Graduate Students | Penn Today

The biggest deep fake abuse site is growing in disturbing ways

Sophie Maddocks, a doctoral student in the Annenberg School for Communication, said society and law enforcement need to have a zero-tolerance policy for websites that sell fake nude photos of real people. “This harm is going to become part of the sex industry and is going to become profitable; it's going to become normalized,” she said.

Telemedicine is here to stay, but how it will be covered by insurance is still being debated

Rolando Vega, a graduate student at the School of Nursing, wrote an opinion piece about the future of telemedicine. If signed by the governor, a Pennsylvania State Sensate Bill would mandate full insurance reimbursement for these services going forward. “This bill is essential and there is a sense of urgency as many patients, as well as health care providers are counting on its final approval,” Vega wrote.

Progress on gender equality ‘set back by lost generation’

Scott Kim, a Ph.D. student at the Wharton School, worked with NYU’s Petra Moser on a study that found the post-WWII baby boom created a dearth of women scientists. “By eliminating a generation of female role models, this loss affects science to this day,” they wrote.

Young person holding a cardboard sign that reads There is No Planet B #climatestrike.

Doctoral cluster between Penn, Oxford, and Toronto targets environmental injustice

Through a unique partnership between Penn, the University of Oxford, and the University of Toronto, a research group aims to train future leaders in environmental humanities.

Woman stands and points outside the ARCH building

The new director of La Casa Latina creates ‘a sense of belonging'

As the new director of La Casa Latina, Krista Cortes brings a sense of inclusivity to welcome different people, cultures, races, and languages to the cultural resources center.

Darin Johnson stands outside in front of steps.

Darin Johnson breaks down what code switching is

The doctoral student at Annenberg School for Communication explores the mental processes behind code switching and their implications.

Students immersed in place-based learning in Alaska

During a trip to Alaska in late August, students of the Lauder Institute explored the environments of Southeast Alaska and got to know the culture of the Tlingit people.

Facebook is like chairs. No, telephones. No, cars. No …

Zachary Loeb, a doctoral candidate in the School of Arts & Sciences, spoke about Facebook’s attempts to compare the platform to simpler, less threatening technologies. “There used to be this utopian aura where they had been trying to act as though they were the latest in the stream of these transformative [communication] technologies,” he said. “Now they’re kind of like, ‘We’re this banal, everyday technology that we’ve all gotten used to, and we understand it’s screwing up the environment and actually really annoys you and people die all the time because of it, but you can’t imagine getting rid of it anytime soon.’”

Learn, reflect, and act during Climate Week

Climate Week at Penn, sponsored by the Provost’s Office, offers a variety of events—both in-person and online—that invite the whole University community to learn about, reflect on, and address the climate crisis.

An illustration of people helping each other move from small pedestal to medium pedestal to large pedestal, in an effort to demonstrate peers helping each other.

Mentorship an ‘essential ingredient’ for nursing Ph.D. students

A new School of Nursing initiative places doctoral students into small peer-mentorship groups. The researchers who implemented this found it offers an important supplement to one-on-one peer support and faculty advising.

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