School of Arts & Sciences

A Rhodes for Penn

Penn senior Anea Moore has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford. Considered one of the most prestigious academic honors, the Rhodes is highly competitive. 

Jill DiSanto

The Power of Penn in London

In London, President Amy Gutmann presented the vision for the University’s $4.1 billion campaign, The Power of Penn.

Penn Today Staff

Showcasing veteran voices

After regularly searching through campus events, sophomore James “J.D.” Goins says he had a difficult time finding activities that showcased veteran voices. To change that, he is launching a series of campus conversations, bringing veterans who are now involved in business, politics, and other industries to Penn to share their insights on success.

Jill DiSanto

Dry conditions may have helped a new type of plant gain a foothold on Earth

Plants reap energy from the sun using two photosynthesis pathways, C3 and C4. A new study led by Haoran Zhou, Erol Akçay and Brent Helliker suggests that water availability drove the expansion of C4 species, which may help to explain how different plant lineages came to be distributed on the planet today.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Social media use increases depression and loneliness

Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram may not be great for personal well-being. For the first time, an experimental study shows a causal link between time spent on these social media and increased depression and loneliness.

Michele W. Berger



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

A collector donated 75,000 comic books to Penn Libraries, valued at more than $500,000

Alumnus Gary Prebula and his wife, Dawn, have donated a $500,000 collection of more than 75,000 comic books and graphic novels to Penn Libraries, featuring remarks from Sean Quimly of the Kislak Center and Jean-Christophe Cloutier of the School of Arts & Sciences.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

He started college in prison. Now, he is Rutgers-Camden’s first Truman scholar

Tej Patel, a third-year in the Wharton School and College of Arts and Sciences from Billeria, Massachusetts, was one of 60 college students nationwide chosen to be a Truman Scholar.

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KQED Radio (San Francisco)

Violence escalates in Sudan as civil war enters second year

Ali Ali-Dinar of the School of Arts & Sciences discusses the forces driving the civil war in Sudan and how the global community is responding.

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BBC

From Ancient Egypt to Roman Britain, brewers are reviving beers from the past

Patrick McGovern of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Museum oversaw the first hi-tech molecular analysis of residues found in bronze drinking vessels during a 1950s excavation of an ancient Turkish tomb.

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Christian Science Monitor

A majority of Americans no longer trust the Supreme Court. Can it rebuild?

Matthew Levendusky of the School of Arts & Sciences says that a partisan trust gap has emerged in public perception of the Supreme Court as a conservative institution.

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