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Wolf Humanities story slam taps into thriving ASL storytelling culture
Windell Wink Smith

Windell “Wink” Smith, the emcee of a March 27 Wolf Humanities Center story slam combining ASL and English-speaking storytellers, is an ASL performer who tours the country. ASL storytelling has historically been a way to share the culture of the deaf community.

Wolf Humanities story slam taps into thriving ASL storytelling culture

The Wolf Humanities Center’s latest “Afterlives”-themed event recognizes a shared thread of humanity among us all: We all tell stories.
Crowd-sourced map showcases campus accessibility in real time
Mark Bookman and Alice McGrath are the co-leads on a new map accessibility project.

Mark Bookman and Alice McGrath are spearheading the new accessibility mapping of the Penn campus.

Crowd-sourced map showcases campus accessibility in real time

Mark Bookman and Alice McGrath are on a quest to map physical and social barriers across campus. The goal is a crowd-sourced platform that automatically updates to present a real-time user accessibility resource.

Michele W. Berger

The future of technology
Teach-in.Future of tech

Moderator Susan Davidson and panelists Rakesh Vohra, Aaron Roth, and Michael Kearns (left to right) discussed algorithmic decision making, which now contributes to the prices of goods and services we purchase, the media we consume, and whether we are approved for a loan or interviewed for a job.

The future of technology

As new technologies emerge, they bring with them new ethical challenges. The topic of the future of technology was front and center on day three of the Penn Teach-in.

Ali Sundermier

Lauding a transformative scholar
Penn Professor Thadious Davis Symposium group

More than 100 people attended an evening reception for the symposium in honor of Penn Professor Emeritus Thadious Davis. From left, GerShun Avilez, Salamishah Tillet, Margo Crawford, Jed Esty, Anita Allen, Davis, Barbara Savage, Herman Beavers and Dagmawi Woubshet. Photo by Scott Ellis.

Lauding a transformative scholar

Chosen for her expertise in Southern and African-American literature, author and poet Thadious Davis was one of the first professors recruited by Penn President Amy Gutmann. Davis was honored at a reception and a symposium which focused on her work exploring race, region, and gender.
Opening the Teach-in by breaking down barriers
Teach-in.Evolution crawl

Colorful chalk drawings and informative displays along Locust Walk engaged passersby in learning about 4 billion years of the evolution of life on Earth.

Opening the Teach-in by breaking down barriers

The first full day of the Penn Teach-in engaged participants with expert panels on vaccine denial and firearm violence, an "evolutionary walk through time," and a dialogue on the production and dissemination of knowledge.

Katherine Unger Baillie, Michele W. Berger

Remembering Hawking: Q&A with Vijay Balasubramanian
Vijay Balasubramanian, physics professor

Remembering Hawking: Q&A with Vijay Balasubramanian

Stephen Hawking, one of history’s most influential physicists, spent his life grappling with mysteries of the universe. Vijay Balasubramanian of the School of Arts and Sciences shared some of his memories of Hawking and discussed the impact the Briton had on scientists and nonscientists alike.

Ali Sundermier

Short-term effects of Daylight Saving Time
Rebecca Umbach, a fourth-year doctoral student in the department of Criminology at Penn

Rebecca Umbach, a fourth-year doctoral student in the department of Criminology

Short-term effects of Daylight Saving Time

Assaults decrease by 3 percent the Monday after the switch to Daylight Saving Time in the spring, according to research from Penn criminologists.

Michele W. Berger

Creating atomic water filters
Creating Atomic Water Filters

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Creating atomic water filters

A vast majority of the earth’s water is salty, making it unfit for people to drink. Researchers are working on a technology that could potentially offer a new method of desalinating water that would be both fast and scalable.

Ali Sundermier

Cleaning up vacant lots makes neighborhoods safer
Vacant lot remediation work from Penn and Columbia researchers found that cleaning up blighted spaces could reduce crime and make neighborhoods safer.

Cleaning up vacant lots makes neighborhoods safer

Removing trash and debris, grading land, planting new grass, and maintaining lots resulted in a 29 percent reduction in gun violence, 22 percent decrease in burglaries, and 30 percent drop in nuisances.

Michele W. Berger