I did not appreciate the white savior mentality and rhetoric through 1- blaming minorities and their communities for staying in their neighborhoods as if there has not been a history of white hostility that continues to exist, 2- blaming Black men for their community’s outcomes when there have been social and institutional barriers that have put Black people in an unequal and constant state of jeopardy and emergency, 3- the continued rhetoric of observing “ghettos” from the outs as a violent, dangerous, and threatening place as if it is not the home and space of many ethnic minorities, 4- referring to Black people as “blacks” continuously which is outdated and offensive, and so many more instances in which I felt ostracized in a class that studied spaces in which I grew up in.

I really enjoyed this class. Professor Kaufmann is great, her lectures are engaging, and the exams/assignments are straightforward. The content is also incredibly relevant, and contrary to a previous reviews' comments, she did not blame minorities and their communities for staying in their neighborhoods, blame Black men for their communities's outcomes or observe ghettos from the outside as violent, dangerous, and threatening places. In fact, her lectures and the readings made it perfectly clear that the entire premise of the class was to show the exact opposite and dispute the long-held narrative that minorities are to blame for their poverty, exposing systemic causes of poverty and housing discrimination. I definitely think that it is material that everyone should learn.

Professor Kaufmann is amazing. It's clear she really cares about student learning and success. I took this class as someone who was already interested in federal housing policy, but in general, I think the material is super accessible and it's refreshing to actually get a taste for a specific field of policy within the wide scope of the Public Affairs major. Professor Kaufmann ended up making both the final exam and memo optional after receiving student feedback. She also made herself available for office hours by appointment and was super flexible all around. She's an incredible human being, take this class!!

I took this class when it was titled Public Policy 191.

Kaufmann is fantastic - one my favorites at UCLA. Genuinely cares about her students and is a great lecturer.

The class is straightforward (weekly reading quizzes, exams with no surprises, and one paper that you can get feedback on before final submission).

This class is a bit more technical than her poverty class (and, in my opinion, much more interesting). Federal housing policy is a heavy subject, and she does a good job providing a useful primer on it. Probably one of the more useful classes I've taken here.