School of Arts & Sciences

Philippe Bourgois and Carlin Romano of the University of Pennsylvania have been named 2013 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellows. 

A new study from the University of Pennsylvania has shown that children as young as 2 understand basic grammar rules when they first learn to speak and are not simply imitating adults.

Pakistani documentarian Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will deliver the annual Global Distinguished Lecture at the University of Pennsylvania on Thursday, April 1

Spurred by the efforts of student activists, the University of Pennsylvania’s Asian American Studies Program was formed in the 1996-97 academic year.

  WHO:             Justin McDaniel

The question caused consternation. Several decades ago when Peter Conn and his wife filled out paperwork to adopt a baby girl from Korea, one of the questions on a state government form was about the number and names of their “natural” children. 

Like animals, plants go through several stages of development before they reach maturity. It has long been thought that some of the transitions between these stages are triggered by changes in the nutritional status of the plant.

WHO:             Peter Orszag

A new study by University of Pennsylvania linguists shows that the Philadelphia accent has changed in the last century. The traditional Southern inflections associated with Philadelphia native-born speakers are increasingly being displaced by Northern influences.

Philadelphia has the fourth-highest drowning rate among children, and drowning is the leading cause of death among those aged 1-4.  In 2005-2009, African-American children aged 5-14 were three times more likely to drown than whites. Some students at the University of Pennsylvania are taking aim at those sad statistics by teaching life-saving skills in the pool to youngsters from Penn’s West Philadelphia neighborhood.