Arcadia University students in the course Social Action and Social Change marked storm drains and cleaned up trash around Burholme Park as part of a service learning project they’re doing for the University Seminar, taught by Drs. Jeff and Norah Shultz. The park effort is part of the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership.

“This University Seminar presents students with an opportunity to learn about and participate in issues related to inequity, social justice, and social action. Using concepts grounded in the social sciences as an analytical framework, the course began with an examination of the ways in which the development of individual and group identity is structured within social systems and institutions that also exercise power over these individuals,” says Dr. Norah Shultz, Dean of the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Education.

“This power is exerted differentially across societal groups leading to inequity and structural violence. Using this framework, members of the class read, study, and learn about the ways in which grassroots movements around the world have used social action at the local level to bring about social change. Moving out of the classroom, students and faculty members are exploring social change groups in the Philadelphia area and connect electronically with similar groups in other countries,” says Dr. Jeff Shultz, Assistant Provost and Professor of Education.

In Arcadia’s Undergraduate Curriculum, this University Seminar encompasses Self and Society in the Areas of Inquiry and Global Connections within the Intellectual Practices. Read more about University Seminars.