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History

Biden’s big plans through the lens of history
Man in laborer clothes holds shovel, smokes a pipe and looks at his paycheck by a sign reading "USA Work Program WPA"

A Works Progress Administration worker receives his paycheck, 1939.

(Image: Courtesy of the National Archives)

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.

Kristen de Groot

Understanding the imperialism of today

In the latest episode of Penn Today’s ‘Understand This ...’ podcast series, assistant professor of political science Dorothy Kronick and assistant professor of history Alex Chase-Levinson discuss the past and present of imperialism.
From ‘Indiana Jones’ to medieval robots
Professor Elly Truitt standing on Penn's campus

In her work and her teaching, historian of science Elly Truitt challenges assumptions. “The people who lived in the Middle Ages were definitely no less intelligent than we are, and they didn’t think they were living in the middle of anything,” she says. 

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.

Katherine Unger Baillie

‘Haunted countries deserve haunted stories.’ How America’s history of racial housing discrimination inspired Amazon’s new horror series THEM
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.

Penn junior Chinaza Ruth Okonkwo named a Beinecke Scholar
student standing on marble steps

Junior Chinaza Ruth Okonkwo has been awarded a 2021 Beinecke Scholarship to pursue a graduate education in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. A philosophy and history major, Okonkwo is one of only 16 Beinecke Scholars chosen this year from throughout the United States.

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
A map with a red line tracing a route from Guatemala to Philadelphia

Liliana Velásquez left Guatemala alone, at 14 years old. She was one of over 326,000 unaccompanied minors apprehended by immigration authorities between 2013 and 2019. 

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.

Kristina García

Regional roundup
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.

In These Times: Black lives and the call for justice
Cartoon montage of a protest, a raised fist, a gun, and a masked African American individual.

Image: Adriana Bellet

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.

Planning for Pennsylvania Hospital’s next 250 years
View of the front Pennsylvania Hospital building with green lawn and gardens.

Planning for Pennsylvania Hospital’s next 250 years

PennPraxis, the consulting and community engagement arm of the Weitzman School, will produce plans for the Hospital’s Conservation Management Plan to upgrade the building, grounds, and collections.

Penn senior chosen as Gaither Junior Fellow
student in front of green background

Senior Samuel Orloff has been named a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow, one of 12 in the country chosen for a one-year internship at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. 

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.