School of Arts & Sciences

The power of chick lit

Meghan Hall, lecturer and associate director for graduate studies in the Department of English, talks about what gives the popular literary genre its staying power.

From OMNIA

Oscars predictions 2024

Ahead of the 96th Academy Awards on March 10, Kathy DeMarco Van Cleve of Cinema & Media Studies offers predictions for the screenplay categories.

Brandon Baker

Kathleen Morrison on biodiversity and climate change

The faculty director of the Environmental Innovations Initiative, her research spans anthropology, archaeology, and paleoecology, involving the study of historic climates and environments, with a focus on South Asia.

From the Environmental Innovations Initiative

Centuries of ‘TikTalk’

The media popularity of the vocal trend called “TikTalk,” or a combination of uptalkand vocal fry, is actually nothing new, says linguist Mark Liberman.

Tina Rodia

‘Ladysitting’ on stage 

The new play “Ladysitting” at the Arden Theatre Co. is by Penn English faculty and alumna Lorene Cary, based on her memoir about caring for her grandmother in the last of her 101 years.

Louisa Shepard



In the News


Associated Press

Here’s why experts don’t think cloud seeding played a role in Dubai’s downpour

Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that many people blaming cloud seeding for Dubai storms are climate change deniers trying to divert attention from what’s really happening.

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Associated Press

In death, three decades after his trial verdict, O.J. Simpson still reflects America’s racial divides

Camille Charles of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Black Americans have grown less likely to believe in a famous defendant’s innocence as a show of race solidarity.

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The Wall Street Journal

‘Slouch’ review: The panic over posture

In her new book, “Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America,” Beth Linker of the School of Arts & Sciences traces society’s posture obsession to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

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Salon.com

“Record-shattering” heat wave in Antarctica — yep, climate change is the culprit

Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that persistent summer weather extremes like heat waves are becoming more common as people continue to warm the planet with carbon pollution.

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The New Yorker

The truth behind the slouching epidemic

Beth Linker of the School of Arts & Sciences traces the history of a poor-posture epidemic in the U.S. which began at the onset of the 20th century.

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