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Stuart Weitzman School of Design
Penn Museum awarded National Endowment for the Humanities grant
Penn Museum awarded National Endowment for the Humanities grant
The Penn Museum has been awarded a $750,000 Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.The grant will help catalyze fundraising for the renovation of the Museum’s Egyptian Wing, part of its major Building Transformation project.
Graduate student artists persevere during pandemic and find new inspiration
Graduate student artists persevere during pandemic and find new inspiration
Penn Master of Fine Arts students are not only adapting to this year’s challenges, but are pushing their work in different directions, as they continue to paint, draw, sculpt, photograph, and film during the pandemic.
How can cities become healthier, greener, and more equitable in the future?
How can cities become healthier, greener, and more equitable in the future?
In a year marked by COVID-19, renewed calls for racial justice, a contentious presidential election, and an active wildfire and hurricane season, Penn experts share what’s needed to make urban areas more resilient to future crises.
Gers and the grid: Combatting air pollution in Mongolia
Gers and the grid: Combatting air pollution in Mongolia
The Center for Environmental Building and Design (CEBD) at The Weitzman School partnered with Mongolian nonprofit GerHub to test out ways of making ger living more energy efficient to reduce air pollution and improve respiratory conditions in Ulaanbaatar.
Lynn Meskell appointed Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor
Lynn Meskell appointed Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor
The world-renowned archaeologist has joint appointments in the Department of Anthropology, the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation and the Department of City and Regional Planning, and the Penn Museum as a curator in both the Asian and Near East sections.
Design-minded strategies for greener, healthier indoor spaces
Design-minded strategies for greener, healthier indoor spaces
Insights on the evolution of modern building design, how to improve ventilation while reducing energy usage, and ways that architects are supporting their communities with simple, design-based solutions.
Professors on the importance of integrating the arts into life and work
Professors on the importance of integrating the arts into life and work
While there are some challenges, universities provide an environment for faculty to pursue both their artistic creativity and academic scholarship, said Penn professors in a Homecoming discussion led by Al Filreis of the Kelly Writers House.
New seminar series addresses Racism and Anti-Racism in Contemporary America
New seminar series addresses Racism and Anti-Racism in Contemporary America
A new series organized by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program at Penn includes 13 conversations focusing on inequalities across on economic, political, social, and cultural systems. (Pre-pandemic image)
After the storm, how to make a city more resilient
After the storm, how to make a city more resilient
During a Perry World House virtual event, panelists discussed the lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy and how cities can use these learnings to better recover from extreme weather events and climate change.
Pew Center for Arts & Heritage awards 2020 grants to Penn projects
Pew Center for Arts & Heritage awards 2020 grants to Penn projects
The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage announced 41 grants totaling $10.5 million in support of the Institute for Contemporary Art and Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and a Girard College project involving theater director Brooke O’Harra and music composer Tyshawn Sorey.
In the News
WHYY (Philadelphia)
Philadelphia’s COVID rental assistance program to roll out differently in 2021
Research by Vincent Reina of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design found that most Philadelphia-based applicants for pandemic-related rent relief were struggling to pay rent even before March 2020. “These are households that clearly showed distress before,” he said.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
One-size-fits-all approach to rent relief leaves tenants and landlords without assistance
Vincent Reina and Sydney Goldstein of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design spoke about their research on the experiences of tenants and landlords engaging with rental assistance programs amid the pandemic. “We’ve consistently bought into ownership-based models for rental assistance programs without fully understanding how owners engage with those programs and what the opportunities and challenges are,” said Reina.
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The New York Times
Use it or lose it: Tenant aid effort nears a federal cutoff
Vincent Reina of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design found that in some cities more than half of tenants did not qualify for rental assistance programs due to a lack of cooperation from their landlords. “We’ve consistently created programs where owners have ultimate veto power over whether a tenant can access the housing assistance that they’ve applied for and need,” he said.
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NPR
Can Biden’s climate plan spark cooperation in Pa.? Some see possible common ground in jobs, infrastructure
Oscar Serpell of the Kleinman Center on Energy Policy in Stuart Weitzman School of Design spoke about President-elect Joseph Biden’s plan to transition the country to renewable energy. “The business case has never been stronger, and I think it will continue to get stronger every single year,” Serpell said.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Philly vows to slow rising traffic fatality rate with more speed enforcement—and bikes
Erick Guerra of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design attributed a spike in car crash deaths in Philadelphia to increased alcohol consumption and emptier streets, both due to the pandemic. “People are drinking more during COVID so probably a high share are drunk. And people know there’s a higher consequence, so they run,” he said. “The other reason is just speed. When there are less people on the road, you can go faster. And that really impacts the fatality rate.”
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