The PARK

The PARK

By SNF Paideia ProgramSociety & CultureEducationSelf-Improvement
Download on the App Store

The PARK episodes

  • Communities of Practice at Penn: Partnerships
    In our fourth episode of this series on Communities of Practice, we talk with the Netter Center for Community Partnerships to learn about their work to help Penn “engage in sustained mutually beneficial partnerships with our West Philadelphia community”. Dr. Lia Howard talks with Rita Hodges, Associate Director and Faustine Sun, Assistant Director of the Netter Center. Our guests on this episode are experts at the nuances of approaching our community at Penn and beyond as citizens to best facilitate learning and growth.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    36 min
  • Communities of Practice at Penn: Democracy
    In the third episode of our series on communities of practice, we hear from the Andrea Mitchell Center about the study of Democracy, research and understanding of deliberative democracy, citizenship, and the constitution for the Penn community and beyond. Dr. Lia Howard is joined in conversation with Jeffrey Green, professor of political theory in Penn's political science department and director of the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy; Matthew Roth, who is a historian and is the Assistant Director of the Andrea Mitchel Center; and Sarah Ropp, the post doctoral fellow with the Andrea Mitchell Center and with the SNF Paideia program. She is a scholar of Comparative Literature and Childhood studies.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    29 min
  • Communities of Practice at Penn: Citizenship
    As part of our series on communities of practice, we talk with our colleagues at the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program and the Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies, also known as PORES to hear how we can learn together about our community as citizens. Join us as we gain a better understanding of both how they see the Penn community and to learn about the types of practices they use to engage others in their work on campus.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    41 min
  • Communities of Practice at Penn: Wellness

    Welcome to our new series on communities of practice where we ask our partner organizations to help us better understand both how they see the Penn Community and to describe the types of practices they use to engage others in their work on campus. We begin by talking with leaders of Wellness at Penn, Benoit Dubé: Chief Wellness Officer and Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine at Penn; Ashlee Halbritter: Director of Campus Health at Penn; and Batsi Bvunzawabaya Director of Outreach and Prevention Services, Psychologist at Counseling and Psychological services at Penn.


    To shape our thinking here we are using the definition of a community of practice created by the non-profit Campus Compact: Community of Practice “is a learning community, or collegial network, defined as ‘a group of people who share interest in an area of inquiry and engage in collective learning about that issue as it relates to their work or practice. Through discussions, joint activities, and relationship building, the community of practice develops a shared and individual repertoire of resources, skills, and knowledge to use in their practice.”

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    24 min
  • Political Empathy: Place, Space, and Positionality
    For this episode, we turn to the disciplines of fine arts, anthropology, and Africana studies to think about the importance of place and representation in order to build political empathy across cultural differences. Featuring guests, Kenneth Lum, the Marilyn Jordan Taylor Presidential Professor and chair of the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania's Stuart Weitzman School of Design. He teaches the SNF Paideia-designed course the "Chinese Body and the Production of Space in Chinatown." Deborah Thomas, R. Jean Brownlee Professor of anthropology and the director of the Center for Experimental Ethnography at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is core faculty in gender, sexuality, and women's studies and holds a secondary appointment in the Graduate School of Education. She teaches the SNF Paideia course "Sighting Black Girlhood." And Grace Sanders Johnson, assistant professor in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She co-teaches the SNF Paideia course "Sighting Black Girlhood." 

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr
  • Political Empathy: Perspectives from Psychology and Urban Studies
    For this episode, we turn to the disciplines of psychology and urban studies to discuss ways to learn about ourselves and our communities as we think about the deep understanding required for political empathy. Dr. Lia Howard talks with Caroline Connolly, Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies of Penn's Department of Psychology and Marisa Denker, Executive Director of the stakeholder and community engagement firm, Connect the Dots. This episode explores empathy from the inside out and from the bottom up, as we grapple with individual cognition and grassroots community engagement.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    34 min
  • Political Empathy: American Conservatism, its past, present and future
    We continue The PARK by thinking about deep understanding or empathy around political difference through an interdisciplinary lens. Political empathy asks that we apply empathetic skills to US politics, a realm that has not only been markedly polarized, it has reflected extreme disconnection between those who identify differently ideologically because they do not share information or space. In the first episode of the series, our host Dr. Lia Howard interviews historian Dr. Brian Rosenwald and executive director of the Penn in Washington program, Deirdre Martinez. Both teach SNF Paideia designated courses that probe American Conservatism, Its Past, Its Present, and Its Future. They talk about the work they're doing in their classrooms and beyond to help students develop deep ways of thinking and acting that foster political empathy as a skill, which seems vital to the health of the US Democratic Republic.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    33 min
  • Listening Through Art

    In this episode, Dr. Lia Howard interviews Ernesto Pujol, a site-specific performance artist and social choreographer currently based in Puerto Rico, and Carol Muller, Professor of Music at Penn, who has published widely on South African music, both at home and in exile. The conversation delves into how art can help us better understand listening. Ernesto Pujol talks about his work choreographing The Listening Project, durational performance art pieces that put listening at the center of the practice. And Carol Muller shares her perspective, as both an ethnomusicologist and dual US/South African citizen, on how music can be a way to learn about and empower cultures that are underrepresented and marginalized. Join us as we learn about how art can catalyze wellness, connection, citizenship and dialogue by focusing in on listening and stillness.


    Photo Credit: Listen Carefully by Justin Lynham

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    42 min
  • Listening Through Science
    Continuing our series on listening and the importance of listening for constructive dialogue, episode two focuses on what neuroscience and mystical practices teach us about listening. Dr. Lia Howard talks with Dr. Andrew Newberg, Director of Research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health and physician at Jefferson University Hospital, and Dr. Justin McDaniel, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Professor of the Humanities and Undergraduate Studies Chair in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania about their research. Neurotheology is the field of scholarship that seeks to understand the relationship between religion and spirituality on one hand and our brain on the other. Dr. Andrew Newberg has been studying the impact of religious practices such as meditation and prayer on the functioning of the brain since the early 90's. Dr. McDaniel, a former buddhist monk and researcher of languages teaches courses at Penn that require students to take on some of the same disciplines monks practice to quiet the mind and focus their attention. In this interview, we hear about Dr. Newberg's and Dr. McDaniel's research and studies learn practical tips for reducing distraction and improving deep listening.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    43 min
  • Listening Through Nature

    The first of a series of conversations about the power of Listening, both a necessary part of civil dialogue as well as a skill that can be activated through many different modalities. The Park is based on the metaphor of a public park, the commons, a public space where people of many different backgrounds can come together on an equal basis. Based on this, it seemed appropriate to focus our first conversation on Listening through Nature. We are joined today by three representatives from NatureRX, a new Initiative at Penn that focuses on green space, nature, and sustainability. 


    Featuring guests Chloe Cerwinka, Landscape Planner with Penn Sustainability, Moriah Hall, Associate Director in the Master of Public Health Training, Center for Public Health Initiatives, and Elizabeth Main, Program Manager Penn Sustainability. 


    1LY45DQKv9OVmSYVxz0d

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    32 min

About The PARK

From the publisher's feed

A space where open dialogue, the free exchange of ideas, and civil and robust expression of divergent views is valued. Exploring the research, practical application, and benefits of effective,…