org.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Its students have won national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.