ABCS 2010-2011

Fall 2010 - ABCS Courses 

Undergraduate Courses

GLOBALIZATION: CAUSES AND EFFECTS

ANTH 155 - Brian Spooner

This course explores the history, ideas, and practice of an urban education style known as cultural relevance. The underlying goal of this approach is to use research, holistic interaction, and meaningful learning experiences to better connect with students who may not fully associate with more standard public school practices. Via field work with Ase Academy - an academic and cultural out-of-school program hosted at Penn - students in the course will have the unique opportunity to put their tools into practice weekly, developing and facilitating activities for secondary students. The course will partner with the University City High School Student Success Center and the Enterprise Center CDC.

PUBLIC INTEREST WORKSHOP

ANTH 516 401/AFST 516/GSOC 516/URBS 516 - Peggy Sanday, Gretchen Suess

The workshop will be run as an open interdisciplinary forum on framing a public interest social science that ties theory and action.  Students are encouraged to apply the framing model to a public interest research and action topic of their choice. 

SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION

ARCH 255/ARCH 755/ENVS 255/URBS 255 - Mark Alan Hughes, Leslie Billhymer

This course explores the history, ideas, and practice of an urban education style known as cultural relevance. The underlying goal of this approach is to use research, holistic interaction, and meaningful learning experiences to better connect with students who may not fully associate with more standard public school practices. Via field work with Ase Academy - an academic and cultural out-of-school program hosted at Penn - students in the course will have the unique opportunity to put their tools into practice weekly, developing and facilitating activities for secondary students.

LEARNING AND TEACHING REGENERATION BIOLOGY

BIOL 151-001 - Dan Kessler, Jamie Shuda

This course explores the history, ideas, and practice of an urban education style known as cultural relevance. The underlying goal of this approach is to use research, holistic interaction, and meaningful learning experiences to better connect with students who may not fully associate with more standard public school practices. Via field work with Ase Academy - an academic and cultural out-of-school program hosted at Penn - students in the course will have the unique opportunity to put their tools into practice weekly, developing and facilitating activities for secondary students.

URBAN EDUCATION

EDUC 202/URBS 202 - Katie McGinn

This course focuses on various perspectives on urban education, conditions for teaching and learning in urban public schools, current theories of pedagogy in urban classrooms along with a close examination of a few representative and critical issues. While our focus is on schools in the United States, we will broaden our discussion at times to examine the same issues from an international perspective. The course is designed around the following themes (1) perspectives on urban education, (2) the broader urban context of K-12 schooling, (3) teaching and learning in urban settings, and (4) responses to the persistent challenges in urban schools. These themes should provide multiple lenses with which to explore the complexities of urban education. Major theoretical perspectives on schooling and various proposals by researchers and policymakers that address particular challenges in urban education will also be addressed.

CULTURALLY RELEVANT TEACHING AND LEARNING

EDUC 245 - Brian Peterson

This course explores the history, ideas, and practice of an urban education style known as cultural relevance. The underlying goal of this approach is to use research, holistic interaction, and meaningful learning experiences to better connect with students who may not fully associate with more standard public school practices. Via field work with Ase Academy, an academic and cultural out-of-school program hosted at Penn, students in the course will have the unique opportunity to put their tools into practice weekly, developing and facilitating activities for secondary students.

TUTORING IN SCHOOLS: THEORY & PRACTICE

EDUC 323 401/URBS 323 401 - Leslie Rogers

This course represents an opportunity for students to participate in academically-based community service involving tutoring in a West Phila. public school. This course will serve a need for those students who are already tutoring through the West Phila.Tutoring Project or other campus tutoring. It will also be available to individuals who are interested in tutoring for the first time.

SCHOOLS & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: COLLABORATION WITH WEST PHILADELPHIA HIGH SCHOOL URBAN LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

EDUC 410 402/URBS 327 402 - John Puckett, Elaine Simon, and Richard Redding

The current course is "Schools and Community Development: A Collaboration with West Philadelphia High School Urban Leadership Academy." This seminar engages Penn undergraduates with West Philadelphia High School teachers and students to assist in planning an urban studies academy at both the existing and the proposed new high school. This planning includes developing curricular activities, mapping institutional resources to support curriculum development, and designing school-based public-works projects. First class meeting is January 14 from 12:30-3:30 in McNeil 130. Subsequent classes will meet at West Philadelphia High School; transportation will be provided.

SCIENCE IN ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS

EDUC 521 001 - NancyLee Bergey

The goal of this course is to prepare teachers to facilitate science learning in the elementary and middle school. Special emphasis is placed on striving for a balance between curricular goals; individual needs and interests; and the nature of science.

URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: SPEAKING ABOUT LEAD IN WEST PHILADELPHIA (CWIC and BFS)

ENVS 404 401/HSOC 404 401 - Rich Pepino

Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities, impaired hearing, behavioral problems, and at very high levels, seizures, coma and even death. Children up to the age of six are especially at risk because of their developing systems; they often ingest lead chips and dust while playing in their home and yards. In ENVS 404, Penn undergraduates learn about the epidemiology of lead poisoning, the pathways of exposure, and methods for community outreach and education. Penn students collaborate with middle school and high school teachers in West Philadelphia to engage middle school children in exercises that apply environmental research relating to lead poisoning to their homes and neighborhoods.

URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: THE URBAN ASTHMA EPIDEMIC (CWIC and BFS)

ENVS 408 401/HSOC 408 401 - Mick Kulik

Asthma as a pediatric chronic disease is undergoing a dramatic and unexplained increase. It has become the number one cause of public school absenteeism and now accounts for a significant number of childhood deaths each year in the USA.The Surgeon General of the United States has characterized childhood asthma as an epidemic. In ENVS 408, Penn undergraduates learn about the epidemiology of urban asthma, the debate about the probable causes of the current asthma crisis, and the nature and distribution of environmental factors that modern medicine describes as potential triggers of asthma episodes. Penn students will collaborate with the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) on a clinical research study entitled the Community Asthma Prevention Program. The Penn undergraduates will co-teach with CHOP parent educators asthma classes offered at community centers in Southwest, West, and North Philadelphia. The CHOP study gives the Penn students the opportunity to apply their study of the urban asthma epidemic to real world situations.

URBAN UNIVERSITY-COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS (BFS)

HIST 173 401/URBS 178 401/AFRC 078 - Ira Harkavy & Lee Benson

This course explores the history, ideas, and practice of an urban education style known as cultural relevance. The underlying goal of this approach is to use research, holistic interaction, and meaningful learning experiences to better connect with students who may not fully associate with more standard public school practices. Via field work with Ase Academy - an academic and cultural out-of-school program hosted at Penn - students in the course will have the unique opportunity to put their tools into practice weekly, developing and facilitating activities for secondary students.

THE WEST PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITY HISTORY PROJECT

HIST 204 401 - Walter Licht and Mark Lloyd

This course led by Walter Licht, Professor of History, and Mark Lloyd, University Archivist, aims at the creation of a lasting, interactive website that will grow as a collective portrait (or scrapbook) of families and individuals who have had histories in West Philadelphia. 

THE COMMUNITY MATH TEACHING PROGRAM

MATH 122 001 - Idris Stovall

This course allows Penn students to teach a series of hands-on activities to students in math classes at University City High School.  The semester starts with an introduction to successful approaches for teaching math in urban high schools.  The rest of the semester will be devoted to a series of weekly hands-on activities designed to teach fundamental aspects of geometry.  The first class meeting of each week, Penn faculty teach Penn students the relevant mathematical background and techniques for a hands-on activity. During the second session of each week, Penn students will teach the hands-on activity to a small group of UCHS students.  The Penn students will also have an opportunity to develop their own activity and to implement it with the UCHS students.

LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNICATION IN GROUPS

MGMT 100 - Anne Greenhalgh

Management 100 is designed to increase your understanding of leadership and communication in teams and to help you build skills that are necessary for professional success.  Your field project provides the context in which you will develop as a leader, practice communication skills, learn about the nature of group work, and enhance your sensitivity to community issues. 

WHARTON FIELD CHALLENGE

MGMT 353 - Keith Weigelt, Stacy Franks

WRITING ABOUT GOSPEL MUSIC

MUSC 009 - Carol Muller

This is a critical writing seminar. It fulfills the writing requirement for all undergraduates.  The purpose of this seminar will be to produce a Compact Disc with extensive documentary liner notes on contemporary gospel music performance in Philadelphia.  The goals of the seminar are threefold: students will learn to listen closely to contemporary gospel music by writing about they hear; they will be introduced to a brief history of American gospel music; and spend half of the seminar producing a Compact disc of words and music focused on the local gospel music scene in Philadelphia.

CONCEPTS IN NURSING: PROMOTING HEALTHY LIFESTYLES I

NURS 104 001 - Barbara Riegel

This introductory clinical course deals with health promotion and disease prevention with healthy and at-risk individuals in the community.  Students will address the theoretical component of the course in weekly seminars.  The clinical component focuses on the communication techniques and basic clinical skills and technologies used to assess health status, promote health and prevent illness.  Students then integrate theoretical concepts and clinical skills and apply them in a variety of community settings, focusing on health promotion and disease prevention with healthy and at-risk individuals. 

ISSUES IN NUTRITION, EXERCISE, & FITNESS

NURS 376 001 - Stella Volpe

An examination of the scientific basis for the relationship between nutrition, exercise and fitness.  The principles of exercise science and their interaction with nutrition are explored in depth.  The physiological and biochemical effects of training are examined in relation to sports performance and prevention of the chronic diseases prevalent in developed countries. 

THE COMMUNITY PHYSICS INITIATIVE

PHYS 137 - Larry Gladney

The goal is to develop a course that links practical and theoretical attributes of some fundamental physics concepts to engage students in significant research and service activities between Penn students and students at University City High School (36th and Filbert Street).

THE POLITICS OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

PSCI 135 301/HSOC 135 401/GAFL 135 401 - Mary Summers

This academically based community service seminar will explore the politics and institutions that have shaped - and continue to shape - food production and consumption.  Students will use the readings, their community service, and ongoing "food events" at Penn to analyze the politics of food in many arenas: from farms, kitchens, supermarkets, schools, and communities of faith to corporations, research institutions, the media and international trade.

CITIZENSHIP AND DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT (BFS)

PSCI 291 301 - Henry Teune

This seminar is part of the Penn Democracy Project whose purpose is to assess the democratic political development among undergraduates, using Penn as a “model” for similar studies in the US and other countries. The Penn Democracy Project is a part of a global effort to establish collaborative relationships among universities and colleges to promote democratic institutions related primarily to the Council of Europe’s efforts to promote democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in Europe and the world.  The point of departure is that universities have a responsibility to educate their students in democratic values and practices as well as to prepare them for materially rewarding and personally enhancing lives. Indeed, those three objectives are mutually interdependent: productive lives, personal satisfactions, political and social engagement.

Graduate Courses

PUBLIC INTEREST WORKSHOP

ANTH 516/AFST516/GSOC516/URBS516 - Peggy Sanday

This is an interdisciplinary workshop sponsored by Peggy Reeves Sanday (Dept of Anthropology) with guest speakers from Communication Studies and other fields. Open to graduate and advanced undergraduate students, the workshop is a response to Amy Gutmann's call for interdisciplinary cooperation across the University and to the Dept. of Anthropology's commitment to developing public interest research and practice as a disciplinary theme. The workshop will be run as an open interdisciplinary forum on framing a public interest social science that ties theory and action. Students are encouraged to apply the framing model to a public interest research and action topic of their choice. Examples of public interest topics to be discussed in class and through outside speakers include the meaning of "public interest," the ways in which the public interest is/is not addressed in the academy, and the relationship of studying the public interest to social justice. This is an academically-based-community-service (ABCS) course.

MULTICULTURAL ISSUES IN EDUCATION

EDUC 723 - Vivian Gadsden

This course examines critical issues, problems, and perspectives in multicultural education. Intended to focus on access to literacy and educational opportunity, the course will engage class members in discussions around a variety of topics in educational practice, research, and policy. Specifically, the course will (1) review theoretical frameworks in multicultural education, (2) analyze the issues of race, racism, and culture in historical and contemporary perspective, and (3) identify obstacles to participation in the educational process by diverse cultural and ethnic groups. Students will be required to complete field experiences and classroom activities that enable them to reflect on their own belief systems, practices, and educational experiences.

HEALTH PROMOTION INTRODUCTION

DENT 508 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

Lectures, seminars, clinical sessions and community experiences are provided so that students gain the necessary knowledge and skill regarding the philosophy, modalities, rationale and evaluation of oral health promotion and disease prevention activities in community and public health. Course topics include personal wellness theory and practice; etiology, early detection and prevention of dental caries, periodontal diseases and oral cancer; and assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of community oral health programs.

LOCAL & GLOBAL PUBLIC & COMMUNITY HEALTH

DENT 612 (full year course)

Lectures, seminars and community experiences provide students with foundation knowledge in general principles of public health and community health, with specific application to the following dental public health concepts: access to care, cost, quality of care and international health. Students complete community experiences that provide foundation experiences in developing and implementing community oral health promotion activities.

PRACTICUM IN COMMUNITY HEALTH PROMOTION I

DENT 712 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

Experiences in selected community settings provide students with the opportunity to develop and expand their skills in community oral health promotion. Students are scheduled in a local elementary and/ middle schools and participate in the oral health education, screening and referral program under the direct supervision of faculty members. In addition, students complete activities from a selected list of programs at local community agencies and/or schools. Students attend small group seminars to discuss their experiences and theoretical underpinnings of community oral health activities.

PRACTICUM IN COMMUNITY HEALTH PROMOTION II

DENT 812 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

Experiences in alternate oral health care delivery settings provide students with the opportunity to develop and expand their skills in providing comprehensive oral health care in community based settings under the direct supervision of faculty members. Students are scheduled in the mobile dental vehicle, PENNSmiles, and are also scheduled at Community Volunteers in Medicine, a community based medical and dental treatment facility in West Chester, PA. Students attend small group seminars to discuss their experiences and theoretical underpinnings of community oral health activities.

PRIMARY CARE CONCEPTS IN URBAN HEALTH

NURS 656 (Corequisite: NURS 657) - Ann O’ Sullivan

Intended for nurses planning a career in primary health care practice, this course includes lectures, discussions and readings focused on health, social, economic and professional factors influencing health care delivery. It is a companion course to NURS 657.   

Spring 2011 - ABCS Courses

Undergraduate Courses

FOOD HABITS IN PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITIES

ANTH 252-301 - Jane Kauer

In this course we will explore food and culture together with middle-school children. Students will explore and examine food habits, the intersection of culture, family, history, and the meanings of food and eating broadly. The goal of the course will be to learn about the food habits of a local diverse community, to explore that community’s history of food and eating, and to consider ways and means for understanding and changing food habits through learning about these cultural meanings of food.  Undergraduates will be responsible for weekly writing assignments responding to their learning experience in the course, for preparing materials to use with the middle school children in their school, being participant-learners with the middle school children, and for a final research project. The readings for the course will address the ideas underlying university-community engagement, the relationships that exist between food/eating and culture and how learning about these relationships can help us understand how we might effect changes in food habits towards more sustainable diets, and research methods.  Middle school students will learn about their food environment and about why culture matters when we talk about food. Topics include traditional and modern foodways, ethnic foods and cuisine in America, development of eating habits, American ‘cuisine’. The course integrates classroom work about food culture and anthropological practice with frequent trips to a 6th grade classroom where undergraduates will interact with students and teachers.

EVALUATING ACADEMICALLY-BASED COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAMS

ANTH 318 301 - Gretchen Suess, Frank Johnston

This course deals with the critical research and evaluation of community-based programs and especially those that are organized around academically-based community service (ABCS). The course focuses on the design and implementation of evaluations of social programs. Coverage will include the selection of indicators, controlling for confounding factors, the application of ethnographic and quantitative methods, and the utilization of quantitative and qualitative techniques. As part of the course, students will conduct an evaluation of a program designed to improve quality of life and/or health status among West Philadelphia children and youth.

DNA, DIET AND DISEASE

BIOL 017 - Scott Poethig

This non-science majors course examines the ways in which humans manipulate—and have been manipulated by—the organisms we depend on for food. It includes a discussion of the nature of food, and the genetics, evolution, breeding and molecular engineering of domesticated plants and animals, the ecology, technology, and politics of food production, and the ways in which food affects human health.

THE ART OF SPEAKING: COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE CURRICULUM SPEAKING ADVISOR TRAINING (CWIC)

COLL 135 301 - Sue Weber (Permission Needed From Instructor)

This course is designed to equip students with the major tenets of rhetorical studies and peer education necessary to work as a CWiC speaking advisor. The course is a practicum that aims to develop students' abilities as speakers, as critical listeners and as advisors able to help others develop those abilities. In addition to creating and presenting individual presentations, students present workshops and practice advising. During this ABCS course, students will practice their advising skills by coaching and mentoring students at a public school in West Philadelphia.

TEACHING COMPUTER SCIENCE BASICS, A SERVICE LEARNING COURSE

EAS 285 (Prerequisites CIS 110 or CIS 120) Lecture and Section - Jean Griffin, William Burke (Fulfills an SSH requirement under TBS)

This service learning course focuses on the growing use of computers in and around K-12 schools, combining theory and practice in the study of the use of media applications inside and outside of the classroom. The course explores the relationship between theories of development and the roles of community and culture in its investigation of how and what youth learn using various media applications.  Given the convergence of these applications and the innovative ways that youth employ them, the course particularly considers the role of computer science education (and that of schools, in general) as an intermediary between youth and technology.

URBAN EDUCATION

EDUC 202/URBS 202 - Amy Bach - Fulfills College requirements - Cultural Diversity in the US

This course focuses on various perspectives on urban education, conditions for teaching and learning in urban public schools, current theories of pedagogy in urban classrooms along with a close examination of a few representative and critical issues. While our focus is on schools in the United States, we will broaden our discussion at times to examine the same issues from an international perspective. The course is designed around the following themes (1) perspectives on urban education, (2) the broader urban context of K-12 schooling, (3) teaching and learning in urban settings, and (4) responses to the persistent challenges in urban schools. These themes should provide multiple lenses with which to explore the complexities of urban education. Major theoretical perspectives on schooling and various proposals by researchers and policymakers that address particular challenges in urban education will also be addressed.

RESEARCH AS PUBLIC WORK: A PROJECT TO HELP CREATE A NEW WEST PHILADELPHIA HIGH SCHOOL
EDUC 410-401/URBS 327-401 - John Puckett, Elaine Simon, and Richard Redding

The current course is "Schools and Community Development: A Collaboration with West Philadelphia High School Urban Leadership Academy." This seminar engages Penn undergraduates with West Philadelphia High School teachers and students to assist in planning an uban studies academy at both the existing and the proposed new high school. This planning includes developing curricular activities, mapping institutional resources to support curriculum development, and designing school-based public works projects.

TUTORING IN URBAN ELEMENTARY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: A CHILD DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE

EDUC 326 401 /URBS 326 401 - John Fantuzzo

Students will study early childhood development and learning while providing direct, one-to-one tutoring services to young students in Philadelphia public elementary schools.

ELEMENTARY SOCIAL STUDIES AND SCIENCE METHODS

EDUC 421 001/ENVS 421 001 - NancyLee Bergey

The purpose of this course is to help students prepare to teach science and social studies to urban elementary and middle school children, in schools or in out of school settings. Although other topics are touched upon, many of the examples are drawn from environmental science which allows context and values from social studies to situate elementary and middle school science instruction. The culminating activity for this course is the planning and implementation of the Alexander Wilson Environmental Festival.

LITERATURES OF JAZZ

AFRC-079-401/MUSC-080-401/ENGL-080-401 - Herman Beavers

That modernism is steeped as much in the rituals of race as of innovation is most evident in the emergence of the music we have come to know as jazz, which results from collaborations and confrontations taking place both across and within the color line. In this course we will look at jazz and the literary representations it engendered in order to understand modern American culture. We will explore a dizzying variety of forms, including autobiography and album liner notes, biography, poetry, fiction, and cinema. We'll examine how race, gender, and class influenced the development of jazz music, and then will use jazz music to develop critical approaches to literary form. Students are not required to have a critical understanding of music. Class will involve visits from musicians and critics, as well as field trips to some of Philadelphia's most vibrant jazz venues.

COMMUNITY BASED ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH (BFS)

ENVS 406 301 - Richard Pepino

From the fall of the Roman Empire to Love Canal to the epidemics of asthma, childhood obesity and lead poisoning in West Philadelphia, the impact of the environment on health has been a continuous challenge to society. The environment can affect people's health more strongly than biological factors, medical care and lifestyle. The water we drink, the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the neighborhood we live in are all components of the environment that impact our health. Some estimates, based on morbidity and mortality statistics, indicate that the impact of the environment on health is as high as 80%. These impacts are particularly significant in urban areas like West Philadelphia. Over the last 20 years, the field of environmental health has matured and expanded to become one of the most comprehensive and humanly relevant disciplines in science. This course will examine not only the toxicity of physical agents, but also the effects on human health of lifestyle, social and economic factors, and the built environment. Topics include cancer clusters, water borne diseases, radon and lung cancer, lead poisoning, environmental tobacco smoke, respiratory diseases and obesity. Students will research the health impacts of classic industrial pollution case studies in the US. Class discussions will also include risk communication, community outreach and education, access to health care and impact on vulnerable populations. Each student will have the opportunity to focus on Public Health, Environmental Protection, Public Policy, and Environmental Education issues as they discuss approaches to mitigating environmental health risks. This honors seminar will consist of lectures, guest speakers, readings, student presentations, discussions, research, and community service. The students will have two small research assignments including an Environmental and Health Policy Analysis and an Industrial Pollution Case Study Analysis. Both assignments will include class presentations. The major research assignment for the course will be a problem-oriented research paper and presentation on a topic related to community-based environmental health selected by the student. In this paper, the student must also devise practical recommendations for the problem based on their research.

PREVENTION OF TOBACCO ADDICTION IN PRE-ADOLESCENT CHILDREN OF PHILADELPHIA

ENVS 407 401/HSOC 407 401 - Mick Kulik

This course will examine the short and long term physiological effects of smoking, social influences, the effectiveness of cessation programs, tobacco advocacy and the impact of the tobacco settlement. Penn Students will work with middle school students on a campaign to prevent addiction to tobacco smoke.

CLEAN WATER – GREEN CITIES

ENVS 410 - Howard Neukrug

This ABCS course will involve synthesizing and communicating publicly available environmental information on Philadelphian watersheds for local community groups and existing watershed partnerships.

THE BIG PICTURE: MURAL ART IN PHILADELPHIA

FNAR 222/622 401/URBS 322 401 - Jane Golden and Shira Walinsky

The subject of this course is murals, thier history and contemporary incarnations. We will look at how murals affect and reflect societal issues and transform spaces. How have  murals be a tool for social change historically and here in Philadelphia. Through our own mural project, guest speakers and readings we will ask how murals can push aesthetic boundaries while contributing to the needs of society. At the heart of the class is student involvement in a mural project. We as a class work collaboratively with a site and community on this public project. This semester the theme is housing and homelessness.

URBAN UNIVERSITY-COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS (BFS)

HIST 173 401/AFRC 078 401/URBS 178 401 - Ira Harkavy & Lee Benson - Fulfills College requirements - Cultural Diversity in the US

One of the seminar's aims is to help students develop their capacity to solve strategic, real-world problems by working collaboratively in the classroom and in the West Philadelphia community. Students work as members of research teams to help solve universal problems (e.g., poverty, poor schooling, inadequate health care, etc.) as they are manifested in Penn's local geographic community of West Philadelphia. The seminar currently focuses on improving education, specifically college and career readiness and pathways. Specifically, students focus their problem-solving research at Sayre High School in West Philadelphia, which functions as the real-world site for the seminar's activities. Students are typically engaged in academically based service-learning at the Sayre School, primarily on Mondays from 3 to 5. Other arrangements can be made at the school if needed. Another goal of the seminar is to help students develop proposals as to how a Penn undergraduate education might better empower students to produce, rather than simply "consume," societally useful knowledge, as well as function as life-long societally useful citizens.

COMMUNITY BASED RESEARCH ON HEALTH DISPARITIES

HSOC 330-301 - Chanita Hughes Halbert

Despite efforts, racial and ethnic minorities continue to experience poorer health outcomes from chronic conditions. Increasingly, efforts are being directed towards developing and implementing community-based strategies to reduce disparities in medically underserved populations. A particular focus of this course is to facilitate student’s ability to integrate this knowledge and apply it in real-world settings in order to improve health outcomes in medically underserved populations.

PENN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE ADVANCED LANGUAGE ABCS INDEPENDENT STUDY

LING - Jami Fisher (A minimum of four semesters of American Sign Language is required for this course)

In this course, students will provide services (tutoring or other mutually-agreeable activities) at Pennsylvania School for the Deaf on a weekly basis.  Additionally, participating students will have on-going contact with the ASL Program Coordinator and other involved students, with discussions centering on reflection of experiences through linguistic as well as cultural lenses.  Reflections will be done via writing prompts and on-line and/or in-person discussions. Additionally, drawing from the required Linguistics and other ASL/Deaf Studies coursework, students will develop an inquiry question and conduct preliminary community-based research to analyze sociolinguistic variations of ASL and Deaf cultural attitudes, behaviors, and norms. Ongoing reflections and discussions—formal and informal—on Deaf cultural/theoretical topics drawing from readings as well as community experiences will be integral to the course experience.

THE COMMUNITY MATH TEACHING PROGRAM

MATH 123 001 - Idris Stovall

This course allows Penn students to teach a series of hands-on activities to students in math classes at University City High School and Sayre High School.

NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

MKTG-232-301 (Pre-Req: MKTG 101) - John W Hutchinson

The development of new products (goods or services) is an intensively cross-functional process. This course examines that process from the marketing perspective and identifies the key points of contact with operations, finance, organizational policy, and strategic planning. Although an overview of the entire process is provided in the course, special emphasis is placed on the evaluation of concepts early in the process. Thus, this course is very much concerned with ideas and how to select the best ideas and make them a reality. The main objectives of the course are (1) to familiarize students with the strategies, frameworks, conceptual tools, and types of marketing research that are considered best practices in the development of new products and (2) to give students the opportunity to apply some of these ideas and methods in the evaluation of a specific product concept, customizing the learning experience to their own needs and interests.

THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF MARKETING

MKTG-233-001 (Pre req: MKTG101 or permission of instructor) - John W Hutchinson

This course explores the ways in which the marketing actions of firms can have an impact on society (positive or negative). Of particular interest are the actions that are central to the main products and services delivered by the firm (e.g., the development of products and brands, pricing, advertising, and distribution). There is also a focus on how the consideration of social issues can be integrated into broader marketing strategies and how companies and pro-social organizations can develop metrics for assessing social impact. The course proceeds in two phases. The first phase covers important background material, such as the aggregate marketing system and how it affects society, problems of incentive misalignment, different approaches to measuring social impact, and how to conduct thorough social impact analyses of specific products and the marketing actions that support them. The second phase is a "drill down" into four problem areas: impact on the environment, impact on health and well-being (physical and mental), impact on culture (including innovation and creativity), and impact on poverty and economic development. In each area, we will identify marketing-related social issues and assess current knowledge and controversies surrounding those issues. Students will conduct analyses of social impact and present their findings in class on a regular basis.

CONCEPTS IN NURSING: PROMOTING HEALTHY LIFESTYLES II

NURS 106 001 - Beth Quigley, Lynn Dickinson

This course focuses on health promotion and disease prevention across the health-illness continuum for healthy and at risk individuals in the community.

INTERNATIONAL NUTRITION: POLITICAL ECONOMY OF WORLD HUNGER

NURS 316/NURS 516 - Janet Chrzan

A detailed consideration of the nature, consequences, and causes of hunger and under-nutrition internationally. Theory will be examined in relation to national and international assessment tools. Approaches are explored to bringing about change, and to formulating and implementing policies and programs at international, national, and local levels, designed to alleviate hunger and under-nutrition.  This course provides an overview of the factors which lead to the persistence of widespread hunger and under-nutrition in the world, and of the range of policies and programs which bear on food and nutrition security. A conceptual framework for looking at course issues and themes is introduced and elaborated. Considering issues in depth is encouraged by each student choosing one country on which to focus during the semester.

THE WEST PHILADELPHIA SEMINAR: RESEARCHING DEMOCRATIC SOLUTIONS TO LOCAL PROBLEMS

PSCI 298 - Henry Teune, Ira Harkavy, Matthew Hartley

This research seminar will bring together some of the major initiatives by schools and faculty across the University to address local problems in education, health, safety, housing, and poverty.

The seminar will hear from the faculty about what Penn is doing across all of its schools. Its main theme is how what Penn is doing can become democratically governed and at the same time be both successful and sustaining.

HEALTHY SCHOOLS

PSCI 335 401 /HSOC 335 401 - Mary Summers

This Fox Leadership and academically based community service seminar will use course readings and students' own observations and interviews in their service learning projects in West Philadelphia schools to analyze the causes and impact of school health and educational inequalities and efforts to address them. Course readings will include works by Jonathan Kozol, studies of health inequalities and their causes, and studies of No Child Left Behind, the CDC's School Health Index, recess, school meal, and nutrition education programs. Course speakers will help us examine the history, theories, politics and leadership behind different strategies for addressing school-based inequalities and their outcomes. Service options will focus especially on the West Philadelphia Recess Initiative. Other service options will include work with Community School Student Partnerships and the Urban Nutrition Initiative.

Graduate Courses

HEALTH PROMOTION INTRODUCTION

DENT 508 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

Lectures, seminars, clinical sessions and community experiences are provided so that students gain the necessary knowledge and skill regarding the philosophy, modalities, rationale and evaluation of oral health promotion and disease prevention activities in community and public health. Course topics include personal wellness theory and practice; etiology, early detection and prevention of dental caries, periodontal diseases and oral cancer; and assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of community oral health programs.

LOCAL & GLOBAL PUBLIC & COMMUNITY HEALTH

DENT 612 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

Lectures, seminars and community experiences provide students with foundation knowledge in general principles of public health and community health, with specific application to the following dental public health concepts: access to care, cost, quality of care and international health. Students complete community experiences that provide foundation experiences in developing and implementing community oral health promotion activities.

PRACTICUM IN COMMUNITY HEALTH PROMOTION I

DENT 712 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

Experiences in selected community settings provide students with the opportunity to develop and expand their skills in community oral health promotion. Students are scheduled in a local elementary and/ middle schools and participate in the oral health education, screening and referral program under the direct supervision of faculty members. In addition, students complete activities from a selected list of programs at local community agencies and/or schools. Students attend small group seminars to discuss their experiences and theoretical underpinnings of community oral health activities

PRACTICUM IN COMMUNITY HEALTH PROMOTION II

DENT 812 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

Experiences in alternate oral health care delivery settings provide students with the opportunity to develop and expand their skills in providing comprehensive oral health care in community based settings under the direct supervision of faculty members. Students are scheduled in the mobile dental vehicle, PENNSmiles, and are also scheduled at Community Volunteers in Medicine, a community based medical and dental treatment facility in West Chester, PA. Students attend small group seminars to discuss their experiences and theoretical underpinnings of community oral health activities.

HEALTH AND EDUCATION:  DISPARITIES AND PREVENTION IN SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES

EDUC 545 020 - Vivian Gadsden

Conventional wisdom suggests that a strong relationship exists between education and health as well as the attendant issue of nutrition. In all of these cases, the experiences of children, youth, and families are influenced by a range of factors: e.g., socioeconomic status, race, immigrant status, access to learning opportunities and engaging teaching, access to health care insurance, and expenditures on health care and education. Research in several fields consistently shows that greater educational attainment is related to better health behaviors and health outcomes, although the mechanism by which this occurs is not fully understood. Researchers in medicine, health, and the social sciences seek to understand better the educational and schooling indicators that predict health outcomes. Similarly, researchers in education seek to understand better critical dimensions of learning and teaching that influence students’ health.

PRIMARY CARE OF THE MIDDLE AGED AND OLDER ADULT

NURS 647 101 (Prerequisites: NURS 657 / Co-requisite: NURS 646) - Ann O'sullivan, Gwyn Vernon

Management and evaluation of primary care problems of middle-aged and older adults in a variety of ambulatory and occupational settings. Opportunity to implement the role of the nurse practitioner with middle-aged and older adults and their families in the community. Interdisciplinary experiences will be pursued & collaborative practice emphasized. Students are expected to assess and begin to manage common chronic health problems in consultation with the appropriate provider of care. The initiation of health promotion & health maintenance activities with individuals and groups is stressed. Includes 16 hours a week of clinical experience with a preceptor.

CLINICAL PRACTICUM: PRIMARY CARE WITH YOUNG FAMILIES

NURS 659 (Prerequisites: NURS 656, 657) - Ann O'sullivan, Victoria A Weill

Management and evaluation of primary care problems of children in a variety of ambulatory settings. Opportunity to implement the role of nurse practitioner with children and their families in the community occurs under the guidance of faculty and experienced preceptors. The initiation of health promotion and health maintenance activities with individuals and groups is stressed. Collaborative, interdisciplinary practice is emphasized as students assess and manage common problems in consultation with an appropriate provider of care. 20 hours a week of clinical experience with a preceptor is arranged.

NURSING OF CHILDREN II

NURS 723 001 (Prerequisites: NURS 684, 720, 721) - Mary L Schucker, Terri H. Lipman

This clinical course focuses on the implementation of the role of the advanced practice nurse. Applications of nursing, biological and behavioral science are emphasized in the clinical assessment and management of acutely ill children and their families. The student gains the necessary clinical management skills to provide specialized care to acutely ill children and to assist their adaptation and the adaptation of their families.