Posted April 4, 2014

Highlights from recent stories about Temple in the Media

Temple student’s mobile museum on front page of Inquirer “Magazine” section
Temple graduate student Erin Bernard has created the Philadelphia Public History Truck as a vehicle for documenting the untold stories of Philadelphia residents and communities. “I didn’t want it to be the type of museum where people come in and experience it based on what curators have thought was important,” she said. Her truck has been so successful that it might soon become part of Temple’s public history master’s curriculum, and might even serve as a model for similar projects around the country. Seth Bruggeman, who runs Temple’s Center for Public History, said there’s been renewed interest in pop-up museums, “but none, I would argue, are as intellectually robust as Erin’s model, or as powerfully committed to building connections across communities.”
Philadelphia Inquirer | April 3, 2014

Temple research: Educational TV programs dont help kids develop language
Educational television shows do not help toddlers learn words as they need to have real conversations to develop language, says a study co-authored by Temple psychologist Kathy Hirsh-Pasek. It’s possible to learn words from a screen, she said, but only by two-way interaction. Learning directly in a live situation is still the best method. “The study highlights the importance of responsive interactions for language learning,” she said. “Interactions allow adults and toddlers to respond to each other in a back-and-forth fashion such as live instruction and the video chats. These types of interactions seem to be central for learning words.”
Daily Mail (U.K.) | Feb. 24, 2014

Why Japan had to cancel its Antarctic whale hunt
Japan has cancelled its annual Antarctic whaling hunt for the first time in more than a quarter of a century after a U.N. court ruled that the program was a commercial activity disguised as science. “Everyone knew all along that research was a fig leaf to disguise commercial whaling,” said Jeffrey Kingston of Temple University, Japan Campus, in a widely distributed Agence France-Presse story. “But the Japanese government erred in thinking that this loophole ... provided a legal basis for continued whaling as long as it asserted that it was for research. It did not anticipate that the research argument would be exposed as a sham.”
Yahoo! News, Australian Broadcast Corporation, China Post (Taiwan), The Times (South Africa), Global Times, Taipei Times, Bangkok Post, news.com.au (Australia), The Independent (South Africa), many more | April 3, 2014

Temple Law student op-ed: Ending anti-gay therapy requires new legislation
In an op-ed on newsworks.org, Andrea C. Anastasi, a student in the Beasley School of Law at Temple, argued that new legislation is needed to protect LGBT citizens against so-called conversation therapy, “an ineffective and harmful practice that attempts to eliminate or suppress an individual’s sexual desire and attraction to members of the same sex.” Anastasi cited studies indicating that “individuals who have endured this practice experience considerable psychological, social, interpersonal and even spiritual harm.” She wrote, “Hopefully, as more Americans realize people should not have to hide or change who they are, there will be support for a change in the law that reflects this understanding.”
WHYY/NewsWorks | March 31, 2014

Pennsylvania and Philadelphia populations increase, but only slightly
Pennsylvania’s overall population rose modestly last year, as did counties around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday. Philadelphia County’s population increased in 2013 to 1,553,165. That was a gain of about 4,500—the most of any county in the state. It is too soon to know if a downward trend might be taking hold. But the data raise questions about whether problems in city schools and the rising cost of housing are affecting residents’ wherewithal to remain in Philadelphia, said Temple sociologist David Elesh. “It is one year, and one year does not qualify as a trend, but it is worth looking at,” he said.
Philadelphia Inquirer, Harrisburg Patriot-News, Washington Times, Connecticut Post, New Jersey Herald, York Daily Record, 6ABC, NBC10, philly.com, Lancaster Newspapers, Pottstown Mercury, many more | March 27, 2014

How HIV-positive Temple student inspires her AIDS-activist children
Teen twins Kevin and Keisha Diggs do everything they can to raise awareness of HIV infection, work to prevent its spread and erase misperceptions about people with AIDS. For their efforts, they’ll be honored as “Volunteers of the Year” by the AIDS Fund. Their inspiration is their mother, Temple senior Terrie Hawkins. After a routine exam revealed she was HIV-positive 18 years ago, Hawkins eventually returned to school and went to the Community College of Philadelphia. She’s now on the brink of earning a bachelor’s degree in social work from Temple. Hawkins juggles a job, classes, an internship and her family. “I always wanted to expose [Kevin and Keisha] to different cultures and communities,” she said. “I just felt these were things they needed to know.”
Philadelphia Inquirer | April 2, 2014

Links are not available for all stories. Links that do appear were active when the stories were compiled, but can change over time. Some media outlets require paid subscriptions.