West Philly Exploration Project
Attached Files:
File Photojournal example.pptx (1.222 MB)
West Philly exploration project
As you experience your service, you might have questions about the role of access and equity in the neighborhood. Understanding the context of access and equity is crucial to being an engaged community member. This project will give you the chance to explore one of the Promise Zone and analyze and document examples of civic engagement, access, and equity.
Directions:
1) Visit http://drexel.edu/civicengagement/neighborhood/promise-zone/ to review the Promise Zone
2) Explore the neighborhoods of the Promise Zone in the area of University City. Select a point (example 3201 Baring Street), and explore a five block radius of your area.
3) Visit the neighborhood and document what you see and hear. Take notice of access (or lack of) to schools, grocery stores, places to meet and talk, museums, social services, religious institutions, volunteer organizations, landmarks, hospitals, government buildings, places to learn new things, etc. This project is not just about taking photos of what is visible- but what isn’t there and what that means to a community. Think about your own experiences growing up in your hometown.
4) You will put together a photojournal of your experience using PowerPoint or Prezi. Your Photojournal must contain 10-12 examples of access and equity in civic engagement, including a paragraph/description (min. 75-125 words) of each photo and its role in civic engagement to that particular neighborhood. You are encouraged to critique, both positively and negatively, the role of the building/institution.
Your last slide should be a paragraph about an idea/community project/or community improvement that might solve a particular issue addressed in one of your photos. Examples of what you might choose to take photos of: parks and community centers, health facilities, examples of gentrification, schools, grocery stores/food marts, local businesses, volunteer centers, non-profit organizations, cultural landmarks, etc. Your photos should reflect multiple examples, but you may decide to focus on one issue area (such as gentrification; food deserts; environmental health) In your description of the photos, be specific about who is and is not served by the object of your photo, how does it help to develop/hinder community relations, what is the object’s role in gentrification. Be sure to synthesize, not just describe.
5) Your first slide should be a plotted map of all your points using Google Maps.
6) Upload your assignment to Learn Late projects will lose a point per day. A sample and rubric will be posted for you to see how you will be graded.
