Content with Institutions : Pennsylvania State University

Newspaper readership program: encouraging lifelong reading habits and informed citizenship

Penn State has experienced considerable success in its attempt to impact the campus culture through an innovative newspaper readership program. The program provides national and community newspapers to students living in residence halls on 9 of 24 campuses of the University, with the goal of “”encouraging lifelong reading habits and informed citizenship.”” With preparation for a fourth year of distribution underway, assessment of the program clearly indicates that regular newspaper readership produces a broad range of information to help students understand the world and communities in which they live. Approximately 1.6 million copies of The Daily Collegian, The New York…

Rethinking Urban Poverty

RETHINKING URBAN POVERTY: Philadelphia Field Project Rethinking Urban Poverty: Philadelphia Field Project is an interdisciplinary service learning course offered through the Department of Geography at Penn State. The objectives of the course are to understand why existing poverty policies in the US have failed, and to develop an alternative framework for action in cooperation with residents in a poor neighborhood of West Philadelphia. Each year we select about 10 students to participate in a yearlong course of 3 to 6 hours of credit offered in three parts. Part 1: Spring Semester (1-3 credits) – Social theories of poverty. Readings in…