Spring 2024 ABCS Courses

Penn students can browse and register for ABCS courses on Path@Penn. To find ABCS courses, select "Academically Based Community Service Courses" in the University Attribute dropdown menu. Due to the registrar transition, there are some courses not tagged as ABCS on Path@Penn that are still ABCS courses. The accurate course list is on this webpage.

See at-a-glance which Spring 2024 courses fulfill undergraduate general education requirements HERE.

Read a guest column published in the The Daily Pennsylvanian about ABCS here and find more article within this course list.

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

ACCT 2110 / BEPP 2110: TAX POLICY AND PRACTICE IN THE PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITY
Instructor: Edward Scott
Fulfills: SEAS Social Science (EUSS)
Read more: https://www.thedp.com/article/2023/11/penn-wharton-abcs-accounting-volun...

The academic component of the course will focus on several areas: (1) The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap. Students will read this book throughout the semester to support their understanding of the community that they will be serving. (2) Statutory tax system. Students will learn about the tax system as it relates to individuals and sole proprietors. The VITA training covers general tax preparation, with a specific focus on tax credits available to VITA-eligible taxpayers and the use of VITA software. In addition, one session of the course will include a guest lecture/discussion. It will focus on statutory tax issues related to organizational form choice for self-employed and gig economy workers, which is an important statutory issue in low-income communities. (3) Social policy debate. Tax policy, including deductions, subsidies and credits, are one tool that lawmakers can use to get more cash in the hands of individuals and families, especially for low-income groups. Students will consider the effectiveness and usefulness of tax policies relative to other tools that the government has available. There are three guest lecturers for the sessions on tax policy. (4) Working with people. Volunteering with VITA requires students to work with people from a low-income community on the sensitive issue of personal finances. Students will learn to discuss sensitive financial issues with lower-income adults (including many seniors) through readings and in-class discussions, and by reflecting on their real-life experiences in the local community. This skill is important in a variety of roles such as healthcare (physicians and nurses), business (e.g., the HR function), and education. The community service part of the course is volunteering with VITA, which is the IRS’s “Volunteer Income Tax Assistance” program. Following training, students will perform tax services for the West Philadelphia community during the tax season. The course will meet once a week in three-hour sessions for 8-9 weeks during the Spring semester. Students are expected to be in the field performing service throughout a significant portion of the semester. As described on the IRS website, the VITA program has operated for over 50 years. Volunteers offer free tax help to people who need assistance in preparing their own tax returns, including: • People who generally make $58,000 or less • Persons with disabilities; and • Limited English-speaking taxpayers.

AFRC 1780/HIST 0811/URBS 1780: FACULTY-STUDENT COLLABORATIVE ACTION SEMINAR IN UNIVERSITY-COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Instructor: Ira Harkavy, Theresa Simmonds
Fulfills: College FND Cultural Diversity in US (AUCD); NU Sector History&Traditions (NUHT); NU Sector ReaSys&Relationship (NURS); NU Sector Society&Soc Struct (NUSS); SEAS Social Science (EUSS); Wharton Core Cross-Cultural Perspective: US (WUCU); Wharton UG General Education - Social Science (WUSS)

This seminar helps students develop their capacity to solve strategic, real-world problems by working collaboratively in the classroom, on campus, and in the West Philadelphia community. Students develop proposals that demonstrate how a Penn undergraduate education might better empower students to produce, not simply "consume," societally-useful knowledge, as well as to function as caring, contributing citizens of a democratic society. Their proposals help contribute to the improvement of education on campus and in the community, as well as to the improvement of university-community relations. Additionally, students provide college access support at Paul Robeson High School for one hour each week.

ASLD 1032: DEAF CULTURE
Instructor: Jami Fisher
Fulfills: College FND Cultural Diversity in US (AUCD); NU Sector Global&Cultural Studies (NUGC)

This course is an advanced/conversational ASL course that explores several key topics related to Deaf Culture. Using only ASL in class, students will read and discuss books, articles, and films related to the following topics: What is Deaf Culture?; The History of the Deaf American; Deaf Identit(ies); Communication Debates and Language Deprivation; Technology and Deaf Culture; Deaf Art; Deaf-Space; and Deaf Families, Deaf-Hearing Families. Ultimately, students will work collaboratively on a final project that benefits local Deaf community members. Completion of at least the fourth semester of ASL (or the equivalent ASL experience with permission from the instructor) is required to take this course.

COLL 0135: THE ART OF SPEAKING
Instructor: Elizabeth (Sue) Weber
Fulfills: Wharton UG General Education - Humanities Course (WUHM)

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 Philadelphia.

EAS 2420: ENERGY EDUCATION IN PHILADELPHIA SCHOOLS
Instructor: Andrew Huemmler

Students will learn about basic residential energy efficiency measures and practices from an established community based energy organization, the Energy Coordinating Agency of Philadelphia. Identify and understand fundamental core STEM energy concepts. Develop a short "energy efficiency" curriculum appropriate for middle or high school students. Teach three (3) sessions in a science class in the School District of Philadelphia.

EDUC 2100: URBAN FINANCIAL LITERACY: PEDAGOGY AND PRACTICE
Instructor: Brian Peterson, Brandon Copeland
Read more: https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/financial-literacy-class-twist

ENGL 0200: SLOW-READING SHAKESPEARE WITH PAUL ROBESON HIGH SCHOOL
Instructor: Zachary Lesser

In this ABCS (Academically Based Community Service) course, we will read a single Shakespeare play slowly and carefully, through multiple methodologies and approaches, over the course of the semester. Students will also work on the same play with 10th graders at Robeson High School under the direction of their award-winning teacher, Ms Tiaw. “Slow reading” means an intensely detailed, iterative reading of the play through linguistic, cultural-historical, bibliographic, and performative lenses. We will gain a detailed knowledge of this play, but in doing so, we will also learn about Shakespeare’s style, dramaturgy, and theatrical context. Penn students will thereby become well-prepared to work with Robeson students as they work through a scene, or a piece of dialogue, or character motivations. The course will be a success if, through this work in tandem and in parallel, everyone in the Penn classroom and the Robeson classroom—both students and teachers—gains a deeper understanding of the play and of the benefits of the slow, patient, detailed exploration of a text. No previous experience with Shakespeare or with teaching is required. What is required is a serious commitment to the work of the class, including showing up to all sessions both at Penn and at Robeson. (Sessions at Robeson will meet during the same Penn time block so everyone will be free. There may be one or two events arranged outside this time.) If for some emergency reason you will be unable to do the work on a given day, you must commit to notifying Ms Tiaw and me with as much advance notice as possible.

ENGL 3306: WRITING AND POLITICS
Instructor: Lorene Cary
Fulfills: NU Sector Arts & Letters (NUAL); SEAS Humanities (EUHS)

This is a creative writing workshop for students who are looking for ways to use their writing to participate in electoral politics. Student writers will explore a number of different forms—such as blogs, essays, op-eds, fairy tales, social media posts, short videos, or podcasts. We will publish your work, in real time, with the multimedia platform #VoteThatJawn. Launched in 2018 after the March For Our Lives urged youth to register and vote, #VoteThatJawn greatly helped increase registration of 18-year-olds in Philadelphia in 2018, 2020, and 2022. Imagine a creative writing class that answers our desire to live responsibly in the world and to have a say in the systems that govern and structure us. Plus, a course devoted to learning to write with greater clarity, precision, and whatever special-sauce Jawn your voice brings. Student writers act as an editorial group sharing excellent, nonpartisan, fun, cool, sometimes deadly earnest content for and about fresh voters. In addition, you will gain experience in activities that writers in all disciplines need to know: producing an arts-based event and a social media campaign, working with multimedia content, and collaborating with other writers, artists, and activists. You will develop greater resourcefulness and initiative in writing, connecting, researching, editing, and publishing. English 3306 will sometimes work directly with diverse populations of youth from other colleges and high schools throughout Philadelphia, too. As it performs a civic service, this class is listed as an Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) course. This course is cross-listed with Africana Studies.

FREN 2180: FROM WEST AFRICA TO WEST PHILADELPHIA: CREATING COMMUNITY IN THE FRANCOPHONE DIASPORA
Instructor: Elizabeth Collins
Fulfills: NU Sector Global&Cultural Studies (NUGC); SEAS Humanities (EUHS); Wharton UG Core Flex GenEd (WUFG)

This course explores the immigrant experience with a focus on migration from Francophone West Africa to this country, particularly the impact it has on children and young people. Through a close partnership with young Francophone immigrants at the Lea School, we will focus on the challenges they face adapting to a new cultural and linguistic environment. We will review the Francophone context in order to understand the place of the French language in Africa; look at the immigrant and refugee experience through a variety of texts in French; examine the issues of mono-, bi- and multilingualism both on an individual and a societal basis; look at the competing meanings the French language holds for Black Americans; and study the role of foreign languages in American schools. Students will participate in the weekly Francophone Community Partnership, an after-school program with K - 8 children at the Lea School which seeks to enhance the children’s self-esteem and pride in their linguistic and cultural heritage.

LGST 2300: SOCIAL IMPACT AND RESPONSIBILITY: FOUNDATIONS
Instructor: Djordjija Petkoski

What role can business play in helping to meet global societal needs, whether it involves the environment, improving health, expanding education or eradicating poverty? Is there any responsibility on the part of business to help meet those needs? What are models of successful business engagement in this area? How should success be measured? Are there limits to what businesses can and should do, and what institutional changes will enable businesses and entrepreneurs to better succeed? This survey course provides students the opportunity to engage in the critical analysis of these and other questions that lie at the foundation of social impact and responsibility as an area of study. The course involves case studies, conceptual issues, and talks by practitioners. The course is designed to help students develop a framework to address the question: How should business enterprises and business thinking be engaged to improve society in areas not always associated with business? The course is required for the secondary concentration in Social Impact and Responsibility.

MEAM 2300: BICYCLES: THE MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE
Instructor: Dustyn Roberts
Fulfills: SEAS Math/Science/Engrng (EUMS)

This interdisciplinary course combines bicycle design, engineering, and service learning to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the history, evolution, and impact of bicycles on society and the environment. Through hands-on projects, community engagement, and class discussions, students will develop bicycle design and engineering skills, gain practical experience and exposure to bicycle repair and maintenance, explore the impact of bicycles and related technologies on society and the environment, and understand the role of bicycles in sustainable urban mobility and planning.

MGMT 4020: SERVICE LEARNING CLIENT PROJECT
Instructor: Anne Greenhalgh, Keith Weigelt

MGMT 4020 builds on the foundation established by the pre-requisites in the Leadership Journey. As seniors, you will draw on the self-awareness you acquired in WH1010, the speaking skills you practiced in WH2010, and the teamwork and interpersonal skills you honed in MGMT3010. Moreover, MGMT 4020 serves as a capstone course by giving you the opportunity to work with a robust nonprofit and in order to frame the problems and address the challenges your host organization faces; in the process, you will use your creative and critical thinking skills, apply what you have learned, and reflect on your growth and development through iterative feedback and constructive coaching. As a highly experiential course, MGMT 4020 is relatively unstructured, giving you ample opportunity to demonstrate leadership by providing direction and teamwork by pulling together to deliver results for your host. MGMT 4020 will enable you to draw on your Wharton undergraduate education and apply what you have learned in a way that promises to provide real impact for your host organization and a meaningful and memorable experience for you. It is only open to Wharton seniors. In short, MGMT 4020 gives Wharton seniors the opportunity to: - Engage in a service learning and experiential course - Demonstrate leadership and work as a team on a real, host engagement - Think creatively, critically, and practically for the benefit of your host - Refine your interpersonal communication and presentation skills - Heighten your self-awareness through feedback and reflection.

MGMT 3530: WHARTON FIELD CHALLENGE: FINANCIAL LITERACY COMMUNITY PROJECT
Instructor: Keith Weigelt

Do you want to make a real difference in the lives of a student? Do you want to set kids on a path to becoming financially literate? Do you want to learn leadership skills in the classroom? Here at the Financial Literacy Community Project (FLCP) we are able to create an experience that achieves all three. We partner with various public schools around the West Philadelphia area and teach concepts integral to financial literacy. We teach a wide range of grades from middle school to high school, and work with students to help them learn how to be financially responsible. In addition to teaching in neighboring high schools, we also have group class meetings run by Professor Keith Weigelt on Mondays from 7:00 PM-8:30 PM. We learn about the disparity of wealth and how to best address it while also learning teaching techniques, classroom strategies, and overall basic financial literacy. A basic understanding of personal financial literacy is required.

NELC 0318 / RELS 0318 / URBS 0318: ABRAHAMIC FAITHS & CULTURES: CREATE COMMUNITY COURSE
Instructor: Talya Fishman

The aim of this course is to design a Middle School curriculum on “Abrahamic Faiths and Cultures” that will subsequently be taught in local public schools. First two hours will be devoted to study and discussion of primary and secondary sources grouped in thematic units. These will explore Jewish, Christian and Islamic teachings on topics including God, worship, religious calendar, life cycle events, attitudes toward religious others; internal historical developments. During the last seminar hour, we will learn from West Philadelphia clergy members, Middle School Social Studies teachers and principals about what they regard as necessary, and incorporate their insights. During the last hour, West Philadelphia clergy members, Middle School Social Studies teachers and principals will share with us what they believe is needed to enable the course to succeed. Class participants will attend prayer services on fieldtrips to a range of West Philadelphia houses of worship. In future semesters, some class participants may teach the resulting curriculum in selected neighborhood schools.

NRSC 1160: ABCS OF EVERYDAY NEUROSCIENCE
Instructor: Loretta Flanagan-Cato
Penn Today article: https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/penn-netter-center-science-and-service
Fulfills: Wharton UG General Education - Nat Sci, Math, Eng (WUNM)

This course is an opportunity for undergraduates to share their interest and enthusiasm for neuroscience with students in grades 9-12 attending urban public schools in West Philadelphia. The course will allow Penn students to develop their science communication and teaching skills. Students will prepare neuroscience demonstrations, hands-on activities, and assessment tools. In parallel, the course aims to engage local high school students, increasing their interest and knowledge in science, and ultimately promoting lifelong science literacy.

SOCI 2610/LALS 2610: LATINOS IN THE UNITED STATES
Instructor: Emilio Parrado
Penn Today article: https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/Penn-CCATE-improving-college-access-Phi...
Fulfills: College FND Cultural Diversity in US (AUCD); NU Sector Global&Cultural Studies (NUGC); NU Sector Society&Soc Struct (NUSS); SEAS Social Science (EUSS); Wharton Core Cross-Cultural Perspective: US (WUCU); Wharton UG General Education - Social Science (WUSS)

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. 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.

URBS 2020: URBAN EDUCATION
Instructor: Michael Clapper
Fulfills: NU Sector Society&Soc Struct (NUSS); SEAS Social Science (EUSS); Wharton Core Cross-Cultural Perspective: US (WUCU); Wharton UG General Education - Social Science (WUSS)

This seminar focuses on two main questions: 1) How have US schools and urban ones in particular continued to reproduce inequalities rather than ameliorating them? 2) In the informational age, how do the systems affecting education need to change to create more successful and equitable outcomes? The course is designed to bridge the divide between theory and practice. Each class session looks at issues of equity in relation to an area of practice (e.g. lesson design, curriculum planning, fostering positive student identities, classroom management, school funding, policy planning...), while bringing theoretical frames to bear from the fields of education, sociology, anthropology and psychology.

PHYS 0137: COMMUNITY PHYSICS INITIATIVE
Instructor: Philip Nelson, Ryan Batkie
Fulfills: College-Sector - Natural Science Across the Disciplines (AUNM); NU Sector Society&Soc Struct (NUSS); Wharton UG General Education - Nat Sci, Math, Eng (WUNM)

This is an Academically Based Community Service Course (ABCS). The central purpose is to work in partnership with a local high school to improve physics education outcomes for their students. An immersive classroom experience will be enriched through instructional design work and grounded in a study of science education scholarship.

MUSC 0180B / URBS 0180B: MUSIC IN URBAN SPACES
Instructor: Molly Mcglone
Fulfills: College FND Cultural Diversity in US (AUCD); College-Sector - Humanities & Social Science (AUHS); NU Sector Arts & Letters (NUAL); SEAS Humanities (EUHS); Wharton Core Cross-Cultural Perspective: US (WUCU); Wharton UG General Education - Humanities Course (WUHM)

Music in Urban Spaces is a year-long experience that explores the ways in which individuals use music in their everyday lives and how music is used to construct larger social and economic networks that we call culture. We will read the work of musicologists, cultural theorists, urban geographers, sociologists and educators who work to define urban space and the role of music and sound in urban environments, including through music education. While the readings make up our study of the sociology of urban space and the way we use music in everyday life to inform our conversations and the questions we ask, it is within the context of our personal experiences working with music programs in public neighborhood schools serving economically disadvantaged students, that we will begin to formulate our theories of the contested musical micro-cultures of West Philadelphia. This course is over two-semesters where students register for .5 cus each term (for a total of 1 cu over the entire academic year) and is tied to the Music and Social Change Residential Program in Fisher Hassenfeld College House which will sponsor field trips around the city and a final concert for youth to perform here at Penn, if possible. Students are expected to volunteer in music and drama programs in Philadelphia neighborhood public schools throughout the course experience.

REES 1770: BUILDING INTERGENERATIONAL CONNECTIONS WITH HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
Instructor: Maria Alley

Welcome to REES 1770! We are thrilled to have you join us on this transformative journey of service, discovery, and community engagement! This course connects Penn students who are studying or speak Russian with Russian-speaking Holocaust Survivors through the Holocaust Survivor Support Program at the Jewish Family and Children’s Service Of Greater Philadelphia. Throughout the semester, we will collaborate and engage in service activities, reflect on our experiences, and connect them to academic concepts and theories

SOCI 1150 / URBS 1155: FAIR HOUSING, SEGREGATION AND THE LAW
Instructor: Lance Freeman

This course introduces students to the variegated roles of housing in society and has three broad aims. First, the roles of housing as shelter, locus of community, financial asset, and determinant of political power and representation will be described and explored in detail. Second, the way the different functions of housing serve to create and reinforce social stratification is explored. Finally, the function and role of public policy in housing will also be examined..

UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE COURSES

ANTH 5467/EDUC 5467: COMMUNITY YOUTH FILMMAKING
Instructor: Amitanshu Das

This course focuses on how the filmmaking medium and process can provide a means for engaging youth in ethnographically grounded civic action projects where they learn about, reflect on, and communicate to others about their issues in their schools and communities. Students receive advanced training in film and video for social change. A project-based service-learning course, students collaborate with Philadelphia high school students and community groups to make films and videos that encourage creative self-expression and represent issues important to youth, schools, and local communities. Stories and themes on emotional well-being, safety, health, environmental issues, racism and social justice are particularly encouraged. A central thread throughout is to assess and reflect upon the strengths (and weaknesses) of contemporary film (digital, online) in fostering debate, discussion and catalyzing community action and social change. The filmmaking medium and process itself is explored as a means to engage and interact with communities. This course provides a grounding in theories, concepts, methods and practices of community engagement derived from Community Participatory Video, Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) and Ethnographic methods. For the very first time, Penn students will be trained to operate a state-of-the-art TV studio at PSTV (Philadelphia Schools TV). At the end of the semester approved films will be screened with an accompanying panel discussion at an event at the School District of Philadelphia (SDP). These films will also be broadcast on Comcast Philadelphia's PSTV Channel 52 and webcast via the district's website and YouTube channel. This is an ABCS course, and students will produce short ethnographic films with students in Philadelphia high schools as part of a partnership project with the School District of Philadelphia. EDUC 5466 Ethnographic Filmmaking (or equivalent) is a pre-requisite or permission of instructor.

CLST 3805/CLST 5805: CLASSICAL STUDIES IN PHILADELPHIA SCHOOLS
Instructor: James Ker

This course will focus on classical studies as a school resource, with a focus on present-day schools in the Philadelphia area. Our readings and discussions will focus on historical investigation, educational theory, and project-design. The course invites Penn undergraduates and graduate students to rethink how the field traditionally known as "classics" or "classical studies" (both in general and in specific sub-areas such as Latin language, ancient history, mythology, literature, etc.) is presented to school audiences and how classical studies itself must change to meet present social-justice concerns, with special attention given to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This is an Academically Based Community-Service Course (ABCS), in which students will be required to consult with one or more local school personnel (teachers and/or students) as part of the coursework. The main assignments will be several short papers and presentations and a longer paper or curriculum-development project. Undergraduates should register for CLST 3805, graduate students for CLST 5805.

EDUC 5437: INTERFAITH DIALOGUE IN ACTION
Instructor: Stephen Kocher
Read more: https://www.thedp.com/article/2017/11/ibelieve-upenn-philadelphia-interf...
Fulfills: NU Sector Society&Soc Struct (NUSS); Wharton UG General Education - Social Science (WUSS)

This ABCS course explores religious pluralism and interfaith dialogue and action on college campuses. It brings together students with diverse faith commitments (including atheism) to engage with and learn from one another in academic study, dialogue, and service.

EDUC 5912: MATH TUTORING IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Instructor: Caroline Ebby, Joy Anderson Davis

This course is a collaborative tutoring partnership between public elementary schools in West Philadelphia and Penn GSE, open to undergraduate and graduate students. The service component of the course is focused on the provision of one-to-one high-impact tutoring for foundational math concepts and skills in the early grades. The course will be held twice a week at a local elementary school and will involve meeting together for regular class sessions and up to 12 sessions of one-to-one tutoring with an elementary student. The overall goal of the tutoring component is to increase students’ math confidence, engagement, and number sense and will include conducting a pre and post assessment In the course sessions students will learn about mathematics education and the communities in which they will serve, unpack and reflect on conceptions of help in academic contexts, interrogate the "achievement gap" and racialized experiences with mathematics, develop understanding of important concepts in early mathematics as well as research on how students learn those concepts, and refine their tutoring skills (e.g., how to ask effective questions, how to support productive struggle, the role of concrete and visual models). Students will also be guided to reflect on the implications of their work as tutors within the context of the longstanding, dynamic relationship between Penn and the West Philadelphia community.

NURS 3130/5130: OBESITY AND SOCIETY
Instructor: Colleen Tewksbury, Charlene Compher
Fulfills: NU Sector ReaSys&Relationship (NURS); NU Sector Society&Soc Struct (NUSS); SEAS Social Science (EUSS); Wharton UG General Education - Social Science (WUSS)

This course will examine obesity from scientific, cultural, psychological, and economic perspectives. The complex matrix of factors that contribute to obesity and established treatment options will be explored.

NURS 3570/5730: CASE STUDY: INNOVATION IN HEALTH: FOUNDATIONS OF DESIGN THINKING
Instructor: Marion LearyInnovation, defined as a hypothesis-driven, testable, and disciplined strategy, is important to improve health & healthcare. Employing new ways of thinking, such as with design thinking, will help open up possibilities of ways to improve health & the process of healthcare. Incorporating current & emerging social & digital technologies such as mobile apps, wearables, remote sensing, and 3D printing, affords new opportunities for innovation. This course provides foundational content & a disciplined approach to innovation as it applies to health & healthcare. A flipped classroom approach has the in-class component focusing on group learning through design thinking activities. The course is open to undergraduate nursing students as a case study & upper-level undergraduates and graduate students from across the Penn campus. The course provides a theoretical foundation in design thinking & may provide an overview of innovation technology & digital strategies as well as social & process change strategies. To enhance the didactic component, students will actively participate in a design case study. Students will be matched by interest and skill level with teams & will work with community-based organizations, healthcare providers and/or innovation partners. Student teams will meet their partners to identify & refine a health or healthcare problem to tackle. Students will work throughout the semester to create an innovative solution that will be pitched to their community-based organization, healthcare provider, and/or innovation partner at the end of the semester. Prerequisite: Completion of freshman & sophomore level courses

GRADUATE COURSES

AAMW 5720/ANTH 5720/CLST 7315/NELC 5925: GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTION FOR ARCHAEOLOGY
Instructor: Jason Herrmann
Fulfills: SEAS Humanities (EUHS)

This course focuses on real world community problems, engaged scholarship, and the evaluation of actively-running Penn programs intended to improve social conditions in West Philadelphia. Two trends emerge in public interest social science that students will explore through research and evaluation: 1.) mergingproblem solving with theory and analysis in the interest of change motivated bya 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. As part of the course, students will learn the foundations of anthropology, social theory, and evaluation as they work with qualitative and quantitative data while conducting an evaluation based on community and partner need. Students will gain direct experience conducting evaluation research as a collaborative process and have an opportunity to engage in academically-based community service with a focus on social change.

ANTH 6180/3180: ANTHROPOLOGY AND PRAXIS
Instructor: Gretchen Suess, Paulette Branson
Fulfills: SEAS Humanities (EUHS)

CPLN 7200: HOUSING, COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PRACTICUM
Instructor: Lisa Servon
Read more: https://www.design.upenn.edu/post/towards-greener-healthier-more-prosper...

The Housing, Community & Economic Development Practicum course is the capstone for the CED concentration. Using the skills and knowledge they have acquired in previous HCED coursework, students work in small groups on projects for local clients. These clients may include community-based organizations, public agencies, or other nonprofits

CPLN 6230: THE CARCERAL STATE
Instructor: Lisa Servon
Read more: https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/weitzman-planning-students-gain-critica...
Fulfills: Wharton Core Cross-Cultural Perspective: US (WUCU);

Wharton UG General Education - Social Science (WUSS)

This course examines the period of mass incarceration that began in the US in the 1970s, its impact on communities and its connection to economic development. We'll look specifically at policies that fostered mass incarceration, the financialization of the criminal justice system, and abolitionist movements that challenge the carceral state. We will examine the ways in which policies and practices have had disparate impacts on people of color and women, and we will also pay attention to space and place, endeavoring to understand differences at the local, county and state levels. This is an Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) course, and we will be partnering with the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund on a project. Students will also conduct courtroom observations, tour the Eastern State Penitentiary, learn from formerly incarcerated Philadelphians, and interact with relevant experts. Students will read books and articles from a range of disciplines including sociology, law, political science, and planning. We will also read poetry and memoir, and study places that have instituted cutting edge policies and practices. This course relies on student engagement and discussion.

CPLN 6290: PLANNING AS SPATIAL STORYTELLING - ENGAGING PLACES, TASTES, AND PUBLIC SPACE
Instructor: Matthew Kenyatta

The Black Bottom vs University City, South LA vs South Central, Callowhill vs Chinatown. Which place identity is real? Who legitimize which and where? Neighbors often have beloved names and place identities that are overlooked and forgotten, if not outright erased. Sometimes it happens when a foreign developer labels their property without consideration for the living histories of long-term residents, but mostly it is from lack of public attention. This class is how we learn how to intervene and prevent that not only as a planner or an artist, but as a lover of where you might live. How might you love on where you live and show place pride with integrity? Through a lens of design justice and cultural landscapes, this mini-studio will critically engage core design, environmental management, and planning concepts like “branding” and “placemaking” through case studies, reflection, and real-world creative contexts in historic West Philadelphia. Guest speakers will include leaders in arts, heritage, real estate, tourism, and policy.

DENT 7102: HEALTH PROMOTION II
Instructor: Joan Gluch

This course provides students with both seminars and clinical experiences in order to gain additional knowledge, skills and values to develop competency in health promotion activities. Seminars are scheduled throughout the third year and include the following topics: risk assessment for caries, periodontal diseases and oral cancer; customized oral health promotion plans to address risks and promote health; health promotion care with dentures and implants; modifying health promotion for patients with physical, developmental and emotional disabilities. Discussions also focus on communication to meet the different social and cultural needs of patients. Clinical experiences in the Primary Care Units and Community Clinics provide students with opportunities to develop skills and competencies related to health promotion. Oral health promotional activities are an integral part of the care students provide with their patients. Students complete a Caries and Periodontal Risk Assessment with each patient and provide customized oral health promotional services periodically throughout treatment. Students provide fluoride treatments, tobacco counseling and nutritional counseling as appropriate for their patients. In addition, edentulous patients receive special advice regarding mouth care, denture care and oral cancer self-examination procedures. Students must record the completion of health promotion procedures in Axium using appropriate codes to document completion of required clinical activities. In addition, students must record the completion of appropriate health promotion activities on the clinical charts.

DENT 6101: LOCAL, PUBLIC HLTH, ETHIC
Instructor: 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.

DENT 6102: LOCAL & PUBLIC HEALTH II
Instructor: Joan Gluch

DENT 7122: COMMUNITY ORAL HEALTH
Instructor: Joan Gluch
Penn Today article: https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/dental-schools-joan-gluch-promotes-acad...

Community Oral Health 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.

FRO 5350: FRONTIERS IN CULINARY MEDICINE
Instructor: Horace Delisser

Culinary medicine is a 4-week elective that is taught by a team of culinary experts, physicians, and registered dietitians, that integrates the science of medicine and the culinary arts into an interdisciplinary experience that prepares students to promote healthy eating in their future patients. Through didactics, case-based discussions, and virtual in-the-kitchen training by professional chefs, students will learn behavior change strategies regarding diet and nutrition, as well as explore healthier diets and the use of accessible and inexpensive substitute ingredients to prepare healthy, yet tasty meals. It is anticipated this course will stimulate students to incorporate healthy behaviors into their own personal lives, and in so doing, gain more comfort and confidence in sharing these behaviors with their future patients.

EDUC 7772: EXPANDING CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH
Instructor: Rand Quinn

This Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) course is designed for Penn graduate and undergraduate students invested in youth civic empowerment. Students design multi-session, project-based lessons on collective problem solving on a contemporary issue (for example, climate justice, political redistricting, or school gentrification). Students will then facilitate their workshops in Philadelphia public school classrooms. As part of the course, students will develop and implement an internal assessment plan that may include observation protocols, post-lesson debriefings, participant focus groups, and teacher interviews. The data from these assessment tools will contribute to a final report.

EDUC 7220: SEMINAR IN MICROETHNOGRAPHY
Instructor: Betsy Rymes, Hannah Brenneman, Katherine O’Morchoe, Suzanne Oh, Erica Poinsett

This course provides an introduction to theory and method in the unified analysis of verbal and nonverbal behavior as it is culturally patterned, socially organized, and socially organizing in face-to-face interaction, in an approach that integrates participant observation with the detailed analysis of audiovisual records. Students read relevant literature in linguistic anthropology, interactional sociolinguistics, conversation analysis, and embodiment in social interaction. Class requirements include in-class reading presentations, a small microethnographic research project, and several short data analysis reports drawing on differing levels of analysis and differing theoretical orientations. Students review and apply methods of audiovisual data collection, transcription, processing, archiving, and presentation.

IDT 2530: FOUNDATIONS OF CULINARY MEDICINE
Instructor: Horace Delisser

Foundations of Culinary Medicine is a one-year elective course for first-year medical students at the Perelman School of Medicine. Taught by a team of culinary experts, physicians, and registered dietitians, Foundations integrates advanced nutrition science and the culinary arts into a hands-on, interdisciplinary experience. Each session will run during a Module 2 organ system and disease block in order to integrate nutrition education with the basic science and clinical medicine concepts of a particular organ system. This training will provide students with the knowledge to understand the impact of healthy eating on normal human physiology and disease. Through evidence-based research, case-based discussions and in-the-kitchen, hands-on training, students will learn about the role of nutrition in integrated biological systems, with a focus on dietary recommendations for real-life patient care. Students will also learn by teaching, and partnering with Philadelphia schools and families to facilitate food educational programs and community dinners. It is anticipated that this course will provide a foundation for students to both understand and communicate the impact of good nutrition on their own health, as well as the health of their future patients.

LARP 7500: TOPICS IN CONSTRUCTION, HORTICULTURE & PLANTING DESIGN
Instructor: Abdallah Tabet

What is the role of the detail in landscape architecture? What makes a good detail, technically and conceptually? How do we understand "detailing" as a process? The detail is the moment of intersection between the conceptual and the practical, born out of the designer's effort to merge an idealized vision with a set of imposed --and often conflicting—parameters and constraints. For some, the detail may contain the essence of a project, a representation of the idea made manifest. Yet it may also be the reason the whole thing falls apart. Through case studies of exemplary projects, lectures, discussions, and design exercises involving drawing, modeling, and fabrication at a range of scales, this seminar course will explore detailing as an idea, as a process, and as a vital component of design practice and construction methodology. This course offers students the opportunity to develop a strong grounding in the logic and language of details, supporting continued inquiry and critical engagement with design over the course of a career.

NGG 5900: RESEARCH & COMMUNITY: BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE IN THE URBAN CURRICULUM
Instructor: Loretta Flanagan-Cato, Erin Purvis

NGG 5900 is an activity-based course with three major goals. First, the course is an opportunity for biomedical graduate students to develop their science communication skills and share their enthusiasm for neuroscience with high school students at a nearby public high school in West Philadelphia. In this regard, Penn students will prepare demonstrations and hands-on activities to engage local high school students, increase their knowledge in science, and ultimately promote their interest in science-related careers. Second, the course will consider the broader educational context, such as the conditions of the local high school and its overall progress in science education. Students will discuss the problems they encounter and learn how to develop effective proposals, taking into account the participants and the origins of current policies. Third, students will reflect and discuss the important connection between their biomedical research at Penn and the local Philadelphia community.

NURS 7350: PEDIATRIC ACUTE CARE NP: PROFESSIONAL ROLE & INTERMEDIATE CLINICAL PRACTICE
Instructor: Jessica Strohm Farber
Fulfills: Wharton UG General Education - Nat Sci, Math, Eng (WUNM)

This course focuses on the implementation of the professional role of the Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (PNP-AC). Particular emphasis is placed on the role components of the nurse practitioner in pediatric acute care. Applications of nursing, biological and behavioral science are emphasized in the advanced clinical assessment, clinical decision making and management skills needed to care for complex, unstable acutely and chronically ill children and their families. The role of the advanced practice nurse in promoting optimal child/family outcomes is emphasized.

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!

Spring 2024 ABCS Courses