6.15
Kristen de Groot
News Officer
krisde@upenn.edu
History
The winners and losers in post-Socialist Europe
The winners and losers in post-Socialist Europe
Kristen Ghodsee and Mitchell Orenstein, professors of Russian and East European Studies, discuss their new book, “Taking Stock of Shock.”
After the pandemic, how will society remember more than 3 million lives lost to COVID-19?
After the pandemic, how will society remember more than 3 million lives lost to COVID-19?
To date, more than 3 million people worldwide have lost their lives to COVID-19.
The world according to Walter Palmer
The world according to Walter Palmer
The educator, organizer, and alumnus discusses his six decades of activism, growing up in the Black Bottom, studying and teaching at Penn, his work at CHOP, the student strike of 1967, the Vietnam War, Frank Rizzo, Donald Trump, school choice, gun violence, the Chauvin trial, and why he thinks racism should be declared a national public health crisis.
Biden’s big plans through the lens of history
Biden’s big plans through the lens of history
Historian Walter Licht shares his thoughts on the American Jobs Plan and how it compares to national projects of the past.
Understanding the imperialism of today
Understanding the imperialism of today
In the latest episode of the “Understand This ...” series, a Penn Today podcast, Penn experts discuss the meaning of imperialism and the “informal empires” of today.
From ‘Indiana Jones’ to medieval robots
From ‘Indiana Jones’ to medieval robots
Historian of science Elly Truitt’s multidisciplinary investigations of the Middle Ages challenge assumptions about the period as a dark time in innovation and prompt a rethink of notions of ‘modern’ science.
Penn junior Chinaza Ruth Okonkwo named a Beinecke Scholar
Penn junior Chinaza Ruth Okonkwo named a Beinecke Scholar
Junior Chinaza Ruth Okonkwo has been awarded a 2021 Beinecke Scholarship to pursue a graduate education in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. She is one of only 16 Beinecke Scholars chosen this year.
The ‘dreams and nightmares’ of immigration
The ‘dreams and nightmares’ of immigration
Author Liliana Velásquez and journalist Juan González narrated personal and collective histories of Latin American migration to the U.S. in a School of Social Policy & Practice event.
In These Times: Black lives and the call for justice
In These Times: Black lives and the call for justice
The first two episodes of the Omnia podcast’s second season discuss the Black Lives Matter movement and the lasting impact of slavery and colonialism on the laws and policies that have governed Black lives throughout history.
Penn senior chosen as Gaither Junior Fellow
Penn senior chosen as Gaither Junior Fellow
Senior Samuel Orloff has been named a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow, chosen for a one-year fellowship at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C.to work on research pertaining to U.S. foreign policy and diplomacy.
Media Contact
In the News
The Washington Post
Anti-vaxxers are claiming centuries of Jewish suffering to look like martyrs
Simcha Gross of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about how clothing was used to separate religious groups in the Middle Ages. “In Islam, distinction of clothing was part of a range of regulations that differentiated between Muslims and certain kinds of non-Muslims, which have their own lengthy and complicated history,” he said.
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Time
‘Haunted countries deserve haunted stories.’ How America’s history of racial housing discrimination inspired Amazon’s new horror series THEM
Camille Z. Charles of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about how discriminatory housing practices like redlining shaped U.S. neighborhoods in the 20th century. “If you take the redlining maps that were used before the passage of fair housing legislation and overlay them on present-day maps of pretty much any major city in the U.S., and certainly any city that has any meaningful Black population, they look really similar in the sense that Blacks are still largely shut out of those neighborhoods that they were legally shut out of during that time period,” she said.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Regional roundup
Heather Sharkey and undergrad Lindsey Perlman of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about their work transcribing the doctoral dissertation of feminist Alice Paul, who earned a Ph.D. at Penn in 1912.
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The New York Times
‘Traveling Black,’ a look at the civil rights movement in motion
“Traveling Black,” a book by Mia Bay of the School of Arts & Sciences, was featured. The work is a history of mobility and resistance in the U.S.
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CNN
How this fruit became the star of Italian cooking
Eva Del Soldato of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about the history of Italian cuisine and the introduction of tomatoes to the region. “There was a lot of bias against the tomato,” she said. “Today we have the sense that if something is new it is good, but for a long time in history, being a novelty was mostly regarded with suspicion.”
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Harrisburg Patriot-News
Asian American leaders, racial justice advocates say ‘sense of urgency’ needed to combat hate crimes, racism
Walter Palmer of the School of Social Policy & Practice drew parallels between the racism experienced by Black and Asian American communities throughout U.S. history. “Discrimination is part and parcel of American society,” he said. “Until we admit it and own it, it will never end. It takes work to overcome this, and it means still feeling some pain.”
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