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Social Sciences

Performer, biomedical engineer, and soon-to-be graduate
Jordyn Harris standing among lights

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Performer, biomedical engineer, and soon-to-be graduate

A performer and dancer, fourth-year Jordyn Harris has been a work-study student for the Platt House and managed tech for myriad student shows, while also advising engineering first-years and working as a researcher at a hospital.

5 min. read

For dual architecture degree candidate Kelvin Vu, design begins with the body
Kelvin Vu performing a dance move.

Image: Kait Privitera

For dual architecture degree candidate Kelvin Vu, design begins with the body

Master of architecture and master of landscape architecture candidate Kelvin Vu, who was a professional dancer before coming to Weitzman, says “dance and landscape design are about change, flux, and dynamism.”

From the Weitzman School of Design

Exploring inflation and economics through the lens of history
Melissa Teixeira stands in front of a conference room speaking to students.

Melissa Teixeira discusses the final assignment with her Inflationary Times history class.

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Exploring inflation and economics through the lens of history

In Inflationary Times, a history course from Melissa Teixeira, students grappled with big-picture concepts of debt, money, and currency across the globe and through time.

4 min. read

Philosopher in residence
William Reason sitting on a bench outside.

From Milton, Massachusetts, Reason is teaching Philadelphia public high school students an ethics curriculum he designed as a Philosopher in Residence.

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Philosopher in residence

William Reason, who earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy in December and will complete his master’s in May, teaches ethics to Philadelphia public high school students via an ethics curriculum he designed as a Philosopher in Residence

5 min. read

Benjamin Nathans wins 2025 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction
Benjamin Nathans.

Benjamin Nathans, the Alan Charles Kors Endowed Term Professor of History, has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his book “To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement.”

(Image: Matthew Hamilton)

Benjamin Nathans wins 2025 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction

Nathans, the Alan Charles Kors Endowed Term Professor of History in the School of Arts & Sciences, has taught at Penn since 1998.

2 min. read

Penn 2025 graduate awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Rameen Iftikhar.

Class of 2025 graduate student Rameen Iftikhar is one of 95 new Gates Cambridge Scholars.

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Penn 2025 graduate awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship

Rameen Iftikhar, who completed a master’s degree in international education development from the Graduate School of Education in January, has been awarded a 2025 Gates Cambridge Scholarship, which covers the full cost of studying at University of Cambridge in England for as long as four years.

2 min. read

Aiming for a ‘holistic representation’ career as dual-degree Law and SP2 grad
Christina Bartzokis sits outside Penn Carey Law.

Christina Bartzokis is earning dual degrees from Penn Carey Law and the School of Social Policy & Practice, and is headed to Louisiana to start her practice as a public defender.

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Aiming for a ‘holistic representation’ career as dual-degree Law and SP2 grad

Christina Bartzokis worked as a Child Protective Services case worker for three years in rural Oregon. Now she’s set her sights on Louisiana, where she’ll serve as a public defender.

3 min. read