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School of Arts & Sciences
Marking the winter solstice, from Neolithic times to today
Marking the winter solstice, from Neolithic times to today
For millennia, people have marked the winter solstice with rituals and celebrations—and they continue to do so today. Penn Museum anthropologists Lucy Fowler Williams and Megan Kassabaum discuss both ancient and contemporary customs associated with attending to the shortest day of the year.
Electric bond
Electric bond
Behind the discovery of a new class of electronic materials is a 20-year collaboration between two Penn physicists, winners of the 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
Healing with words, through writing workshops for cancer patients
Healing with words, through writing workshops for cancer patients
Writing a Life, organized by the Abramson Cancer Center and held at Kelly Writers House each month, provides such patients the opportunity to creatively examine and express their experiences.
TV marathon
TV marathon
With many taking time off over the holidays, Rahul Mukherjee of cinema studies shares his thoughts on binge-watching television.
Celebrating science
Celebrating science
Eight Penn faculty share their favorite general interest books about science.
‘A Home for the Holidays’
‘A Home for the Holidays’
On Dec. 31, Kyle Oden, a junior at Penn from Inglewood, Calif., and his family will be featured as part of a nationally televised holiday special: “A Home for the Holidays—the 20th Anniversary” celebrating families whose lives have been changed by adoptions.
In negotiations, one strategy leads to better economic gains, but worse relationships
In negotiations, one strategy leads to better economic gains, but worse relationships
Behavioral scientist Nazli Bhatia found that aggressive but retracted offers known as ‘phantom anchors’ can improve outcomes—but only when employed with finesse.
Engaging citizen curators
Engaging citizen curators
An innovative exhibition at the Arthur Ross Gallery features 50 works from Penn’s art collection chosen by the public in a crowdsourced exhibition. More than 600 people voted for their favorite to be included in “Citizen Salon,” on display through March 24.
‘The Pitch’ podcast comes to Penn
‘The Pitch’ podcast comes to Penn
Senior molecular biology major Katherine Sizov won the judges over with her fruit biosensor company Strella Biotech.
Thoughts from a medical ethicist on gene editing babies
Thoughts from a medical ethicist on gene editing babies
In a Q&A, PIK Professor Jonathan Moreno discusses using CRISPR technology on humans and the future of the field.
In the News
The Wall Street Journal
Suddenly there aren’t enough babies. The whole world is alarmed
Jesús Fernández-Villaverde of the School of Arts & Sciences estimates that global fertility last year fell to below global replacement for the first time in human history.
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Salon.com
The world’s oceans just broke an important climate change record
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the warming of the oceans is helping to destabilize ice shelves and fuel more powerful hurricanes and tropical cyclones.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia’s Tyshawn Sorey wins Pulitzer Prize in music
Tyshawn Sorey of the School of Arts & Sciences has won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in music for “Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith),” a concerto for saxophone and orchestra.
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The New York Times
Jerome Rothenberg, who expanded the sphere of poetry, dies at 92
Charles Bernstein of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the late Jerome Rothenberg was the ultimate hyphenated person: a poet-critic-anthologist-translator.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
A collector donated 75,000 comic books to Penn Libraries, valued at more than $500,000
Alumnus Gary Prebula and his wife, Dawn, have donated a $500,000 collection of more than 75,000 comic books and graphic novels to Penn Libraries, featuring remarks from Sean Quimly of the Kislak Center and Jean-Christophe Cloutier of the School of Arts & Sciences.
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