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‘What makes us human’: Amy Lutz on autism and community
Amy Lutz seated with her husband and children in nature.

From left to right, top row: Erika Lutz, Amy Lutz, Andrew Lutz, Aaron Lutz. Bottom row: Hilary Lutz, Jonah Lutz, Gretchen Lutz. (Image: Courtesy Amy Lutz)

  • Q&A

    • ‘What makes us human’: Amy Lutz on autism and community

    In “We Walk: Life with Severe Autism,” doctoral candidate Amy Lutz examines what it means to be in community.

    Kristina Linnea García

    A modified game of ‘chicken’ reveals what happens in the brain during decision-making
    A person in a suit and button-down shirt sitting on a stairwell landing, smiling. The intricate white stairwell and a brick wall behind it are to the person's right.

    Penn Integrates Knowledge professor Michael Platt holds appointments in the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts & Sciences, the Department of Neuroscience in the Perelman School of Medicine, and the Marketing Department in the Wharton School.

    A modified game of ‘chicken’ reveals what happens in the brain during decision-making

    Research from the Platt Labs found that in rhesus macaques, two regions of the brain mirror those of similar regions in humans, broadening the understanding of what unfolds, neurologically, when people interact and cooperate.

    Michele W. Berger

    One step closer to a clinical fix for the side effects of monovision
    A person sitting in front of a computer and a machine that tests vision.

    The lab of neuroscientist Johannes Burge (above) focuses on how the human visual system processes the images that fall on the back of the eye. This line of work, closely related to a 100-year-old illusion called the Pulfrich effect, could have serious public safety and public health implications.

    One step closer to a clinical fix for the side effects of monovision

    Monovision counters the deterioration of the ability to see up close but also causes dramatic visual distortions. New research confirms that a solution that successfully works with trial lenses—the special lenses used by eye doctors—also succeeds with contact lenses.

    Michele W. Berger

    Academic freedom in an age of global digital delivery
    stock image of world depicting global connection

    Academic freedom in an age of global digital delivery

    During a virtual forum, Penn experts across disciplines discussed specific implications online learning can present for international students and their freedom of expression.

    Lauren Hertzler

    The party of Lincoln? GOP’s future after the 2020 election
    A faded wooden sign reading "save America vote Republican" stands amid scrubby plants on a Texas roadside.

    The party of Lincoln? An event at the Andrea Mitchell Center looked at the future of the Republican Party in the wake of the 2020 elections.

    The party of Lincoln? GOP’s future after the 2020 election

    As part of the Andrea Mitchell Center’s Race and Politics series, political scientist Rogers Smith spoke with former GOP communications director Tara Setmayer about the election’s impact on the identity of the Republican Party.

    Kristen de Groot

    Customized kits turn students’ dining rooms into biology labs
    Person in mask takes a sample of pond water

    Customized kits turn students’ dining rooms into biology labs

    Students in introductory biology laboratory courses in the School of Arts & Sciences used customized laboratory kits to get hands-on practice with the scientific method.

    Katherine Unger Baillie

    Uniting against an invisible foe
    microscopic image of covid-19

    A tiny virus has transformed life as we know it. But in nearly every corner of Penn’s campus, researchers are making remarkable progress to combat it.

    (Image, also on homepage: National Institutes of Health)

    Uniting against an invisible foe

    All across the University, researchers have launched new areas of study, reaching across disciplinary boundaries to make stunning progress in combating COVID-19.

    Katherine Unger Baillie