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Ten from Penn elected 2021 AAAS Fellows
Researchers Sara Cherry, Susan Davidson, Douglas Durian, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Katalin Kariko, I. Joseph Kroll, Mingyao Li, Hongjun Song, Duncan Watts, and E. John Wherry

Penn’s new AAAS Fellows for 2021, clockwise from top left: Sara Cherry, Susan Davidson, Douglas Durian, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Katalin Karikó, I. Joseph Kroll, Mingyao Li, Hongjun Song, Duncan Watts, and E. John Wherry

Ten from Penn elected 2021 AAAS Fellows

Ten scholars representing five schools across the University of Pennsylvania have been named to the 2021 class of American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows, recognized for their “scientifically and socially distinguished achievements.”

Katherine Unger Baillie

After the shutdown, what comes next for the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery?
philadelphia refinery

Flames and smoke emerge from the Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refining Complex in Philadelphia, Friday, June 21, 2019. (Image: Matt Rourke/AP Images)

After the shutdown, what comes next for the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery?

Creating a greener, more equitable future at the site means understanding its complex history, its long-running public health impacts, and working in partnership with communities.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Anti-racism and reproductive justice
Alexis McGill Johnson and Dorothy Roberts

Alexis McGill Johnson (left) and Dorothy Roberts spoke at the 21st Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture in Social Justice, centered on reproductive rights and anti-racism.

Anti-racism and reproductive justice

PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts joined Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, in the 21st annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture in Social Justice. They addressed the intersectional nature of anti-racism and reproductive freedom.

Kristina García

Mentor support for the first-generation college experience
two people standing outside back to back smiling at camera

Senior Rachel Swym (left) was a summer intern with alumna Leanne Huebner at the educational nonprofit Minds Matter, and they have continued their connection ever since.

Mentor support for the first-generation college experience

Three decades apart, senior Rachel Swym and alumna Leanne Huebner found a common bond in their rural backgrounds and first-generation, highly aided college experience.
Briana Nichols focuses her work not on migrants, but on the people who stay
Briana Nichols stands among a group of twelve people in Guatemala.

(Pre-pandemic image) Briana Nichols with a group of young women who participated in a weekly collaborative workshop with her. (Image: Penn GSE)

Briana Nichols focuses her work not on migrants, but on the people who stay

When Briana Nichols, a joint doctoral candidate in Penn GSE and anthropology, started working within communities of extensive migration, she says the thing they cared about the most was what it took to not migrate.

From Penn GSE

A novel theory on how conspiracy theories take shape
Cover of the book "Creating conspiracy beliefs: How our thoughts are shaped" by Dolores Albarracín, Julia Albarracín, Man-pui Sally Chan, and Kathleen Hall Jamieson

A novel theory on how conspiracy theories take shape

In a new book, Dolores Albarracín, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, and colleagues show that two factors—the conservative media and societal fear and anxiety—have driven recent widespread conspiracies, from Pizzagate to those around COVID-19 vaccines.

Michele W. Berger

Justin McDaniel on life, death, religion, and his latest book
A row of gilded Buddha figures sit under a canopy swathed in red cloth

Buddhist temples (like the one above in Wat Pho, Thailand) are often ornately decorated with gilded statues, flowers, and incense. “Religion,” says McDaniel, “is often a celebration, not an austere retreat.” (Image: Frida Aguilar Estrada on Unsplash.)

  • Q&A

    • Justin McDaniel on life, death, religion, and his latest book

    In his new book, “Wayward Distractions,” the School of Arts & Sciences’ Justin McDaniel compiles articles on art and material culture spanning his 20-plus years of scholarship.

    Kristina García

    From the archives, a class on different communities of Jews in China
    students looking at manuscripts in a penn libraries course

    Homepage image: Students brought their own expertise to the experience of working with the archival materials, including translation of Chinese characters written on the back of photographs. Working together (center) were College freshmen (from left) Louis Dong, Nancy (Ziqi) An, and Alice (Yucheng) Feng.

    From the archives, a class on different communities of Jews in China

    Kathryn Hellerstein created an opportunity for her first-year seminar students to study archival material from a collection donated to the Penn Libraries by her mentor, Israeli scholar Irene Eber.
    Mask-wearing and moral values
    Person wearing a face mask while studying in Fischer Fine Arts Library.

    Mask-wearing and moral values

    Tiffany Tieu led a study on the psychology of mask-wearing and its relationship with a person’s moral values, using Penn undergraduates as the subjects.

    Lauren Rebecca Thacker