School of Arts & Sciences

Author Carmen Machado sitting on a sofa by a window and the cover of her memoir In the Dream House with an illustration of a house with a person looking out

Author Carmen Maria Machado and her ‘Dream House’

Carmen Maria Machado, who teaches speculative fiction as a writer in residence in the Creative Writing Program, has received extraordinary attention for her new memoir, “In the Dream House,” using multiple genres to describe an abusive relationship.

Two people sit in chairs in a discussion, with a table between them bearing a sign reading Perry World House, with a vase of flowers and glasses of water on top

Nuclear weapons in an age of emerging technologies

As part of a weeklong residency at Perry World House, Nobel Peace Prize winner Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, spoke on the impact artificial intelligence and other technologies have on nuclear risk.

Student leaning on railing on staircase.

Penn senior Srinivas Mandyam awarded Churchill Scholarship

Mandyam will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in physics, mathematics, and biophysics, along with a master’s in physics; the scholarship awards him a year of graduate research study in physics at the University of Cambridge.

Raka Sen smiles in filed in the Sundarbans region.

How India and Bangladesh respond to rising seas

Raka Sen, a doctoral candidate in sociology, studies how inhabitants of the Sundarbans region react to climate change.

Person in black suit and blue tie speaks at podium with red banner, gesturing with left hand

Philadelphia looks to evidence-based insights to inform policy

A conference bringing academics and policy makers together looks at how behavioral science can benefit local government.

Old Genealogy Family History Photographs and Documents

Do DIY DNA kits revive a harmful perceived link between genetics and race?

Research from sociologist Wendy Roth reveals that on average, these tests don’t reinforce the idea of essentialism, but how much participants know about genetics going in matters.

Five people sit along ancient mud walls at an archeological dig in Iraq.

A unique fellowship for Middle Eastern languages

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, the Foreign Language and Area Studies Program (FLAS) offers undergraduate and graduate-level academic year and summer fellowships to Penn students studying Middle Eastern languages.

a lego set of a microscope on a table with a green vial next to it

A better building block for creating new materials

Researchers describe a new way to synthesize organic “Legos,” a chemical framework that can be easily modified and controlled to create new materials with unique properties.

‘FACES’ captures, not defines, Black identity on campus

Sophomore Hadja Diallo and Senior Christine Olagun-Samuel published the inaugural issue of Faces of Black Penn on behalf of the Black Student League, a new magazine that features the diversity inherent in the Black campus experience.

Q&A

A look back into humanity’s collective history, through religious rituals and practices

In a Q&A, psychology doctoral student David Yaden describes his new book, which touches on traditions from Hinduism, Buddhism, and 11 other religions.

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