English

Amy Paeth on the ‘poetry industrial complex’

In her new book, the lecturer in critical writing in the School of Arts & Sciences uses the history of the U.S. poet laureate as a window into how the arts, government, industry, and private donors interact and shape culture.

Susan Ahlborn

Starstruck on the Cannes red carpet

The 30 students who attended the Cannes Film Festival through a Penn Summer Abroad course were able to watch screenings of at least three to four films a day. For the most sought-after American film premieres they waited in “last-minute” lines for hours.

Louisa Shepard

Cultures of the book

In the Cultures of the Book course taught by Whitney Trettien, assistant professor of English, students “adopt a book” they select from the Penn Libraries collection, and their research projects are published on an academic website. 

Louisa Shepard

Seeing disability differently

Scholars are trying to understand—and change—how the world works for people with disabilities.

Susan Ahlborn

The Sachs Program announces 2023 grants

Now in its sixth year of supporting creative practice at Penn and in the surrounding community, The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation announced grants totaling $170,000 at its annual Sachs Grants Awards ceremony.

Brandon Baker

Who, What, Why: Jamie-Lee Josselyn

As associate director for recruitment for the Creative Writing Program, Jamie-Lee Josselyn visits high schools across the country to talk with student writers about opportunities at Penn.

Louisa Shepard



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In the News


The Washington Post

To his final days, my father always knew how to pull off the landing

In an Op-Ed, Paul Hendrickson of the School of Arts & Sciences reflects on his father’s legacy as a pilot and their complex relationship.

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Philadelphia Magazine

Why are 30,000 people studying poetry online with this guy?

Al Filreis of the School of Arts & Sciences is spotlighted for his popular online course on modern poetry.

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Financial Times

American mockery of Britain masks a deeper insecurity

Jed Esty of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Americans use Britain as a metaphor, a cultural projection of American anxiety.

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ABC Australia

The new Bridgerton prequel is ‘fiction inspired by fact’. So who was the real Queen Charlotte?

Ania Loomba of the School of Arts & Sciences says that a person historically described as a Moor or “blackamoor” wasn’t necessarily Black.

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Pennsylvania Capital Star

Why the debt ceiling fight is the GOP’s Groundhog Day

In an Op-Ed, Dick Polman of the School of Arts & Sciences says that conservative ideologues haven’t learned from past threats about raising the debt ceiling.

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Pennsylvania Capital Star

Ireland is more progressive than America about abortion

Dick Polman of the School of Arts & Sciences writes that, compared to the U.S., deeply Catholic Ireland in 2022 is a land of secular enlightenment.

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