Our visit to see our friends in Philadelphia was a wonderful success. In the process of looking for Drexel University, we were inadvertently given a tour of UPenn and a little of Temple University, as well as Eastern University, Villanova, and a swath of St. Joseph’s. Although it was dark the majority fo time we were driving and walking around, Philly was lovely (and I say that without chuckling).

So there it is; I have finally scene my alma mater. I never did find the iSchool though; I did stumble across the Hagerty Library only to be surprised at how incredibly small the actual building was.

As is the destiny of all Americans (and judging by the crowds, a good deal of the foreign residents of this country as well), I ran the Rocky steps. I imagine I am the umpteenth person to have said this, but they are deceptively difficult. I was running alongside four Asian people, and a gaggle of other Americans all recreating their moment of cinematic Italian Stallion-ness.

William Penn would be proud. With all the history in the city pertaining to our Founding Fathers, I am guessing the statue of Rocky Balboa gets more visitors every year than anything else in this town.

By Michael Gallagher

My name is Michael Sean Gallagher. I am a Lecturer in Digital Education at the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh. I am Co-Founder and Director of Panoply Digital, a consultancy dedicated to ICT and mobile for development (M4D); we have worked with USAID, GSMA, UN Habitat, Cambridge University and more on education and development projects. I was a researcher on the Near Futures Teaching project, a project that explores how teaching at The University of Edinburgh unfold over the coming decades, as technology, social trends, patterns of mobility, new methods and new media continue to shift what it means to be at university. Previously, I was the Research Associate on the NERC, ESRC, and AHRC Global Challenges Research Fund sponsored GCRF Research for Emergency Aftershock Forecasting (REAR) project. I was an Assistant Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (한국외국어대학교) in Seoul, Korea. I have also completed a doctorate at University College London (formerly the independent Institute of Education, University of London) on mobile learning in the humanities in Korea.

One thought on “Philadelphia Freedom”
  1. wow! i’m really jealous…i can’t wait to go one day, and run those steps and kiss that statue (of which I own a limited edition replica, smaller in scale (obviously) and authorized by the original artist).

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