Our Urban Studies Senior Honor students have spent the spring semester refining their fall senior seminar papers. If you are curious about the senior research process, these presentations will give you a feel for what some of the best senior seminar projects looked like this year, and what the authors learned in refining them. Fellow seniors – see what an extra semester yields.

Join us as they present their work, on Friday May 1st, 2-4pm! See a name you know? Pop in and support a friend! There will be 6 presentations (20 minutes each including Q & A):

Danielle Cummins will talk about her research on Paseo Verde, a mixed income residential development in North Philadelphia. The project was a partnership between the non-profit Community Development Corporation, Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha (APM) and the for-profit Jonathan Rose Company. Dani examines through this case study the nature of public-private partnerships for community development and the challenge to Community Development Corporations to stay true to their mission. 

Erin Hayden will talk about unequal access to high quality public school playgrounds. She examines three schools representing different levels of community and parent resources. She shows that, in a time of public sector austerity, schools with more affluent, professional, and connected parents are able to offer resources that translate into well designed playgrounds in contrast to schools with students from mostly poor families.

Julia Rossi looks at the militarization of the police through the lens of Philadelphia, showing that it is not a new phenomenon. Through her detailed case study of Philadelphia’s police force since the Rizzo era, she shows that it is important to understand the unique history of police militarization in each city. In Philadelphia, former Police Commissioner and Mayor Frank Rizzo played an important role in shaping current policing tactics. Her study has relevance for the current crisis in policing nationally.

Ian Skahill studied attitudes toward the police and views of policing in a gentrifying neighborhood in Philadelphia, Point Breeze. He focuses on racial differences in perceptions of policing and how the influx of new residents affects the views of long term ones.

Jack Washington examines the question of whether charter schools in Philadelphia serve as diverse and needy a population as the public neighborhood schools. He takes on the charge that charter schools “cream” students to select or keep those who are higher achieving.

Melanie Young looks at the complexities of parent engagement in a school located in an ethnically and diverse, gentrifying neighborhood. She examines the views of school leaders, both staff and parents, who struggle to be inclusive while also capitalizing on the energy, concern, and resources that middle-class, educated parents have for the school. 

Please RSVP to vkarkov@sas.upenn.edu if you are planning to attend!