PUCFSN



	Biblical Language and Imagery in Modern American Culture Religious Studies 310 Prof. Robert Kraft The English language, including contemporary discourse, is full of quotations from and allusions to biblical passages and images. The aim of this course is to raise consciousness by identification of such phenomena and discovery of the biblical settings from which they derive. The class will explore some of the ways in which such language and imagery has been passed along in the everyday lives of religious communities, by examining local records that might reveal the extent to which recent generations have been exposed to biblical themes (e.g. in sermon titles, hymns, special events and reports, etc.). Students will examine current and archival evidence and present research reports on their findings. This will usually include direct contact with at least one religious community in West Philadelphia, to examine the use of biblical language/symbols there. Religious Diversity in West Philadelphia Religious Studies 310 Prof. Ann Matter At the end of World War II, West Philadelphia was a middle class community of Jewish, Catholic, and main-line Protestant families. At the close of the twentieth century, as the population of West Philadelphia has become increasingly African-American and A sian-American, synagogues have been turned into Pentecostal churches, Protestant churches have become mosques, and many small “storefront” chapels of various Christian traditions have appeared. This course will explore the changing religious traditions an d religious communities of West Philadelphia in the second half of the twentieth century, focusing on the relationship between religious, racial, ethnic, and economic change. The course will involve both library and field work, and will require each stude nt to make a connection with at least one West Philadelphia religious community. We will also have a connection to a class at University City High School. Religious Diversity in West Philadelphia Religious Studies 310 Prof. Stephen Dunning The purpose of this course is to develop relationships among Penn students and members of a West Philadelphia community of faith (COF). This entails blending academic work on the religious history, beliefs and practices of African-Americans with what is often called "fieldwork" -- although is this case the purpose of the fieldwork is to build relationships through dialogue rather than to study groups for merely academic purposes. Thus the course will involve both reading and visiting, both a traditional final paper and a new sort of "research" project to be worked out with the leader of a religious community. The course is sponsored by the Jesse Balle duPont Project in Universities, Communities of Faith, Schools, and Neighborhood Organizations (PUCFSN). Collaborative Seminar in the Character, Moral Development, and Civic Consciousness of Undergraduates Religious Studies 317 / Urban Studies 320 Prof. Lee Benson Rev. William Gibson Prof. Ira Harkavy The issue of moral development, the formation of character, and the creation of civic consciousness have all been sources of great deliberation during many periods and across diverse fields of inquiry. Recently, these topics have come again to the fore of consideration, particularly as regards our system of education. Often these aspects of personal development have been bracketed out of the educational process - particularly in institutions of higher learning. While great attention has focused on intellectual development, there have been few attempts to link or integrate this with personal development. This can cause significant personal challenges and conflicts for the individual student, and can also encourage students to artificially bifurcate these aspects of their life. The result, not surprisingly, can often be graduates with little sense of how to employ their intellectual acumen to address the complex problems and moral dilemmas they encounter. But what role, if any, should the University (particularly the University of Pennsylvania) play in the development of these aspects of their students' lives? Some approaches have already been employed to try to address these issues - with some success. For years now, Harvard has had a moral reasoning requirement as one of their courses in their core curriculum. Invariably at the conclusion of the course the students are asked whether they feel this has made them more moral people. While answers vary widely, the perception of students is often that they have learned to think more complexly about moral issues, but experience no increase in desire to behave morally. More often they find it that much easier to relativize moral issues and thus avoid difficult moral quandaries. Other approaches have focused more on action rather than reasoning. Community service and particularly service learning has been employed as a means to help broaden student development. This approach is increasingly a part of the University of Pennsylvania, particularly in the form of academically based service-learning courses and civic house. Many students are finding these useful additions to their work at Penn. While they are increasingly succesful, there may be much that can still be done to increase their effective impact on student academic and personal development, and to explore their role in integrating these two often disparate aspects of student development. This seminar seeks to consider the best course for the University of Pennsylvania in addressing these complex issues. From our deliberations we will create a series of recommendations that we will submit to the University. West Philadelphia Gospel Music - Communities of Faith, Faith in Community MUSC405 Prof. Carol Muller This course enables Penn undergraduate and graduate students to develop a research and service partnership with the West Philadelphia gospel community by working collaboratively to produce a CD-Rom documentary of the music. By exploring research and representational methodologies ranging from photographic essays to interviews, from video and audio recordings to ethnographic writing, students will learn not only the technical but also the interpersonal skills required for sustainable community partnerships. The goals of this course are to facilitate a collaborative research environment, to produce a CD-Rom documentary, and to use this documentary as a first step toward creating an accessible, internet-based archive of West Philadelphia gospel music.