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Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences
The calm before the storm in the Middle East
In her new book, Heather Sharkey, a professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, explores Muslim, Christian, and Jewish relations in the period before World War I.
Q&A with Mary Frances Berry
The civil rights activist, historian, and author discusses her new book “History Teaches Us to Resist: How Progressive Movements Have Succeeded in Challenging Times.”
Greening vacant lots reduces depression in city dwellers
People living within a quarter mile of greened lots had a 41.5 percent decrease in feelings of depression and a nearly 63 percent decrease in self-reported “poor mental health,” compared to those who lived near the lots that received no intervention.
Talking philosophy, privacy, and race with Anita Allen
On July 1, the Vice Provost and professor of Law and Philosophy became the first female African-American president of the American Philosophical Association’s Eastern Division.
Pardon power: Rogers Smith on presidential privilege
The political science professor discusses the legality of the current president applying the power of presidential pardon to himself, and concludes that there's no definitive constitutional answer.
What makes food photos on Instagram popular?
A study out of the Annenberg School for Communication examines our likes and dislikes in relation to social media, and finds they are more habitual than aesthetic, and uncovers what elements make food photos go viral.
To improve online information about violence and abuse, one group turned to Wikipedia
Three undergrads and a recent alum, working with the Ortner Center’s Susan B. Sorenson, added the latest scientific research to more than 50 entries.
Exhibit catalog to peer inside fantastical mind of Penn artist
“Out, Out, Phosphene Candle” is one of The Sach’s Program for Arts Innovation 23 projects that received funding this spring. A collaboration between Paul Swenback, the building manager for the Institute of Contemporary Art, and Joy Feasley, the fantastical exhibit blends art, nature, and the occult at a gallery in Wisconsin, and in a forthcoming book on the exhibit.
Understanding the social dynamics that cause cooperation to thrive, or fail
Many examples of cooperation exist in nature, but it’s far from a universal characteristic of human or animal groups. Using a mathematical model, Erol Akçay showed that less randomly connected social networks make cooperation more likely, but those dynamics may ultimately lead to cooperation’s collapse.
Stains Alive
For Libraries fellow Erin Connelly, stains are some of the most exciting discoveries in her study of medieval manuscripts. She is part of a national team analyzing stains in medieval texts using modern multispectral imaging. An exhibition at Van Pelt-Dietrich Library displays the researchers’ discoveries.
In the News
The New York Times
The trouble with trucking
Steve Viscelli, a Robert and Penny Fox Family Pavilion Scholar Senior Fellow and a lecturer in the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and the Department of Sociology, was cited for his expertise in the trucking industry.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
When a white woman from Old City wears a Black Lives Matter T-shirt in Cherry Hill
Marybeth Gasman of the Graduate School of Education wrote a viral Facebook post about her experience wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt in public.
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Bloomberg View
Trump loses a battle in his war on truth
The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s Kathleen Hall Jamieson said, of the status of truth in contemporary politics, that “checks and balances can still forestall or prevent unjustified action in domestic affairs (assuming that those in the Congress and the courts retain their respect for the knowable and known).”
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The New York Times
Classical myths filtered through a modern prism
Emily Wilson of the School of Arts and Sciences reviewed Zachary Mason’s “Metamorphica” for The New York Times.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
When Philadelphians just can’t get enough Fringe Fest here, they go to Scotland’s monster version
Rosemary Malague of the School of Arts and Sciences has taken groups of students to the Edinburgh Fringe festival for over 25 years. “It’s a tremendous learning opportunity for all of us – and we get to see some great shows,” said Malague.
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