City of Philadelphia

A time traveling Harriet Tubman, brought to life on stage

English faculty Lorene Cary’s first play features a time traveling Harriet Tubman who toggles between her 19th-century life and a present-day Philadelphia prison where she recruits soldiers to fight with her in the Civil War. Playing to sold-out audiences, “My General Tubman” is on stage through mid-March at Arden Theatre Company.

Louisa Shepard

A day in shining armor

Grad students get a close-up view of artwork and materials from museum collections—including a 500-year-old painting and two sets of armor from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Louisa Shepard

Closing the wealth gap in West Philadelphia

The City of Philadelphia and Actions Not Words have selected Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships to develop and implement a new entrepreneurial program, Project Elevate, offering financial literacy education at public high schools.

Kristina García



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

Comcast’s Sports Complex plan for South Philly would make our city less livable

In an Op-Ed, Vukan R. Vuchic of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that Philadelphia should make transit more accessible rather than striving to accommodate more cars.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

How did a white woman come to write the newest definitive text on Philadelphia’s Black history?

Penn alum Amy Jane Cohen is profiled for her new book “Black History in the Philadelphia Landscape,” which examines Black history through the lens of events, institutions, and individuals across the city. The book includes a reflection from Penn chaplain Charles Howard.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Mayor Parker’s plan to ‘remove the presence of drug users’ from Kensington raises new questions

Shoshana Aronowitz of the School of Nursing and Ashish Thakrar of the Perelman School of Medicine comment on the lack of specificity in Philadelphia’s plan to remove drug users from Kensington and on the current state of drug treatment in the city.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia’s Market Street East searches for growth and renewal — with or without a new Sixers arena

Akira Drake Rodriguez, Rashida Ng, and Dominic Vitiello of the Weitzman School of Design say there should be a more robust and inclusive conversation about the future of Philadelphia’s Market Street East.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Act 135 nonprofits bust blight. Vulnerable owners pay the price

A Penn Carey Law analysis found that Act 135 petitions in Philadelphia have disproportionately been filed against Black and Asian property owners.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

A burial for 19 Black Philadelphians, 200 years in the making

Penn Museum Director Christopher Woods says that the interment of 19 Black Philadelphians at Eden Cemetery represents a reckoning with the Museum’s colonial past and an act of reconciliation with the local community.

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