Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

‘Bob Dylan, Prophet Without a God’

In his new book, “Bob Dylan, Prophet Without God,” political philosopher Jeffrey Edward Green of the School of Arts & Sciences offers an overarching account of the significance of Dylan’s political, religious, and ethical ideas.

Kristen de Groot

How direct cash assistance aids cancer patients from low-income households

A new study by Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice examines the potential of a joint program between Bradley Cooper’s One Family Foundation and the Independence Blue Cross Foundation Institute for Health Equity on health care and economic insecurity.

From the School of Social Policy & Practice

Redlining and rentals

Historian Brent Cebul in the School of Arts & Sciences is working on a new digital mapping project looking at the impact of Federal Housing Administration policies on the availability of affordable rental housing post-World War II. 

Kristen de Groot

The anthropology of plastics in India

Doctoral candidate Adwaita Banerjee uses ethnographic research to document the ecological transition of the Deonar dumping ground, where thousands of Dalits and Muslim migrants mine the area for plastic that can be resold and recycled.

Kristina García

Takeaways from the U.K. elections

Political scientist Brendan O’Leary of the School of Arts & Sciences offers his take on the Labour Party’s landslide victory and what it means going forward.

Kristen de Groot



In the News


U.S. News & World Report

Has RSV vaccine hesitancy subsided?

A survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center finds that more Americans believe in the effectiveness of vaccines developed to protect newborns and seniors against RSV.

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The New York Times

Europe has a leadership vacuum. How will it handle Trump?

Amy Gutmann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Germany is front and center in the economic problems currently afflicting Europe.

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The Hill

Trust in court system at record low: Gallup

An October survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that the public’s trust in the U.S. Supreme Court has dropped to a record low.

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Los Angeles Times

Trump offers murky worldview ahead of second term, mixing dire warnings with rosy promises

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that Donald Trump is far more hyperbolic on average than traditional presidential candidates, who still routinely claim that they will do something alone that can’t be done without Congress.

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The New York Times

An epidemic of vicious school brawls, fueled by student cellphones

PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton says that many schools don’t have a playbook for addressing student violence or helping pupils engage more positively online, in part because few researchers are studying the issue.

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