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The uniquely American intrigue around UFOs

The uniquely American intrigue around UFOs

Kate Dorsch of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about why Americans in particular are especially fascinated by UFOs. “I think that it is in part because we have created a culture around civilian defense, right? If you see something, say something,” she said. “Also, we're a very individualist country, and so we're more willing to share the things that we've seen and heard and done.”

The UFO trap

The UFO trap

Kate Dorsch of the School of Arts & Sciences said the UFO is a postwar phenomenon. “Never before has humanity been able to so immediately and unquestionably destroy itself,” she said.

Capitalism: What is it?

Capitalism: What is it?

Kristen Ghodsee of the School of Arts & Sciences and other experts discussed capitalism. “What we need is to actually rein in some of the free market fundamentalist ideology, which has led us down a path where a lot of people are pretty miserable,” she said.

How businesses have begun to recognize Juneteenth
A Juneteenth parade in Philadelphia streets

A Juneteenth parade in Philadelphia, 2019. (Pre-pandemic image: Tippman98x/Shutterstock)

How businesses have begun to recognize Juneteenth

This Saturday marks Juneteenth, the oldest known holiday honoring the end of slavery in the U.S. Wharton professor Matthew Bidwell looks at how businesses are recognizing the holiday.

Dee Patel

Philadelphians react after Congress approves bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday

Philadelphians react after Congress approves bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday

Eve Higginbotham of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the significance of Juneteenth. "It's a day of reflection as well as an acknowledgment that, going forward, we still have work to do," she said. “We still need people engaged, but we need people to translate their reflections into action.”

Penn team expands cultural heritage work in Iraq, backed by new funding
Taq-i Kisra Taq-i Kisra is a vaulted hall near Baghdad that likely dates to the 6th century. After heavy rains in late 2020 caused part of it to collapse, the Penn team was asked to conduct an assessment on the structure. It’s one of the newest projects for the IHSP, funded by the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas.

Penn team expands cultural heritage work in Iraq, backed by new funding

Three big new projects—restoration of a fortification gate, repair of an important landmark, and a survey of historic nonreligious architecture—recently got underway.

Michele W. Berger

The winners and losers in post-Socialist Europe
Book cover of Taking Stock of Shock: Social Consequences of the 1989 Revolutions.

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.”

From Omnia

Anti-vaxxers are claiming centuries of Jewish suffering to look like martyrs

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.

After the pandemic, how will society remember more than 3 million lives lost to COVID-19?
washington memorial with flags The COVID-19 Memorial Project installed thousands of flags in the National Mall last September to memorialize what was then the 200,000 Americans lost to COVID-19. (Image: angela n.)

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.

Erica K. Brockmeier