The Philadelphia Center's program is an academic one, both on the job and in the classroom. We believe that experiential education allows you to learn through reflecting on and analyzing your personal experience. Our courses, through open dialogue and debate, allow you to examine what you learn as you work and live in Philadelphia. In every course, you are encouraged to share individual experiences and perspectives that broaden the horizons of the class as a whole.

A unique aspect of our program, these courses in traditional liberal arts disciplines differ from conventional courses because they incorporate the urban environment as both resource and subject. Many of the courses offered at The Center, while they will substitute for required classes, are unlike any offered on your home campus. You’ll have opportunities to hear and question guest speakers from the Philadelphia community. Depending on your seminar, you’ll also visit local sites and institutions – such as a theater, a prison, a courtroom, a neighborhood, a corporation, or City Hall – that will allow you to integrate theory and practice.

City seminars meet once a week and are taught by our full-time faculty. Your seminar teacher will be your faculty advisor as well. Seminars you'll likely have the opportunity to take include: