School of Arts & Sciences

A cleaner, greener airport of the future

Six students from across the University presented their vision of an airport equipped with carbon-capturing technology and an electrified vehicle fleet at a NASA competition, garnering the “Most Intriguing Concept” award.

Katherine Unger Baillie

The Great War and memory

History professor Warren Breckman took his Penn Global Seminar students to the Western Front area of northern France and Belgium to look at World War I through the intersections of personal and public memory.

Kristen de Groot

Can China stop climate change?

In a political science course and new book, Director of China Programs and Strategic Initiatives Scott Moore unfurls the layers of China’s approach to sustainability and technology.

Brandon Baker

Debate as social empowerment

From debating a team in an upstate New York prison to helping the formerly incarcerated in Philadelphia, the Penn Debate Society sees debate as a tool to help others help themselves

Kristen de Groot



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.

FULL STORY →



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.

FULL STORY →



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.

FULL STORY →



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.

FULL STORY →



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.

FULL STORY →