Tri-Co Philly: Urban Spaces, Historical Places: Society, Health and Social Justice in Philadelphia

HLTH H211 | Wednesday 10:15 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
Patricia Kelly, Haverford College

Cities are dynamic sites of social change and social tension; impacted by migration, globalization, de/industrialization and technological shifts, Philadelphia is both the birthplace of American democracy and the nation’s poorest large city. This course will take a broad view of the nation’s first capital, in anthropological, geographic, and historical perspective. Our primary themes will be social justice and health. We will explore and analyze health, activism, inequalities, and social movements in the city through various lenses, including:  food; migration and ethnic enclaves; the built environment; race, class and space; tourism and historical memory; policing; and education. This course is part of the TriCo Philly program and does not take place on campus; rather students will spend one week engaging in reading and discussion on our topics at the Friends Center in Center City and the following week visiting field sites throughout the city, engaging with speakers and conducting anthropological observation.