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Collaboration: Citizenship & Democracies
As befits a university whose president has devoted her scholarship to studying the core values of democracy,
Penn faculty are actively engaged in pursuing research on citizenship and democracy and in contributing to
the deliberative process itself. With Penn GSE at the forefront of the core education movement, our faculty has
forged cross-campus partnership designed to foster citizenship and democracy.
16 | Penn GSE | Fall 2007
An expert on the philosophy of education, Assistant
Professor Sigal Ben-Porath sits on the executive committee
of the Penn Program for Democracy, Citizenship,
and Constitutionalism. Chaired by Rogers Smith—one
of the nation’s most eminent political scientists—the program
was created primarily to promote scholarship
through faculty workshops, conferences, graduate and
postdoctoral fellowships, undergraduate research grants,
and publication of a book series. Ben-Porath is joined on
the committee by colleagues from the Annenberg School
of Communication and the departments of Anthropology
and History.
Other GSE faculty members have been partnering with
Penn colleagues on scholarly work. Assistant Professor
Matt Hartley has produced several academic articles in
collaboration with Ira Harkavy, the founding
director and associate vice president of
Penn’s Center for Community Partnerships,
and Lee Benson, emeritus professor of history.
Also teaming up with Harkavy and
At a Great Expectations mayoral potluck dinner in South Philadelphia, citizens
sat down with the candidates to talk about the city’s future. Harris Sokoloff,
standing, moderates the discussion with, from left to right, Kenyatta Johnson,
Democratic candidate Michael Nutter, Al Brown, and Republican candidate
Al Taubenberger
ALBERT YEE
Benson is Associate Professor John Puckett. Their book,
Dewey’s Dream: Universities and Democracies in an
Age of Education Reform, garnered high praise throughout
the academy.
Derek Bok, former president of Harvard, said, “For 20
years, the University of Pennsylvania has been a model for
how an urban university can engage creatively with its surrounding
community. In this thoughtful book, architects
of this program describe its philosophical roots and explain
how a bold, imaginative effort can invigorate democracy
and civic life in ways that enrich the lives of students and
neighborhood residents alike.”
To further encourage university engagement with its
community, John Puckett and colleagues from Urban
Democracy in Action
In Philadelphia—notorious for its in-your-face attitude
and pay-to-play culture—Penn is playing a central role
in two initiatives targeting controversial issues that
have long loomed large in the city: how to develop the
Delaware River waterfront and how to conduct a mayoral
election worthy of the city where American
democracy began.
The waterfront project—officially called the
Central Delaware Riverfront Planning Process—was
given an official imprimatur in October 2006, when
Mayor John Street authorized Penn Praxis, the
School of Design’s planning practice clinic, to lead a
citizen-driven process that would produce a master
plan for the seven-mile stretch of waterfront. In
developing the plan of work, Penn Praxis Director
Harris Steinberg stipulated that the process would be
open and transparent with critical participation from
citizens and the press.
That’s where Penn GSE’s Harris Sokoloff came in.
Says Steinberg, “To make this truly citizen-driven, his
role was central.” Sokoloff, director of GSE’s Center
for School Study Councils and an expert in civic delib-