School of Arts & Sciences

A new take on the 19th-century skull collection of Samuel Morton

After unearthing and analyzing handwritten documentation from scientist Samuel Morton, doctoral candidate Paul Wolff Mitchell drew a new conclusion about the infamous 19th-century collection: Though Morton accurately measured the brain size of hundreds of human skulls, racist bias still plagued his science.

Michele W. Berger

Making fossils move to build better robots

Aja Carter, a Ph.D. candidate in paleontology, builds robots based on fossilized animals that crawled out of the sea about 300 million years ago. She’s pioneering a new field that she calls paleo-bio-inspired robotics.

Jacob Williamson-Rea

A study in black and white

The Arthur Ross Gallery’s current exhibition features 58 linocut prints by South African artist William Kentridge. Created with black ink on type-filled dictionary pages, the prints depict objects that are iconic in the artist’s work, including coffee pots, typewriters, trees, birds, and cats. The exhibit is on display through Nov. 11.

Louisa Shepard

Exploring Shakespearian times in London

During an intensive interdisciplinary five-week course this summer, undergraduate students traveled to the heart of Elizabethan theater to gain an in-depth appreciation for the works of William Shakespeare where it all began.

Jill DiSanto

What happens to the brain after a traumatic injury?

Two undergrads interning with Penn Medicine’s Ramon Diaz-Arrastia spent the summer looking for biomarkers in the blood of TBI patients, and studying whether the generic form of Viagra might help promote recovery after such an injury.

Michele W. Berger

How do stereotypes affect what people think is fair?

Stereotypes systematically affect what people think is fair, according to new research from psychologist Anna Jenkins. The findings make it possible to predict how people will treat members of different social groups.

Michele W. Berger



In the News


Associated Press

Here’s why experts don’t think cloud seeding played a role in Dubai’s downpour

Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that many people blaming cloud seeding for Dubai storms are climate change deniers trying to divert attention from what’s really happening.

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Associated Press

In death, three decades after his trial verdict, O.J. Simpson still reflects America’s racial divides

Camille Charles of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Black Americans have grown less likely to believe in a famous defendant’s innocence as a show of race solidarity.

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The Wall Street Journal

‘Slouch’ review: The panic over posture

In her new book, “Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America,” Beth Linker of the School of Arts & Sciences traces society’s posture obsession to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

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Salon.com

“Record-shattering” heat wave in Antarctica — yep, climate change is the culprit

Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that persistent summer weather extremes like heat waves are becoming more common as people continue to warm the planet with carbon pollution.

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The New Yorker

The truth behind the slouching epidemic

Beth Linker of the School of Arts & Sciences traces the history of a poor-posture epidemic in the U.S. which began at the onset of the 20th century.

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