ABCS 2009-2010

Fall 2009 - ABCS Courses

Undergraduate Courses

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

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

A strategic planning goal for West Philadelphia is to have four well-formulated, theme-based curricular programs, one of which is urban studies, in place as separate academies at West Philadelphia High School when the "new West" opens on the 4800 block of Spruce Street in 2011. The urban studies curriculum will be phased into the existing high school over a three-year period and then mounted as the Urban Studies Academy at the new high school. EDUC 410/URBS 327 engages University of Pennsylvania undergraduates and West Philadelphia High School (WPHS) students simultaneously in developing a plan for the urban studies curriculum; identifying and mapping institutional and organizational resources to support this new curriculum; and proposing strategies for school-based public work projects in West Philadelphia.

URBAN EDUCATION

EDUC 202/URBS 202

This course is an introduction to many of the key issues confronting urban public schools in America. In this course, we will examine some of the historical, social, and cultural contexts of urban education, as well as look at issues and events directly affecting the Philadelphia public schools. This class will enable students to gain a multifaceted understanding of urban education through the integration of direct observation and participation in Philadelphia public schools with class readings and discussions. We will also examine and critique recent reforms and policies, which have been designed to remedy the urban public school "crisis". This course will enable students to gain a critical framework for perceiving urban education as they develop a sensitive understanding of the complex issues confronting urban schools.

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES IN URBAN EDUCATION

EDUC 619/URBS 619 - Kathy Schultz

The focus of this course is the conditions for teaching and learning in urban public schools, current theories of pedagogy in urban education, and perspectives on urban reform efforts.

SCIENCE IN ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS

EDUC 521 001/ENVS 521 001 - NancyLee Bergey

In this ABCS course, undergraduate students work in a West Philadelphia public school classroom as the students in that classroom learn science and social studies skills, and apply them to environmental content. In a program called, "Learn Locally, Share Globally" the public school students will be learning about their local environment, and sharing what they have learned, electronically, with students who live in a different part of the world. An active blackboard forum allows all members of the Penn class to follow what is occurring in the classroom throughout the week. The content of our readings, discussions, and activities in class prepare students to teach science or social studies in elementary and middle schools, but are also closely tied to our work in the school. The course provides a good background for Penn students who expect teach as a part of their work, especially in a science-related field (environmental studies, medicine, landscape architecture, etc.) It also satisfies the requirement for a science and social studies "methods" class in the elementary strand of the Urban Education Minor.

TUTORING IN SCHOOLS: THEORY & PRACTICE 

EDUC 323 401/URBS 323 401

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 - Rich Pepino

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 ENVIRONMENTS: THE URBAN ASTHMA EPIDEMIC (CWIC and BFS)

ENVS 408 401/HSOC 408 401 - Mick Kulik

Asthma as a pediatric chronic disease is undergoing a dramatic and unexplained increase. It has become the #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 Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) on a clinical research study entitled the Community Asthma Prevention Program. The Penn undergraduates will co-teach with CHOP parent educators asthma classes offered at community centers in Southwest, West, and North Philadelphia. The CHOP study gives the Penn students the opportunity to apply their study of the urban asthma epidemic to real world situations.

THE BIG PICTURE: MURAL ART IN PHILADELPHIA

FNAR 222/622 401/URBS 222 401 - Jane Golden

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.

FACULTY-STUDENT COLLABORATIVE SEMINAR IN UNIVERSITY-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS (BFS)

HIST 173 401/URBS 178 - 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 typically are engaged in academically based service-learning at the Sayre School, with the primary activities occurring on Mondays from 3-5. Other arrangements can be made at the school if needed. Another goal of the seminar is to help students develop proposals as to how a Penn undergraduate education might better empower students to produce, not simply "consume," societally-useful knowledge, as well as function as life-long societally-useful citizens.

SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF READING

LING 161/AFRC 161 - 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.

THE COMMUNITY ALGEBRA INITIATIVE

MATH 122 001 - Idris Stovall

This course allows Penn students to teach a series of hands-on activities to 9th grade students in an algebra class at 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 and bi-weekly hands-on activities designed to teach fundamental aspects of algebra in real world and practical contexts. 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.

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 risks alterable through lifestyle changes. Students will also monitor and critique media reports of sports nutrition research.

OBESITY AND SOCIETY

NURS 313 - Charlene Compher

This course will examine obesity from scientific, cultural, psychological, and economic perspectives. The complex matrix of factors that contribute to obesity and established options will be explored. Penn students will work with a middle school class in West Philadelphia to map the food environment students are exposed to in the surrounding community.

THE COMMUNITY PHYSICS INITIATIVE

PHYS 137 - Paul Heiney

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). Physics 137 will contribute to the enhancement of research and teaching as well as to improving the quality of life in our community. The idea is that the Penn students will learn the physics topics in greater detail in order to effectively communicate and interact with the high school students in order to deepen their understanding and ideally be resource, mentor, and ambassador to make the concepts even more relevant. Penn students will develop novel teaching techniques that emphasize demonstrations as a means of teaching tool. This class will meet twice per week (on Tuesdays and Thursdays). The meeting times for this course must reflect the time of the high school class time, which is being determined. Be on the lookout for this great course and opportunity!

THE POLITICS OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

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

Students will use course readings and their community service to analyze the politics of food in many different arenas: from the Farm Bill and the Department of Agriculture to cities and states, farms, kitchens, supermarkets, schools, corporations, research institutions, the media, and international trade. The primary focus will be on the United States; but there will also be opportunities to develop international and comparative perspectives on food and agriculture issues. Academic course work will include weekly readings, class and blackboard participation, and several papers. Service work will include an individual or group project related to your service placement and a final report. Typically the first half of each class will be devoted to a discussion of the readings and the second either to group work and discussion of students' service projects or to a course speaker.

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.

 

Spring 2010 - ABCS Courses

Undergraduate Courses

EVALUATING COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAMS

ANTH 318 - Frank Johnston, Gretchen Suess

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

DNA, DIET AND DISEASE

BIOL 017 - Scott Poethig

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

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/URBS 202 - Rachel Throop

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.

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

EDUC 245 402/URBS 327 402 - John Puckett, Elaine Simon, and Richard Redding

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 proposed new high school. This planning includes developing curricular activities, mapping institutional resources to support curriculum development, and designing school-based public work projects.

TUTORING URBAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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.

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.

TEACHING AMERICAN STUDIES

ENGL 401/URBS 406 - Peter Conn

A double-credit course that combines the study of American cultural with High School teaching. Each student in the course will complete a standard list of readings and writing assignments, including several brief written reports and a fifteen-page final essay. In addition, each student will be assigned to an English or social studies teacher at University City High School and will assist that teacher at least three hours each week in class. The second half of English 401 also comprises a list of readings mainly in urban education, and a number of writing assignments, including another fifteen-page final paper. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of current offerings.

WRITING IN CONCERT

ENGL 145 401/ AFRC-145 URBS-273 - Lorene Cary

Writing in Concert comprises two parts: teaching a common text and writing about the experience using memoir, reportage, and criticism. English 145 students will study a common text in close reading, discussion and preliminary essay exercises. The idea is first to develop an intimate relationship with a text and learn about yourself as a writer from your responses to it. Then, by creating a mini-course syllabus and lesson plans they will learn how to help readers at different stages in life and literacy find their own ways to explore the text.

COMMUNITY BASED ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH (BFS)

ENVS 406 301 - Richard Pepino

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

PREVENTION OF TOBACCO 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 - Fred Scatena

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 ART IN PHILADELPHIA

FNAR 222/622 401/URBS 222 401 - Jane Golden and Don Gensler

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 - 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, studnets 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 engagted in academically based 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, rahter than simply "comsume," societally useful knowledge, as well as function as life-long societally useful citizens.

AMERICAN NATIONAL CHARACTER

HIST 443 - Michael Zuckerman

Who ARE the Americans, anyway? And are they still what they once were? The course will consider some classic and modern theories of American identity. It will address some allegedly quintessential expressions of this elusive, perhaps essential idea, in Puritanism, Jefferson, Franklin, and Whitman. And it will examine contemporary West Philadelphia to see if the old characterizations still apply in a new day (or ever did apply outside small-town American among affluent white males). Work in, and observation of, a local school will be an integral part of the course.

THE SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF READING (DIST I: SOCIETY, Prerequisite: LING/AFRC 160 or permission of instructor)

LING 161 401/AFRC 161 401 - William 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.

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.

CONCEPTS IN NURSING: PROMOTING HEALTHY LIFESTYLES II

NURS 106 001 - Eileen Sullivan-Marx

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/NURS 516 - 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, "THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP" AND THE POLITICS OF URBAN SCHOOL REFORM

PSCI 335/HSOC 335 - Mary Summers

This Fox Leadership and academically based community service seminar will examine the assumptions behind and the results of key policy initiatives directed towards addressing "the achievement gap" and creating "healthier school environments" in light of course readings and service activities at Lea School in West Philadelphia. Course readings will include works by Jonathan Kozol with his critique of the nation's failure to address racial and class segregation and under-funding in urban schools. We will also examine studies of the impact of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation and its mandates for school achievement in contrast with the decentralized, grass roots approach to improving school health environments promoted by the Center for Disease Control's School Health Index with its on-line rubric for establishing a Coordinated School Health Council and an evaluation and planning process for individual schools. Speakers will include individuals who are taking leadership in efforts to improve the health environment in urban schools.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE IN ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY: RESILIENCE

PSYC 362-303 - Acacia Parks-Sheiner

In this course you will learn how to design an original research study in clinical psychology that is scientifically rigorous and personally compelling. Although the course will contain all of the traditional components of a research experience course -- planning and conducting a study, then analyzing the data and writing up the results -- it is also a pilot project, being done in collaboration with the Center for Community Partnerships, which will allow students to learn while simultaneously providing a service to the community. The primary goal of the course is to evaluate the efficacy of a resilience-building intervention, which we will implement in a local West Philadelphia elementary school. Early in the semester, students will be trained to deliver a new version of the Penn Resilience Program, a kids' resilience curriculum developed at Penn, designed specifically to be administered by college students with limited training. The class will then make weekly trips to the school to deliver the intervention. We will collect data in order to assess the efficacy of this new program, as compared to kids who do other after-school activities, with the ultimate goal of creating a sustainable resilience-building program that can be maintained in the community.

THE SOCIAL LIFE OF URBAN SPACES

SOCI 430/URBS 403 - David Grazian

The purpose of this ABCS course is to critically examine the public life of cities by focusing attention on the uses of urban spaces in the city. Through classroom materials, discussions, and fieldwork exercises, students will explore a variety of sociological approaches to the analysis of micro-level social interaction and urban life, and develop a set of methodological tools useful for the ethnographic study of local urban spaces in West Philadelphia. As part of their training, students will perform service work for the Foundation at the Rotunda. In addition to generating connections between West Philadelphia and the University community (and contributing the surrounding neighborhood’s public vitality by bolstering the efforts of the Rotunda), students will observe and learn how diverse groups interact and forge personal relationships in the social urban spaces that border the Penn campus.

Graduate Courses

HEALTH PROMOTION INTRODUCTION

DENT 508 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

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

LOCAL & GLOBAL PUBLIC & COMMUNITY HEALTH

DENT 612 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

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

PRACTICUM IN COMMUNITY HEALTH PROMOTION I

DENT 712 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

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

PRACTICUM IN COMMUNITY HEALTH PROMOTION II

DENT 812 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

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

PRIMARY CARE OF THE MIDDLE AGED AND OLDER ADULT

NURS 647 - Ann O'sullivan, Gwyn Vernon

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

CLINICAL PRACTICUM: PRIMARY CARE WITH YOUNG FAMILIES

NURS 659 - Victoria A Weill

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

NURSING OF CHILDREN II

NURS 723 - Janet A Deatrick

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.