“The Philadelphia Center faculty and staff provided me with the steady support I needed to function in a drastically new environment, while simultaneously pushing me to see the world through a wider lens. The confidence I gained through my experiences in Philadelphia allowed me to overcome my fear of the unknown—opening wide the doors of the world.”
Abigail Stonerook, Kalamazoo College
Fall 2004
Women Organized Against Rape, Crisis Intervention Intern
Electives
Social Justice
Carol Vento
Twenty-first century America is a nation politically, legally and culturally divided. This course offers an opportunity to explore, from the perspective of law and politics, a number of controversial topics, which may be defined within the broad category of “justice”. Using the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as a framework, an array of issues will be covered including rights of criminal defendants, inequality, capital punishment, abortion, right to die, religion and schools, gun control and the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terror.
Local professionals will occasionally be guest speakers and there will be field trips to sites relevant to concepts presented in class.
Students will learn how to analyze and brief legal opinions. Active participation in class discussion is encouraged. Students are expected to regularly read a major city newspaper, e.g., New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune “all available on the web”, or visit news websites such as cnn.com, msnbc.com or foxnews.com.