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Louisa Shepard
News Officer
lshepard@upenn.edu
English
Walt Whitman up close
As part of the Penn Manuscript Collective, students transcribe rare documents and original works by Walt Whitman in the University’s collection. Their discoveries will be included in an international symposium at Penn this spring, Whitman at 200, led by the Penn Libraries marking the anniversary of the poet’s birth.
Writers House reborn
Renovations were recently completed at Kelly Writers House to expand its premier Arts Cafe and make the space more technologically friendly.
A classic hat trick
In one year, Sheila Murnaghan, Alfred Reginald Allen Memorial Professor of Greek, published a translation of Medea and books on the Beat generation and classics for children.
TV marathon
With many taking time off over the holidays, Rahul Mukherjee of cinema studies shares his thoughts on binge-watching television.
The best books of 2018 for young readers
Penn GSE’s Ebony Elizabeth Thomas and her team share their book choices for elementary and middle grade kids, showcasing authors whose work explores issues like race, gender, ethnicity, and class thoughtfully and empathetically.
Bridging the gap between Penn students and the West Philly community
In a seminar co-taught by Herman Beavers and Suzana Berger, undergraduates work alongside Sayre High School students and West Philadelphia residents to study the works of August Wilson.
In this photography class, students become curators—at the Barnes
This year’s Spiegel-Wilks Curatorial Seminar has taken students inside the world of the Barnes Foundation, where they learn about the history of photography and get a hands-on look at museum operations.
From devastation, stories of hope and resilience
On a summer field trip, students assisted in the filming of virtual reality videos of artists in Puerto Rico reacting to Hurricane Maria.
‘Near/Miss’
The poetry in Charles Bernstein’s just-published collection, “Near/Miss,” defies convention in language and form. This is his 15th book of poetry.
Best seller: author and alum Jennifer Egan to teach spring semester literature course
Best-selling author and journalist Jennifer Egan, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, will teach a literature course at Penn in the spring as an artist-in-residence.
Media Contact
In the News
The Washington Post
At What Point Does Crying ‘Lynching’ Trivialize the Word?
Herman Beavers of the School of Arts and Sciences analyzed the problematic use of the word “lynching” to describe celebrities and politicians convicted in the court of public opinion. Beavers said that casual use of the term diminishes the long and brutal history of anti-black violence in the U.S.
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PBS NewsHour
Brief but Spectacular: Imani Davis
English and Africana Studies major Imani Davis of New York City performed a #MeToo movement-inspired poem on the “Brief but Spectacular” segment of the “PBS NewsHour.”
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