Through a yearlong practicum taught by William (Zev) Berger (left), a fellow with the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics program at Penn, rising senior Jeanica Geneus and four classmates learned how the research process works, including what to do when the results are unexpected.
The ins and outs of research, through a yearlong practicum
The course, which just completed its third iteration, takes undergrads through the process, from generating a hypothesis and creating experiments to analyzing results and writing a paper. The most recent cohort studied mentorship and educational inequality.
Taq-i Kisra is a vaulted hall near Baghdad that likely dates to the 6th century. After heavy rains in late 2020 caused part of it to collapse, the Penn team was asked to conduct an assessment on the structure. It’s one of the newest projects for the IHSP, funded by the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas.
Penn team expands cultural heritage work in Iraq, backed by new funding
Three big new projects—restoration of a fortification gate, repair of an important landmark, and a survey of historic nonreligious architecture—recently got underway.
Pilar Gonalons-Pons is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology in the School of Arts & Sciences and a member of the Population Studies Center.
How gender norms and job loss affect relationship status
Research from Penn sociologist Pilar Gonalons-Pons shows that, in cultures that value men as breadwinners, their unemployment can affect the long-term success of a romantic relationship.
Allyson Mackey is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts & Sciences. She runs The Changing Brain Lab and is a researcher in MindCORE.
A link between childhood stress and early molars
Penn researchers discovered that children from lower-income backgrounds and those who go through greater adverse childhood experiences get their first permanent molars sooner.
Martha J. Farah, the Annenberg Professor of Natural Sciences, is director of the Center for Neuroscience & Society at Penn. (Pre-pandemic image: Courtesy Martha Farah)
Scientists say active early learning shapes the adult brain
Through the Abecedarian Project, an early education, randomized controlled trial that has followed children since 1971, Penn and Virginia Tech researchers reveal new discoveries about brain structure decades later.
A mental health checkup for children and adolescents, a year into COVID
As a whole, this group experienced a significant short-term psychological toll. Though the long-term consequences aren’t yet known, particularly given how the year disproportionately exacerbated adverse childhood experiences, Penn experts remain cautiously optimistic.
Megan Kassabaum is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania and the Weingarten Assistant Curator for North America at the Penn Museum.
Turning an archaeological practice on its head
In a new book, Megan Kassabaum challenges the field to take a forward-looking approach, rather than one that looks backward. She does this through the study of a Native American architectural feature called platform mounds.
The people around in a given moment—friends versus acquaintances, for instance—affect the importance morals take on for someone, according to new research published in Nature Communications.
Morality isn’t fixed but changes around close relationships
Research from MindCORE postdoc Daniel Yudkin found that the importance people place on certain moral values shifts depending on who is around in a given moment.
What happens in the brain when we imagine the future?
Research from neuroscientist Joseph Kable finds that two sub-networks are at work, one focused on creating the new event, another on evaluating whether that event is positive or negative.
Melissa G. Hunt is the associate director of clinical training in the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts & Sciences. She is also author of the book “Reclaim Your Life from IBS: A Scientifically Proven Plan for Relief without Restrictive Diets.”
A more effective at-home treatment for IBS
In a randomized control trial, researchers found that after eight weeks, participants with irritable bowel syndrome who used an app focused on cognitive behavioral therapy experienced better health-related quality of life, fewer GI symptoms, and less anxiety.
Taq-i Kisra is a vaulted hall near Baghdad that likely dates to the 6th century. After heavy rains in late 2020 caused part of it to collapse, the Penn team was asked to conduct an assessment on the structure. It’s one of the newest projects for the IHSP, funded by the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas.
The people around in a given moment—friends versus acquaintances, for instance—affect the importance morals take on for someone, according to new research published in Nature Communications.
