Philadelphia Experience (PEX)

Philadelphia Arts & Culture: Public Places, Private Spaces

What and where is the real Philadelphia? How can we get past the clichés to better understand and experience the city's historic and legendary sense of itself? For more than three centuries, Philadelphia's unique identity has been defined and redefined by a prodigious and prolific creative community: painters, sculptors, writers, performers, architects, planners, thinkers, and more. We'll explore Philadelphia's evolving sense of itself through a broad range of examples of creative works from the 17th through the 20th centuries. And through this prism of expression, and the institutions that present and protect it, we'll develop a deep understanding of Philadelphia as one of the nation's most creative cities.

The Art of Listening

Are you an active or passive listener? What kind of music do you enjoy? How do you compare different musical styles, and what qualities make one performance different from another? Be challenged to rethink your entire conception of music by focusing on how to listen to music to deepen your appreciation of what you are hearing, and to ponder the importance of music in your life and to society. You will not be required to become a performer yourself, but you will become a more discriminating consumer of music through attendance at live concerts in the local area, by observation of in-class performances, rehearsals, and music lessons, and through guided listening exercises in and outside of class. Repertoire selected from Classical, Jazz, Broadway, and World Music will engage your intellectual and emotional response as a concert-goer, listener, researcher, critic, and communicator.

The Jazz Century in America

What is jazz? Students will explore its roots and reinventions in Ragtime, Hot Jazz, Blues, Swing, Bebop, Free Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, and Hip Hop throughout the 20th century in America. We'll experience its manifestations across media, screening dance films, listening to music, viewing visual art works, and reading poetry. Then we'll move into the studio to experience first-hand its rhythms, moods, dynamics, creative expression and improvisation. A key theme will be how the individual and the collective nurture each other in jazz. Intellectually, we'll examine the historical and social backdrop and analyze the essential components of jazz.

Shakespeare and Music

What is it about the Bard of Stratford-on-Avon? From the concert hall to the stage and silver screen, no other author's works have inspired more adaptations than those of William Shakespeare. In this new century, as the “cult of originality ” continues to grow at an exponential rate and celebrity is sought as an end in itself (see Hilton, Paris), why have the works of a man whose very identity is shrouded in mystery remained so popular? This course will explore Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet, and their adaptation by composers and choreographers. Students will then get a chance to “bend the Bard” on their own!

The Dramatic Imagination: The Performing Arts in Society

Theatre, dance, opera--our imaginations give us the natural ability to accept the make-believe worlds they create on stage. While it is the imagination that ultimately allows us to enjoy the performing arts, imagination also plays a role in creating these worlds. Take advantage of our rich local arts community as you experience live performances in Philadelphia! We will use our imaginative capacities to deepen our own experience, while learning about the value of the arts, the controversies surrounding them, and differences in people's perceptions of the performing arts as compared to other forms of entertainment.

The Art of Sacred Space

Where do people go to communicate with the divine? Explore with us where and how people of the many different cultures of the Greco-Roman world communicated with their gods. Why are graves and groves considered sacred space? When is a painting or sculpture considered sacred? Whom do the gods allow to enter a sacred building? Can a song be a prayer or a curse? How can dance sway the gods? Why do gods love processions and the smell of burning animals? The journey through sacred space in Greco-Roman antiquity will engage your senses and your intellect, and will reveal a mindset both ancient and new.

World Musics & Cultures

Have you ever wondered why musical compositions from different parts of the world sound so dissimilar? Why does Japanese music employ silence as a structural element and Chinese melodies use only five notes? Discover how an artist's creative imagination is molded by the cultural values of the society at large. Listen to guest musicians demonstrate different styles of playing and attend a live concert. Examine folk, art and popular music from around the world and discuss the wonderful and strange sounds that are produced.

The Creative Spirit: A Multidisciplinary View

Man is the animal who creates, but why and how? Whether we are making art or making dinner, creativity ultimately makes a difference in our lives and the lives of others. In this course we will view creativity through the lens of the arts and explore the broader manifestations of the creative spirit in a variety of related fields and disciplines. Students will learn the fundamental concepts of creativity and engage with artists, performers and working professionals exploring the central role creativity plays in their work. Explore your creativity in weekly hands-on group sessions augmented by periodic field visits to see performances, concerts, galleries, etc. Be creative, follow your bliss and develop a passion for life-long learning!

The Visual Experience: Arts of the Western World

Philadelphia has extraordinary resources in the arts. This course will give you direct exposure to the visual arts, and help you understand their relationship with music, dance, theater, and the other artistic expressions that also form our heritage. Through visits to museums and performances, guest speakers, lectures, films and discussions, you will be introduced to the great monuments and the major movements that place the visual arts of the western world in a broad cultural framework. You will learn about the concepts that connect the progression of ideas in artistic communication and expression from the ancient world to modern times.

Art in Cultural Context

View the arts as an expression of cultural identity as it occurs across the globe. Each semester, we will focus on a particular world region or country, including but not limited to Russia, Japan, and Latin America. The exploration of cultural identity begins with an overview of the region or country's historical and religious influences and then studies the culture's arts, including the visual arts (painting, sculpture), musical traditions, literature (folktales, national mythology), the vernacular arts (crafts, storytelling), film and theater. You will take field trips or have experiences that will allow you to encounter the region's arts firsthand, and to develop a blended understanding of a people's cultural identity and the larger world.

Transnational Cinema (Honors)

As he recently commented on the sad state of globalized affairs in which “the cosmopolitanism of international film making is matched by the parochialism of American film culture,” New York Times film critic A.O. Scott asked, “The whole world is watching, why aren't Americans?” This course will use Scott's question as a point of departure to investigate the ostensible reasons why Americans, or in our case, Philadelphians, aren't watching “transnational cinema”--international films that gain distribution outside of their country of production, and that depict transnational movements of people, capital, and social values. Are transnational films playing at a theatre near you? Perhaps they are, but if not, why not? Which “ foreign films” are allowed to cross the border into our country? How, when, and where do we get to “see the world” and why does that matter in today's globalized, interconnected world? Learn ‘how to see the world”-- not as a one-dimensional quaint or exotic representation of the “other”-- but instead through the ways in which these films engage critical contemporary issues of nation, transnation, and globalization in an increasingly interconnected transnational public sphere.

Criminal Behavior

Although we like to think differently, committing crime is an extremely common human behavior. From the extremes of armed robbery or serial murder to the ordinary failure to declare income on tax returns or the tendency to speed on the highway, nearly everyone has broken the law and committed a crime at some point. Considering physiological, psychological and pharmacological factors, we explore the influences of family, peers and the effects of alcohol and drugs on the incidence of criminal behavior. And we examine how the urban and social environment encourages (or inhibits) opportunities to commit crime.

Disability Identity

Odds are that each of us will encounter disability at some point in our lives, either directly or indirectly through family, friends, neighbors and colleagues. What is it like to live with a disability, and how does disability intersect with other aspects of personal identity, like gender, race and culture? Is disability socially and culturally defined? Join us as we examine historical perspectives of disability marked by fear and discrimination and fueled by media portrayals. We will then explore most recent indicators of personal, social, and environmental change that support disability identity and result in a more accommodating environment for us all.

Interpersonal Communication

In a reflective, supportive environment, enhance your ability to develop successful interpersonal communication with your family, friends and work colleagues. Assess your own communication skills, develop and set personal goals and an action plan to create the change you wish to see. Investigate how interpersonal communication needs and effectiveness change throughout life, from early childhood, to adolescence, through young adulthood, middle age, and old age. There will be frequent small group discussions, and opportunities to learn through direct observation of real-life situations.

Language & Society

How did language come about? How many languages are there in the world? How do people co-exist in countries where there are two or more languages? How do babies develop language? Should all immigrants take a language test when applying for citizenship? Should English become an official language of the United States? In this course we will address these and many other questions, taking linguistic facts as a point of departure and considering their implications for our society. Through discussions and hands-on projects, students will learn how to collect, analyze, and interpret language data and how to make informed decisions about language and education policies as voters and community members.

Digital Maps: From Mercator to Mashups

From web-based applications like Google Maps, to automobile navigation systems, to satellite pictures of hurricanes, digital maps are widely used to display information about the Earth. This course unmasks the underlying technologies used for computer-based mapping, including Global Positioning Systems (GPS), satellite remote sensing, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). We will investigate how computers store and analyze digital maps, and see how mapping technologies can be used to address a variety of societal problems, such as analyzing the environmental impacts of urban growth, tracking the spread of a deadly disease, and planning for earthquakes and other natural disasters.

Dimensions of Diversity: What's Brewing in the Melting Pot?

Are we really living in a melting pot? How important are the differences and similarities among individuals? The purpose of this course will be to focus on a variety of issues related to the nature of personal and cultural identify within a diverse American society. Specifically, this course will explore critical factors that shape one's place or standing in society (e.g., race, disability, age, gender, and sexuality). The meaning and significance of these dimensions will be explored as they relate to the societal and technological complexities of the 21st Century. The best practice and research in racism, inequality, and social injustice in industries such as sport, leisure, tourism and health care will be explored.

The History & Significance of Race in America

Why were relations between Native Americans and whites violent almost from the beginning of European settlement? How could slavery thrive in a society founded on the principle that “all men are created equal”? How comparable were the experiences of Irish, Jewish, and Italian immigrants, and why did people in the early 20th century think of them as separate “races”? What were the causes and consequences of Japanese Americans' internment in military camps during World War II? Are today's Mexican immigrants unique, or do they have something in common with earlier immigrants? Using a variety of written sources and outstanding documentaries, this course examines the racial diversity of America and its enduring consequences.

Race & Poverty in the Americas

The transatlantic slave trade was one of the most brutal and momentous experiences in human history. Attitudes toward Latino, Caribbean, African, and Asian immigrants in the United States today can only be fully understood in the contexts of slavery and the “structural racism,” “symbolic violence” (not to mention outright physical violence), and social inequalities that slavery has spawned throughout the region. Although focusing primarily on the United States, we will also study the present entanglements of poverty and race in Brazil, Haiti, and other selected nations of “The New World,” placing the US (and Philadelphia in particular) experience in this historical context.

Embodying Pluralism

How do dance and the arts represent diversity? Were we humans "born to dance?" From everyday interactions to dance theater to music videos, movement expresses human identity and difference. Through a variety of media, we will explore these themes in relation to race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and other constructions that form our perceptions of self and others. Embodying Pluralism combines dance and movement experiences with reading, writing, discussion, and viewing of videos and live performance. Classes and assignments emphasize active learning in small groups.

Immigration & the American Dream

As a Temple student, you go to school and live in a city full of immigrants. Perhaps your own relatives were immigrants to the United States. But have you ever listened to their stories? With an historical and sociological framework as a basis, we will take an in-depth and more personal look at the immigrant experience as expressed through the immigrants' own voices in literature and film. Topics explored include: assimilation, cultural identity and Americanization, exploitation and the American Dream, ethnic communities, gender, discrimination and stereotyping.

Evolution & Extinctions

Did an asteroid impact wipe out the dinosaurs? Can "natural" Earth-based processes also cause mass extinctions? Long before the dinosaurs, another mass extinction destroyed 90 percent of life on Earth, without an impact. Should we be less worried about rocks from space, and more about "down to Earth" phenomena such as climate change, volcanism, or disease? Basic geologic principles and the fundamentals of evolutionary thought combine to bring to life the 4.6 billion year story of our planet and its creatures. Through hands-on experience with fossils and rocks, students investigate changes in life through time, and discover how to decipher past environments from the geologic record.

Sustainable Design

What's the big deal about global warming and how should we respond to it? Explore the issues and underlying causes. See how contemporary designers from Germany, Netherlands, UK and Japan are responding to scientific knowledge with sustainable designs for buildings, cars, towns and parks. Develop your own creative project to reduce the greenhouse effect. Have you ever wondered about what happens to local abandoned factories and degraded streams and rivers? Philadelphia is a national hotbed for sustainable design. Visit local restoration sites, modern “green” buildings, parks that reclaim waste water and transformed industrial parks to see firsthand what is happening in our area. Learn how design is transforming to propel us toward a low waste, energy conserving society in the 21st century.

Sustainable Environments

Americans account for over a quarter of all fossil fuel consumption, own more cars than there are licensed drivers, and build new homes 40 percent larger than they did in 1975, despite shrinking household size. We feel for the pandas and polar bears, while contributing mightily to global climate change, resource inequity, and ecosystem destruction. How do we reckon with environmental crises at multiple scales, from the neighborhood to the atmosphere and oceans? “Think globally, act locally” environmentalists admonish us! Direct our vast human ingenuity and collective spirit toward technologies and behaviors that bring peace with the planet. Course mission: enhance your capability to make informed choices, based on a sound understanding of the ecological, technological, economic, political, and ethical dimensions of environmental sustainability.

Education in the Global City

What is the digital divide and how is the Digital Miracle project impacting it? What can we do about increasing violence in our schools? These questions relate to a vast global change, and cities are its front lines. There are more immigrants and more access to information, but there are also more problems: new kinds of poverty, increasingly separate lives, mounting intolerance. What does all this mean for how, what, and where we learn? How is education changing and how it can help fulfill the American dream for all the people in our cities? Working in teams, we will extend our classroom into the city's schools, cultural organizations, and neighborhoods. We will find out who is doing something about the issues we raise, and bring that knowledge back in our worlds.

Urban Dynamics: Global, Regional, and Local Connections

U.S. cities in the twenty-first century face enormous challenges as globalization shapes flows of people, capital, information, resources, and ideas/culture in an increasingly interconnected, yet geographically dispersed world. The course asks: What is globalization? How are different people's lives in cities shaped by these flows? How do gender, age, race/ethnicity, class, and citizenship status affect people's experiences in different urban contexts? How do urban interventions—from public policy to social movements—advance social justice across groups, places, and spaces? Topics include economic and political restructuring, the globalization of ethnic/racial relations, citizenship and public space, the spatial dynamics of uneven development, and urban inequalities.

The Making of American Society: Melting Pot or Culture Wars?

Terrorism, illegal immigration, gay marriage, religious conflict, political in-fighting, corporate corruption, racial animosities, civil liberties assaults, media conglomeration, Wal-Mart goes to China and the rich get richer. America in the 21st Century is a contentious society. How did we get to this place in time? Examine what makes American society distinctive from other advanced industrial democracies as we study the philosophical origins of America, the development of social and economic relationships over time, and the political disputes dominating contemporary American life. The course relies heavily on perspectives from History, Sociology and Political Science to explain the challenges facing contemporary American society.

Higher Education & American Life: Mirror to a Nation

You have decided to go to college. But why? What role will college and in particular Temple University play in your life? Reflect on this important question by looking at the relationship between higher education and American society. What do colleges and universities contribute to our lives? They are, of course, places for teaching and learning. They are also research centers, sports and entertainment venues, sources of community pride and profit, major employers, settings for coming-of-age rituals (parties, wild times, courtship, etc.), and institutions that create lifetime identities and loyalties. Learn how higher education is shaped by the larger society and how, in turn, it has shaped that society. Become better prepared for the world in which you have chosen to live for the next few years.

Doing Justice

Justice agencies – the juvenile justice system, police, judges and juries in courts, and prisons – are expected to create justice in response to lawbreakers. These agencies, however, often operate under enormous political, cultural, social, organizational and economic pressures. Further, what citizens or local leaders sometimes want from these agencies may create challenges and temptations. Thus, just outcomes are sometimes elusive. Focusing on the period 1925-2025 and largely on Philadelphia data, students will explore conceptual frameworks in the sociology of law, research articles, movies, maps, Census data, historical documents and newspaper archives to help understand these outcomes.

Dissent in America

Throughout American history individuals and groups of people, have marched to the beat of a different drummer, and raised their voices in strident protest. Study the story and development of dissent in America. How has dissent shaped American society? In addition to studying the historical antecedents of dissent students will have first-hand experience visiting and studying a present-day dissent organization in the Philadelphia area to investigate connections between the history of dissent and the process of making dissenting opinion heard today.

Religion in Philadelphia

The argument is sometimes made that religion in dense urban spaces is characteristically very different from religion as it appears elsewhere. A study of religion in Philadelphia provides numerous ways to explore that idea, especially since the city encompasses a variety of ethnic and immigrant groups, encouraging the generation of new and hybrid forms of religious life that are less possible in smaller populations. Learn how ideas of toleration and freedom, the urban environment, and immigration helped to define the role of religion in the life of this city. Study various religious traditions as they are manifested in the greater Philadelphia area and look at the influences religion has had on the fabric of Philadelphia's history and cultural life including politics, art, education, journalism and popular culture. You will be visit and write about various religious sites and institutions.

Contemporary American Social Movements

Social movements range from identity-based movements (such as the civil rights movement and the gay and lesbian rights movement) to issue-based movements (such anti-globalization and animal rights) to ideological movements (such as the free software movement and the green movement). The course introduces students to contemporary American social movements and their counter-movements, dominant strategies and tactics movements use to communicate with a larger public, and individual campaigns within the larger framework of social movement from both theoretical and applied perspectives.

Landscape of American Thought

America once was envisioned by its colonizers as a new world, as a city upon a hill beckoning to humanity. After centuries of conquest, enslavement, immigration, and political struggle, conditions for sustaining this early vision continue to evolve. Explore the emergence of some of the most distinctive and influential American voices to inform our national debate about freedom, the individual, race, democracy, and oppression, as it has unfolded over the past two centuries. Through consideration of selected works of some of the most renowned figures to shape the landscape of American public discourse, we return to face the question of the promise of America, as it plays out today in the thought of some of the leading public intellectuals of our time.

Justice in America

One of U.S. society's most enduring conflicts involves the struggle to achieve an acceptable balance between state power to prevent and control crime, and the rights of individuals to be free from undue government coercion. Investigate a variety of criminal justice problems, and ponder questions about the legitimacy, effectiveness, and fairness of the criminal law method of social control. Key questions include: How well is society doing in its efforts to prevent/control crime--the effectiveness issue? How do those efforts rate in terms of securing a just balance between the rights of individuals and the coercive powers of the government--the fairness issue? Are we doing things right--questions of process/management? Are we doing the right things--questions of substance/leadership? What improvements should be made? How can we know/decide?

Philadelphia Dance Experience

Open your eyes to the wealth of culture right at your doorstep. Deepen your appreciation of dance and become an educated audience member about the various styles and layers of meaning present in any one dance. We will attend several live performances, looking at dance from a cultural studies perspective, focusing specifically on European, African, Asian, and Latin influences in the city of Philadelphia. We will be interacting with guest artists and lecturers, observing performances on video, and engaging in guided viewing exercises. Dance concerts are selected from a variety of styles, including classical and contemporary forms from around the world.

Religion in the World

Learn about the major religious traditions found worldwide today: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and several indigenous traditions. Examine the beliefs, practices, and values of these groups in order to understand the world views and ways of life of the people who practice them. Our interdisciplinary analysis and interpretation of specific examples of religious experience will help shed light on the overall meaning of religion and human existence. We will carefully consider examples while also focusing on particular thematic issues, like cosmology and ritual. Develop appreciation for the religious vibrancy and diversity that exist in human cultures while you actively engage in the learning process through class presentation, class participation, paper-writing, and a self-selected field trip.

War & Peace

Total war, weapons of mass destruction, genocide. These were not solely inventions of the twentieth century nor are they the natural consequences of a violent human nature. Leaders, armies, and the strategies they pursue are rooted in their social and political context. Weapons are the products of not merely technological but also historical and cultural development. Battles occur on a political and historical terrain. Learn how ancient ideology, medieval technology, modern propaganda, and more have changed how humans wage war and make peace.

War in Hazelton

The United States border with Mexico is 2,000 miles long, stretching from San Diego, CA to Brownsville, TX. Every year between 200,000 and 400,000 immigrants attempt to cross this border illegally. An estimated 12 million undocumented aliens live in the United States already. Does this influx of Mexicans, Central Americans and South Americans amount to a serious threat? Though close study of how one small, quiet Pennsylvania town reacted to a sudden influx of 10,000 Spanish-speaking laborers, and with the aid of film, field-trips, guest speakers, fiction and poetry, we will explore global immigration issues.

World Performances

Dance, puppetry, theater, opera; these are performance forms that are part of the cultures of the world. From the earliest religious rituals to modern interpretations of ancient traditions, performances are as varied and diverse as the cultures from which they arise. You are probably familiar with performances arising from western cultures, but the Noh Drama of Japan, the Water Puppetry of Viet Nam, the Koothu Patari folk performances of India, the Bejing Opera in China, the Caoperia Martial Arts performances of Brazil--these might be new to you. Explore world performances through live class presentations, lectures, video and attendance at international performances in Philadelphia. You might also have the chance to perform yourself!