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School of Arts & Sciences
How biology creates networks that are cheap, robust, and efficient
How biology creates networks that are cheap, robust, and efficient
Physicists describe how vascular networks, collections of vessels that move fluid, nutrients, and waste, balance robustness with “cost” to create a diverse array of structures and designs.
New astronomical instrument on the hunt for exoplanets
New astronomical instrument on the hunt for exoplanets
A state-of-the-art instrument called NEID, from the Tohono O’odham word meaning “to see,” collected its “first light” and is poised to look for new planets outside the solar system.
Angela Davis ‘refuses to give up’
Angela Davis ‘refuses to give up’
Angela Davis and Gina Dent joined Margo Natalie Crawford of the Center for Africana Studies for this year’s Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture in Social Justice.
Battling longer, more intense fire seasons
Battling longer, more intense fire seasons
In a Q&A, doctoral student Clare Super describes her research into wildland firefighting, the impact on firefighters, U.S. policy around wildfires, and parallels to what’s happening in Australia.
First Ivy League Quechua Fulbright scholar elevates indigenous values
First Ivy League Quechua Fulbright scholar elevates indigenous values
Nico Suárez-Guerrero of the School of Arts and Sciences is the first Quechua Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant in the Ivy League, and the only one currently in the United States.
Drug epidemic likely ‘killing more Americans than we think’
Drug epidemic likely ‘killing more Americans than we think’
Research from Penn and Georgetown shows that the estimated number of drug-associated deaths in the U.S. in 2016 was approximately double the number of deaths attributed to drugs.
Penn alum named head coach of Cleveland Browns
Penn alum named head coach of Cleveland Browns
Kevin Stefanski, a 2004 graduate and former offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, has been hired to coach the NFL franchise.
Philly water straight from the tap
Philly water straight from the tap
A collaborative city-wide campaign that included ImpactED and the Water Center at Penn helped spread the word that Philadelphia tap water is safe and healthy to drink.
Bolivia: Coup or election fraud?
Bolivia: Coup or election fraud?
Quechua scholar Américo Mendoza-Mori and political scientist Tulia Falleti discuss the ousting of the country’s first indigenous president and the tumultuous state of Bolivian politics as the country prepares for elections in May.
The 25th annual MLK symposium
The 25th annual MLK symposium
Across campus, students, faculty, and staff will gather for the 25th annual Commemorative Symposium honoring the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. from Jan. 15 through Feb. 1.
In the News
Philadelphia Inquirer
With 2020 election, Women’s March on Philadelphia ‘more important now than ever,’ organizers say
Dawn Teele of the School of Arts and Sciences spoke about the Women’s March, calling it “a cathartic show of solidarity rather than a solid movement with a specific end.”
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The Atlantic
Prohibition was a failed experiment in moral governance
Samuel Freeman of the School of Arts and Sciences and Law School spoke about the “failed experiment” of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. constitution, which installed Prohibition, calling it “an amendment that had to do with a matter of private morality [that] didn’t work.”
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Vice
Opioids are killing more than twice as many people as we thought
A study led by Samuel Preston of the School of Arts and Sciences found 60,000 more drug-related deaths in 2016 than previously recorded.
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Associated Press
U.S.-Iran relations: A look back at a tricky relationship
John Ghazvinian of the School of Arts and Sciences discussed how the relationship between the U.S. and Iran has transformed over the years. “It’s only in the later 20th and 21st centuries that we have been seeing this kind of slow and difficult degeneration in the relationship,” he said. “I think that’s the big picture we have to keep in mind: It doesn’t have to be so hateful.”
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The Wall Street Journal
Beijing dismisses Taiwan voters’ rebuke over its claims to island
Jacques deLisle of the Law School and School of Arts and Sciences weighed in on relations between Taiwan and China, noting that neither country has a crisis-management mechanism in case of accidental military clashes between the two sides. “A move that’s intended to show strength and determination…could spiral out of control,” he warned.
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