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History
How U.S. expansionism flowed through watersheds
How U.S. expansionism flowed through watersheds
Karl Nycklemoe, a Consortium Dissertation Fellow at Penn’s McNeil Center for Early American Studies, focuses his research on how U.S. expansionism usurped Indigenous communities’ aquatic governance by remaking the region’s waters into an ‘open’ navigable resource.
Penn prepares to mark America’s 250th birthday
Penn prepares to mark America’s 250th birthday
Next year, the nation will celebrate the Semiquincentennial marking the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In the lead up to celebrations, Penn faculty, staff, and students will have a role to play.
Senior thesis explores Bayard Rustin’s civil rights vision
Senior thesis explores Bayard Rustin’s civil rights vision
Fourth-year Connor Nakamura’s research delves into Rustin’s life, work, and legacy as a thinker and leader.
The monstrous and mythical
The monstrous and mythical
In his book “Centaurs and Snake-Kings: Hybrids and the Greek Imagination,” Jeremy McInerney, professor of classical studies in the School of Arts & Sciences, investigates the power of hybridity in myth.
How British settlers used children as tools of settlement in the British Atlantic
How British settlers used children as tools of settlement in the British Atlantic
Erica Duncan’s research at Penn’s McNeil Center for Early American Studies focuses on how children became essential to shaping ideas of freedom within the Black Atlantic.
The law in the 19th-century American South
The law in the 19th-century American South
Madison Ogletree, a McNeil Center for Early American Studies Consortium Dissertation Fellow, explains her deep dive into law and the everyday lives of free African Americans in rural areas of the slave South.
Jessica Varner on the long arc of built environment and its materials
Jessica Varner on the long arc of built environment and its materials
Varner, an assistant professor of landscape architecture at the Weitzman School, explores the intersections between architectural, environmental, and chemical history.
Sourcing early American archives of rebellion
Sourcing early American archives of rebellion
In her research, Marley Lix-Jones, an Advisory Council Dissertation Fellow at the McNeil Center, finds histories of rebellion and social connections within enslaved communities.
A seminar explores what history can be
A seminar explores what history can be
Hardeep Dhillon, an assistant professor of history in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences, teaches a first-year seminar that explores the history of children in America while equipping students with foundational analytical skills.
Jimmy Carter remembered
Jimmy Carter remembered
Penn faculty reflect on the legacy of the former president, who led America almost a half-century ago and whose post-presidency was defined by humanitarian work and service.
In the News
Fast Company
Is free will freeing? Here’s why the freedom of choice is a trap in the modern era
Sophia Rosenfeld of the School of Arts & Sciences shares five insights from her new book, “The Age of Choice,” which argues that having more choices doesn’t enhance freedom and well-being on an individual or societal level.
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Associated Press
Mystical beliefs fuel Senegal’s illegal big cat trade and threaten lion’s survival in West Africa
According to Cheikh Babou of the School of Arts & Sciences, traditional African faiths believe that vital powers in animals and nature may be unlocked to harm, heal, or protect.
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The New York Times
A century-old law’s aftershocks are still felt at the Supreme Court
PIK Professor Karen M. Tani says that granting the Supreme Court the power to set its own agenda has caused it to gravitate toward cases that have preoccupied the conservative legal movement.
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Time
Abortion has always been more than health care
In an opinion essay, Ph.D. student Christen Hammock Jones in the School of Arts & Sciences says that relying solely on expertise and professional judgment primes people to think about abortion rights as a matter of medical judgment instead of equality and autonomy.
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The Telegraph
Bankruptcy, depression and random death: Xi’s China is tearing itself apart
Victor H. Mair of the School of Arts & Sciences says that people in China have many memes that represent opting out of society.
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Chronicle of Higher Education
Stop treating students like babies
Jonathan Zimmerman of the Graduate School of Education organized an in-person 2016 discussion between Penn students and Republican students at Cairn University to foster productive conversation and find common ground.
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