English | Penn Today

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.

performer on stage reading from a script at the Community Monologue event with seated performers behind her on stage

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.

Thom Collins teaching class at the Barnes

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.

Charles Bernstein at his desk in his office with a colorful painting by his wife on the wall behind him

Q&A

‘Near/Miss’ Penn professor Charles Bernstein publishes new poetry collection

The poetry in Charles Bernstein’s just-published collection, “Near/Miss,” defies convention in language and form. This is his 15th book of poetry.

Author and journalist Jennifer Egan, a Penn alumna, will teach an English literature course in the spring semester as an artist-in-residence in the School of Arts and Sciences. (Photo by Pieter M. Van Hattem.)

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.

Lorene Cary leading a discussion in her safekids class

Writing with purpose

Students in Lorene Cary’s creative writing course focus on voting, midterm elections, and exploring the big questions of their generation.

A medieval minute

For their 60-second lecture, English professor Emily Steiner and doctoral student Aylin Malcolm put a dramatic twist on medieval English.

Exploring Shakespearian times in London

During an intensive interdisciplinary five-week course this summer, undergraduate students traveled to the heart of Elizabethan theater to gain an in-depth appreciation for the works of William Shakespeare where it all began.

Professors Michael Weisberg and David Fox leading Penn Reading Project

Penn Reading Project gets freshmen on the same page

The Penn Reading Project, in its 28th year, is designed to bring the freshmen class together on one academic project. The Class of 2022 read Thornton Wilder’s “The Bridge of San Luis Rey,” as part of the Provost’s “Year of Why?”

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