Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

A historian’s look at abolition and citizenship

In the late 1700s, New York and four other northern states passed laws that freed children born to enslaved women. Sarah Gronningsater, an assistant professor of history in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences, wanted to know more about how this extraordinary situation affected those children.

Susan Ahlborn

The bullet train turns 60

In both Asia and Europe, high-speed rail knits regions, countries, and continents together. What will it take to see more rail infrastructure in the U.S.?

Kristina García

‘A place of collaborative conversation’

On Sept. 26 and 27, the Weitzman School will host Landscape Futures: Centennial of the Department of Landscape Architecture, a two-day symposium to celebrate the department’s unique ecological foundations, its evolving curriculum, and its ongoing global influence on landscape architectural practice and education.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Two Penn faculty awarded Pew Fellowships

Two Penn faculty -- installation artist and sculptor Michelle Lopez, and composer and musician Tyshawn Sorey -- each have been awarded one of 12 arts fellowships by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage in Philadelphia.

Louisa Shepard



In the News


NBC News

Notre Dame Law School’s growing influence on the Supreme Court

Marci Hamilton of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Notre Dame Law School has become a bastion for conservative Catholic principles.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

About to turn 60, Kamala Harris represents a new generation. Local women like the sound of that

Nancy Hirschmann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Kamala Harris is possibly emerging as a blueprint for how Gen X women older than 50 deal with problems of sexism, invisibility, and dismissal.

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NPR

For some artists, a guaranteed income program has been a lifesaver

Kalen Flynn of the School for Social Policy & Practice says that guaranteed income programs give artists creative freedom and allow them to take risks with their art.

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The Washington Post

Doug Emhoff is all over the campaign trail. Melania Trump is not

Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw of the School of Arts & Sciences says that whatever candidates’ spouses choose to do during a campaign has the potential to influence voters.

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Los Angeles Times

Trump’s rhetorical walkabouts: A sign of ‘genius’ or cognitive decline?

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that reporters should throw off the traditional journalistic imperative of brevity and simplicity by quoting Donald Trump in full.

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