: In your introduction, you quote Charles Dudley Warner, who describes Philadelphia as a “private city.” How would you define “private city,” and do you agree with him?
RD: It's actually the historian Sam Bass Warner who coined the term "private city" in reference to Philadelphia. Charles Dudley Warner was the co-author with Mark Twain of the 1873 book The Gilded Age, in which one of the characters notes that you need a crowbar to break into social life in Philadelphia.
Sam Bass Warner saw Philadelphia as a prototypical American city, and while the book he wrote about Philadelphia was titled The Private City, he also meant that most American cities could be called private. And by "private" he meant that cities were governed more by the private interests of business and moneymaking rather than by any public-spirited pursuit of the common good. And yes, I would agree that, by that definition, Philadelphia is indeed a private city. I have a suspicion that it's a more private city than most others, but I have no evidence. I don't even know what would count as evidence to prove a greater spirit of privatism in a city.
: How has social capital affected you in this city?
RD: The thing that immediately comes to mind is the interaction I experience between social capital and the spatial distribution of socioeconomic status in the city. Most professional, upper-middle and upper-income people who live in the city live in only a few neighborhoods. Geographic concentration means that I end up having a lot of informal social contact with people with whom I also have professional ties. And certainly that informal social contact can help professionally, and ultimately translate into such things as higher incomes.
: In your previous interview with Stacy Stanislaw, you mention that you went to college in New York City. Are there differences between the social capital you would experience in New York and what you experience in Philadelphia?
RD: There are obvious differences between Philadelphia and New York City that undoubtedly translate into differences in the functions of social networks in either city -- differences in city size, industry, government structure, educational systems, immigrant populations, etc. Personally, I can't compare the experience of being a student in New York to being a professor in Philadelphia. The differences in life cycle stage and professional status overwhelm the differences in cities.
: Do you feel there is social capital at Drexel University?
RD: Creating social capital is a core function of any university. The point of living in dormitories, for instance, is to create social networks that should ultimately help you get a job and otherwise advance professionally in your post-college life. So, I certainly hope Drexel is creating social capital.
: Also in the introduction, you mentioned programs out of Temple University (VOICES) and the University of Pennsylvania (WEPIC), which both target youth from low-income families or disadvantaged communities. Do you think it would be beneficial to anyone if Drexel started a program like this?
RD: Yes, I think it would be very beneficial -- especially a program such as Youth VOICES, which is run by Temple's University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia (UCCP). Drexel certainly already has some community outreach programs and partnerships, run through the Center for Civic Engagement, though I don't know much about them -- I need to learn more!
Teresa Lepak is a senior majoring in Screenwriting and English at Drexel University.