For religious studies professor Jolyon Thomas, “faith is a black box,” he says. Rather than be a participant in religious faith, Thomas is much more interested in studying its causations, repercussions, and interplay with identity, politics, and education.
Jolyon Baraka Thomas on curiosity and contentment
For Jolyon Baraka Thomas of the School of Arts & Sciences, the route to religious studies was the same one that led him away from faith.
A traveling exhibition at the Arthur Ross Gallery, “No Ocean Between Us: Art of Asian Diasporas in Latin America & The Caribbean, 1945-Present,” explores Asian migration to Latin America and its influence on modern and contemporary art. Adriana Ospina, curator and director of the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington D.C., spoke at the Feb. 4 Gallery exhibition opening.
Arthur Ross Gallery exhibition explores Asian migration to Latin America
“No Ocean Between Us: Art of Asian Diasporas in Latin America & The Caribbean, 1945-Present” explores Asian migration to Latin America and its influence on modern and contemporary art, on view through May 23.
Archaeologist Kathleen Morrison (center) and anthropology doctoral student Moriah McKenna discuss one of the charred lumps from a 2010 excavation in southern India. The image is possible thanks to a new microscope, seen here on the right, that takes and stitches together high-resolution images in incredible detail. (Image: Eric Sucar)
From 2,800-year-old charred food lumps, a window into past civilizations
At a site in southern India, archaeologist Kathleen Morrison and colleagues discovered the remains of two types of dough, offering insights into how the region’s dietary practices have evolved.
Lynn Meskell is the Richard D. Green Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor in the Department of Anthropology in the School of Arts & Sciences, a professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning and the graduate program in Historic Preservation in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and a curator in the Middle East and Asia sections at the Penn Museum.
(Image: Eric Sucar)
Studying the past through a modern-day lens
In a Q & A, archaeologist and PIK Professor Lynn Meskell discusses her background, the subjects that interest her—from espionage to World Heritage sites—and collaborations that have organically arisen at Penn despite the pandemic and a mostly remote first year.
(Homepage image) As a scholar, Fakhreddine works hard to retain as much of a poem as possible when it moves from Arabic to another language. “It’s a challenge that all translation involves. We talk about what’s lost and what’s gained,” she says. “It’s all exaggerated here with these short musical pieces. Their meaning is ground in their sound.”
The ‘music’ of one poet’s words, translated
With help from her daughter, scholar Huda Fakhreddine published an English version of 30 poems for children written by her father in Arabic, paying tribute to their endearing and enduring subject matter and to the musicality and richness of their sound.
Senior Rachel Swym (left) was a summer intern with alumna Leanne Huebner at the educational nonprofit Minds Matter, and they have continued their connection ever since.
Mentor support for the first-generation college experience
Three decades apart, senior Rachel Swym and alumna Leanne Huebner found a common bond in their rural backgrounds and first-generation, highly aided college experience.
