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Jun 22, 2024
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College Bulletin 2014-2015 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
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SOCI 006H. Down But Not Out: The Social Problems of Philadelphia
For decades the City of Philadelphia has been plagued by problems of population loss, violent crime, poverty, racial segregation, failing public schools and environmental pollution. While serious problems remain, parts of Philadelphia are experiencing a remarkable rebirth and the city has reversed its decades-long trend of population loss. This class will look at the historical development of economic and educational inequality and an effort to address them in South Philadelphia, a largely poor and working-class area undergoing some of the most dramatic social change in the city. For over a century South Philly has been among the city’s most diverse and culturally vibrant areas and a major gateway for immigrants from across the globe-most recently from several Asian countries and the Puebla region of Mexico. The class will travel to South Philly and see the neighborhood in walking tours. The course has a significant community-based learning component in which students will contribute to an on-going project at one of the city’s most diverse public schools: Andrew Jackson Elementary. Jackson’s principal has developed a vision for making the school a model of how a green curriculum can be a low-cost vehicle for under-resourced urban schools to achieve academic excellence. We will help build a rooftop garden where Jackson’s students will learn the science of environmental sustainability by growing their own food. Students will also work to develop the next phase of Jackson becoming a model green school by designing a science greenhouse foe aquaponic and hydroponic vegetable growing systems. Every aspect of this greenhouse will showcase principles of energy efficiency and foster learning of science and math. The goal is to create a classroom that demonstrates daily the potential of passive and active solar energy technologies, allowing Jackson’s students to explore first-hand a critical question: which one is really the expensive “alternative” energy source: solar or digging up carbon fuels and burning them?
Note: Students who want to enroll/get credit for this as Educational Studies will need to have taken EDUC 014 .
1 credit.
Fall 2014. Viscelli.
http://www.swarthmore.edu/sociology-anthropology
Sociology and Anthropology
Access the class schedule to search for sections.
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