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Disability in America
Judy Heumann is applauded during her swearing-in as U.S. Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Service in 1993.

Judy Heumann, center, is applauded during her swearing-in as U.S. Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Service by Judge Gail Bereola, left, in Berkeley, California, on June 29, 1993. At left is Berkeley Mayor Loni Hancock with sign language interpreter Joseph Quinn, and Julie Weissman, right, in attendance. Heumann, a renowned disability rights activist who helped secure legislation protecting the rights of disabled people, died on March 4, 2023.

(Image: AP Photo/Susan Ragan)

Disability in America

In a Q&A, history and sociology of science professor Beth Linker discusses the history of disability in America.

Kristina García

Reinventing customary law in medieval France
Historian Ada Kuskowski listens to a speaker sitting next to her at a table.

Ada Maria Kuskowski is a medieval and legal historian. 

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Reinventing customary law in medieval France

A new book by historian Ada Maria Kuskowski of the School of Arts & Sciences traces the formation of customary law as a field of knowledge in medieval Europe.

Kristen de Groot

Who, What, Why: Rich Lizardo on poverty in early modern Spain
Rich Lizardo sits on concrete stairs in front of greenery on Penn campus.

History Ph.D. candidate Rich Lizardo.

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Who, What, Why: Rich Lizardo on poverty in early modern Spain

The history Ph.D. candidate’s work traces the evolution of the ideas, institutions, and images of poverty in early modern Spain and highlights how much of the current debates on poverty echo those of the past.

Kristen de Groot