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Resisting the resource curse
Political Science Ph.D. candidate Mikhail Strokan stands in front of a sign with a seal that reads "Tashkent."

Mikhail Strokan is a Ph.D. candidate in political science.

Resisting the resource curse

Political science Ph.D. candidate Mikhail Strokan’s work looks at the idea that countries abundant in such natural resources as oil and natural gas wind up struggling economically despite the bounty—and examines why some of these countries fare better than others.

Kristen de Groot

A question of neutrality: Switzerland’s role in 19th-century imperialism
Penn rising fourth-year Sophie Mwaisela stands in front of a brick archway with her arms crossed.

Sophie Mwaisela is a rising fourth-year in the College of Arts and Sciences majoring in history.

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A question of neutrality: Switzerland’s role in 19th-century imperialism

History undergraduate Sophie Mwaisela traveled to Geneva this summer to conduct research for her honors thesis.

Kristen de Groot

Environmental conservation, justice, and gender
Mia McElhatton.

Mia McElhatton spent the summer working in the lab of Kok-Chor Tan, a professor in the Department of Philosophy. Her project focused on how conservationists respond to women and those who identify as women.

(Image: Ta’Liyah Thomas)

Environmental conservation, justice, and gender

Through her Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring summer internship, Mia McElhatton explores how efforts to save the planet may disproportionately burden women.

From Omnia

A Philadelphia artistic collaboration at Penn 
Kay Seohyung Lee standing in art gallery leaning against a wall

Kay Seohyung Lee, lecturer in fine arts at the Weitzman School of Design.

nocred

A Philadelphia artistic collaboration at Penn 

An exhibition of 50 artworks by 34 undergraduate students in six Philadelphia colleges and universities, “Let Me Know You Are Alright,” is on view at the Charles Addams Gallery on campus through Aug. 18.

Louisa Shepard

Could the age of the universe be twice as old as current estimates suggest?
Thousands of small galaxies appear across this view. Their colors vary. Some are shades of orange, while others are white. Most appear as fuzzy ovals, but a few have distinct spiral arms. In front of the galaxies are several foreground stars. Most appear blue, and the bright stars have diffraction spikes, forming an eight-pointed star shape. There are also many thin, long, orange arcs that curve around the center of the image.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is rich with detail.

Thousands of galaxies—including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared—have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it.

Webb’s Near-Infra Red Cam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus—they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features.

(Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)

Could the age of the universe be twice as old as current estimates suggest?

Penn Professors Vijay Balasubramanian and Mark Devlin offer a broader understanding of a recent paper’s claim that the universe could be 26.7 billion years old.
Operatic notes: One student’s research on opera in society
Thomas Sharrock standing on the steps outside a building

Sharrock asked patrons to complete the research survey two hours before each of the seven opera performances, and during the intermission.

(Image: Shea Roggio) 

Operatic notes: One student’s research on opera in society

Rising second-year Thomas Sharrock attended seven operas this summer at the Royal Opera House in London, studying audience perceptions of opera in the United Kingdom.

Louisa Shepard

Disability in America
Judy Heumann is applauded during her swearing-in as U.S. Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Service in 1993.

Judy Heumann, center, is applauded during her swearing-in as U.S. Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Service by Judge Gail Bereola, left, in Berkeley, California, on June 29, 1993. At left is Berkeley Mayor Loni Hancock with sign language interpreter Joseph Quinn, and Julie Weissman, right, in attendance. Heumann, a renowned disability rights activist who helped secure legislation protecting the rights of disabled people, died on March 4, 2023.

(Image: AP Photo/Susan Ragan)

Disability in America

In a Q&A, history and sociology of science professor Beth Linker discusses the history of disability in America.

Kristina Linnea García