School of Arts & Sciences

Two people standing in front of a wall of art. One of them is holding up a second piece of art in gloved hands. The other gestures toward the art, holding a computer or clipboard in the other hand.

Do art museums prioritize visitor well-being enough?

Research from the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project in Penn’s Positive Psychology Center reveals that the people working in these institutions want to see greater emphasis on human flourishing, but they feel ill-equipped to make it happen.

Michele W. Berger ・

penn museum incantation bowl being examined

The story the bowls tell

In an ambitious new project, historian Simcha Gross and Harvard’s Rivka Elitzur-Leiman are studying hundreds of ancient incantation bowls housed at the Penn Museum. They hope to better understand the objects and eventually, build a database of all these bowls worldwide.

Michele W. Berger ・

Jed Esty in his office

The future of decline in America

In his new book “The Future of Decline: Anglo-American Culture at its Limits,” English Professor Jed Esty offers alternatives to America’s “language of greatness,” taking lessons from the experience of Britain during the past century.

Louisa Shepard ・

A man walks past graffiti about Irish unification on a wall in Belfast.

Making sense of a United Ireland

In a new book, political scientist Brendan O’Leary explores the contentious issue of a reunited Ireland and why now is the time to consider the future of the island.

Kristen de Groot ・

A portrait of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and flowers at his foundation's headquarters In Moscow

Mikhail Gorbachev’s legacy

Penn experts share their thoughts on Gorbachev’s impact on the Soviet Union and the world, and how history will remember him.

Kristen de Groot ・

Person seen walking in a town across the river from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine

Ukraine nuclear power plant caught in war’s crossfire

The School of Arts & Sciences’ Anna Mikulska, an expert on the geopolitics of energy, discusses the situation at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Station, Russia’s aims, and what she’s most concerned about.

Kristen de Groot ・

Antoilyn Nguyen

A summer optimizing obstetrics health care

Second-year student Antoilyn Nguyen spent their summer as a researcher analyzing labor and delivery charts as part of a long-term cohort study to standardize labor induction for better and more equitable results.

Tina Rodia ・



In the News


Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Civil discourse: Tips for navigating potentially divisive discussions around the holiday table

Research co-authored by Matthew Levendusky of the School of Arts & Sciences found that political discussions between members of opposing voting parties helped reduce polarization and negative views of the other side.

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Associated Press

Archaeologists discover 4,000-year-old canals used to fish by predecessors of ancient Maya

Jeremy Sabloff of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Museum says that ancient fish-trapping canals show continuity in Maya culture.

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Chicago Sun-Times

UChicago students, Barrington native among 2024 Rhodes Scholars heading to University of Oxford

College of Arts and Sciences fourth-year Om Gandhi from Barrington, Illinois, has been awarded a 2025 Rhodes Scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Penn student awarded Rhodes Scholarship to continue cancer research at Oxford University

College of Arts and Sciences fourth-year Om Gandhi from Barrington, Illinois, has been awarded a 2025 Rhodes Scholarship to continue his cancer research at Oxford University.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Penn has preserved a pair of gloves said to belong to Shakespeare. Did they?

Alicia Meyer and Tessa Gadomski of Penn Libraries are researching whether a pair of centuries-old gloves belonged to Shakespeare, with remarks from Zachary Lesser of the School of Arts & Sciences.

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