1.23
Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences
Sherisse Laud-Hammond reflects on transformative year as Penn Women’s Center director
In 2020, SP2 alum Sherisse Laud-Hammond was named the new director of the Penn Women’s Center, a position in which she is the first Black woman and woman of color to serve.
Penn announces five 2021 Thouron Scholars
Four seniors and a 2019 graduate have received a Thouron Award to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom. Each scholarship winner receives tuition for as long as two years, as well as travel and living stipends, to earn a graduate degree there.
Penn Museum interns explore jazz through family, protest, and creativity
Penn Museum interns delve into “The Year of Jazz” through a monthly series of events exploring family, protest, and creativity. Music Professor Guthrie Ramsey and his singer/songwriter daughter Bridget Ramsey headline the first event on Feb. 28.
The racial burden of cleaning voter rolls
A new study by Penn political scientists shows that errors in removing people from voter rolls in Wisconsin disproportionately impacted minorities.
Florence Madenga’s specialty weds journalism, censorship, and internet shutdowns in Africa
The doctoral student at the Annenberg School for Communication is investigating how satire journalism and humor news are less likely to be censored by the state in her home country of Zimbabwe.
The joy and power of improvisation
With The Unscripted Project, President’s Engagement Prize winners Philip Chen and Meera Menon create an improv curriculum and bring teaching artists to Philadelphia public school students.
Historic preservation of Black Philadelphia
Preserving Black history in Philadelphia is an evolving dynamic of the city’s legacy.
Regardless of socioeconomic status, Black communities face higher gun homicides
In a Wharton study, chair of the Statistics Department Dylan Small says reasons for the disparity include institutional racism, underinvestment in communities, and housing segregation.
A conversation with Stacey Abrams
The Georgia politician sat down with Ben Jealous, visiting scholar and former NAACP leader, to discuss topics from gerrymandering to romance novels in a virtual discussion.
The unbridled brilliance of Julian Abele
The 1902 graduate of the architecture program is finally starting to receive credit for his vast and iconic portfolio, which includes the central branch of the Free Library, Penn’s President’s House, Harvard’s flagship library, and more than 30 spaces and places on Duke’s campus.
In the News
Stockton’s basic-income experiment pays off
Research by Amy Castro Baker of the School of Social Policy & Practice found that guaranteed income did not dissuade recipients from working, instead enabling stability and helping people get out of the cycle of poverty.
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The reckoning with Dr. Seuss’ racist imagery has been years in the making
Ebony Elizabeth Thomas of the Graduate School of Education spoke about a decision by Dr. Seuss Enterprises to stop publishing six of the late author’s books which contain racist imagery. “We know now that there are anti-Asian stereotypes in ‘And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.’ ‘The Cat in the Hat’ is minstrelsy,’” she said. “When we know better, we can do better.”
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Rightwing group nearly forced Wisconsin to purge thousands of eligible voters
Marc Meredith of the School of Arts & Sciences said postcards are an insufficient way of confirming voter addresses. “It highlights the challenges in doing [voter roll] maintenance when people have unstable addresses,” he said.
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Texas outages shed light on a different kind of infrastructure: Human
Dan Treglia of the School of Social Policy & Practice co-authored an op-ed calling for policymakers to invest in the U.S.’s human infrastructure: economy-sustaining low-wage workers. “Going back to the pre-COVID-19 status quo, in which nearly half of U.S. households and many of our essential workers were already struggling, cannot be the goal,” they wrote. “The recovery needs to restructure our economy so that it prioritizes the economic security, health, and safety of all people.”
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Texas’s disaster is over. The fallout is just beginning
Dan Hopkins of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about how Texas’ energy crisis might impact the state’s politics. “If you ask who is going to win the governor’s race in 2022, my answer is going to be the Republican,” he said. “But events like this can inject uncertainty.”
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