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Anthropology

Faith, athletic drive, and the Midwestern spirit
Thrower Cam Landis stands in front of the Penn Museum, where the anthropology museum is based.

Cam Landis, thrower, football player, anthropology major, and Midwesterner, explored his Jewish roots at Hillel, culminating in a bar mitzvah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City. 

Faith, athletic drive, and the Midwestern spirit

May graduate Cam Landis, an anthropology major from Madison, Ohio, played on the offensive line for the football team, walked on to the track team as a thrower—and delved into his Jewish roots at Hillel.

Kristina García

A multidisciplinary approach to considering the Earth’s changing systems
view of earth from space

(Homepage image) Touching on a broad range of topics from climate’s impact on national security to resilient building design to emissions related to food production, the course aimed to boost students’ understanding of earth systems and climate literacy. (Image: NASA)

A multidisciplinary approach to considering the Earth’s changing systems

Bringing expertise from each of their disciplines, the School of Arts & Sciences’ Kathleen Morrison and Joseph Francisco and the Environmental Innovations Initiative’s Melissa Brown Goodall infused chemistry, anthropology, policy, and more into an introductory course on climate and the environment.

Katherine Unger Baillie

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

Keepers of the cultural memory
An old and large book upside down on a table, being held by two sets of hands, one gloved, the other not. There are boxes and other materials all around.

Workers at the rare manuscripts and old printed books department of the Andrey Sheptytsky National Museum store them in cardboard boxes to reduce the risk of damage in the event of an attack in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, Friday, March 4, 2022. (Image: AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

AP Photo/Bernat Armangue

Keepers of the cultural memory

In wartime, saving human lives is a top priority. But secondary considerations often include preserving the cultural heritage also under siege. Penn experts offer their thoughts as the situation in Ukraine continues to unfold.

Michele W. Berger

Christopher Woods on his first year as director of the Penn Museum
Person standing in front of a sphinx in a museum

One year in, Penn Museum Director Christopher Woods has  continued to lead the massive transformation of the 135-year-old institution’s building while reevaluating the collection, expanding the staff, strengthening community engagement, and addressing sensitive issues through new policies.

Christopher Woods on his first year as director of the Penn Museum

Penn Museum Director Christopher Woods leads the massive transformation of the 135-year-old institution’s building while reevaluating the collection, expanding the staff and community engagement, and addressing sensitive issues through new policies.
From 2,800-year-old charred food lumps, a window into past civilizations
Kathy Morrison sitting at a computer in a lab, gesturing to grad student Moriah McKenna. They both wear white lab coats. In front of them is a computer screen with what looks like a large rock. Next to the computer is a large microscope with its light on.

Archaeologist Kathleen Morrison (center) and anthropology doctoral student Moriah McKenna discuss one of the charred lumps from a 2010 excavation in southern India. The image is possible thanks to a new microscope, seen here on the right, that takes and stitches together high-resolution images in incredible detail. (Image: Eric Sucar)

From 2,800-year-old charred food lumps, a window into past civilizations

At a site in southern India, archaeologist Kathleen Morrison and colleagues discovered the remains of two types of dough, offering insights into how the region’s dietary practices have evolved.

Michele W. Berger

Studying the past through a modern-day lens
Lynn Meskell standing in front of a glass display case at the Penn Museum.

Lynn Meskell is the Richard D. Green Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor in the Department of Anthropology in the School of Arts & Sciences, a professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning and the graduate program in Historic Preservation in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and a curator in the Middle East and Asia sections at the Penn Museum.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

Studying the past through a modern-day lens

In a Q & A, archaeologist and PIK Professor Lynn Meskell discusses her background, the subjects that interest her—from espionage to World Heritage sites—and collaborations that have organically arisen at Penn despite the pandemic and a mostly remote first year.

Michele W. Berger

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

Learning to listen in troubled times
People in masks talk about an exercise in listening

Ernesto Pujol leads a workshop on “Listening in Troubled Times,” part of a lecture on the topic organized by the SNF Paideia Program. (Image: Lisa Marie Patzer)

Learning to listen in troubled times

The SNF Paideia Program and partners featured Ernesto Pujol and Aaron Levy, an artist and an interdisciplinary scholar who have transformed both what it means to listen and what the act of listening can achieve as part of a lecture and workshops.

Kristen de Groot