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Understanding the Americas through material texts
Professor standing with hands on her hips in the library with a chandelier in the background

Glenda Goodman, assistant professor of music at Penn, collaborated with a friend at Princeton to organize the American Contact project on material texts. 

Understanding the Americas through material texts

Penn and Princeton partner to create a now-virtual symposium to explore 38 objects, including books, journals, maps, musical scores, visual art, wampum, textiles, stone tablets, and various kinds of handwork. 
A virtual celebration for National Poetry Month 2020
Random collection of different words and word-forms on magnetic tiles

A virtual celebration for National Poetry Month 2020

For National Poetry Month, the Academy of American Poets has shared a list of 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month at Home or Online to encourage a collective recognition of the ways in which poetry enhances the world.

Penn Today Staff

The rise of the D.I.Y. Haggadah

The rise of the D.I.Y. Haggadah

Arthur Kiron of the Libraries spoke about the popularity of the Haggadah, a Jewish prayer book for Passover. “It has such a powerful hold on the imagination because it tells a story of freedom through slavery,” he said. The Libraries’ Judaica collection is host to a collection of 1,800 volumes of the books.

Penn’s pioneering mathematicians
side by side portraits of Dudley Weldon Woodard and William Waldron Schieffelin Claytor

Penn’s pioneering mathematicians

Two of the first African Americans to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics, Dudley Weldon Woodard and William Waldron Schieffelin Claytor worked on fundamental problems in the field of topology and supported graduate-level math education for minority students.

Erica K. Brockmeier

A new way of thinking about motion, movement, and the concept of time
Jumping a hurdle; saddle; clearing, landing and recovering Plate 637, with key words “Jumping a hurdle; saddle; clearing, landing and recovering,” model is bay horse Daisy. (Image: University of Pennsylvania Archives)

A new way of thinking about motion, movement, and the concept of time

Eadweard Muybridge’s “Animal Locomotion” was the first scientific study to use photography. Now, more than 130 years later, Muybridge’s work is seen as both an innovation in photography and the science of movement, alongside his personal legacy as someone with an eccentric 19th century style and a dark past.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Exhibition showcases the brilliance of Black women writers
Two grad students and library curator looking at Joanna Banks Exhibit

Exhibition showcases the brilliance of Black women writers

A major exhibition and symposium organized by two Penn graduate students highlighting African American women literature is open in the Penn Libraries’ Kamin Gallery.

Dee Patel

Archive of pioneering author and artist comes to Penn Libraries
Ashley Bryan gestures with his hands open at a library at an elementary school reading his books to children seated on the ground.

Archive of pioneering author and artist comes to Penn Libraries

The collection of Ashley Bryan’s work includes thousands of pieces of art, correspondence, photos, manuscripts, and books. A small exhibition of his collection is now on display at the Libraries, and a major symposium and exhibition are expected in 2022.
Side Gigs for Good, part three
Two people sitting on an L-shaped couch amidst four pillows. The one on the right is holding a clipboard.

Altagracia Felix (right) is a financial coordinator for the Annenberg School for Communication, but she also has a side gig as a money coach. Her aim is to help “disrupt the cycle of poverty and struggle,” she says. (Image: Courtesy of Altagracia Felix)

Side Gigs for Good, part three

The final 2019 installment in our series highlighting impactful work Penn faculty and staff do.

Katherine Unger Baillie , Michele W. Berger

‘May the force be with you’ and other fan fiction favorites
An array of plastic Star Wars figurines

‘May the force be with you’ and other fan fiction favorites

Researchers have created a unique digital humanities tool to analyze the most popular phrases and character connections in fan fiction based on blockbuster film series, starting with “Star Wars,” “Lord of the Rings,” and “Harry Potter.”