ABCS 2011-2012

Fall 2011 ABCS Courses

Undergraduate Courses

FEMINIST ETHNOGRAPHY

AFRC 334-401/GSWS-334-401/GSWS-634-401/AFRC-634-401/ANTH-334-401/ANTH-634-401 - Deborah Thomas

This course will investigate the relationships among women, gender, sexuality, and anthropological research. We will begin by exploring the trajectory of research interest in women and gender, drawing first from the early work on gender and sex by anthropologists like Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict; moving through the 1970s and 1980s arguments about gender, culture, and political economy; arriving at more current concerns with gender, race, sexuality, and empire. For the rest of the semester, we will critically read contemporary ethnographies addressing pressing issues such as nationalism, militarism, neoliberlaism and fundamentalism. Throughout, we will investigate what it means not only to "write women's worlds", but also to analyze broader socio-cultural, political, and economic processes through a gendered lens. We will, finally, address the various ways feminist anthropology fundamentally challenged the discipline's epistemological certainties, as well as how it continues to transform our understanding of the foundations of the modern world.

GLOBALIZATION: CAUSES AND EFFECTS

ANTH 155 - Brian Spooner

Class sessions will be devoted to discussion of the dynamics of globalization with the objective of illuminating the world-historical contect of the changes that are happening around us unevenly in different parts of the world today, and developing critical approaches to the available research methodologies and explanatory theories. Weekly readings will be selected from the major researchers in the field, and students will test their ideas in short research projects of their own on questions arising from the discussions. The overall approach will be historical and comparitive. Apart from weekly assigned readings and participation in class discussions, requirements for the course include three short research papers.

NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY

ANTH 359 401/URBS 359 401 - Frank Johnston

Human nutrition and nutritional status within context of anthropology, health, and disease. Particular emphasis on nutritional problems and the development of strategies to describe, analyze, and solve them. Students will participate in the Urban Nutrition Initiative, an academically based community service project in local area schools.

PUBLIC INTEREST WORKSHOP

ANTH 516 401 - Gretchen Suess

This is a Public Interest Ethnography workshop (originally created by Peggy Reeves Sanday - Department of Anthropology) that incorporates an interdisciplinary approach to exploring social issues. 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 Department of Anthropology's commitment to developing public interest research and practice as a disciplinary theme. Rooted in the rubric of public interest social science, the course focuses on: 1) merging problem solving with theory and analysis in the interest of change motivated by a commitment to social justice, racial harmony, equality, and human rights; and 2) engaging in public debate on human issues to make the research results accessible to a broad audience. The workshop brings in guest speakers and will incorporate original ethnographic research to merge theory with action. Students are encouraged to apply the framing model to a public interest research and action topic of their choice. This is an academically-based-community-service (ABCS) course that partners directly with Penn's Netter Center Community Partnerships.

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 AND 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.

RESEARCH AS PUBLIC WORK: A PROJECT TO HELP CREATE A NEW WEST PHILADELPHIA HIGH SCHOOL

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

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.

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.

OUTSIDE OF THE SCHOOL BOX - HISTORY, POLICY AND ALTERNATIVES

EDUC 545 001 - Mike Johanek

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)

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 Children’s 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.

THE BIG PICTURE: MURAL ARTS IN PHILADELPHIA

FNAR 222/FNAR 622/URBS 322 - Jane Golden, Shira Walinsky

The history and practice of the contemporary mural movement couples step by step analysis of the process of designing with painting a mural. In addition students will learn to see mural art as a tool for social change. This course combines theory with practice. Students will design and paint a large outdoor mural in West Philadelphia in collaboration with Philadelphia high school students and community groups. The instructor Jane Golden is the founder and Director of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.

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 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

GOSPEL MUSIC

MUSC 016 - Carol Muller

This is a freshman writing seminar.  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.

SOUNSCAPES OF SOCIETY

MUSC 018 401/URBS 018 401 - Molly McGlone

The primary goal of the freshman seminar program is to provide every freshman the opportunity for a direct personal encounter with a faculty member in a small setting devoted to a significant intellectual endeavor. Past topics in music are: Origins of Music.

CONCEPTS IN NURSING: PROMOTING HEALTHY LIFESTYLES I

NURS 104 001 - Beth Quigley, Maureen George

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.

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.

Graduate Courses

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.

PROFESSIONAL ROLE ISSUES FOR NURSE PRACTITIONERS

NURS 656 (Corequisite: NURS 657) - Ann O’ Sullivan, Gwyn Vernon, Rebecca H Bryan

This course is intended for students planning a career that involves primary health care delivery. It includes lectures, discussions, readings, and projects focused on health, social, economic and professional factors influencing health care delivery in the community.

 

Spring 2012 - ABCS Courses

Undergraduate Courses

THE HISTORY OF WOMEN AND MEN OF AFRICAN DESCENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENN

AFRC 187-301 - Charles Howard, Brian Peterson

The journey and witness of the women and men of African Descent who have studied, taught, researched, and worked at the University of Pennsylvania provides a powerful case study and window into the complex history of Blacks not only in America but throughout the Diaspora.  University communities provide rare opportunities for dialogue and experience, as well as intercultural, inter-ethnic and inter-class engagement within the Black community.  This has indeed been the case at Penn.  Further, the stories of the trials and triumphs of individuals on and around this campus demonstrate the amazing and absurd experience that Blacks have endured in this country. It is the purpose of this course to provide a dialogical space where students can not only learn of, but uncover and unpack collective and individual histories.  Emphasis will be placed on the research process with the intent of creating a democratic classroom where all are students and all are instructors.  Lastly, this course will be a part of a broader project researching and presenting the history of Blacks at Penn, thus students will have an opportunity to participate in one of the largest interdisciplinary studies of its sort conducted at the university.  Students will complete the course not only having learned (and presented) a powerful history, but they will gain valuable lessons in research methods  - particularly in historical research, historical criticism, and ethnographic research.

FOOD HABITS IN PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITIES

ANTH 252 401 - Jane Kauer

In this course, Penn Undergraduates will explore and examine food habits, the intersection of culture, family, history, and the various meanings of food and eating, by working with a middle-school class in the Philadelphia public schools. The goal of the course will be to learn about the food habits of a diverse local community, to explore that community's history of food and eating, and to consider ways and means for understanding and changing food habits. Middle school students will learn about the food environment and about why culture matters when we talk about food. Topics include traditional and modern foodways, ethnic cuisine in America, food preferences, and 'American cuisine'. The course integrates classroom work about food culture and anthropological practice with frequent trips to middle school where undergraduates will colloborate with students, their teachers, and a teacher partner from the Agatson Urban Nutrition Initiative (UNI). Undergraduates will be responsible for weekly writing assignments responding to learning experience in the course, for preparing materials to use middle school children, being participant-learners with the middle school children, and for a final research project. The material for the course will address the ideas underlying university-community engagement, the relationships that exist between food/eating and culture, and research methods.

ANTHROPOLOGY AND POLICY
ANTH 305 401 - Gretchen Suess

From the inception of the discipline, anthropologists have applied their ethnographic and theoretical knowledge to policy issues concerning the alleviation of practical human problems. This approach has not only benefited peoples in need but it has also enriched the discipline, providing anthropologists with the opportunity to develop new theories and methodologies from a problem-centered approach. The class will examine the connection between anthropology and policy, theory and practice (or 'praxis'), research and application. We will study these connections by reading about historical and current projects. As an ABCS course, students will also volunteer in a volunteer organization of their choice in the Philadelphia area, conduct anthropological research on the organization, and suggest ways that the anthropological approach might support the efforts of the organization.

INTERFAITH ACTION

ANTH 483 401/URBS 483 401 - Kathy Hall, Steve Kocher, Fatimah Muhammad

The 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act led to the emergence of a new religious landscape in the United States. These developments have generated uncertainty, fear and conflict as well as opportunities for developing greater understanding and forming new solidarities. They have also sparked what some refer to as an "interfaith movement," initiatives seeking to bridge divides between faith communities and build on common visions of the social good in collaborative service and social change efforts. This public anthropology course will be co-taught by Professor Kathy Hall, Associate Chaplain Steve Kocher, and Associate Director of the Greenfield Intercultural Center, Fatimah Muhammad. It will explore interfaith movements in the public sphere through a combination of academic study and practical experience. We will consider anthropological theories and debates surrounding issues of modernity, the cultural politics of difference, and issues of secularism and religion in the public sphere and apply these theories to an examination of the history of interfaith efforts and case studies of recent initiatives. Students will participate in service alongside Philadelphia area faith based organizations and in an intensive spring break service project. Students of all religious and non-religious backgrounds will have the to engage one another and gain greater understanding of different faith traditions, experiences, and beliefs. The course will prepare students for leadership in facilitating dialogue around interfaith issues and coordinating interfaith community-building and service projects on campus and in their future careers.

ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES

ASAM 205 401/URBS 207 401 - Fariha Khan

Who is Asian American and how and where do we recognize Asian America? This interdisciplinary course explores the multiple factors thatdefine Asian american identity and community. In order to provide a sketch of the multifacted experience of this growing minority group, we will discuss a wide variety of texts from scholarly, artistic, and popular (film, cinematic) sources that mark key moments in the cultural history of Asia America. The course will address major themes of community life including migration history, Asian American as model minority, race, class, and transnational scope of Asian America. In combination with the readings, this class will foster and promote independent research based on site visits to various Asian American communities in Philadelphia and will host community leaders as guest lecturers.

THE BIOLOGY OF FOOD

BIOL 017 - Scott Poethig

This course will examine the ways in which humans manipulate - and have been manipulated by - the organisms we depend on for food, with particular emphasis on the biological factors that influence this interaction. The first part of the course will cover the biology, genetics, evolution, and breeding of cultivated plants and animals; the second part will concern the ways in which food/plants can cause and cure human disease.

THE ART OF SPEAKING: COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE CURRICULUM SPEAKING ADVISOR TRAINING

COLL 135 301 - Sue Weber

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.

URBAN EDUCATION

EDUC 202 401/URBS 202 401/URBS 300 304 - Amy Bach

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 resarchers and policymakers that address particular challenges in urban education will also be addressed.

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

An intensive approach to current methods, curricula, and trends in teaching science as basic learning, K-8. "Hands-on" activities based on cogent, current philosophical and psychological theories including: S/T/S and gender issues. Focus on skill development in critical thinking. Content areas: living things, the physical universe, and interacting ecosystems.

COMMUNITY BASED ENVIRONMENT 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 SMOKING

ENVS 407 401/HSOC 407 401 - Mick Kulik

Cigarette smoking is a major public health problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Control reports that more than 80% of current adult tobacco users started smoking before age 18. The National Youth Tobacco Survey indicated that 12.8% of middle school students and 34.8% of high school students in their study used some form of tobacco products. In ENVS 407, Penn undergraduates learn about the short and long term physiological consequences of smoking, social influences and peer norms regarding tobacco use, the effectiveness of cessation programs, tobacco advocacy and the impact of the tobacco settlement. Penn students will collaborate with teachers in West Philadelphia to prepare and deliver lessons to middle school students. The undergraduates will survey and evaluate middle school and Penn student smoking. One of the course goals is to raise awareness of the middle school children to prevent addiction to tobacco smoke during adolescence. Collaboration with the middle schools gives Penn students the opportunity to apply their study of the prevention of tobacco smoking to real world situations.

CLEAN WATER - GREEN CITIES

ENVS 410 - Howard Neukrug

This course will provide an overview of the cross-disciplinary fields of civil engineering, environmental sciences, urban hydrology, landscape architecture, green building, public outreach and politics. Students will be expected to conduct field investigations, review scientific data and create indicator reports, working with stakeholders and presenting the results at an annual symposium. There is no metaphor like water itself to describe the cumulative effects of our practices, with every upstream action having an impact downstream. In our urban environment, too often we find degraded streams filled with trash, silt, weeds and dilapidated structures. The water may look clean, but is it? We blame others, but the condition of the creeks is directly related to how we manage our water resources and our land. In cities, these resources are often our homes, our streets and our communities. This course will define the current issues of the urban ecosystem and how we move toward managing this system in a sustainable manner. We will gain an understanding of the dynamic, reciprocal relationship between practices in an watershed and its waterfront. Topics discussed include: drinking water quality and protection, green infrastructure, urban impacts of climate change, watershed monitoring, public education, creating strategies and more.

THE BIG PICTURE: MURAL ARTS IN PHILADELPHIA

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

The history and practice of the contemporary mural movement couples step by step analysis of the process of designing with painting a mural. In addition students will learn to see mural art as a tool for social change. This course combines theory with practice. Students will design and paint a large outdoor mural in West Philadelphia in collaboration with Philadelphia high school students and community groups. The instructor Jane Golden is the founder and Director of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.

FACULTY/STUDENT COLLABORATIVE ACTION: SEMINAR IN URBAN UNIVERSITY/COMMUNITY RELATIONS (BFS)

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

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 and Tuesdays from 4-6. 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.

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE/DEAF STUDIES

LING 077 680 - Jami Fisher

For this course, students will attend Pennsylvania School for the Deaf on a weekly basis where they will participate in and contribute to the school community via tutoring or other mutually agreeable activities. Students will also have formal class on a weekly basis with discussions and activities centering on reflection of community experiences through linguistic as well as cultural lenses. 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. LING 078, Topics in Deaf Culture and permission from the instructor, are required for this course.

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. 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.

MUSIC IN URBAN SPACES: AN INVESTIGATION INTO MICRO-CULTURES IN WEST PHILADELPHIA

MUSC 018 - Molly McGlone

Music in Urban Spaces explores the ways in which individuals use music in their everyday lives and how music is used to construct larger social and economic networks that we call culture.  We will read musicologists, cultural theorists, urban geographers, and sociologists who work to define urban space and the role of music and sound in urban environments.  While the readings we do will inform our conversations and the questions we ask, it is within the context of our personal experiences working with a group of students at Parkway West High School, an inner city school serving 74% economically disadvantaged and 97% African American students, that we will begin to formulate our theories of the contested musical micro-cultures of West Philadelphia.  We will first create a short video of the listening and performing culture of the local environment, as urban, suburban, or rural, where we grew up.  After further reading to help us define the musical genres, styles, and aesthetics of recent urban musics, we will teach the High School students how to create videos introducing music that represents the cultures in which they participate.  We will ask, for example, how does the music the high school students present reflect, reject, or reinforce stereotypes about race, ethnicity, gender, or class?  In what ways does the participation or consumption of music allow for social or economic mobility in urban spaces?

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. Students build on their previously mastered communication techniques and clinical skills to develop comprehensive assessment skills and to define needs among specific at risk groups in a family and community context. In weekly seminars, students integrate theories of behavior and health, epidemiologic principles, clinical decision making, and critical thinking skills. Theories are applied utilizing case studies and data sources to develop health promotion and disease prevention strategies. A key component of the course is the development of communication and physical assessment skills and specified clinical techniques. The influence of gender, life span, culture, race, and ethnicity on health promotion and disease prevention is specifically addressed throughout the course.

INTERNATIONAL NUTRITION: POLITICAL ECONOMY OF WORLD HUNGER

NURS 316 401/NURS 516 401 - Janet Chrzan

A detailed consideration of the nature, consequences, and causes of hunger and undernutrition internationally. 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.

HEALTHY SCHOOLS

PSCI 335/HSOC 335 - Mary Summers

This academically based community service research seminar will develop a pilot program to test the efficacy of using service-learning teams of undergraduates and graduate students to facilitate the development of School Health Councils (SHCs) and the Center for Disease Control's School Health Index (SHI) school self-assessment and planning tool in two elementary schools in West Philadelphia. This process is intended to result in a realistic and meaningful school health implimentation plan and an ongoing action project to put this plan into practice. Penn students will involve member sof the school administration, teachers, staff, parents and ocmmunity member sin the SHC and SHI process iwth a special focus on encouraging participation from the schools' students. In this model for the use of Penn service-learning teams is successful, it will form the basis of on ongoing partnership with the School District's Office of health, Safety & Physical Education to expand such efforts to more schools.

Graduate Courses

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.

ASSESSING LANGUAGE AND LEARNING DIFFERENCES

EDUC 635 202 - Gerald Campano

This course exposes students to a wide variety of assessments used to look closely at growth in reading/writing/literacy. Students critique both formal and informal approaches to assessment as well as complete structured observations of learners within diverse instructional contents. Emphases include contextual and affective components of reading/language difficulties, innovative assessment procedures, observational strategies and collaborative inquiry.

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 AND GLOBAL PUBLIC AND 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.

PRIMARY CARE OF THE MIDDLE AGED AND OLDER ADULT

NURS 647 101 - Ann O'sullivan, Eileen F Campbell, June A. Treston

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 - Ann O'Sullivan, Marianne Buzby, Victoria 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 - 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.

PEDIARTIC ACUTE CARE NURSE PRACTIONER: PROFESSIONAL ROLE AND INTERMEDIATE CLINICAL PRACTICE: DANCE FOR HEALTH

NURS-737-001- Judy Verger, Susan Campisciano 

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are more prevalent in areas of poverty and in African American and Hispanic populations, and thus require interventions that are culturally relevant and targeted to the needs of the community. Dance has been successfully used in low income African American communities as en enjoyble method of obesity reduction. Dance for Heath is the key component of NURS737-advanced clinical practice for pediatric acute care nurse practicioners. This program is a collaborative initiative among the The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, West Philadelphia High School students who are members of the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative (UNI), and a community recreation center. For the first part of the initiative, Penn Nurse Practicioner Students will provide an interactive curriculum for the UNI students based on the needs identified by UNI staff and students. Subsequently, the Penn/UNI team will undertake a project in the community directed at increasing activity in the community. This project will actively engage the community in each component of planning and implementation in order to create community-driven programming.