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Sociology

What will sex, dating, and marriage look like on the other side of the pandemic?

What will sex, dating, and marriage look like on the other side of the pandemic?

Frank Furstenburg of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about the pandemic’s impact on families and relationships. “I would be very surprised if we don’t see a sharp drop in fertility, and similarly a considerable decrease in cohabitation because the ability to experiment and form relationships has been severely curtailed,” he said.

Police killings and Black mental health
black lives matter protest in a full street

Police killings and Black mental health

Specialists from across the Penn community discuss the mental health impacts of Black people being subjected to videos of African Americans being killed by the police.
Exploring the links between jobs and health, reframed by COVID-19
Grocery worker stocks produce on shelves while wearing mask and gloves

COVID-19 reshaped Andi Johnson’s course on social determinants of health, inspiring a new focus on how the pandemic shaped employment and how people's jobs influenced their ability to stay safe.

Exploring the links between jobs and health, reframed by COVID-19

More than half of America’s farm workers are immigrants, and most have been considered essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic. While this designation has ensured the continuity of their livelihoods, it has also increased their risk of becoming sick. 

Katherine Unger Baillie

Negative financial shock increases loneliness in older adults
Black and white images of hands of an older person holding open an empty change purse of a wallet.

Negative financial shock increases loneliness in older adults

The conclusions hold even after accounting for changes in chronic health conditions and functional limitations, religious service attendance, and relationship strain.

Michele W. Berger

Wisconsin judge’s ‘regular folks’ remark shows how pandemic exposes classism

Wisconsin judge’s ‘regular folks’ remark shows how pandemic exposes classism

Annette Lareau of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about the lack of contact between Americans from upper and lower classes. “There are few spaces where people of different classes encounter each other,” she said. “IKEA, the zoo, July Fourth parades. But increasingly, people stay within their own worlds. That helps them treat others with contempt and shame.”

‘Disease knows no borders’
Lazaretto quarantine hospital

‘Disease knows no borders’

From the history of science to medical anthropology, governance, and economics, Penn experts look at the history of global health from different perspectives to see what the future may hold.

Kristina García