Prison, Society and You- Inside-Out Prison Exchange Course offered in Curran-Fromhold Correctional Faculty and Bucks County Jail
Opioid Crisis in Our Backyard- Side-by-Side (CBL)
Corrections- online
Sociology Of Deviance- online
Sentencing- online
Gender, Crime and Justice- online, traditional and hybrid
Race and Ethnicity- online and hybrid
Juvenile Justice- online
Introduction to Criminal Justice- online
Social Problems- online
Criminal Procedure- online
Culture of Poverty- Hybrid CBL
Urban Sociology: Re-examining the City Through an Experiential Lens - Side-by-Side (CBL)
Introduction to Sociology- CBL
Places of Justice- Side-by-Side CBL
Mental Illness and the CJ System- online
Exploring the Civic Spectrum- Side-by-Side (CBL)
Crime and Popular Media- online
Watch: Inside Out final course in Philadelphia Jail
Recent Independent Studies
Pennoni Honors Senior Thesis mento:Rida Memon, Global Studies and Justice Exploring the implications and policy recommendations ofJOSEPH R. BIDEN OF THE UNITED STATES, ET AL., PETITIONERS V. NEBRASKA, ET AL.
Student's Learning Objectives
Learn about prominent student debt relief proposals in the United States
Understand how other countries fund higher education, if and how they provide student debt relief, etc.
Review expert assessments about whether these student debt relief proposals are feasible, the relationship between their costs and benefits, and the likelihood that these proposals will be implemented and sustained with bi-partisan support
Develop self-directed learning skills by completing a project from start to finish on a timeline and with approval and input from advisors
Graduate Student Research mentor- Zora Adams-Williams, MPH candidate Poster presentation at the APHA 2017 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA: Becoming Healthy Together: Learning Side-By-Side in the Age of Trump. Abstract- Learning Objectives: Identify the unique pedagogy of side-by-side. Assess how a community partner may co-facilitate a shared learning experience with a university to leverage both institutions resources. Discuss community-based learning as a tool to promote social cohesion and potentially improve health of participants. BACKGROUND: Our country’s divisive political climate and proposed policy changes may disproportionately increase health disparities and inequities experienced by some populations. To address these changes collective community-based action is more urgent than ever before. There is a need for efforts to increase protective health benefits through social cohesion. Side-by-Side is a 10-week humanities course, between community students from diverse community partners in West Philadelphia and Drexel University students with opportunity for social cohesion and collective responsibility between these groups. This pedagogy engages the community level of the social-ecological model, by creating a sense of agency through critical thinking skills. Critical thinking tools will be applied to changes in the environment impacting their health outcomes. METHODS: Qualitatively measure social cohesion through semi-structured questions with community and Drexel students. Data collection is in process and this presentation will share results. Data from the interviews will be analyzed for indicators of social cohesion. CONCLUSIONS: Health inequalities are due to the lack of equal distribution of resources. The pedagogy allows for the creation of a redistribution of resources and knowledge by those most impacted by policies unequally distributing resources in a community, the community members. This progressive pedagogy provides an opportunity to dismantle structural inequities through community-based action. Keywords: pedagogy, community-based approach, social cohesion, social-ecological model
Independent Study Project- Larissa Bundziak- "Prison Reading Project is a revolutionary educational course which establishes a scholarly link between high school students and incarcerated individuals. The intention is for students and inmates to exchange opinions and perspectives on literary work, resulting in a comprehensive analysis of the text, each others thought processes, and the society which we live in."
Senior Thesis- Larissa Bundziak- "My objective for my senior project is to promote the fact that our country’s criminal justice system has significant flaws and lacks the public attention and reform initiatives it needs. I was made aware of this fall term when I took two prison-related courses: one where I met with inmates weekly at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, and one where I communicated with life-sentenced inmates at Fayette County through written correspondence. After my experience in these courses, I feel I need to help spread awareness of these system flaws and help advocate for much needed reform. I want people who are unaware of the extent to which our country breeds criminal recidivism to be made aware, and I want people who have experienced the system’s injustices to feel acknowledged. To do this, I’ve decided to create a blog called “Voices for the Voiceless.”
Undergraduate Research Fellow: Brennan Lied- "My research, with Dr. Cyndi Rickards, focused on the high impact practices, democratic engagement, and development of 21st century skills within CBL (community based learning), side-by-side format courses. Primarily, my focus was on identifying utterances and occurrences of democratic engagement and/or high-‐ impact practices within class presentation videos and interview transcripts. These utterances were coded in ATLAS.ti using a priori codes (predetermined codes). These predetermined codes were derived from a report developed by the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U). This report, A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracies Future, discusses the role of civic and democratic engagement in education, specifically higher education. The a priori codes for democratic engagement were four codes adopted from the AAC&U’s A Crucible Moment and included: Knowledge, Skills, Values, and Collective Action. Additionally, references to high‐impact practices or instances of high‐impact practices were coded for as ‘High‐Impact Practice’."