ABCS 2012-2013

Fall 2012 ABCS Courses

Undergraduate Courses

GLOBALIZATION: CAUSES AND EFFECTS

ANTH 155 - Brian Spooner

This course analyses the current state of globalization & sets it in historical perspective. It applies the concepts & methods of anthropology, history, political economy & sociology to the analysis and interpretation of what is actually happening in the course of the semester that relates to the progress of globalization. The course will partner this fall with University City High School. We focus on a series of questions not only about actual processes but about the growing awareness of them, and the consequence of this awareness. In answering these questions, we distinguish between active campaigns to cover the world (e.g. proselytism, opening up markets, democratization) and the unplanned diffusion of new ways of organizing trade, capital flows, tourism and the Internet. The body of the course will deal with particular dimensions of globalization, reviewing both the early and recent history of these processes. The overall approach will be historical and comparative, setting globalization on the larger stage of economic, political and cultural development. The course is taught collaboratively by an anthropologist, a historian, and a sociologist, offering the opportunity to compare and contrast distinct disciplinary points of view. It seeks to develop a concept-based understanding the various dimensions of globalization: political, social, and cultural.

ANTHROPOLOGY AND PRAXIS: TRANSFORMING SOCIAL LIFE

ANTH 318 401 - Gretchen Suess

Fulfills the Quantitative Data Analysis Foundational Requirement

This course focuses on real world community problems, engaged scholarship and the evaluation of Penn programs and partnerships intended to improve social conditions in West Philadelphia. The course is rooted in Public Interest Anthropology (PIA). Two trends emerge from the rubric of public interest social science: 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. Combining these focus areas, this course will deal with critical research and the evaluation of programs organized around academically-based community service (ABCS) with a focus on social change. As part of the course, students will conduct an evaluation of an actively-running Netter Center/Penn program designed to improve quality of life and/or health status among West Philadelphia children, youth and families to support a mutually-beneficial partnership. The focus of the evaluation will be dependent upon student interest, the number of students in the course, and program needs.

NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY

ANTH 359 401/URBS 359 401 – Frank Johnston, Jane Kauer

The purpose of this course is to study the problems of nutrition and nutrition-related disease that afflict human populations, especially those in underserved urban communities. It will bring together representatives of multiple disciplines as guest lecturers in the study of food and food systems. The course will use a problem-solving, service-oriented, hands-on approach that fosters ongoing, mutually beneficial community partnerships that are part of the Netter Center’s University-Assisted Community Schools program in West Philadelphia. As an ABCS course, it will also seek to help develop a sense of purpose for the common good that will accompany students into their post-baccalaureate careers.

Along with class meetings, students will participate in hands-on Participatory Action Research projects focused on developing healthy behaviors through placements at an elementary school located in West Philadelphia. This school is a partner with the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative (AUNI), a major component of the Netter Center for Community Partnership’s University-Assisted Community Schools program.

The learning objectives of the course are fourfold:

Build knowledge and understanding of the roles and impact of food and food systems in urban communities

Engage fully in one’s own learning through collaborative problem solving, service and reflection

Sharpen ability to democratically identify and solve complex ill-defined problems

Develop understanding of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and the role it can play in community food systems and nutrition education

URBAN EDUCATION

EDUC 202/URBS 202 - Katie McGinn

Fulfills the Culture and Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

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. Students will have the opportunity to work in a classroom or after school educational setting in West Philadelphia through Community Schools Student Partnerships, the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative, or AVID College Readiness System. 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.

EDUCATION IN AMERICAN CULTURE

EDUC 240-401/URBS240-401 - Ethiraj Dattatreyan

This course explores the relationships between forms of cultural production and transmission (schooling, family and community socialization, peer group subcultures and media representations) and relations of inequality in American society. Working with a broad definition of "education" as varied forms of social learning, we will concentrate particularly on the cultural processes that produce as well as potentially transform class, race, ethnic and gender differences and identities. From this vantage point, we will then consider the role that schools can and/or should play in challenging inequalities in America. The course will work in partnership with the University City High School Student Success Center.

CULTURALLY RELEVANT TEACHING AND LEARNING

EDUC 245-002 - 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, and Community Schools Student Partnerships sites 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 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 West Philadelphia public schools. These schools include Alexander Wilson Elementary School, Henry C. Lea Elementary School, and Penn Alexander School.

SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

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

This course engages University of Pennsylvania undergraduates and University City High School students simultaneously in developing a plan for mapping institutional and organizational resources and proposing strategies for school-based public work projects in West Philadelphia.

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS IN VISUAL ARTS & EDUCATION

EDUC 501 - Edward Epstein

This course will connect students with artists from the 40th Street Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program, which provides free studio space and in exchange asks residents to share their talents with the local community. Students will be evaluated partly on their work in the community outreach situation. (TLL Division; MSEd/PhD-EdD elective course; no permit required)

SCIENCE IN ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS

EDUC 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.

OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL BOX: HISTORY, POLICY AND ALTERNATIVES

EDUC 545 - Mike Johanek

This course has a problem at its core. Students are invited to work toward its resolution, and to produce useful guidance to others interested in it. Our general problem will be the broad discontent regarding U.S. schools, and more specifically, the manner in which policy makers and educators now seek to address educational performance. Many viable solutions to this problem appear to run through a common pathway, namely, the requirement to break away from the isolation of schooling toward a wider education policy/practice, and to address education “broadly understood” amidst the variety of educating agencies within any community. Students will design and implement research of use to community stakeholders invested in the education of University City High School (UCHS) students. The aim of this research will be to support leading community stakeholders in answering the questions they feel are most urgent in addressing the educational challenges faced by the students at UCHS.

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

ENVS 404 401/HSOC 404 401 - Rich Pepino

Fulfills the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Sector Requirement (VII)

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 related to lead poisoning to their homes and neighborhoods. The middle school student partners, like the Penn students, are not just recipients of knowledge and service, but rather the middle school students become deliverers of service as they work with family members and peers on behaviors and practices that can actually reduce lead exposure.

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 collaborate with middle school and high school teachers in West Philadelphia to engage middle school children in exercises that apply environmental research relating to asthma. The middle school student partners, like the Penn students, are not just recipients of knowledge and service, but rather the middle school students become deliverers of service as they work with family members and peers on behaviors and practices that can actually reduce asthma triggers.

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 work throughout the semester on a community based project whose scope will be collaboratively determined by the student and community partner. Throughout the course, students will conduct field investigations, review scientific data and create indicator reports, work with stakeholders and present 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 a 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/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 work with partners at Henry C. Lea Community School in West Philadelphia and community groups to design and paint a large outdoor mural. 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

Fulfills the Culture and Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

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, particularly 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.

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. In the first class meeting of each week, Penn faculty will 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 small groups of UCHS students. Penn students will also have an opportunity to develop their own activities and implement them with the UCHS students.

CONTAGIOUS: HOW PRODUCTS, IDEAS, AND BEHAVIORS CATCH ON

MKTG 228 - Jonah Berger

Why do some products catch on and achieve huge popularity while others fail? Why do some behaviors spread like wildfire while others languish? How do certain ideas seem to stick in memory while others disappear the minute you hear them? More broadly, what factors lead to trends, social contagion, and social epidemics?

GOSPEL MUSIC

MUSC 016 - Carol Muller

Freshman Seminar

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: (1) students will learn to listen closely to contemporary gospel music by writing about they hear; (2) they will be introduced to a brief history of American gospel music; and (3) they will spend half of the seminar producing a Compact Disc of words and music focused on the local gospel music scene in Philadelphia.

OBESITY AND SOCIETY

NURS 313 401 – Charlene Compher

This course will examine obesity from scientific, cultural, psychological, and economic perspectives through classroom based readings and discussion as well as hands on work in partnership with the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative. The complex matrix of factors that contribute to obesity and established treatment options will be explored.

THE COMMUNITY PHYSICS INITIATIVE

PHYS 137 – Larry Gladney, Bill Berner

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). Penn students learn theoretical and practical physics by creating and teaching hands on physics lessons to high school students. This class meets weekly at UCHS and incorporates a joint class trip to Dorney Park’s Physics Day, which focuses on the physics of roller coasters and teaches students how to use accelerometers to measure, graph, and analyze data they obtain during their roller coaster rides.

LATINOS IN THE UNITED STATES

SOCI 266/ LALS235 - Emilio Parrado

Fulfills the Culture and Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

This course presents a broad overview of the Latino population in the United States that focuses on the economic and sociological aspects of Latino immigration and assimilation. Students will have the opportunity to partner with Casa Monarca, a grass root organization located in South Philadelphia. Topics to be covered include: construction of Latino identity, the history of U.S. Latino immigration, Latino family patterns and household structure, Latino educational attainment. Latino incorporation into the U.S. labor force, earnings and economic well-being among Latino-origin groups, assimilation and the second generation. The course will stress the importance of understanding Latinos within the overall system of race and ethnic relations in the U.S., as well as in comparison with previous immigration flows, particularly from Europe. We will pay particular attention to the economic impact of Latino immigration on both the U.S. receiving and Latin American sending communities, and the efficacy and future possibilities of U.S. immigration policy. Within all of these diverse topics, we will stress the heterogeneity of the Latino population according to national origin groups (i.e. Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and other Latinos), as well as generational differences between immigrants and the native born.

STEM CELL SCIENCE IN SCHOOLS: HISTORY, ETHICS AND EDUCATION

STSC-302-401 – Jamie Shuda

This course will provide University of Pennsylvania and local Philadelphia high school students with the opportunity to learn fundamental biology concepts and apply them in a hands-on, inquiry-based approach that is also attentive to society, history and social context.

On Mondays, students will hear lectures and share their views about stem cell biology and ethics, and bring to life the possibilities of regenerative medicine by participating in hands-on activities, such as cutting planaria flatworms in two and watching them regrow, and performing in vitro fertilization in mice.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, students will walk a few blocks to University City High School, where they will help teach similar lessons to an honors biology class of about 25 ninth graders.

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 2013 ABCS Courses

Undergraduate Courses

LITERATURES OF JAZZ

AFRC-079-401/MUSC-080-401/ENGL-080-401 – Herman Beavers, Bill Lowe

Fulfills the Cultural Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

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

FOOD HABITS IN PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITIES

ANTH 252-401/URBS 352-401 – 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 collaborate with students, their teachers, and a teacher partner from the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative (UNI). Students will be required to attend one of two time blocks each week to fulfill the service learning requirement-times TBA. 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.

PUBLIC INTEREST WORKSHOP

ANTH 516-401/AFST 516-401/GSWS 516-401/URBS 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 origin ethnographic research to merge theory with action. Students are encouraged 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.

INTERFAITH ACTION

Kathy Hall, Steve Kocher

This public anthropology course will explore interfaith movements in the public sphere through a combination of academic study and practical experience.

ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES

ASAM 205-401/URBS 207-401 – Fariha Khan

Fulfills the Cultural Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

Who is Asian American and how and where do we recognize Asian America? This interdisciplinary course explores the multiple factors that define Asian American identity and community. In order to provide a sketch of the multifaceted 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 017-001 – Scott Poethig

Fulfills the Living World Sector Requirement

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. This course will partner with the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative.

SOFTWARE DESIGN & ENGINEERING

CIS 350-001 – Chris Murphy

CIS 240 is a prerequisite. Additional course info: http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~cdmurphy/cis350/index.shtml

You know how to write a "program". But how do you create a software "product" as part of a team, with customers that have expectations of functionality and quality? This course introduces students to various tools (source control, automated build systems, programming environments, test automation, etc.) and processes (design, implementation, testing, and maintenance) that are used by professionals in the field of software engineering.

Topics will include: software development lifecycle; agile and test-driven development; source control and continuous integration; requirements analysis; object-oriented design and testability; Android application development; software testing; refactoring; and software quality metrics.

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

COLL 135-301 – Sue Weber

Communication Within the Curriculum Course

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 – Amy Bach

Fulfills the Cultural Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

TUTORING IN URBAN ELEMENTARY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: A CHILD DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE

EDUC 326-401/URBS 326-401 - John Fantuzzo

SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

EDUC 410 401/URBS 327 401 - John Puckett, Elaine Simon

ELEMENTARY SOCIAL STUDIES AND SCIENCE METHODS

EDUC 421-001/ENVS 421-001 – NancyLee Bergey

Students will 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.

COMMUNITY BASED ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

ENVS 406-401/HSOC 406-401; Richard Pepino

Benjamin Franklin Seminar

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.

THE BIG PICTURE: MURAL ART IN PHILADELPHIA

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

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

HIST 173-401/URBS 178-401/AFRC 078-401 – Ira Harkavy

Fulfills the Cultural Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

Benjamin Franklin Seminar

COLLABORATIVE HISTORY PROJECT: PHILADELPHIA AND THE GREAT MIGRATION

HIST 231-402/ AFRC-229-402 – Steven Hahn
Fulfills the Cultural Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

ACADEMICALLY BASED COMMUNITY SERVICE COURSE IN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE/DEAF STUDIES

LING 077 – 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 through mutually determined 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. A minimum of four semesters of American Sign Language and LING 078, Topics in Deaf Culture, are required for this course.

THE COMMUNITY MATH TEACHING PROGRAM

MATH 123-001 – Idris Stovall

MUSIC IN URBAN SPACES

MUSC 018-401/URBS 018-401 – Molly McGlone

Freshman Seminar

Fulfills the Cross Cultural Analysis Foundational Requirement

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 sitting devoted to a significant intellectual endeavor. Specific topics be posted at the beginning of each academic year. Please see the College Freshman seminar website for information on fall 2011 course offerings

FOOD: PSYCHOLOGICAL, BIOLOGICAL, & CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES

PSYCH 070-001/BENF 226-301 – Paul Rozin

Benjamin Franklin Seminar

Food is a biological essential for humans, but one that has been elaborated and transformed in many ways through history, and given a variety of cultural signatures. This course will consider food from the point of view of different disciplines. It will also serve as medium for promoting critical thinking and quantitative skills, particularly through exercises in data collection (both observation and experiment), basic statistics and interpretation of results. The course will partner with the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative.

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

SOCI 001-001 – Melissa Wilde

ABCS Recitation Numbers: SOCI 001-002 and SOCI 001-201

Fulfills the Society Sector Requirement

Fulfills the Cultural Diversity in the United States Foundational Requirement

This course is designed to teach students what sociology is, and to introduce you to what we as sociologists do. My goal is to convince you that sociology is interesting and important. Over the semester, we will read original work in the sociology of inequality, deviance, gender and religion. You will learn how the research was conducted, what was found, and what those findings tell us about our society. As you are reading these studies, you will also be working with Jackson Elementary School, a very diverse, economically disadvantaged, but dynamic and exciting school in South Philadelphia. It will be your task to identify a program or need the school has, to find a grant or granting agency that would be interested in filling that need, and to complete a grant application or develop a long-term program that will benefit the school.

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.

HEALTH PROMOTION INTRODUCTION

DENT 508 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

LOCAL AND GLOBAL PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY HEALTH

DENT 612 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

PRACTICUM IN COMMUNITY HEALTH PROMOTION I

DENT 712 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

PRACTICUM IN COMMUNITY HEALTH PROMOTION II

DENT 812 (full year course) - Joan Gluch

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.

Report of the Ad Hoc Faculty Committee on Community Engaged Scholarship Now Available

PENN STUDENTS: click here to browse opportunities to engage with the West Philadelphia community!

ABCS 2012-2013