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Q&A

Addressing declining fertility
Artist rendering of fertility decline. Depopulation, demographic crisis. Baby bottles in the form of graph and down arrow.

In a recent paper, PIK Professor Michael Platt and the Perelman School of Medicine’s Peter Sterling posit that the underlying mechanism of the looming concern of human fertility declines is the epidemic of despair.

(Image: iStock / TanyaJoy)

Addressing declining fertility

In a Q&A with Penn Today, Michael Platt talks about the socioeconomic and emotional factors leading to plummeting fertility rates.
Understanding the Northeast earthquake
Photograph of a seismograph reading following an earthquake.

Last week people in the Northeast experienced a rare earthquake that registered a magnitude of 4.8. To learn more about the mechanics of earthquakes and this occurrence, Penn Today spoke with David Goldsby of the School of Arts & Sciences and Robert Carpick of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

(Image: iStock/allanswart)

Understanding the Northeast earthquake

Last week, people in the Northeast experienced a rare earthquake that registered a magnitude of 4.8. Penn Today spoke with David Goldsby of the School of Arts & Sciences and Robert Carpick of the School of Engineering and Applied Science about the event.
‘Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India’
Painting from 18th century shows an Indian banker being carried in a carriage and surrounded by armed entourage.

Late 18th century portrait of banker Vakhatchand Jhaveri and his armed entourage, painted on the inner marble wall of the Jain temple Ajithnath Derasar in Ahmedabad, India.

(Image: Courtesy of Sudev Sheth)

‘Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India’

A new book by Sudev Sheth, senior lecturer in history and international studies, looks at how the leaders of one of the most dominant early modern polities lost their grip over empire.

Kristen de Groot

Weitzman’s Vanessa Grossman on the cultural value of architecture
Vanessa Grossman.

Image: Eric Sucar

Weitzman’s Vanessa Grossman on the cultural value of architecture

In a Q&A, the architect, historian, and curator discusses her research and published books, which explore the relationship between architecture, politics, and social movements.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Mechanics of knitting
Textures knitted through in a pattern.

Randall Kamien of the School of Arts & Sciences and long-time collaborator Geneviève Dion, a professor of design at Drexel University, are investigating the mechanics of knitting, an area of research that represents a significant shift in understanding and using fabrics.

(Image: Courtesy of Geneviève Dion)

Mechanics of knitting

Randall Kamien of the School of Arts & Sciences and Geneviève Dion of Drexel University share how combining traditional origami techniques with modern textile science can lead to practical applications in various industries.
Ecuador’s state of emergency
A military vehicle drives through a hilly residential neighborhood in Quito, Ecuador. Two women, one holding hands with a young child, walk alongside on the street.

Soldiers patrol a residential area of northern Quito, Ecuador, on Jan. 11, 2024. President Daniel Noboa decreed Monday a national state of emergency due to a wave in crime, a measure that lets authorities suspend people's rights and mobilize the military. The government also imposed a curfew.

(Image: AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Ecuador’s state of emergency

In a Q&A, political scientist Jane Esberg discusses democracy and organized crime in Latin America. 

Kristina García

Former Penn president Judith Rodin on the changing relationship between business and universities

Former Penn president Judith Rodin on the changing relationship between business and universities

In a Q&A, former Penn President Judith Rodin discusses her current role advising the Bellwether District, which seeks to reinvent two square miles of former oil refineries in South and Southwest Philly, and the rapid changes in business-academic relations throughout her career.

Microrobots: An emerging biomedical trend
Medical concept in the field of nanotechnology, a nanobot studies or kills a virus. 3D rendering.

Image: Courtesy of iStock / K_E_N

Microrobots: An emerging biomedical trend

In a Q&A with Penn Today, Hyun (Michel) Koo of the School of Dental Medicine and Edward Steager of the School of Engineering and Applied Science discuss the emerging trend of microrobots in healthcare.
‘The Tame and the Wild’ 
(Image: Courtesy of Harvard University Press)

A new book by historian Marcy Norton—“The Tame and the Wild, People and Animals After 1492”—looks at the colonization of the Americas through the lens of European and Native American beliefs about animal life.

(Image: Courtesy of Harvard University Press)

‘The Tame and the Wild’ 

Historian Marcy Norton’s new book looks at the history of human-animal relationships in Europe and Native America and how they became entangled after 1492.

Kristen de Groot

‘Black Modernisms in the Transatlantic World’
Bronze sculpture of a large bust of a Black woman on Penn’s campus surrounded by autumn leaves

The 16-foot-tall bronze form of “Brick House” by artist Simone Leigh, who contributed to “Black Modernisms.”

(Image: Eric Sucar)

‘Black Modernisms in the Transatlantic World’

A new book, co-edited by art historian Huey Copeland, examines the conception of modernism and Black artistry and agency and how the transatlantic slave trade enabled the modern world.

Kristina García