PEARL - Practical, Experiential, Applied Research and Learning
The PEARL Initiative in Sociology facilitates opportunities for students to connect sociological theory, ideas, and concepts to experiences and practice. The initiative provides structure for independent studies done for credit, pathways to conduct original research, and communities of practice for students to grow with peers. Students participating in PEARL gain valuable experience that will be helpful for their job search or continuing education post-Penn.
There are several pathways in PEARL. If you have questions about any of these pathways, please contact sociology-staff@sas.upenn.edu.
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GAIN PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Penn Sociology/Netter Center PEARL Partnership
Penn Sociology has partnered with the Netter Center for Community Partnerships to provide students with the opportunity to help on-campus and West Philadelphia organizations think sociologically about the challenges they face (while also earning academic credit). For more information, visit our partnership page.
CONDUCT A SMALL-SCALE RESEARCH STUDY:
Semester-Long Study
Students explore a topic of interest through a sociological lens under the guidance of a sociology faculty member. As an independent study for 1 CU, students complete the semester with a 10-15 page substantive paper. Examples of semester-long studies include analyzing secondary data (i.e. archival research, historical analysis, content analysis, quantitative data analysis); observational studies, participatory research; a review of academic literature, and quantitative analysis of public-use data. Students have based past semester-long studies on a variety of sources such as work they are doing at jobs or volunteer sites.
To participate in a semester-long study, students must get a commitment from a Sociology faculty member to be their faculty-of-record, and must be registered in an independent study section (SOCI 3998) by the Associate Director. Students are expected to work on the study 10 hours a week for the semester and sustain consistent communication with their faculty-of-record.
ENGAGE IN A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE:
Health and Healthcare Fellowship
Students explore topics and experiences in the health and healthcare fields with a cohort of students throughout the academic year. The fellowship is non-credit, but provides a community of practice for students interested in the intersection of health and society. Programming includes speaker and alumni panels, lunches with faculty, field trips to the medical-focused schools at Penn, book discussions, advising sessions from Career Services, and more.