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Greenland’s fragile ice: Three new takeaways
Ice sheets in Greenland

Image: jamenpercy via Getty Images

Greenland’s fragile ice: Three new takeaways

The Greenland Ice Sheet is more vulnerable to climate change than previously thought. School of Arts & Sciences assistant professor Jon Hawkings unpacks new research.

Cooperation has a downside
Managerial cooperation icon.

Image: Denis Novikov via Getty Images

Cooperation has a downside

Research from a team led by Joshua Plotkin, Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor of the Natural Sciences in the School of Arts & Sciences, cautions that sometimes working together can actually spur inequality.

From Omnia

Summer storms
Summer storms

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Summer storms

A roundup of stories from Penn Today on water quality, AI and sustainability, clean fuel production, and managing stormwater runoff.

Penn Today Staff

2 min. read

Lessons from the Schuylkill River on community-engaged research
People kayak on the Schuylkill River.

Image: Bethany Wiggin

Lessons from the Schuylkill River on community-engaged research

A historian working on both sides of the Atlantic, Bethany Wiggin, a professor of German in the School of Arts & Sciences, is interested in how historic legacies—including pollution—shape modern landscapes and how changed landscapes impact human populations.

3 min. read

How artists have depicted—and shaped—society’s relationship with the sea
Wave painting by Gustave Courbet.

Courbet, Gustave, “Waves.” 1870, oil on canvas.

(Image: Philadelphia Museum of Art: The Louis E. Stern Collection, 1963-181-21. https://www.philamuseum.org/objects/59527)

How artists have depicted—and shaped—society’s relationship with the sea

In recognition of the summer season and beach vacations, Penn Today spoke with history of art professor Ann Kuttner about ancient Roman portrayals of the sea and Ph.D. student Benjy Jude about 19th-century French seascapes.

4 min. read

Awards for Penn faculty
Fisher Fine Arts library in summer.

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Awards for Penn faculty

The latest awards roundup for faculty in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences, Penn Carey Law, and the Perelman School of Medicine.

Penn Today Staff

2 min. read

The enduring significance of ‘The Odyssey’
Illustration depicting Homer’s “The Odyssey”

Image: Vanessa Lovegrove, Penn Arts & Sciences

The enduring significance of ‘The Odyssey’

In July, a new adaptation of the famous poem hits the big screen. Three Arts & Sciences faculty members discuss Homer’s epic.

From Omnia

2 min. read

How mismanagement of gout could have impacted the American Revolution
Sketch of two colonial-era men at table, one with an injured foot.

 Coloured etching by T.L. Busby, 1826.

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How mismanagement of gout could have impacted the American Revolution

Penn biology professor Philip A. Rea has written a provocative piece examining how gout sidelined two influential 18th-century British leaders and why England eschewed an effective gout treatment.

2 min. read

The math of fitting in
Silhouettes of people with dialogue boxes.

Imge: stellalevi via Getty Images

The math of fitting in

In new research, professor of linguistics Charles Yang and colleagues find that a formula originally developed to explain language acquisition in children can also explain how we absorb social norms.

From Omnia

2 min. reads

A crash course in AI

A crash course in AI

Early this summer, some 75 faculty members across several Penn Schools attended a two-day program led by Bhuvnesh Jain, co-director of the Data Driven Discovery Initiative and Co-Chair of the University’s AI Council.