News Archives

A soldier reflects on his war

As Andrew Exum C’00 told a Penn Bookstore crowd June 14, midway through his Penn career, he faced a hard decision. “I was told, ‘You can just muddle through or you can be a leader.’ ” Then part of Penn’s ROTC program, Exum opted for the latter, joining the infantry after graduation and serving as platoon leader in operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Summer months bring younger scholars to Penn

People new to Penn are often surprised at how busy the campus remains over the summer months. Lines at the Magic Carpet food truck still put off all but the most devoted fans. College Green is still home to impromptu Frisbee games and tanning sessions. And just try getting an outdoor table at University Square around noon on a balmy day.

Bookquick/“Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance”

Modern beer has little in common with the drink that carried that name through the European Middle Ages and Renaissance. Looking at a time when beer was often a nutritional necessity, was sometimes used as medicine, could be flavored with everything from the bark of fir trees to thyme and fresh eggs and was consumed by men, women and children alike, “Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance” presents an extraordinarily detailed history of the business, art and governance of brewing.

Civil liberty v. security—post 9/11

Set to a hip-hop rhythm, the video opened with an arresting image of a hooded man gesturing with a machine gun in time to the beat. The music was catchy, the lyrics unambiguous: “Kill the crusaders. Be prepared for battle with the infidels. Throw them in the fire.”

At Work With...Don Shepherd

Staff Q&A: Jennifer Snead

Whatever your pleasure—sci fi or fantasy novels, modern or 18th-century poetry—Jennifer Snead thinks you should read it. And if you’re an undergraduate who wants to start a literary magazine, run a tutoring project or host a reading with a favorite poet, she thinks you should do that, too.

Campus Buzz

Everything’s a dollar: Think the days of $1 matinees are a thing of the past? Think again. The Bridge: Cinema de Lux is giving fans of the golden age of Hollywood the chance to see a couple of classics on the big screen for a mere buck. The Silver Screen Classics program—which shows memorable flicks made from the 1930s to ’80s—charges only a dollar for admission to the film, a bag of popcorn and a soda.

Al Fresco  

Want to spend a summer night outdoors but still catch a flick or band? No problem. Just check out these outdoor offerings: TUNES IN THE SQUARE: The John Breslin Jazz Band, Jasafar, Synthesis Latin Band, Swing Shift Jazz Band and Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble take turns heating up the 36th St. Plaza, between Sansom and Walnut in the concert series. 5 to 7 p.m. every Thursday from July 8 through August 26.

Public Service/Community Dental Programs Earn PennDental's Joan Gluch National Recognition

PHILADELPHIA -- Joan Gluch, director of community health for the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, was one of 10 finalists nominated for the Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service Learning, presented annually by the Campus Compact, a national coalition of more than 900 colleges and universities.This award honors faculty members for the integration of community or public service into their schools' curriculums and for efforts to institutionalize service learning.  

Penn Graduate School of Education Professor Earns National Head Start Award

PHILADELPHIA -- John W. Fantuzzo, a University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education professor, has received the Head Start Research Mentor Award from the federal Administration for Children and Families.Fantuzzo is the third recipient of the award, which previously has gone to Ed Zigler and Julius Richmond, the two people most responsible for the creation of the program.In addition to Fantuzzo's own groundbreaking research of the Head Start program, he has shepherded Penn graduate students interested in Head Start research.