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‘Dreaming of Jerusalem’
screen shot from documentary Homepage image: The documentary “Dreaming of Jerusalem” tells the story of the Ethiopian Jewish community living in Addis Ababa and Gondar, now more than 12,000 people, waiting for the chance to emigrate to what they consider their true homeland.

‘Dreaming of Jerusalem’

Penn’s Peter Decherney and Sosena Solomon make a documentary film about a Jewish community in Ethiopia waiting to emigrate to Israel.

Louisa Shepard

The world at our feet: Reflections on Earth and its prospects
Illustration of a sphere representing earth and it’s internal layers, covered by flora and surrounded by botanical drawings.

Image: Mariya Pilipenko

The world at our feet: Reflections on Earth and its prospects

It’s our tiny oasis in a vast universe, and it’s feeling fragile. Five faculty from Penn Arts & Sciences who study the Earth’s geological past, its surface activity, and its soils and life forms discuss how Earth and its inhabitants can get along better.

Susan Ahlborn

On the hunt for new exoplanets
the NEID spectrometer inside of a telescope dome

The NEID fiber feed mounted on the WIYN telescope obtained during commissioning of the instrument. This state-of-the-art spectrometer has officially started its scientific mission of discovering new exoplanets. (Image: NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory/KPNO/NSF/AURA)

On the hunt for new exoplanets

A state-of-the-art instrument called NEID, from the Tohono O’odham word meaning “to see,” has officially started its scientific mission: discovering new planets outside of the solar system.

Erica K. Brockmeier

High-ranking hyena mothers pass their social networks to their cubs
Group of hyenas on the landscape

Hyenas benefit from being born to high-ranking mothers, from whom they inherit their social networks, according to research led by biologists from Penn and Michigan State University. (Image: Kate Shaw Yoshida)

High-ranking hyena mothers pass their social networks to their cubs

Using 27 years of detailed data on hyena social interactions, a team led by Penn biologists nailed down a pattern of social network inheritance and its implications for social structure, rank, and survival.

Katherine Unger Baillie

In Zoë Ryan, a collaborative new leader for the ICA
Zoë Ryan in front of brick wall ICA Director Zoë Ryan pictured on campus in July 2021.

In Zoë Ryan, a collaborative new leader for the ICA

Zoë Ryan began her role as director of the Institute of Contemporary Art in November. Here, a look at Ryan’s time at the ICA so far and what’s ahead for the institution.
Alexis Borden’s perfect game
Alexis Borden holds the ball in her left hand in the pitcher's circle as she prepares to throw a pitcher at Penn Park, wearing her white Penn jersey.

Alexis Borden’s perfect game

The 2015 alumna, the most decorated pitcher in Penn softball history, threw the first perfect game in school history in May of 2012.
Digging into the government report on UFOs
meteor streaks across a night sky

Digging into the government report on UFOs

In a Q&A, historian of science Kate Dorsch illuminates the history behind reporting and investigating UFO sightings and contextualizes the new government report on such phenomena.

Katherine Unger Baillie

New grant aims to broaden participation in cutting-edge materials research
two people talking to each other inside of a research lab

University of Puerto Rico’s Edgardo Sánchez (left) and Penn graduate Zhiwei Liao working in the lab of Daeyeon Lee. Via the Advancing Device Innovation through Inclusive Research and Education program, researchers from Penn and the University of Puerto Rico will continue their materials science collaboration while supporting STEM career pathways for underrepresented groups. (Image credit: Felice Macera).

New grant aims to broaden participation in cutting-edge materials research

As one of eight teams to be awarded National Science Foundation funding, a partnership between Penn and the University of Puerto Rico will continue its long-running collaboration focused on innovative research and STEM career pathway support.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Filmmaker Claire Sliney heads to Paris with a Nat Geo Storytelling Fulbright
Student standing outside wearing graduation cap and gown

Claire Sliney graduated in May from the College of Arts and Sciences. She was the first Penn undergraduate to win an Academy Award, when she was a sophomore. As a senior, she was the first to receive a National Geographic Storytelling Fulbright Fellowship. (Image: Eric Sucar, University of Pennsylvania Communications)

Filmmaker Claire Sliney heads to Paris with a Nat Geo Storytelling Fulbright

May graduate Claire Sliney is the first Penn undergrad to receive an Academy Award, and to receive a Fulbright-National Geographic Storytelling Fellowship. She heads to Paris to shoot a documentary about how female immigrants in France are portrayed in film.

Louisa Shepard