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Can music improve anxiety and depression for people with memory disorders?
Two women and a man playing large bongo drums.

Mary Javian, chair of career studies at the Curtis Institute, Tempy Small, a program participant, and Adam Pangburn, coordinator of community performance at Curtis, participated in a drum circle to close out the final “Creative Expression through Music” session. Nick DiBerardino (not pictured) lead the classes, which were coordinated by Penn graduate students Sarah Bujno and Matt Volpe (in the background).

Can music improve anxiety and depression for people with memory disorders?

That’s the aim of a recently completed pilot program connecting Penn Memory Center patients, Penn graduate students, and Curtis Institute musicians.

Michele W. Berger

Veteran homelessness down 5 percent, to continue declining each year
abstract images of people on the street, panhandling, a shoppint cart, evoking homelessness

Veteran homelessness down 5 percent, to continue declining each year

The U.S. departments of Housing and Urban Development and Veteran Affairs announced that veteran homelessness has decreased 5.4 percent in 2018—bringing the total down to nearly half the number of homeless veterans that were reported in 2010.

Penn Today Staff

Staging the plague
Laurel Redding of the School of Veterinary Medicine writes on an easel as members of her table look on

Gathered in Fagin Hall for a daylong disease outbreak symposium, students worked across disciplines to devise strategies for containing a fictionalized infection. Laurel Redding, a School of Veterinary Medicine faculty member and event facilitator, writes up her group’s thoughts during a brainstorming session. 

Staging the plague

Eighty-one students training in a diversity of health professions worked with regional and federal agencies to confront an imagined outbreak scenario centered around bubonic plague in Philadelphia.

Katherine Unger Baillie

The Healing Word
Deborah Thomas in front of bookcase

nocred

The Healing Word

Deborah Thomas embeds herself in communities stricken by violence to chronicle the humanity revealed during the aftermath.

Blake Cole

Educational leaders examine the ‘University of the Future’
University of the Future panel

The summit addressed how higher education must address the needs of a changing economy. Photo: Katherine Veri, Veri Productions

Educational leaders examine the ‘University of the Future’

“Beyond the Walls: The University of the Future” brought scholars, administrators, and technology experts together to discuss the future of higher education and the disruption of the traditional “brick and mortar” college campus.
Social work students help refugees in Europe
DSW Cohort in Greece

 

Photo: School of Social Policy & Practice

Social work students help refugees in Europe

Doctoral students from the School of Social Policy & Practice shared their expertise with leaders at an NGO that provides trauma-informed services for refugees in Athens.
To improve online information about violence and abuse, one group turned to Wikipedia
A project spearheaded by the Ortner Center updated 50 Wikipedia entries about domestic violence and assault.

A project spearheaded by the Ortner Center updated more than 50 Wikipedia entries on subjects ranging from “sexual assault in the military” to “female genital mutilation” with the latest research from faculty affiliated with the Center. The group will continue to update the entries periodically to incorporate new papers.

To improve online information about violence and abuse, one group turned to Wikipedia

Three undergrads and a recent alum, working with the Ortner Center’s Susan B. Sorenson, added the latest scientific research to more than 50 entries.

Michele W. Berger