School of Arts & Sciences

Two people standing bewteen two clothing racks in a crowded thrift shop space. On the back wall, the word "U Lounge" hangs in brightly colored block letters.

As good as new at Penn Closet

The student-run thrift shop on the ground floor of Williams Hall gives clothes and other items a second life, plus offers donators and shoppers a simple way to practice sustainability.

Concept of inequality rendering: 11 ladders reaching towards the sky with people in business attire climbing each ladder, one considerably higher with a large pencil marking the growing height of the ladder.

Socioeconomic status in the U.S. harder to change than any time in past 150 years

Research from Penn sociologist Xi Song and colleagues shows that mobility declined substantially during this period, particularly for those born in the 1940s and later.

Nurul Ezzaty Binti Hasbullah (left) and Stephen Damianos

Penn senior and May graduate win 2020 Rhodes Scholarship

Nurul Ezzaty Binti Hasbullah and Stephen Damianos have been awarded Rhodes Scholarships for graduate study at the University of Oxford.

person looks perplexed holding a pencil staring into middle distancw with chalkboard behind them with math equations.

Math, stereotypes, and social belonging

Philip Gressman, professor of mathematics, discusses how stereotype threat can affect student performance in math, and how social belonging can curb it.

Two people standing in front of a fenced-in vacant lot, one leaning against the fence, the other standing with arms crossed.

Q&A

Using science to make cities safer and healthier

In a Q&A, criminologist John MacDonald discusses his new book, grounded in years of research on the positive effects of remediation like fixing up abandoned lots and houses.

a group of people seated at a circle of chairs talking to each other

Inspiring young women in STEM

Over two days, nearly two dozen female STEM role models at Penn welcomed more than 100 high school students and teachers to campus as part of the Girls Advancing in STEM (GAINS) Initiative Conference on campus.

Person wearing a virtual reality headset looks to the side, standing next to a statue facing the same direction

Immersive stories to spur action on climate

Organized by the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities (PPEH), a two-day festival, “Environmental Storytelling and Virtual Reality” begins Friday, and will explore how virtual reality and other immersive storytelling might inspire action on climate change.

Several adolescents stand under a giant American flag like a parachute aloft at an immigration reform rally.

Demographic shifts, voter fears, and presidential voting

New research shows Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign didn’t benefit from voters’ fears of immigrants in communities experiencing greater demographic change.

A conversation with Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw

In the latest episode of “Office Hours,” a Penn Today podcast, Professor of History of Art Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw explains the curation process behind the Barnes Foundation’s “30 Americans” exhibit.

A group of students sit on the lawn under a cherry blossom tree on College Green.

Paideia’s spring course offerings highlight wellness, service, and citizenship

The first four courses offered to Penn undergraduates as part of the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program will focus on passion, civility, effective communication, and a deep dive into American Chinatowns.

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