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A life of writing and song
Rosanne Cash speaking at microphone at table with professor Al Filreis looking at her and smiling.

Singer-songwriter and author Rosanne Cash (left) met with students at the Kelly Writers House as part of the Fellows program, now in its 20th year. She made two public appearances, including a discussion with Al Filreis (right), English professor and Writers House faculty director.  

A life of writing and song

Rosanne Cash, a Kelly Writers House Fellow, was on campus for a course taught by English Professor Al Filreis that focuses on three eminent writers each spring semester.  

Louisa Shepard

Philadelphia: The new city of science
a large group of people in front of the Franklin Institute building with a science demonstration (with smoke and the aftermath of an explosion that caused colored balls to fly into the air) in the foreground

The Philadelphia Science Festival, happening from April 26th until May 4th, brings together hundreds of institutions from the Greater Philadelphia area and culminates in the grand finale Science Carnival along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway (Photo credit: Philadelphia Science Festival). 

Philadelphia: The new city of science

Penn researchers will be involved in a weeklong series of interactive activities and events across the city as part of the Philadelphia Science Festival.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Rare Chinese scroll unfurled at Penn Museum
Seven students gathered together looking at a painted Chinese scroll unrolled on a table.

Students in an art history course study objects each week at the Penn Museum, including a rare 200-year-old painted Chinese scroll. The course, History of Chinese Painting, is taught by Professor Nancy Steinhardt and grad student teaching assistant Chuanxin Weng (pictured center). 

Rare Chinese scroll unfurled at Penn Museum

Students in a history of art course taught by Professor Nancy Steinhardt had the chance to closely examine a rare 200-year-old painted Chinese scroll at the Penn Museum.

Louisa Shepard

Brain regions linked to memory and emotion help humans navigate smell
A man in a blue plaid coat, pink shirt and purple tie standing in front of a blurry building.

Jay Gottfried is a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor and the Arthur H. Rubenstein University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Brain regions linked to memory and emotion help humans navigate smell

The work points to the existence of a grid-like hexagonal structure in olfactory-related brain areas, similar to mapping configurations previously found to support spatial navigation in animals.

Michele W. Berger

Building literacy and leadership through basketball
Summer Kollie, Princess Aghayere, and Oladunni Alomaja, winners of a 2019 President's Engagement Prize

Building literacy and leadership through basketball

Three seniors with roots in West Africa will use their President’s Engagement Prize to build a program for Liberian girls that will combine sports and reading.

Gwyneth K. Shaw

A first-hand look at the complexity of technology for development
Safari truck with group looking at elephant

Students combined fun with their course work, including this game drive through Murchison Falls National Park. (Photo: Brian Rutto)

A first-hand look at the complexity of technology for development

Students in Guy Grossman’s Penn Global Seminar traveled to Uganda in March, an experience one student says ‘entirely changed’ her thinking about the value of smartphones and other innovations in Africa.

Gwyneth K. Shaw

Protecting the planet at Penn
Hands planting a plant.

Protecting the planet at Penn

Earth Day and every day, the University community is at work to make the world a little better. Here are some highlights from those efforts.

Katherine Unger Baillie , Michele W. Berger

In the pursuit of happiness, a new class leads the charge
A man in a blue shirt and khakis standing in front of rows of students sitting at desks.

A new course taught by James Pawelski of the Positive Psychology Center (standing) not only gives students an intellectual understanding of what it means to be happy and how to pursue it, but also aims to foster long-term change.

In the pursuit of happiness, a new class leads the charge

The course, taught by Positive Psychology’s James Pawelski, not only gives students an intellectual understanding of the subject but asks them to practice what they’re learning.

Michele W. Berger

Three from Penn elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Anita Allen, Daniel Rader, and Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein

Penn's Anita L. Allen, Daniel J. Rader, and Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein are among more than 200 newly elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Three from Penn elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Vice Provost for Faculty Anita Allen of the Law School and the School of Arts and Sciences, Daniel Rader of the Perelman School of Medicine, and Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein of Perry World House join a group recognized for their world-class leadership and expertise.

Katherine Unger Baillie