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Lynn Meskell appointed Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor
Lynn Meskell standing in front of a glass display case at the Penn Museum.

Lynn Meskell is the Richard D. Green Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor in the Department of Anthropology in the School of Arts & Sciences, a professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning and the graduate program in Historic Preservation in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and a curator in the Middle East and Asia sections at the Penn Museum.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

Lynn Meskell appointed Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor

The world-renowned archaeologist has joint appointments in the Department of Anthropology, the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation and the Department of City and Regional Planning, and the Penn Museum as a curator in both the Asian and Near East sections.
‘Living with the Sea’
Three woman stand behind museum objects

Ashleigh David and Erin Spicola frame Kia DaSilva as she talks about the mattang (navigational chart) in front of them. Students were able to access the objects to inform the exhibition planning process. (Pre-pandemic photo.)

‘Living with the Sea’

A student-led exhibition at the Penn Museum features objects from the rarely seen Oceanian collection.

Kristina García

Southeast Asian megadrought dating back 5,000 years discovered in Laos cave
A group of archaeologists and excavators standing and sitting at the entrance of a cave.

Penn archaeologist Joyce White (center) has been working in Laos since 2001 with teams like the one shown here. Discovering evidence of a 1,000-year drought in a Laos cave was unexpected, she says, but does answer some questions about the Middle Holocene, a period she’d previously described as the “missing millennia.” (Pre-pandemic image: Courtesy of Joyce White)

  • Q&A

    • Southeast Asian megadrought dating back 5,000 years discovered in Laos cave

    In a Q&A, Penn archaeologist Joyce White discusses the partnership with paleoclimatologists that led to the finding, plus possible implications of such a dramatic climate change for societies at that time.

    Michele W. Berger

    Celebrate the arts, history, and nature from home
    Triptych of a still from an art museum showing a contributor to their online content, a spring blossom and a collection of historical objects from the Penn Museum available for exploring virtually online.

    Celebrate the arts, history, and nature from home

    While Penn’s arts and culture centers remain closed, they are still finding ways to sustain connections through online collections and programs.

    From The Power of Penn

    The Sachs Program unveils 2020 grants
    Dancing in a nightclub

    Ph.D. candidate Tamir Williams will curate an exhibition at Slought titled “A Space to Appear, A Space to Tarry,” which will present works from the photographic series “Black Nightclubs on Chicago’s South Side” (1975-1977) by Penn alumnus Michael Abramson.

    The Sachs Program unveils 2020 grants

    The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation revealed 34 new art projects from students, faculty, and staff that will receive funding.
    Naskapi connections: Restorative research in the Penn Museum collection
    Professor stands on one side of a table filled with Native American objects while talking to seven other people across from and beside her i

    Penn anthropologist Margaret Bruchac, left, speaking with visitors from the Naskapi Nation in Canada about the Penn Museum’s collection of more than 400 objects from their community acquired in the 1930s by Frank Speck, a founder of Penn’s Anthropology Department.  

    Naskapi connections: Restorative research in the Penn Museum collection

    A blog post about a child’s hunting jacket made of caribou hide caught the attention of a high school students in the Naskapi Nation in Quebec. A group visited the Penn Museum to view artifacts made by their ancestors.
    Refugee docents help bring a museum’s global collection to life
    “All Things Considered,” National Public Radio

    Refugee docents help bring a museum’s global collection to life

    Ellen Owens, Julian Siggers, and Kevin Schott of the Museum were interviewed about the Global Guides program, which hires refugees and immigrants to work as docents. “We really wanted to have the narratives of lots of different people, to bring the authentic voices of people that live in other places into the galleries of the museum,” said Owens.

    The inaugural Provost’s Graduate Academic Engagement fellowship cohort
    Two men stand in front of the brick and stone stairway leading to the Penn Museum

    Paul Wolff Mitchell (left) and Michael Vazquez (right) are the inaugural Provost’s Graduate Academic Engagement Fellows.

    The inaugural Provost’s Graduate Academic Engagement fellowship cohort

    The Provost’s Graduate Academic Engagement fellowship supports scholarship and civic engagement in West Philadelphia. Paul Wolff Mitchell, an anthropology doctoral student, and Michael Vazquez, a philosophy doctoral student, are the inaugural cohort.

    Kristina García

    Five events to watch for February
    The Crossing choir gathered with composer in center Philadelphia choir The Crossing. (Image: Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts)

    Five events to watch for February

    Happenings on campus and beyond to look for this February, ranging from “Galentine's Day” to the beginning of “#Glassfest.”