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Sociology
In the U.S., COVID-19 wasn’t sole cause of excess deaths in 2020
In the U.S., COVID-19 wasn’t sole cause of excess deaths in 2020
Comparing death rates in the United States with those of the five biggest European countries, Penn and Max Planck demographers found that significant excess mortality cost more lives annually than the epidemic itself.
COVID communications and first generation students
COVID communications and first generation students
Marcus Wright, undergraduate program manager and academic coordinator in the Department of Sociology and doctoral student at the Graduate School of Education, analyzes academic messaging to expose blind spots.
Understanding and addressing barriers to COVID vaccine acceptance
Understanding and addressing barriers to COVID vaccine acceptance
Different communities have different reasons for wanting to wait on this shot. Getting to the heart of those concerns can help meet people where they are.
Toward a better understanding of ‘fake news’
Toward a better understanding of ‘fake news’
PIK Professor Duncan Watts publishes a framework for developing a comprehensive research agenda to study the origins, nature, and consequences of misinformation on democracy.
Mothers bear the cost of the pandemic shift to remote work
Mothers bear the cost of the pandemic shift to remote work
The pandemic exposed and reinforced gender-biased household divisions of labor, according to a new study by Penn sociologists.
Alice Paul’s mysterious manuscript
Alice Paul’s mysterious manuscript
Heather J. Sharkey and three students transcribed a hand-written manuscript of the doctoral dissertation by Alice Paul, who earned her Ph.D. from Penn in 1912. As part of a virtual symposium, they joined John Pollack of the Libraries to discuss their efforts.
COVID-19 and women in the workforce
COVID-19 and women in the workforce
Experts across Penn explain how the pandemic has exacerbated gender inequality and challenged female career advancement in the STEMM fields, education, and business.
Young and middle-age adults in the U.S. dying at higher rates
Young and middle-age adults in the U.S. dying at higher rates
According to a new National Academies report, cardiometabolic conditions now join drug overdoses, alcohol, and suicide as significant mortality causes. In a Q&A, demographer Irma Elo explains.
Eviction linked to depression risk in young adults
Eviction linked to depression risk in young adults
Research from sociologist Courtney Boen and anthropologist Morgan Hoke shows that this issue, compounded by the toll of the pandemic, disproportionately affects low-income households and communities of color.
Logistics of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout
Logistics of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout
Penn experts demystify the process of shipping a vaccine and, ultimately, getting it into arms.
In the News
Associated Press
In death, three decades after his trial verdict, O.J. Simpson still reflects America’s racial divides
Camille Charles of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Black Americans have grown less likely to believe in a famous defendant’s innocence as a show of race solidarity.
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The Wall Street Journal
‘Slouch’ review: The panic over posture
In her new book, “Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America,” Beth Linker of the School of Arts & Sciences traces society’s posture obsession to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
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The New Yorker
The truth behind the slouching epidemic
Beth Linker of the School of Arts & Sciences traces the history of a poor-posture epidemic in the U.S. which began at the onset of the 20th century.
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Boston Globe
How two Mass. lawyers are helping DACA recipients stay in the US
Carlos Águilar González of the School of Arts & Sciences says that streamlining the D3 authorization process for DACA recipients may limit the number of people who can benefit by focusing only on the most prestigious and educated.
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Inside Higher Ed
The activist academy
In her book “Chasing the Intact Mind,” Amy S.F. Lutz of the School of Arts & Sciences argues that the current approach to disabilities studies marginalizes the most severely disabled.
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The Washington Post
Ready or not, self-driving semi-trucks are coming to America’s highways
Steve Viscelli of the School of Arts & Sciences says that autonomous trucking could change the geography of the U.S. economy in the way that railroads and shipping did.
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