Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

People in masks talk about an exercise in listening

Learning to listen in troubled times

The SNF Paideia Program and partners featured Ernesto Pujol and Aaron Levy, an artist and an interdisciplinary scholar who have transformed both what it means to listen and what the act of listening can achieve as part of a lecture and workshops.

Kristen de Groot ・

Emily Steiner’s hands hold open an antique book.

Alternative literary history

A decade of research and writing by English Professor Emily Steiner has resulted in a new book about the work of John Trevisa, a 14th century English author who translated encyclopedias and other reference books, helping to create a body of general knowledge for non-specialists.

Louisa Shepard ・

An illustration of six faces with different skin tones, ranging from dark to light. Above the faces are connected lines that look like jacks, to indicate social networks.

Clinician peer networks remove race and gender bias

Research from Damon Centola of the Annenberg School for Communication shows that structured health care networks significantly reduce health care inequities and disparities in patient treatment.

Alina Ladyzhensky ・

professor and two students looking at colorful artwork on table

Art from Mexico

During visits to the Penn Museum this semester, nearly 200 students in intermediate Spanish classes had the chance to learn about yarn paintings by the Huichol people, an indigenous group in Northwest Mexico.

Louisa Shepard ・

tulia falleti

Politics, activism, and academics

The career of Tulia Falleti, Class of 1965 Endowed Term Professor of Political Science in the School of Arts & Sciences, grew from her activism as a student in a newly democratic Argentina.

Lauren Rebecca Thacker ・

Image of a book cover, with a purple ribbon placed on top of a hand. The title reads," Coping with Crohn's and colitis: A patient and clinician's guide to CBT for IBD," by "Melissa G. Hunt, Foreword by Aaron T. Beck" next to a photo of a person standing up, wearing a black blazer and a black and gold dress.

A self-help guide to treating IBD

In her new book, clinical psychologist Melissa Hunt offers a cognitive behavioral therapy approach to helping people with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis improve their quality of life.

Michele W. Berger ・



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

Almost 500 people dead: Philadelphia is about to set a grim record for homicides

Aaron Chalfin of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about the rise in gun violence that accompanied the pandemic. “So many things changed at the same time, and that means that it’s very hard to disentangle what the drivers are,” he said. “I don’t know that we ever fully will.”

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Vox.com

Kyle Rittenhouse and the scary future of the American right

Yphtach Lelkes of the Annenberg School for Communication said one of the biggest problems the U.S. is facing is “perceived polarization, driven by misinformation on the right [claiming] leftist extremists want to destroy our way of life and, thus, it is reasonable to do everything in our power to stop them.”

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The Guardian

‘Indentured servitude’: Low pay and grueling conditions fueling US truck driver shortage

Steve Viscelli of the School of Arts & Sciences said the trucking industry has been relying on newly recruited drivers to keep costs low. “What the industry wants is super cheap, flexible labor and that’s what it’s had for years,” said Viscelli. “They’ve been cycling through literally millions of people, who decide to become truck drivers and then get burned by the industry.”

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The Conversation

The seas are coming for us in Kiribati. Will Australia rehome us?

Perry World House Distinguished Global Leader-in-Residence Anote Tong, former president of the Republic of Kiribati, co-wrote an article about the uncertain future of Kiribati amid rising sea levels. “What we need is a model where displaced people can migrate to host nations when their homes become uninhabitable,” Tong and co-author Akka Rimon wrote. “Countries like Australia need workers—and we will soon need homes.”

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“Here & Now with Robin Young and Jeremy Hobson,” WBUR-Radio (Boston)

How changing norms around civility in politics might affect American democracy

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center commented on the history of violence in U.S. political discourse and its effect on the country. “We’ve normalized the language of vilification in politics by casting people who disagree with us as enemies, as opposed to people who have a philosophical disagreement, and then suggesting that they’re evil,” she said.

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