News Archives

Author hunts ghosts of Mississippi

How do writers find the stories they tell? “Sometimes the stories find them,” says Paul Hendrickson, who has been teaching non-fiction writing in the English Department’s creative writing program since 2001. On March 25, Hendrickson will talk about how his new book, “Sons of Mississippi,” found him. This program is part of the Penn Humanities Forum’s salute to the Year of the Book, a series that began in September and which has featured speakers exploring books as physical artifacts, as cultural currency and as sources of knowledge, devotion and passion.

Models of Excellence: Penn’s crème de la crème

When it comes to getting the job done, these Penn staffers reach star heights and beyond. Introduced in 1999, the University’s Models of Excellence program honors and celebrates outstanding staff member achievements.

Welcome home the heroes

Ask Dr. Internet

The wealth of information accessible online makes the Web one of today’s greatest resources. Yet the fact that anyone can post anything also makes it a scary place, especially when it comes to getting accurate information on something as personal as your health. Two sites affiliated with Penn—OncoLink and Simple Steps to Better Dental Health—are providing consumers with credible medical information that is both complete and easy to understand.

Class teaches kids to care

Furthering a novel collaboration between the School of Social Work and the School of Veterinary Medicine, a group of Penn faculty and staff has launched Kids Caring for Pets (KCP), an educational venture designed to help teach local children about the responsibilities of pet adoption and care. Community schools have shown enthusiasm for the program and the project has grown steadily throughout the past months. So far, KCP has run seminars and classes at the Penn-Alexander School, University City High School, and Hamilton Elementary School.

Campus Buzz

Calling all Cherry Garcia fans: Your fix of your favorite ice cream will be closer than ever starting in April. That goes for you too, Chunky Monkey junkies, because Ben & Jerry’s is coming to campus. The makers of Vermont’s finest all-natural ice cream will be setting up shop in the 40th Street space that housed Papaya King.

Macaroni and cheese, Faculty Club style

Dear Benny,One of my favorite dishes on the Faculty Club cafeteria menu is the macaroni and cheese. The creamy, tangy cheese sauce is absolutely to die for, and in my opinion, worth the membership fee all by itself. Is it possible to get the recipe? —Cheesehead Dear Wisconsinite, It took me some time, but patience pays off. Faculty Club Manager Natalka Swavely graciously shared with me Chef David Stoltzfus’ recipe, which I now share with you. Faculty Club Macaroni and CheeseServes 8

Panel: Schools need money, teachers

The air is thick with talk of education reform. States are tapping new revenue sources to reduce reliance on local property taxes. They are also trying to ensure that every school is adequately funded while grappling with inadequate revenue overall. And school districts wonder how best to spend that money, and which of the many education reforms being pushed actually work.

“Benefits for the Workplace of the Future”

The workforce of the future promises to be very different from that of the past. A generation ago, there were few workers over the age of 65, but in the future we will see many more employees remain on the job longer than ever before. At the same time, as global markets grow more closely integrated, companies are having to reinvent the workplace, which requires more skilled, more reliable, and more flexible employees.

Donald White

Dead civilizations aren’t really dead. Each generation reshapes them in part to reflect its own way of seeing the world and its people. It’s been nearly three generations since the University of Pennsylvania Museum’s collections of Roman, Greek and Etruscan objects received a reinterpretation. Professor of Classical Studies Donald White, the curator of the Museum’s Mediterranean section, has been in the field of archaeology for about two of those three generations, and has seen major transformations in both the field and the way the fruits of its research are displayed.