Fall 2026 TIP Workshops

In TIP workshops, teachers acquire cutting-edge knowledge from university professors and write curriculum modules based on the material they have learned. The modules fit into teachers’ required instructional sequence and cover SDP-mandated academic standards. These in-person workshops meet on the Penn campus from 5-7pm on the schedule given below. Participants attend three sessions with the workshop leader and an additional writing session in which they develop their curriculum modules. Applications are now open and the deadline will be Friday, October 2.

How the Rails and the Roads Built Philadelphia: A Workshop on Transportation History and Neighborhood Change
Elizabeth Delmelle, Weitzman School of Design, Penn

Wed. Oct. 28, Wed. Nov. 4, and Wed. Nov. 18; writing session Thurs. Nov. 12

Few forces have shaped American cities as decisively as transportation. Every major shift in how people and goods moved, from streetcars to automobiles to interstate highways to freight rail, redrew the map of who could live where, which neighborhoods flourished, and which were cut off from opportunity. Transportation is one of the primary mechanisms through which segregation, inequality, and economic opportunity were built into the American city, often quite deliberately. This two-part workshop traces that history at two scales, the neighborhood and the region, using Philadelphia as an illustrative case study of these broader national forces.

Where Bias Enters the Machine: An Introduction to Race and Gender in AI
Cristina Monzer, Annenberg School for Communications, Penn

Thurs. Oct. 29, Thurs. Nov. 5, and Thurs. Nov. 19; writing session Thurs. Nov. 12

If you ask an AI tool to generate an image of a doctor, it will likely return a man. Ask for an image of a nurse, and it returns a woman. We tend to treat these tools as neutral when they are not, in part because their output appears to reproduce common knowledge, the kind of result one would expect to see. This workshop introduces teachers to how current AI systems work and, more specifically, where bias enters: from the data a system is trained on, the tasks we ask of it, the way we write prompts, and whether we check the output it produces. We then look at what bias does once AI tools reach everyday use. It can homogenize the language and narrow the pool of images students see, as well as reinforce stereotypes about race and gender. We will draw on well-known cases and current research, including my own project on how race and gender are represented in AI-generated content on platforms such as TikTok. Teachers will discuss real examples, compare the capabilities of different AI tools, and talk about how AI is showing up in their classrooms. The sessions will be interactive and discussion-based, and each teacher will leave having developed a curriculum that helps students think more carefully about how AI tools work and how to use them, given how often they encounter these tools outside of class.

Dialogue and Disagreement: Discussing Hard Questions
Karen Detlefsen, Penn philosophy

Thurs. Oct. 29, Thurs. Nov. 5, and Thurs.  Nov. 19; writing session Thurs. Nov. 12

In this workshop, we will examine some key ideas in philosophy to grapple with issues related to discussing hard questions, especially in classroom settings. The philosophical ideas include: freedom of speech; the nature of dialogue; the roles of reason and emotion in thought and discussion; the role of viewpoint diversity in thought and discussion; the nature of truth; and how knowledge and power interact. With this philosophical background in hand, we will think about what makes a discussion good, how (and whether) to broach controversial topics in classroom settings, what (if anything) the point of disagreement is, and what sorts of habits of mind can contribute to productive discussion and disagreement.

Asian American Neighborhoods in Philadelphia
Domenic Vitiello and Mary Yee, Weitzman School of Design, Penn

Wed. Oct. 21, Wed. Oct. 28, and Wed. Nov. 18; writing session Thurs. Nov. 12

This workshop focuses on Philadelphia’s diverse Asian American neighborhoods – from our historic downtown Chinatown to newer Chinese American enclaves in Northeast and South Philadelphia, Little Saigon on Washington Avenue and Little Cambodia on South 7th Street, Korean and Indonesian and Bangladeshi enclaves, among others. We will explore the history and contemporary experiences of Asian American communities, their social life, architecture, commercial corridors, food, community organizations, and more. Participants will gain exposure to teaching resources including maps, photographs, population statistics, archives, and literature on diverse communities and neighborhoods. During one session, we will take a brief walking tour that models a class trip adaptable for grades K-12. We will reflect on who your students are; and participants will produce brief learning modules tailored to their own classrooms.

Workshop Schedule