ABCS 2005-2006
Fall 2005 - ABCS Courses
Undergraduate Courses
FACULTY-STUDENT COLLABORATIVE SEMINAR TO IMPROVE WEST PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: ACTION-ORIENTED POLICIES DERIVED FROM THE HISTORY OF BLACK EDUCATION, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TO THE PRESENT (BFS)
AFRC 078 402/BENF 210 402/URBS 078 402 - Lee Benson, Ira Harkavy, Matt Hartley, John Puckett, Jennifer Bunn, Elizabeth Curtis-Bey (Facilitating Associates)
This course is an interdisciplinary seminar that seeks to engage undergraduates in problem-solving learning in public education. By exploring the history of African-American education in Philadelphia from Benjamin Franklin to the present, as well as political, economic, legal, psychological, and other aspects of public education, the seminar will generate solutions to improve Philadelphia public schools. A significant part of the course will be the engagement of students, parents, and teachers at Sayre High School as partners in the problem-solving process. This seminar will employ a democratic learning process in which students will play a major role in facilitating and guiding the course.
NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY
ANTH 359 401/HSOC 359 401 - Francis 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 SPACE, PUBLIC LIFE
COMM 300 001 - Carolyn Marvin
This course considers the communicative dimensions of public space. Because technologically mediated communications demand so much of our attention, it is easy to forget how often human bodies share physical space for communicating with one another and how important this arena is to us as social beings. Because public space simply seems to be there (or perhaps because it sometimes seems not to be there), we may fail to recognize its communicative dimensions. Learning to recognize these dimensions, and thinking about elements and strategies that make healthy public spaces are our concerns.
TUTORING IN SCHOOLS: THEORY & PRACTICE
EDUC 323 401/URBS 323 401 - Sonia Rosen
This course represents an opportunity for students to participate in academically based community service involving tutoring in a West Philadelphia public school. This course will serve a need for those students who are already tutoring through the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project or other campus tutoring. It will also be available to individuals who are interested in tutoring for the first time.
URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: PREVENTION OF CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING (CWIC and BFS)
ENVS 404 401/HSOC 404 401 - Elaine Wright
In ENVS 404, students learn about the epidemiology of lead poisoning, the pathways of exposure, and methods for community outreach and education. As an ABCS course, Penn students collaborate with middle school teachers in West Philadelphia to engage eighth graders in exercises that apply environmental research about lead poisoning to their homes and neighborhoods. This seminar consists of lectures, readings, student presentations, group work, discussions, research, and community service. For their community service, students develop and teach six lessons on childhood lead poisoning in eighth grade classes in West Philadelphia. They also participate in the annual Healthy Philadelphia Girl Scout Day event, for which Penn students design and facilitate lead education activities.
URBAN ASTHMA EPIDEMIC (CWIC and BFS)
ENVS 408 401/HSOC 408 401 - Elaine Wright
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 collaborate with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) on a clinical research study entitled the Community Asthma Prevention Program (CAPP). The Penn undergraduates will co-teach asthma education classes with CAPP coordinators and parent educators. The CAPP classes are 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 ART IN PHILADELPHIA
FNAR 222/622 401/URBS 222 401 - Jane Golden, Don Gensler
The history and practice of the contemporary mural movement couples step-by-step analysis of the process of designing and 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.
PENN AND WEST PHILADELPHIA (Majors Only)
HIST 204 402/URBS 227 402 - Mark Lloyd
This is a research seminar on Penn's past, present, and future relationships with West Philadelphia / Philadelphia, from 1870 to 2010, from town gown conflict to town gown collaboration. Students will conduct research in primary and secondary sources on Penn's three-stage transition over time:
indifference, conflict, and collaboration with West Philadelphia. The staff and resources of the University Archives will be available for consultation.
URBAN UNIVERSITY-COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS (BFS)
HIST 214 401/URBS 078 401/AFRC 078 401 - Ira Harkavy & Lee Benson
Inspired by Penn's founder, Ben Franklin, President Amy Gutmann has identified rising to the challenge of a diverse democracy and educating students for democratic citizenship as critical goals of her administration. Since the present undergraduate curriculum falls short in this regard, the seminar aims to synthesize numerous, unrelated, academically-based community service courses into an effectively integrated curriculum. As now envisioned, the new Penn curriculum developed by the seminar would have as a significant component, thematic, problem-solving clusters, i.e., interrelated, cross-disciplinary, complementary sets of courses designed to stimulate and empower students to produce, not simply consumer, societally-useful knowledge. By societally-useful knowledge, we mean knowledge actively used to solve universal strategic problems of democracy and society, schooling and society, health and society, poverty and society, environment and society, culture and society, etc., as those universal problems manifest themselves locally at Penn and in West Philadelphia/Philadelphia.
TEACHING ABOUT THE MEANINGS OF AMERICAN FREEDOM (DIST II: HIST & TRAD)
HIST 304 30/AFRC 304 301 - Robert Engs
This seminar is intended for students with a special interest in working with Philadelphia high school students and teachers around the theme “The Meanings of American Freedom.” The seminar will explore crucial periods in the American past when the definition of freedom was hotly contested, e.g. the Formation of the Nation, the Anti-Slavery Movement, the Emancipation Era. Depending on the high school’s curriculum, we may also look at the rise of Jim Crow laws, the New Deal, and the Civil Rights Era. Focus will be on themes and exploration of documents that are of particular interest to the overwhelmingly African American student body of University City High School. On campus seminar meetings will debate issues and identify materials to be used in small group discussions with students at the high school. The seminar will also be used to access the in-school experience and plan strategies for improved effectiveness. Penn students will spend one high school class session each week working directly with the high school students under the supervision of a UCHS teacher. Familiarity with US history, flexibility and preparedness for new and different experiences are important attributes for those interested in this seminar.
AFRICAN AMERICAN & LATINO ENGLISH (DIST II: HIST & TRAD)
LING 160 401/AFRC 160 401 - William Labov
An introduction to the use and structure of dialects of English used by the African American and Latino communities in the United States. This is an academically based community service course. The fieldwork component involves the study of the language and culture of everyday life and the application of this knowledge to programs for raising the reading levels of elementary school children. Students will tutor children at Drew Elementary School as part of the Urban Minorities Reading Project.
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 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. Students will evaluate a subject's health risks based on genetic and dietary factors and develop a nutrition and exercise plan addressing those riskes alterable through lifestyle changes. Students will also monitor and critique media reports of sports nutrition research.
POLITICS OF POVERTY AND DEVELOPMENT
PSCI 139 401/HSOC 139 401/URBS 137 401 - Mary Summers
This academically based community service seminar will explore the ideas and theories, alliances and opposition that have shaped policy and organizing efforts addressed to the problems associated with urban poverty in the United States with a special focus on the issues of increasing inequality, education, low wage work, health, food insecurity and welfare reform. Students will evaluate contemporary policy debates and programs in the light of selected case studies, readings, and their own experience working with community groups, institutions, and federal programs in West Philadelphia. A focus on the role of leadership in politics, theory, institutions, and organizing efforts will include several guest speakers. The course will ask students to think broadly about the problems associated with urban poverty in America at the turn of the twenty-first century and the possibilities for addressing those problems in a significant fashion.
CITIZENSHIP AND DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT (BFS)
PSCI 291 301 - Henry Teune
This is an idea generating, research seminar focused on Penn as a case study examining and assessing the contributions of colleges and universities to the democratic development of their students, communities, and societies. Faculty from other departments of SAS and other Schools will participate. Three objectives will be pursued. First, discussions about citizenship and democracy will be based on readings and research on what colleges and universities as well other institutions say they intend to do or are actually doing about education for democracy. Attention will be given to the proceedings and publications of the Council of Europe and its 2005 European Year of Citizenship through Education in which Penn is involved. Second, the seminar will collect and analyze data gathered from a questionnaire that will be administered to target populations of Penn undergraduates. The data collected last year will be integrated with these new data on the democratic values, knowledge, and competencies of Penn students. Third, students will be organized into research teams and go into the near neighborhoods of Penn to assess what impact it is having on building the foundations for democratic life in those localities. The target locations will supplement those that were studied last fall. Papers and presentations will be based on the information and analyses generated in the seminar as well as the records of two previous seminars
UNDERSTANDING AND APPYING PROBLEM SOLVING LEARNING ACROSS THE UNIVERSITY
PSYC 286 301 - Christine Massey
Research on problem solving learning indicates that it may be a particularly powerful form of pedagogy that promotes reflective judgment, intellectual development, and critical thinking and problem solving skills that can be transferred to new situations. The opportunity to grapple with complex, multidimensional problems for which there are no ready-made solutions may play a pivotal role in a student's undergraduate career. With a large and growing number of courses that situate problem solving learning in real-world community settings, the University of Pennsylvania is well-positioned to explore and extend the role that this kind of learning experience can play in undergraduates' intellectual, moral, and civic development. This seminar will examine research and theory on problem solving learning and conduct investigations of real-world problem solving settings as environments for learning and development. Seminar participants will prepare a report summarizing findings, recommendations, and research questions related to the integration of real-world problem solving into Penn's undergraduate curriculum as a means of enriching students' opportunities for learning and development. No prerequisites, but enrollment is by permission of the instructor ( massey@linc.cis.upenn.edu)
THE FRANKLIN COMMUNITY SEMINAR
URBS 330 - Cory Bowman, David Grossman & Sean Vereen
Participating in URBS 330-The Franklin Community Seminar is a critical component of being a member of the Franklin Community. The seminar is as critical to the Franklin Community as having a generally shared mission, a common residence, and collaborative activities and supports. Once integrated, all these elements could create a model living-learning community, specifically a civically engaged one. As outlined in its mission, the Franklin Community is to be “a learning and living community dedicated to issues of social justice, civic engagement, social entrepreneurship, and intercultural understanding and partnership. The Franklin Community will be a house dedicated to creating a community where residents can enhance their leadership abilities and be empowered to engage as democratic citizens in a culturally complex world.”
Graduate Courses
PUBLIC INTEREST WORKSHOP
ANTH 700 - Peggy Sanday
This is an interdisciplinary workshop sponsored by Peggy Reeves Sanday (Dept of Anthropology), Michael Delli Carpini (Dean of Annenberg), Kathy Hall (GSE), and Ira Harkavy (Center for Community Partnerships.) The workshop is open to Graduate Students and advanced undergraduates with permission of one of the Faculty participants. The workshop will be run as an open interdisciplinary Forum on the subject of how do the various disciplines define and research the public interest. The workshop is planned as an on-going effort in which various topics will be taken up each year. In the inaugural year, the focus will be on history, ethnography, and cultural theory related to formulating, facilitating, and defining the public interest. Students in the workshop are encouraged to think about a model for interdisciplinary public interest research related to their thesis topic. Students taking the workshop for credit will be asked to write a paper on some topic helpful in advancing their individual research interests. 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.
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)
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.
CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN EDUCATION
EDUC 619 - Kathy Schultz
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, and close examinations of urban reform efforts. We begin with an overview of historical, political, economic, legal and sociocultural frameworks for understanding urban education. Moving between macro-examinations of the conditions of urban schooling and close up studies of particular schools, we will look at contested terrains in which social issues such as inequality, discrimination, and cultural pluralism are being debated and challenged.
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 2006 - ABCS Courses
Undergraduate Courses
CULTURE CLASH (FRESHMAN SEMINAR, DIST I: SOCIETY)
ANTH 115 301 - Paula Sabloff
This course is designed to introduce students to the connection between anthropology, philosophy, and personal experience. Starting from the anthropological position that many of the social problems of our time are the result of conflict between or within cultures, we will read anthropological accounts-ethnographies-of problems such as globalization, cultural survival, class and ethnic conflict. We will also read the political philosophers from Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith to Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu) quoted by the anthropologists. In this seminar, students will form their own social theory by integrating the readings with first-hand experience in the West Philadelphia community as they perform community service. In this ABCS course, they will turn their personal experience into an anthropology practicum, seeing social theory and anthropology operating "on the ground".
HEALTH IN URBAN COMMUNITIES (DIST I: SOCIETY)
ANTH 312 401/HSOC 321 401/URBS 312 401 - Francis Johnston
This course will introduce students to anthropological approaches to health and to theories of participatory action research. This combined theoretical perspective will then be put into practice using West Philadelphia community schools as a case study. Students will become involved in design and implementation of health-related projects at an urban elementary or middle school. As one of the course requirements, students will be expected to produce a detailed research proposal for future implementation.
DESI RAP: SOUTH ASIANS IN THE UNITED STATES (DIST I: SOCIETY)
ASAM 209 401/SAST 209 401 - Ajay Nair
This academically based community service course explores the history and experiences of South Asians in the United States. The course will pay particular attention to how hip-hop is used as a mode of expression for 2nd generation South Asian American youth. ASAM 209.401/SAST 209.401 is divided into three thematic sections. Section I provides background information on the South Asian American community and examines the contributions of various Asian American artists on hip-hop and the significance of the art form in the United States. Section II considers the appropriation of Black racial identity by South Asian American consumers of hip hop and the appropriation of Asian influences in contemporary hip hop. Section II also explores hip-hop as a means of expression of racial identity, racism, and culture. In this section, we will discuss how second generation South Asian American youth insert themselves into racial hierarchies in an effort to construct and transform the discourse on race. The course culminates in an examination of the potential of hip hop for “crafting solidarities” between racial/ethnic groups in America. In Section III, we will explore how South Asian Americans use hip-hop to establish and express solidarity with African Americans as people of color. The course format is a mixture of discussions, presentations, and service learning activities. We will view films to compliment presentations and class discussions. Reading assignments will include historical, ethnographic and other scholarly texts.
LEARNING BIOLOGY BY TEACHING BIOLOGY (BFS)
BIOL 150 - Ingrid Waldron, Jennifer Doherty
Prerequisite: One semester of college biology or 5 on the AP exam or 6 or 7 on the IB exam. This ABCS course counts as one of the "4 additional cu" for the Biology major.
In this course, Penn students teach a series of hands-on activities to students in biology classes at West Philadelphia High School. Most weeks will have the following schedule. On Mondays, 10-12, Penn students will learn the relevant biological background and techniques for a hands-on activity (in Goddard Lab 102). On Wednesdays and/or Fridays, each Penn student will lead a small group of West high school biology students in carrying out the hands-on activity. On average, we will teach in West only once a week, but the teaching sessions are scheduled for Wednesdays and Fridays to ensure that you will be available on whichever day is needed to accommodate the high school schedule. West Philadelphia High School is located on Walnut Street between 47th and 48th Streets (enter on 48th Street). Each high school teaching timeslot includes one hour of teaching at West and 10-15 minutes for transportation between Penn and West. We will begin the semester with several classes concerning successful approaches for teaching biology in urban high schools. Then we will start our series of hands-on activities that teach the high school students fundamental aspects of genetics, evolution, anatomy, physiology and other topics in the high school biology curriculum. Requirements for Penn students include quizzes on the assigned reading, a research paper on a topic related to one of our hands-on activities, and grading two sets of the weekly quizzes for high school students and preparing brief reports concerning the strengths and weaknesses of our teaching and the high school students' learning that week.
THE ABC’S OF CHEMISTRY
CHEM 008 - Tracey Otieno
A great opportunity to help local schools and discover your teaching talent. Students enrolled in the course will meet twice a week. Once each week, students will meet at Penn to learn a chemistry lab and reflect upon your work and the process of teaching/learning chemistry. The second meeting will take place at West Philadelphia High School, where Penn students will guide a small group of high school students through the chemistry lab. The meeting times for the class on Thursday reflect the time of the high school classes and allow for 10-15 minutes for transportation between Penn and West and implementation of the lab. Students of all years and majors are welcome and encouraged to spend an exciting semester reviewing general chemistry knowledge while helping high school students explore these topics for the first time!
COMMUNITY PLANNING AND LOCAL INSTITUTIONS
CPLN 590 401/ URBS 490 401 - Ira Harkavy
This interdisciplinary course will explore the role of University-Community-City Government partnerships in enhancing the quality of life in American cities. Universities are rich in intellectual, cultural and economic resources. They exert great influence on their local communities, affecting the economy, housing, employment, retail climate and cultural options. The quality of life in the surrounding communities influences the quality of the University. Students will employ Penn-West Philadelphia experiences as case studies and will explore innovative Penn-Community-City Government partnerships that could further support West Philadelphia’s economic and community development. Students will be directly engaged in the analysis, planning and development of programs designed to improve the quality of life within West Philadelphia and Philadelphia, as well as advance research, teaching, learning and service at Penn.
BIOENGINEERING IN THE WORLD
EAS 280 401/BE 280 - Dawn Elliott
Open to all majors at Penn, this course explores the wide-range of bioengineering applications 'in the world' and then takes these concepts 'into the world' by teaching them to a small group of students at University City High School. Students will learn fundamental concepts behind bioengineering applications such as Gene Therapy, Stem Cells, Neuroengineering, Tissue Engineering, Biomechanics, Imaging, and Medical Devices. They will also develop effective methods for teaching technical concepts. At the high school, the Penn students will perform hands-on activities with the high school students, discuss ethical questions related to each topic, and explore career options.
DESIGN, VISUALIZATION, AND CONSTRUCTION FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
EAS 282 001 - Norm Badler, Alfie Hanssen
This course will examine the various multimedia tools and technologies that are used in the design, construction and planning professions when designing community development projects. Over the course of the semester, students will use the 3D modeling and animation application SketchUp to generate a community development project of their own design. This project will serve as a platform for students to examine how development projects move from concept to reality through the involvement of four significant parties: the developer, the design professionals, the community and the construction manager. In addition to multimedia tools and technologies, students will examine the socioeconomic forces that influence site selection and project function, the architects’ and engineers’ design processes from concept sketches to detailed plans and building sections, the impact a project can have on its community and the environment, and finally the construction bid process and the construction manager’s handling of the project once awarded the job.
URBAN EDUCATION
EDUC 202 401/URBS 202 401 - Cheryl Jones-Walker
Through an examination of national and state policy formulation regarding public education, and an examination of issues, concepts and characteristics of urban public school systems, this course is intended to help address the question of whether urban public schools as presently constituted and conducted can bring about an equitable society.
TUTORING IN URBAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: A CHILD DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE
EDUC 326 401/URBS 326 401 - John Fantuzzo
The course provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to participate in academically based community service learning (ABCS course). Student will be studying early childhood development and learning while providing direct, one-to-one tutoring services to young students in Philadelphia public elementary schools. Students will be required to spend a minimum of two hours each week tutoring a student in a Philadelphia public elementary school for at least 10 weeks in the semesters. The course will cover foundational dimensions of the cognitive and social development of preschool and elementary school students from a multicultural perspective. The course will place a special emphasis on the multiple contexts that influence children’s development and learning and how aspects of classroom environment (i.e., curriculum and classroom management strategies) can impact children’s achievement. Also, student will consider a range of larger issues impacting urban education embedded in American society. The course structure has three major components: (1) lecture related directly to readings on early childhood development and key observation and listening skills necessary for effective tutoring, (2) weekly contact with a preschool or elementary school student as a volunteer tutor and active consideration of how to enhance the student learning, and (3) discussion and reflection of personal and societal issues related to being a volunteer tutor in a large urban public school. This course also meets core requirements for students interested in Urban Education Minor.
COMMUNITY BASED ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH (BFS)
ENVS 406 301 - Elaine Wright
The environment affects people’s health more strongly than biological factors, medical care and lifestyle. The water we drink, the food we eat, the air we breathe are all components of the environment. Some estimates, based on morbidity and mortality statistics, indicate that the impact of the environment on health is as high as 80%. (Environmental Health, Morgan, pg. 14). 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 not only examine the toxicity of physical agents, but also the effects of lifestyle, social and economic factors, and the built environment on human health. Selected topics will include cancer clusters, water borne diseases, radon and lung cancer, lead poisoning, environmental tobacco smoke, respiratory diseases and obesity. Students will be researching in depth the health impacts of the 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, or Environmental Education issues as they discuss approaches to mitigating environmental health risks. Students will be asked to research one environmental health topic in detail, to present their findings to the class, and to propose recommendations for future action. This course is an ABCS course that requires community service in addition to the class times. Students will work together in teams to identify environmental health needs in the community then develop and implement an intervention that is sustainable and replicable.
PREVENTION OF TOBACCO SMOKING IN ADOLESCENTS (CWIC and BFS, Local middle school visits required)
ENVS 407 401/HSOC 407 401 - Elaine Wright
Cigarette smoking is a major public health problem. The Centers for Disease Controls 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 lesson plans to 4th through 6th graders. The undergraduates will survey and evaluate middle school and Penn student body smoking usage. One of the goals of this course is to raise awareness of the middle school children to prevent addiction to tobacco smoke during adolescence. The collaboration with the middle schools gives the Penn students the opportunity to apply their study of the prevention of tobacco smoking to real world situations. Course requirements include regular attendance at all lectures, a thorough comprehension of the course readings, participation in class discussion, application of the readings and lectures to a problem-oriented research project. Each student will be required to identify a problem associated with tobacco addiction, marketing, legislation or health risks, and to conduct research on that issue, for a final paper and a formal presentation.
THE URBAN ASTHMA EPIDEMIC (CWIC and BFS, Visits to community centers required)
ENVS 408 401/HSOC 408 401 - Elaine Wright
Asthma as a pediatric chronic disease is undergoing a dramatic and unexplained increase. It has become the #1 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 and West Philadelphia. The CHOP study gives the Penn students the opportunity to apply their study of the urban asthma epidemic to real world situations. Course requirements include regular attendance at all lectures, a thorough comprehension of the course readings, participation in class discussion, application of the readings and lectures to a problem-oriented research project. Each student will be required to identify a problem associated with the urban asthma epidemic, and to conduct research on that issue, for a final paper and a formal presentation
EXPLORING LOCAL MEMORY AND TRADITION IN PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITIES (DIST I: SOCIETY)
FOLK 321 401/URBS 327 401 - Mary Hufford
In this ethnography-based service learning course we explore the integral role of traditional verbal and material arts in the lives of elderly men and women in Philadelphia communities and neighborhoods. We begin with theories of culture, community, and identity found in the literature of folklore, anthropology, and gerontology, and move from there into historic and ethnographic overviews of relevance to the community we will be working with. We then explore approaches to fieldwork and ethnography, with special attention to techniques of participant observation, interviewing, interpretation, and the ethical dimensions of fieldwork. Applying these methods, students develop a research and writing project that serves the needs of a collaborating Philadelphia community. Students gain critical thinking skills from the readings, discussion, and weekly writing assignments, while learning the complexities of communicating across cultural difference.
The fieldwork component for the Spring of 2006 focuses on the verbal arts and storytelling traditions of a community of Liberian elders who meet at a senior center in West Philadelphia. Working with elderly Liberian refugees to create a collection of their traditional tales and life histories, students will learn to apply ethnographic and oral historical skills and perspectives. Students will work with the elders to prepare for an evening of traditional storytelling on campus at the Kelly Writer’s House in early April. During the month of March, students will visit the Agape Senior Center one morning per week (Mondays or Wednesdays), in addition to meeting on Friday afternoons. This one and a half credit ABCS course, which fulfills the general distribution requirement in Society, is a great opportunity to become involved with a West Philadelphia community while helping to ameliorate the crisis of displacement that is particularly acute for elderly refugees.
URBAN-UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY RELATIONS: FACULTY-STUDENT COLLABORATIVE ACTION SEMINAR (BFS)
HIST 214 401/AFRC 078 401/URBS 078 401 - Lee Benson, Ira Harkavy
Inspired by Penn's founder, Ben Franklin, President Amy Gutmann has identified rising to the challenge of a diverse democracy and educating students for democratic citizenship as critical goals of her administration. Since the present undergraduate curriculum falls short in this regard, the seminar aims to synthesize numerous, unrelated, academically-based community service courses into an effectively integrated curriculum. As now envisioned, the new Penn curriculum developed by the seminar would have as a significant component, thematic, problem-solving clusters, i.e., interrelated, cross-disciplinary, complementary sets of courses designed to stimulate and empower students to produce, not simply consumer, societally-useful knowledge. By societally-useful knowledge, we mean knowledge actively used to solve global strategic problems of democracy and society, schooling and society, health and society, poverty and society, environment and society, culture and society, etc., as those global problems manifest themselves locally at Penn and in West Philadelphia/Philadelphia.
THE SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF READING (DIST I: SOCIETY, Prerequisite: LING/AFRC 160 or permission of instructor)
LING 161 401/ AFRC 161 401 - Bill Labov
This course will be concerned with the application of current knowledge of dialect differences to reduce the minority differential in reading achievement. Members will conduct projects and design computer programs to reduce cultural distance between teachers and students in local schools and to develop knowledge of word and sound structure.
COMMUNITY MATH TEACHING PROJECT
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. 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. During the first class meeting of each week, the students enrolled in the course review 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 high school students. The Penn students will also have an opportunity to develop their own activity and to implement it with the high school students as well.
WORLD MUSICS & CULTURES
MUSC 050 401 - Carol Muller
The general purpose of Music 50 is to introduce students to the scholarly study of traditional music from around the world and their incorporation into US popular and classical music, through in-depth reading and close listening to assigned sound recordings, increasingly available on the course website. This semester the focus will be on music of indigenous peoples from what, in the United States, may seem to be fairly remote regions of the world. These musicians and their music travel around the world, either in person or in sound recordings. A new feature of the class is the group ethnography project students will engage in with older African American residents in West Philadelphia. Its goal is to create an oral history archive and website of jazz performances in Philadelphia. The project replaces the individual interviews students conducted in prior classes.
EXPLORING THE CONTESTED REALTIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND ISLAM IN WEST PHILADELPHIA (DIST III: ARTS & LETTERS, Majors Only)
MUSC 250 401/MUSC 650 401 - Carol Muller
This project explores the complicated relationship between music and Islam in West Philadelphia, focused on but not exclusive to, the African American community. We will examine this relationship in the context of the Field Methods in Ethnomusciology graduate seminar (also open to upper level undergraduates), which will partner with eighth grade students at Shaw Middle School to create a web-video project that will be added to the larger “Music and Spirituality” research-teaching-service project initiated by Dr. Muller in 2001, added to by Dr. Tim Rommen (2003), and continued by Muller (2005).
CONCEPTS IN NURSING II: HEALTHY LIFE STYLES
NURS 106 001 - Eileen Sullivan-Marx
This course focuses on health promotion and disease prevention across the health continuum for developmentally defined populations in a variety of community-based settings. Students will explore mechanisms of the assessment process focusing on individuals within the context of the family and community. Through the evaluation of theories of behavior and health, epidemiologic principles, and critical thinking skills (which include the nursing process), students will determine applicability of the theories in certain situations, and utilize data from various sources to develop health promotion and disease prevention strategies across populations. Development of communication skills and the professional role are essential and integral, and include understanding of the influence of gender, life span, history, and culture on the work of nurses and the care received by clients.
THE POLITICS OF FOOD
PSCI 135 301 - Mary Summers
This seminar will explore the politics that shape food production, marketing and consumption. Community service projects will involve opportunities to research and address problems in several different arenas: campus cafeterias, the West Philadelphia schools, anti-hunger campaigns, food workers' organizing efforts, and impact of food industry advertising on diets. A focus on case studies of leaders who are making a difference in the politics of food will include several guest speakers, who work on food related health, labor, farming, technology, and globalization issues.
URBAN YOUTH, COLLEGE, AND CAREERS
URBS 325 301 - Theresa Simmonds, Wendy Tank-Nielsen
Students will learn how to help University City High School seniors explore career paths and the post-secondary education necessary for those paths. They will work with the high school students for the first hour of each class. The remaining time will be devoted to studying the connections between high school, post-secondary education, and work for urban students.
Graduate Courses
UNIVERSITIES IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
CPLN 590/URBS 490 - Ira Harkavy, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell
This interdisciplinary course will explore the role of University-Community partnerships in enhancing the quality of life in American cities. Universities are rich in resources – intellectual, cultural, economic and more. They often exert great influence on their local communities, affecting the economy, housing, employment, retail climate and cultural options. The quality of life in the surrounding communities influences the quality of the University. Students will employ Penn-West Philadelphia experiences as case studies and will explore innovative Penn-City Government partnerships that could further support West Philadelphia economic and community development. Students will be directly engaged in the analysis, planning and development of programs that will contribute to improving the quality of life within West Philadelphia and Philadelphia while advancing Penn's educational, research and service mission.
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 couse)
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/or 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)
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 (Prerequisite: NURS 657. Corequisite: NURS 646)
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.
PRIMARY CARE WITH YOUNG FAMILIES
NURS 659 (Prerequisite: NURS 656, 657. Corequisite: NURS 658)
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.
CLINICAL PRACTICUM IN NURSING OF CHILDREN II
NURS 723 - Terri Lipman, Janet Deatrick
This clinical course focuses on the implementation of the roles of the advanced practice nurse in tertiary care pediatrics. 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. The adapted ABCS version of this course restructures an existing clinical course for Pediatric Nursing of Children nurse practitioner students to increase the community experience. This will be accomplished by the NP students participating in the Sayre High School Medical Intake Class and assuming leadership in the area of growth assessment. The NP students will educate Sayre students about growth as an indicator of health, normal and abnormal patterns of growth, the importance of accurate growth assessment, accurate linear and weight assessment, documentation and how to begin clinical decision making skills related to growth disorders. Sayre students will then acquire growth assessment as an important medical intake skill to utilize in the after school program and in employment in health care settings in the future. Children participating in the after school program will have the benefit of accurate growth assessment and documentation. Within the context of this proposal, high school students will also be exposed to advanced practice nursing as a career.