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School of Arts & Sciences
A simpler approach for creating quantum materials
New research details how properties found in flat-band physics, similar to twisted bilayer graphene, can be obtained in just a single layer.
Tales of abuse from a ‘Dream House’
Carmen María Machado, who teaches speculative fiction as a writer in residence in the Creative Writing Program, has received extraordinary attention for her new memoir, “In the Dream House,” using multiple genres to describe an abusive relationship with her former girlfriend.
How much gossip is needed to foster social cooperation?
Researchers Mari Kawakatsu, Taylor A. Kessinger, and Joshua B. Plotkin in Penn’s Department of Biology developed a model incorporating two forms of gossip to study indirect reciprocity.
Hearts beat as one
PIK Professor Michael Platt and collaborators studied how physiologic measures like cardiac synchrony can guide decision making in groups. Their study found that heart rate synchrony was a much better predictor than standard questionnaire-based surveys.
Gun Violence
Gun violence is happening almost daily in small towns and larger, urban areas across the U.S. The University of Pennsylvania has a variety of experts to discuss the many perspectives related to gun violence—from the medical treatment of gunshot victims to the policies surrounding domestic violence and firearms.
A 2021 Rhodes Scholar for Penn
May graduate Mackenzie Fierceton from St. Louis been awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford in England. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and is currently completing her master’s degree in clinical social work.
U.S. president vs. congressional investigators: How the battle of the branches could play out
Matthew Levendusky of the School of Arts and Sciences and Tobias Barrington Wolff of the Law School discuss the potential political, legal, and constitutional implications of the fight over a web of investigations and subpoenas.
In hot water: Coral resilience in the face of climate change
For nearly a decade researchers from Penn have been studying two coral species in Hawaii to better understand their adaptability to the effects of climate change.
Two Penn juniors named Truman Scholars
Two juniors, Annah Chollet and Camilo Duran, have received Harry S. Truman Scholarships, a merit-based award of as much as $30,000 for graduate or professional school to prepare for careers in public service.
Penn senior Nicholas Thomas-Lewis is a 2022 Rhodes Scholar
Senior Nicholas Thomas-Lewis has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford. The captain of the varsity cheer team, he is majoring in cognitive science with a concentration in cognitive neuroscience.
In the News
Suddenly there aren’t enough babies. The whole world is alarmed
Jesús Fernández-Villaverde of the School of Arts & Sciences estimates that global fertility last year fell to below global replacement for the first time in human history.
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The world’s oceans just broke an important climate change record
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the warming of the oceans is helping to destabilize ice shelves and fuel more powerful hurricanes and tropical cyclones.
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Philadelphia’s Tyshawn Sorey wins Pulitzer Prize in music
Tyshawn Sorey of the School of Arts & Sciences has won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in music for “Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith),” a concerto for saxophone and orchestra.
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Jerome Rothenberg, who expanded the sphere of poetry, dies at 92
Charles Bernstein of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the late Jerome Rothenberg was the ultimate hyphenated person: a poet-critic-anthologist-translator.
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A collector donated 75,000 comic books to Penn Libraries, valued at more than $500,000
Alumnus Gary Prebula and his wife, Dawn, have donated a $500,000 collection of more than 75,000 comic books and graphic novels to Penn Libraries, featuring remarks from Sean Quimly of the Kislak Center and Jean-Christophe Cloutier of the School of Arts & Sciences.
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