Richard Gelles, dean of Penn School of Social Policy and Practice, is an expert on adoption and is the author of the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. He can comment for stories resulting from the new report by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute on adoptions by same-sex couples and on stories related to opposition to the report.
"Discrimination based on sexual orientation overlooks the needs of children. It seems a shame that the needs of kids always seem to come in second to prevailing ideologies and prejudices," Dr. Gelles says.
"As a social scientist, I know of no data indicating that gay couples would be less loving or effective parents than heterosexual couples or single individuals who are allowed to adopt children. There are 100,000 children in foster care who are awaiting adoption. Of this number, only some 40,000 will be adopted this year."
Materials in the Annenberg School for Communication Library Archives include thousands of TV scripts, the first issue of TV Guide, and interviews about the early days of HBO—which help to chronicle TV’s 100-year story.
Centering joy in AI development and implementation
PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton—of Annenberg and SP2—and collaborators introduce a joy-informed framework designed to initiate conversations among engineers, designers, and researchers.
Winter Storm Fern brought icy and snowy conditions to the Northeast and other parts of the country over the weekend. Penn Today asks physicist Robert Carpick about the unique properties of ice, the science of curling, and how close we are to ‘nonslip’ ice.
Organizations like Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships foster collaborations between Penn and public schools in the West Philadelphia community.
Penn receives national distinction for community engagement
The recognition by the American Council on Education and Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching acknowledges Penn’s long-standing commitment to community-engaged scholarship and partnerships in West Philadelphia and beyond.
