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Q&A

Pandemics and presidential elections
Empty podium with seal of the White House flanked by American flags with plaque reading The White House hung from curtains in background

Pandemics and presidential elections

The coronavirus outbreak has already caused disruptions in the 2020 election cycle. What if the nation is in the midst of another shutdown come Election Day in November?

Kristen de Groot

Iran, sanctions, and coronavirus
Power Plant in the South of Iran

Iran, sanctions, and coronavirus

The United States has faced pressure to ease sanctions to help Iran manage its coronavirus outbreak. Ciruce Movahedi-Lankarani, a doctoral candidate in the History Department, discusses how the sanctions have played into Iran’s energy development and complicated its management of the viral outbreak.

Kristen de Groot

Domestic violence and gun sales in the time of COVID-19
Black and white image of a person standing in front of an open blind, a hand held to the forehead in consternation.

Domestic violence and gun sales in the time of COVID-19

In a Q&A, School of Social Policy & Practice researcher Susan B. Sorenson describes new challenges surrounding intimate partner violence and the uptick in gun purchases since this crisis began.

Michele W. Berger

At the dental school, the dietitian is in
A dietitian shows a nutrition label to a person in a dental clinic

Matthew Whipple, a registered dietitian, consults with patients in clinics at Penn's School of Dental Medicine. (Image: Penn Dental Medicine)

At the dental school, the dietitian is in

Matthew Whipple, a registered dietitian at the School of Dental Medicine, consults with patients in clinics and educates students about the importance of spreading nutrition advice. He also cooks up a mean chicken and sausage gumbo.

Katherine Unger Baillie

A Q&A with Ben Jealous, former NAACP head turned tech investor
A person standing with arms crossed, in a courtyard next to a metal railing aside glass windows.

Ben Jealous, former head of the NAACP, is a visiting scholar in the Annenberg School for Communication, the School of Social Policy & Practice, and Wharton. He is teaching a class on social innovation, part of SP2’s Nonprofit Leadership program.

A Q&A with Ben Jealous, former NAACP head turned tech investor

The visiting scholar discusses the social innovation class he is teaching, plus why it’s key to focus on local civil rights victories and the need to take a long view of history.

Michele W. Berger

The history behind International Women’s Day
Historical image of the first International Women's Day march in Petrograd in 1917

A march through Petrograd on March 8, 1917, the inaugural year for International Women’s Day.

The history behind International Women’s Day

Kristen R. Ghodsee, professor of Russian and East European studies, talks to Penn Today about the global holiday’s history, and why America has been late to embrace it.

Kristen de Groot

Tales of bringing the dead back to life
Writer and doctor Vikram Paralkar in his research lab.

Tales of bringing the dead back to life

Meet Vikram Paralkar, an oncologist at Penn Medicine who has received extraordinary attention for his new fiction novel, “Night Theater,” a story where a surgeon is asked to bring the dead back to life.

Dee Patel

Demystifying feline behavior
closeup of cat with mouth open wide

The behavior of cats can perplex even their staunchest fans. 

Demystifying feline behavior

Carlo Siracusa and James Serpell of the School of Veterinary Medicine contextualize recent findings in cat behavior science, debunk some cat-related myths, and explain why our kitties are not just “low-maintenance dogs.”

Katherine Unger Baillie