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Exploring Black America: A historian’s unique path of inquiry
Marcia Chatelain

Marcia Chatelain’s next book, coming out this fall, is a narrative history of the women who played roles in the 1963 March on Washington.

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Exploring Black America: A historian’s unique path of inquiry

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marcia Chatelain, a Penn Presidential Compact Professor of Africana Studies, takes a unique approach to history, from the impact of fast food to the leadership of the Civil Rights Movement.

4 min. read

For Yezidi, historic images and cultural restoration
Khalaf and Hamdya pose with their son Hegar in Sinjar’s old district.

To mark their wedding anniversary, two Yezidi—Khalaf and Hamdya—pose with their son Hegar in Sinjar’s old district.

(Image: Nathaniel Brunt)

For Yezidi, historic images and cultural restoration

Marc Marín Webb, a Ph.D. candidate in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, has researched the images in the Penn Museum archives and brought them back to Yezidi communities.

Kristina Linnea García

1 min. read

No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise
Rendering of the human body on a bicycle and the brain and skeletal system highlighted.

Image: Sciepro/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise

Research led by Penn neuroscientist J. Nicholas Betley and collaborators finds that hypothalamic neurons are essential for translating physical exertion into endurance, potentially opening the door to exercise-mimicking therapies.

5 min. read

Energy Week to explore solutions for transition to clean energy
Two people have conversation in front of research poster.

The annual Energy Week Poster Session is a good way to learn about the energy-related research of Penn students and postdocs.

(Image: Bill Cohen)

Energy Week to explore solutions for transition to clean energy

Penn’s sixth Energy Week, taking place Feb. 23-27, features events that highlight cross-disciplinary research at Penn and bring in leading industry experts.

2 min. read

Awards and accolades for Penn faculty
Locust Walk in the snow

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Awards and accolades for Penn faculty

A roundup of the latest awards for various faculty members in the School of Arts & Sciences, Penn Carey Law, Annenberg School for Communication, and the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Penn Today Staff

2 min. read

Studying Shakespeare through the lens of love
A professor standing at the head of a table talking to students.

In honor of Valentine's Day, and as a way of fostering community in her Shakespeare in Love course, Becky Friedman took her students to the University Club for lunch one class period. They talked about the movie "Shakespeare in Love," as part of a broader conversation on how Shakespeare's works are adapted.

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Studying Shakespeare through the lens of love

In Becky Friedman’s English course Shakespeare in Love, undergraduate students analyze language, genre, and adaptation in the Bard’s plays through the lens of love.

3 min. read

Penn fourth-year awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Jonibek Muhsinov

Jonibek Muhsinov will pursue a Ph.D. in psychiatry at the University of Cambridge with support from a Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

(Image: Courtesy of Jonibek Muhsinov)

Penn fourth-year awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship

Jonibek Muhsinov of Key West, Florida, will pursue a Ph.D. in psychiatry at the University of Cambridge.

1 min. read

How children consider objects provides a peek into their behavior

How children consider objects provides a peek into their behavior

Young children gravitate toward objects with anthropomorphic features, an inclination that is not as strong in children with early signs of antisocial behavior, according to research from the lab of associate professor of psychology Rebecca Waller.

2 min. read

Exploring ‘One Thousand and One Nights’
Students and faculty look at rare books in the Lea Library.

Dr. Paul Cobb, center, looks on as students and library staff examine rare versions of “One Thousand and One Nights” in the Lea Library.

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Exploring ‘One Thousand and One Nights’

A seminar from Middle Eastern medievalist Paul Cobb gets students talking and thinking about the “disorienting” storytelling in “One Thousand and One Nights.”

3 min. read

Raindrop-formed ‘sandballs’ that erode hillsides tenfold
High-speed images of raindrops rolling on a sandy slope, forming peanut-shaped sandballs (top) and donut-shaped sandballs with hollow centers (bottom).

High-speed laboratory images capture two distinct “sandball” shapes formed when raindrops strike dry, sloped sand and roll downhill. (Top) Peanut-shaped sandballs, where grains coat the surface of a liquid core. (Bottom) Donut-shaped sandballs, which densify into rigid, wheel-like structures with a hollow center, enabling far more efficient sediment transport than splash erosion alone.

(Image: Daisuke Noto)

Raindrop-formed ‘sandballs’ that erode hillsides tenfold

Penn geophysicists and colleagues have uncovered Earth-sculpting processes that result from the formation of snowball-like aggregates they call “sandballs.” Their findings provide fundamental insights into erosion and will broaden scientific understandings of landscape change, soil loss, and agriculture.

3 min. read