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Civics

SNF Paideia Program expands, thanks to new grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation
Group of people gathered together by a building entrance.

During a celebration in May 2022, current fellows in the SNF Paideia Program welcomed the 2025 cohort.

SNF Paideia Program expands, thanks to new grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Increased funding will enable the SNF Paideia Program at Penn to strengthen a commitment to the civic mission of higher education on campus and beyond with enhanced course offerings, an expanded fellowship program, and more event programming.
Engaging in intersectional conversations on race and racism
students in a classroom watching a guest speaker

Students in American Race: A Philadelphia Story, a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program course, examined intersectional topics on race and racism through a broad, multidisciplinary lens. The course included directed readings, guest speaker presentations, such as this discussion led by Jessie Harper from the Graduate School of Education, and in-depth conversations about the city of Philadelphia.

Engaging in intersectional conversations on race and racism

In the spring, students engaged with complex topics, both intellectually and civically, as part of American Race: A Philadelphia Story, a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program course.

Erica K. Brockmeier

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

Tyrants get bad information—so do non-tyrants

Tyrants get bad information—so do non-tyrants

PIK Professor Jonathan D. Moreno and Stephen N. Xenakis, a member of the executive board of The Center for Ethics & the Rule of Law, pen an op-ed arguing that there is no validity to those who claim the superiority of democratic institutions in collecting and using military intelligence. “In any setting, sound decision-making requires that leaders rely on the best possible inputs for information, situational awareness, and military intelligence,” they write.

Empowering refugees through education
Group of students face camera, arm in arm, in front of Perry World House

The student-led Penn for Refugee Empowerment organization offers tutoring and helps refugee-resettlement organizations with after-school programming, child care, home setup, and event assistance.

Empowering refugees through education

The student-led group Penn for Refugee Empowerment offers tutoring and helps refugee-resettlement organizations with after-school programming, child care, home setup, and event assistance.

Kristen de Groot

Public media can improve our ‘flawed’ democracy
Radio microphone and a soundboard with an ON AIR sign.

Image: Fringer Cat via Unsplash

Public media can improve our ‘flawed’ democracy

A new study finds that countries with well-funded public media have healthier democracies, and explains why investment in U.S. public media is an investment in the future of journalism and democracy alike.

Alina Ladyzhensky

The Black Lives Matter movement, but not COVID encouraged voters toward Biden
Group of protesters in masks in the streets, one carries a large sign that reads BLACK LIVES MATTER.

On June 5, 2020, 50,000 protesters marched through the streets of Philadelphia during a Black Lives Matter protest. (Image: Shawn Kornhauser)

The Black Lives Matter movement, but not COVID encouraged voters toward Biden

As swing voters registered more awareness about discrimination against Black Americans, they became more likely to vote for the party they felt would best rectify that—Democrats.

Julie Sloane

Penn Law reacts to the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a U.S. Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in her office at the court in Washington. (Image: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Penn Law reacts to the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

President Joe Biden has selected the Honorable Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as his nominee to the Supreme Court.

From Penn Carey Law

Former Justice Breyer law clerks share perspectives on his retirement
The Supreme Court Building

The Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C.

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Former Justice Breyer law clerks share perspectives on his retirement

Statements from Ted Ruger, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Dean and Bernard G. Segal Professor of Law, and Jacques deLisle, Stephen A. Cozen Professor of Law & Professor of Political Science.

From Penn Carey Law

2020 voting report: By the numbers
Students bend over to fill out paperwork on a table

Students sign up on National Voter Registration Day in September 2021. 

2020 voting report: By the numbers

Penn students voted in unprecedented numbers during the 2020 presidential election, in part due to the voter-engagement program Penn Leads the Vote, which recently won the 2021 ALL IN Democracy Challenge Best Action Plan Award.

Kristina García