Where Philly stands

Temple’s Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project (MPIP) has released its 2010 annual report:  Where We Stand.  The report assesses various dimensions of community life, selecting a few critical indicators to tell us where Philadelphia stands both as a region and within individual local communities.

Funded by the William Penn Foundation, MPIP promotes regional thinking about metropolitan Philadelphia’s most important challenges by illuminating conditions and trends in the nine-county region (defined as the central cities of Philadelphia and Camden along with the Pennsylvania counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery, and the New Jersey counties of Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem).

Because one of the goals of MPIP is to inform policy conversations about improving quality of life in the region, this year’s report begins with a section that maps changes in three recession-related indicators–Job Loss, Food Stamps and Foreclosures–using legislative boundaries to portray patterns across the region.

Additionally, most sections of the report also show how greater Philadelphia ranks in comparison with eight other metropolitan areas.

For more information, please visit MPIP’s website (www.temple.edu/mpip) to make free use of MetroPhilaMapper, a web resource that allows users to easily find data about all communities in the region, to view the information displayed in charts, tables and maps, and to compare data that used to be scattered across multiple sources.

–Kim Fischer

New book traces Temple’s unique path to major university

The 20 years following World War II witnessed the transformation of Temple into a modern university, but the university remained committed to its mission of service and diversity. Above, students leave the subway in front of South Hall, circa 1970.

Temple University, now the 28th largest university in the nation and the fifth largest provider of professional education in the U.S., started in 1884 as a neighborhood school of higher education housed in a Baptist temple on North Broad Street.

Temple’s  growth and role in the evolution of higher education and Philadelphia is chronicled by Temple history professor James Hilty in his new book, Temple University: 125 Years of Service to Philadelphia, the Nation and the World (Temple University Press, 2010).

“As I was doing my research for the book, I was looking for themes, and it goes back to Temple’s founder and to the democratization of higher education and the accessibility that Temple offers—those are Temple’s major contributions, not only to Philadelphia, but really to the world at large,” Hilty said.

To read more:

History book chronicles Temple’s unconventional journey to major university

–Kim Fischer

A lunchtime chat with Carl Pope and Mari Hulick
Thursday, March 4th, 12 – 1 pm
Exhibitions seminar room, Temple Gallery
Tyler School of Art, 12th and Norris Streets
Space is limited; please RSVP at exhibitions@temple.edu
Free and open to the public

In conjunction with Philagrafika 2010: The Graphic Unconscious at Temple Gallery, artist Carl Pope will present The Wall Remixed: The North Philadelphia Small Business Advertising Campaign along with collaborator and designer Mari Hulick.  Bring your lunches and learn about this major billboard installation on view through March 2010 in North Central Philadelphia.

Music as Medicine

Last night, the School of Medicine hosted a special lecture on the Humanities in Medicine, featuring a presentation by Cheryl Dileo, director of the Arts and Quality of Life Center at the Boyer College of Music and Dance. Dileo has done extensive research on the use of music therapy to help in the healing process as well as help doctors decompress after the stress of dealing with difficult cases.

Dileo said that music and medicine, while relying on two completely different skill sets, are not so different in the end.

“They both require intense concentration and practice. In fact, many people who go into medicine are often musicians, and I’ve heard many doctors say they had to make the difficult decision of whether to persue a career in music, or medicine.”

One adjunct professor in the department of cell anatomy and biology, Fawzi Habboushe, didn’t really have to make that decision; he’s the conductor of the Philadelphia Doctor’s Chamber Orchestra.

– Renee Cree

for templecuttingedge.wordpress.com

City in the Suburbs

Poverty–often associated with urban areas–increased nearly 1 percent in Philadelphia’s suburbs between 2000 and 2008, partly because of two recessions, according to a report released today and announced in a story in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer.

Poverty in the suburbs reached a rate of 7.4 percent, compared with 24.1 percent within Philadelphia, according to the report by the Brookings Institution. Citywide poverty increased 1.2 percent between 2000 and 2008, the report showed.

Not long ago, a team of Temple researches noticed this trend as they examined patterns of growth in metropolitan Philadelphia.

They saw city-like conditions in some suburbs, and found the suburbs in the city.

In their book, Restructuring the Philadelphia Region: Metropolitan Divisions and Inequality (Temple University Press, 2008) Carolyn Adams, David Bartelt, David Elesh, and Ira Goldstein call attention not only to the region’s heterogeneity, but also to the need for a unified approach to addressing inequalities and improving competitiveness in the global economy.  (Adams and Bartelt are professors of geography and urban studies; Elesh is associate professor of sociology, and Goldstein is Director of Policy and Information Services for The Reinvestment Fund.)

“Relying on the old categories of city versus suburb no longer makes sense.  This traditional distinction does not capture the dynamics of regional development,” said Bartelt.

To read more and view a slide show:  Philly, suburbs share stake in region’s future

–Kim Fischer

Painted Bride Arts Center honors Boyer instructor

This year, the Painted Bride recognized dancer/choreographer/master teacher Kun-Yang Lin for his inspiring work as an artists and community leader.

Kun-Yang Lin, a relative newcomer to Philadelphia, arrived in the city in 2003 to began teaching in Boyer College of Music and Dance.

Not content to limit his instruction to a university setting, Lin opened the Chi Movement Arts Center in South Philly two years ago with his partner Ken Metzner. The space has become a hub for dance education in the neighborhood and serves as a home base for Lin’s thriving company, Kun-Yang Lin / Dancers.