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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.

Louisa Shepard

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 Linnea García

Regional roundup

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.

Louisa Shepard

History is the ‘narratives we tell’
Makiki Reuvers

History is the ‘narratives we tell’

To understand how ideas about racial difference took root in American history, Makiki Reuvers, a Ph.D. candidate in history, examines 17th-century encounters between British colonists and Native Americans.

From Omnia

How this fruit became the star of Italian cooking

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.”

Asian American leaders, racial justice advocates say ‘sense of urgency’ needed to combat hate crimes, racism

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.”