Symposium bridges service, academics

Benjamin Franklin wanted students at the University to "learn everything that is useful and everything that is ornamental" in preparing for lives of public service. Monday's Academically Based Community Service Forum attempted to showcase the fact that 250 years later, Franklin's vision has come to life. ABCS seminars allow Penn students to increase their interaction with and knowledge of the West Philadelphia community, connecting curriculum at the University with teaching in local public schools. Students and faculty involved with the fall ABCS courses -- along with the members of the Center for Community Partnerships, Civic House and other University service organizations -- discussed the success of the program in the Terrace Room of Logan Hall and previewed spring ABCS classes. Through the CCP, the ABCS program has grown considerably from its start in 1990 as an Anthropology class of 12 students. The number of seminars expanded to 11 in 1992, and there have been a total of 70 ABCS courses listed since the program's commencement. Twenty-one will be offered next semester. Ira Harkavy, director of the CCP, said he is proud of the dramatic increase in faculty and student involvement he has witnessed. Pointing to the benefits of "mutual learning," Harkavy noted that Penn's ABCS program is part of a more general, nationwide movement. And Linguistics Professor William Labov pointed to the University's role at the forefront of the academically based community service trend. "Penn is definitely the national leader [of ABCS]," said Labov, director of Linguistics Laboratory. Labov, who began teaching ABCS courses last year, agreed with Harkavy -- and Franklin -- that "service learning should be part of degree learning." In African-American Studies/Linguistics 160, Labov's fall course, students analyzed hip-hop lyrics and rhyme schemes to teach reading to West Philadelphia students. Like many ABCS courses, Labov's is experiencing results of the program's increasing popularity. His class grew from 22 students last year to 40 this past fall, and the same number have enrolled for the spring semester. Earth and Environmental Science Professor Robert Giegengack, who teaches Environmental Studies 405, also used a novel teaching approach -- playing a version of the TV show Jeopardy! with the students to warn youths at Shaw Middle School about lead poisoning. And in Classical Studies 240, Penn students read Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and Antigone with students at University City High School, which is located just a few blocks north of campus. According to some Penn students involved, the challenge was connecting the ancient classics with current ideas that the high school students could relate to. The ABCS forum wrapped up with a faculty panel where 10 professors briefly introduced their courses for the spring semester. "It's a responsibility of the people taking the courses to spread the word of how beneficial they are," College senior Adam Ring said.