History

Philadelphia and Meiji Japan symposium marks 150 years of deep ties

Scholars from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia, and the Meiji Jingu Intercultural Research Institute celebrate the 150th anniversary of Japan’s Meiji Restoration, and the surprising links between Philadelphia and Japan during a political period that set the island nation on a fast track to modernization.

Brandon K. Baker

Q&A with Tulia Falleti

The political science professor explains the events of the “other” 9/11, the coup of 1973 that displaced the democratically-elected president of Chile and instated a military dictator.

Jill DiSanto

Floating art installation brings Schuylkill River history to life

Jacob Rivkin, an artist-in-residence for the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities and an instructor in the School of Design, will present a public art installation on the Schuylkill River called “Floating Archives,” starting this weekend. (Video)

Katherine Unger Baillie

Navigating urban waters, with an interdisciplinary approach

With independent research projects and immersive experiences on and near Philadelphia’s waterways, summer fellows with the Penn Program in the Environmental Humanities are collaborating to develop new ways of learning and sharing knowledge.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Centennial of Nelson Mandela’s birth

It has been 100 years since the birth of Nelson Mandela, elected as South Africa’s first black president after being imprisoned by the apartheid government for nearly three decades. Penn Professor Tukufu Zuberi of the School of Arts and Sciences discusses Mandela’s legacy and his continuing impact today.

Louisa Shepard

Crowding between the book covers

In her new book, English professor Emily Steinlight focuses on overpopulation as a central theme of 19th-century British novels.

Penn Today Staff

The calm before the storm in the Middle East

In her new book, Heather Sharkey, a professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, explores Muslim, Christian, and Jewish relations in the period before World War I.

Penn Today Staff



In the News


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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CBS News

Presidential historian assesses Trump’s 2024 win

Mary Frances Berry of the School of Arts & Sciences discusses Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential victory and upcoming second term.

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New Republic

The bad politics of bad posture

In her book “Slouch,” Beth Linker of the School of Arts & Sciences outlines how societal pressures have driven huge swaths of people to embrace falsehoods about posture.

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