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Spotlights

Course shows students how Washington really works
students walk in front of the capitol building before class

(Homepage image) Penn students took Amtrak to Washington every Friday for the class, held at the Penn Biden Center, across from the U.S. Capitol.

Course shows students how Washington really works

Penn and George Mason University students traveled to Washington, D.C. every Friday this spring for a class that gives the inside scoop on policymaking inside the Beltway.

Kristen de Groot

The Clean Water Act at 50
ben franklin bridge at twilight with philly skyline

Homepage image: Though a “revolutionary” piece of legislation, the Clean Water Act still has its shortcomings, Penn faculty, staff, and students note. More work is needed to make rivers like the Delaware fishable and swimmable.

The Clean Water Act at 50

Approaching the half-century mark of this landmark piece of environmental legislation, Penn students, staff, and faculty share their reflections on its legacy, both strengths and shortcomings.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Ben Franklin: A voice from the past that speaks to our time
Interim president Wendell Pritchett interviewing Ken Burns.

Penn Interim President Wendell Pritchett (left) moderated the talk with documentarian Ken Burns.

Ben Franklin: A voice from the past that speaks to our time

At the 2022 Silfen Forum, Penn Interim President Wendell Pritchett chatted with filmmaker Ken Burns about his new two-part documentary on Benjamin Franklin.

Kristen de Groot

The changing face of portraiture at Penn
portrait in leidy labs

Homepage image: A portrait in Leidy honors Nathan Francis Mossell, who, in 1882, became the first African American student to earn a medical degree from Penn. With its placement in the accessible portion of the building’s stairway, this new portrait gallery is highly visible to students, staff, faculty, and visitors who spend time in the Biology Department.

The changing face of portraiture at Penn

Efforts around campus aim to diversify those honored in portraits and rethink how to approach representation through art.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Tangen Hall brings together aspiring entrepreneurs across the University
students working in tangen hall lab

Penn students working on the first floor of Tangen Hall. The first floor of the building is home to three of the five innovation spaces operated by Penn Engineering, which are intended to teach students to use physical tools to prototype and test their ideas. 

Tangen Hall brings together aspiring entrepreneurs across the University

At seven stories and 68,000 square feet, the Wharton-led Tangen is the largest student entrepreneurship hub in the world.

Dee Patel

Du Bois College House celebrates 50 years
interim president wendell pritchett greets students

First-year students Mataeya McFadden, Sarah Oburu, and Danielle Uter chat with Interim President Wendell Pritchett at the Du Bois College House 50th anniversary kickoff. 

Du Bois College House celebrates 50 years

For five decades, the living and learning space has served as a home away from home for students, and the community has evolved into a family.

Lauren Hertzler

Inspiring the next generation of archive scholars
students examine a long scroll in the archive class

Homepage image: Graduate students in the Inside the Archive course look on as Bill Whitaker, the curator and collections manager at the Weitzman School of Design’s Architectural Archives, unfurls an artifact from the Louis Kahn Collection.

Inspiring the next generation of archive scholars

Through Inside the Archive, a course taught by Liliane Weissberg of the School of Arts & Sciences, Penn students explore what an archive is, how history gets written, and what is ahead in a digital future.
From the page to the stage
students performing on stage

(Homepage image) Five students portray Dohhkin Rai, a tiger demon that convinces villain Dhona to sacrifice his own nephew in exchange for riches from the forest. “There’s a lot being said about the nature of lust and greed, about forgiveness, and about the bonds between parent and child, human and non-human, and the Earth and those who dwell on it,” Sethi says.

From the page to the stage

In collaboration with author Amitav Ghosh, musician Ali Sethi, and Penn’s Brooke O’Harra, 14 students brought to life a parable Ghosh wrote about the world’s largest mangrove forest, human greed, and the environment.

Michele W. Berger

Seeking justice, support for incarcerated Pennsylvanians
Five people stand in a group smiling outside.

(Homepage image) Left to right: Carson Eckhard, Jessica Gooding, Terrance Lewis, Sarah Simon, and Natalia Rommen in Center City, Philadelphia, outside the Criminal Justice Center on the day of Jehmar Gladden’s hearing. (Image: Courtesy of Project HOPE)

Seeking justice, support for incarcerated Pennsylvanians

As winners of the 2021 President’s Engagement Prize, Carson Eckhard, Natalia Rommen, and Sarah Simon provide hope for wrongfully convicted people and a roadmap for inmates set for release.

Kristen de Groot

Exploration awaits as Penn Abroad ramps up student trips
A group of students sit and smile for the camera on the ground in the Galapagos while a large lizard walks in the foreground.

(Homepage image) Participants in the Penn Global Seminar to the Galápagos Islands traveled over winter break to see first-hand the ecology, evolution, and natural history of Galápagos, along with the growing impact of humans on this fragile place. (Image: Courtesy of Penn Abroad)

Exploration awaits as Penn Abroad ramps up student trips

Two years after the pandemic forced Penn Abroad to brings students home, trips are back on and a busier-than-normal abroad schedule is coming in fall 2022.

Kristen de Groot