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Better care for COVID patients through virtual reality
A black, six-lens camera in the foreground, with actors blurred in the background.

Kyle Cassidy of Annenberg and a team used this camera, which has six outward-facing lenses, to shoot the virtual reality Narcan training.  

Better care for COVID patients through virtual reality

An interdisciplinary team from Penn joined efforts with physicians in New York to fast-track virtual reality coronavirus training materials.

From Penn Libraries

Meeting the challenge of vaccination hesitancy
A doctor gives a baby a vaccine while the child’s parent holds them.

Meeting the challenge of vaccination hesitancy

Annenberg School for Communication professor Damon Centola explores root causes of vaccine hesitancy and actionable steps to address it.

From Annenberg School for Communication

Local news volume does not increase pro-social behaviors during COVID-19
Person wearing face mask and latex gloves stands in an empty subway car holding a newspaper.

Local news volume does not increase pro-social behaviors during COVID-19

Previous research found people were more likely to engage in civic behaviors—like voting, recycling, or wearing a face covering—when their local newspaper includes coverage of these activities. New research finds that may not be as relevant anymore.

From Annenberg School for Communication

Cultivating robust civil dialogue during times of unrest
Chris Satullo, Lia Howard, and Surayya Walters in class.

Chris Satullo, Lia Howard, and Surayya Walters in the class titled Can We Talk?  (Pre-pandemic image: Eric Sucar)

Cultivating robust civil dialogue during times of unrest

Through the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program, Penn students are learning how to reflect on and engage with subjects like the coronavirus pandemic and the criminal justice system.
Scholarship through the lens of an iconic media brand
pik professor john jackson speaking

Scholarship through the lens of an iconic media brand

A new Annenberg course centered around HBO offered undergrads hands-on exposure to media production and a chance to hone their analytical skills using primary source materials.

Michele W. Berger

The joys and trials of defending a dissertation virtually
A person standing in front of a lab bench full of bones. On the wall hangs a poster that reads: "Dougal Dixon's Dinosaurs."

Aja Carter (seen here in May 2018) recently earned her doctorate from the Department of Earth and Environmental Science in the School of Arts & Sciences. In the lab of Peter Dodson, she studied how the structure of the vertebrae in the spinal column changed over time and how that affected the way animals move. As most aspects of university life moved online because of COVID-19, so did her thesis defense and that of so many others.

The joys and trials of defending a dissertation virtually

When most aspects of university life moved online because of COVID-19, so, too, did the thesis defense for Ph.D. candidates. Despite some challenges, the shift had unexpected benefits.

Michele W. Berger

Do political beliefs affect social distancing?
Group of people standing on the steps of a state building holding signs in protest of the state’s stay at home orders due to the pandemic.

Do political beliefs affect social distancing?

A new study found that political partisanship influenced Americans’ decisions to voluntarily engage in physical distancing at the start of the pandemic, particularly in response to communications by state governors.

Kristen de Groot

Sarah J. Jackson, Duncan Watts awarded 2020 Andrew Carnegie Fellowships
Portraits of Watts and Jackson

2020 Carnegie Fellows Sarah Jackson and Duncan Watts.

Sarah J. Jackson, Duncan Watts awarded 2020 Andrew Carnegie Fellowships

The program supports high-caliber scholarly research in the humanities and social sciences that addresses important and enduring issues confronting our society.

Ashton Yount , Julie Sloane , Michele W. Berger