6.22
Faculty
Introducing Wharton dean Erika James
Introducing Wharton dean Erika James
On July 1, James began a new chapter in her career as the first woman and first person of color to be appointed dean of the Wharton School in the institution’s 139-year history.
James Primosch continues to compose during COVID
James Primosch continues to compose during COVID
The professor of music, who won an award and released two new albums during the pandemic, discusses composition, text as music, and embracing electronic music in the absence of concert halls.
Jay Kirk on writing, teaching, and his new nonfiction book, ‘Avoid the Day’
Jay Kirk on writing, teaching, and his new nonfiction book, ‘Avoid the Day’
Penn and Philadelphia are woven throughout a new book by Jay Kirk as he pursues the mystery of a missing music manuscript by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, traveling from Vermont to Europe to the Arctic Circle. Penn Today spoke the lecturer in nonfiction creative writing about “Avoid the Day: A New Nonfiction in Two Movements.”
Pandemic project: Odyssey-a-Day
Pandemic project: Odyssey-a-Day
Classics Professor Emily Wilson created a project where she filmed herself reading short passages from each of the 24 books of her celebrated translation of Homer’s “Odyssey,” complete with costumes, props, and voices.
Guthrie Ramsey’s creative journey of healing, collaboration, and persistence
Guthrie Ramsey’s creative journey of healing, collaboration, and persistence
Music Professor Guthrie Ramsey has released a new album of songs meant to pay homage to his many musical partnerships. The project was prompted by his cancer diagnosis and influenced by the global pandemic and uprising against racial injustice.
What the 1968 Kerner Commission can teach us
What the 1968 Kerner Commission can teach us
Criminologist and statistician Richard Berk, who worked on the report as a graduate student, explains the systemic racism and poverty found to underlie violent unrest in the 1960s and where COVID-19 and the economy fit today.
Design faculty and Art for Philadelphia raise money against police brutality
Design faculty and Art for Philadelphia raise money against police brutality
Weitzman faculty members David Hartt and Sharon Hayes are among a group of Philadelphia-based artists participating in Art for Philadelphia, a fundraising initiative to support those protesting against police brutality.
Child abuse is Marci Hamilton’s Goliath
Child abuse is Marci Hamilton’s Goliath
Marci Hamilton, Fels Institute of Government Professor of Practice, has faced down institutional child abuse for decades—and she is just getting started.
Herman Beavers named faculty director of Civic House and the Civic Scholars Program
Herman Beavers named faculty director of Civic House and the Civic Scholars Program
Beavers has taught at Penn since 1989 and is a professor of English and Africana studies, a distinguished poet, and a widely published scholar of 20th-century, and is a leader in the Penn community.
Sarah J. Jackson, Duncan Watts awarded 2020 Andrew Carnegie Fellowships
Sarah J. Jackson, Duncan Watts awarded 2020 Andrew Carnegie Fellowships
The program supports high-caliber scholarly research in the humanities and social sciences that addresses important and enduring issues confronting our society.
In the News
Philadelphia Inquirer
Penn football coach Ray Priore talks about no fall season, hope for spring
Penn football coach Ray Priore was game planning up until this past Monday, hoping his team might play this fall. Then the announcement came Wednesday: no sports in the Ivy League this fall semester. Now Priore is balancing his optimism with an understanding of the obstacles the pandemic brings to his sport.
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The New York Times
How could human nature have become this politicized?
Research about political polarization in the U.S. by Yphtach Lelkes of the Annenberg School for Communication, Matthew Levendusky of the School of Arts & Sciences, and colleagues at Stanford University was cited.
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Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane (WHYY-FM)
Fixing the health care system: lessons from the pandemic
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel spoke about his work at Penn and in politics as well as the path to universal health care.
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Fresh Air (NPR)
Doctor with rare disease and no answers decides to find his own cure
David Fajgenbaum of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about his experience pursuing a treatment for his own rare disease. “The problem isn't that every doctor doesn't know everything about every disease,” he said. “The problem is that for some diseases, no doctors know anything about those diseases”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Penn athletic director Grace Calhoun is busier than ever, as chair of NCAA Division I council
In addition to being athletic director, overseeing 33 varsity sports, Calhoun is chair of the NCAA Division I council, part of the NCAA board of directors, and the NCAA board of governors. But that’s not all—Calhoun is also chair of the Ivy League’s committee on administration, essentially the working committee of Ivy athletic directors.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Wharton’s Erika James, first female dean: ‘Gender is the least of what I have to offer’
Incoming Wharton dean Erika James spoke about her new appointment. “In the first few months, I will spend time meeting and learning about my new colleagues,” she said, “and listening to students and alumni. My goal is to identify themes in what people say are their hopes and dreams for Wharton, and then get about the business of making them happen.”
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