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‘Expanding what it means to be a class’
Allison Lassiter, Randall Mason, Michael Luegering, Joshua Mosley, Richard Farley, and Michael Henry.

Clockwise from top left: Allison Lassiter, Randall Mason, Michael Luegering, Joshua Mosley, Richard Farley, and Michael Henry. (Image: Weitzman School News)

‘Expanding what it means to be a class’

Allison Lassiter, Randall Mason, Michael Luegering, Joshua Mosley, Richard Farley, and Michael Henry had to work quickly and creatively to shift their classes from a hands-on learning experience to a virtual one.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Cities and contagion: Lessons from COVID-19
Two people sit in a public park in a city playing chess at a park table wearing protective face masks.

Cities and contagion: Lessons from COVID-19

Penn IUR’s inaugural Cities and Contagion: Lessons from COVID-19 initiative brings together experts who can help interpret the pandemic’s implications for urbanization.

From Penn IUR

The coronavirus is exposing America’s housing crisis
Vox.com

The coronavirus is exposing America’s housing crisis

Vincent Reina of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design spoke about how the coronavirus pandemic is exposing the existing U.S. housing crisis. “I think this moment highlights the precarity of people generally, and how important housing is to all of us,” he said. “And I think it highlights the limited safety nets we have in place.”

‘If you don’t have to ride, please don’t’: SEPTA, PATCO further reduce service
WHYY (Philadelphia)

‘If you don’t have to ride, please don’t’: SEPTA, PATCO further reduce service

Meg Ryerson of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design commented on the continued operation of public transit systems during the pandemic. “They’re not private companies out to make money,” she said. “They operate because they’re here to provide mobility in regions. That’s really incredible, to think that their mission is to be there for you during disaster times, and there for you in the best of times, and everything in between.”

How Philly’s neighborhoods can help us understand pandemics
WHYY (Philadelphia)

How Philly’s neighborhoods can help us understand pandemics

David Barnes of the School of Arts and Sciences, Eugenie Birch of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and Susan Wachter of the Wharton School weighed in on how Philadelphia has historically handled epidemics, how these approaches have shaped the city over time, and what can be done now to manage COVID-19.

Using science to make cities safer and healthier
Two people standing in front of a fenced-in vacant lot, one leaning against the fence, the other standing with arms crossed.

Penn Medicine’s Eugenia South, seen here with John MacDonald of the Department of Criminology, studies the effect of chronic stress and neighborhood environment on health outcomes. South’s latest pilot, Nurtured in Nature, follows work from the pair showing that cleaning up vacant lots leads to a signifiant decrease in gun violence and less stress for local residents. (Pre-pandemic photo)

  • Q&A

    • Using science to make cities safer and healthier

    In a Q&A, criminologist John MacDonald discusses his new book, grounded in years of research on the positive effects of remediation like fixing up abandoned lots and houses.

    Michele W. Berger

    E-scooters may be rolling into Pa., but are Philly streets prepared? Pro/Con
    Philadelphia Inquirer

    E-scooters may be rolling into Pa., but are Philly streets prepared? Pro/Con

    Megan Ryerson and Carrie Sauer of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design co-authored the pro-side of a debate over e-scooters in Philadelphia. They argued that concerns over scooter safety reveal a double-standard in the way car traffic is regulated.

    For some neighbors in opioid-plagued Kensington, a supervised injection site feels like giving up
    Philadelphia Inquirer

    For some neighbors in opioid-plagued Kensington, a supervised injection site feels like giving up

    Robert Fairbanks of the School of Arts and Sciences discussed Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood. “Certainly, there’s a long history here, going back to the `70s, `80s, `90s — this perfect storm of factors that leads Kensington through white flight, deindustrialization, a dead real estate market,” said Fairbanks. “And the crack and heroin epidemic have all made an already desperate ecology even more desperate.”