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Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences
Report looks at referendums on Irish unification
Report looks at referendums on Irish unification
A dozen experts, including Penn’s Brendan O’Leary, lay a framework for how any future unification vote can be fair and feasible.
How child tax credits will affect American families
How child tax credits will affect American families
Social scientists Amy Castro Baker and Pilar Gonalons-Pons weigh in on how expanded child tax credits beginning July 15 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 will impact poverty, gender relations, and future policy
Inaugural SNF Paideia fellows reflect on an inspiring first year
Inaugural SNF Paideia fellows reflect on an inspiring first year
The fellowship program for undergraduates connects their general education and major requirements to public engagement and community building through dialogue across differences.
‘Cities in water’
‘Cities in water’
Architect and landscape architect Anuradha Mathur and anthropologist Nikhil Anand are collaborating on questions of design and human practices to create new ways of thinking about low-lying coastal cities in India and around the world.
Scientists say active early learning shapes the adult brain
Scientists say active early learning shapes the adult brain
Through the Abecedarian Project, an early education, randomized controlled trial that has followed children since 1971, Penn and Virginia Tech researchers reveal new discoveries about brain structure decades later.
A mental health checkup for children and adolescents, a year into COVID
A mental health checkup for children and adolescents, a year into COVID
As a whole, this group experienced a significant short-term psychological toll. Though the long-term consequences aren’t yet known, particularly given how the year disproportionately exacerbated adverse childhood experiences, Penn experts remain cautiously optimistic.
Reconsiderations of past, present, and future in a new environmental humanities book
Reconsiderations of past, present, and future in a new environmental humanities book
Featuring contributions from scholars representing a range of disciplines, ‘Timescales: Thinking Across Ecological Temporalities,’ is an outgrowth of the Penn Program for Environmental Humanities.
The potential role of vaccine certificates in the next phase of the pandemic
The potential role of vaccine certificates in the next phase of the pandemic
Public health law expert Eric Feldman and medical ethicist Emily Largent discuss the legal and ethical implications of companies and organizations requiring proof of vaccination to reengage with different sectors of the economy.
Belarus plane ‘hijacking,’ journalist’s arrest brings international condemnation
Belarus plane ‘hijacking,’ journalist’s arrest brings international condemnation
Penn Today spoke to former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Alexander Vershbow, currently the Wolk Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Perry World House, to get some background, his take on the ordeal, and what should happen next.
Mystics and visionaries: A fine arts seminar
Mystics and visionaries: A fine arts seminar
The Weitzman School’s Jackie Tileston’s seminar looks at the ways in which alternative forms of knowledge have fed artistic practices, both in the past and for contemporary artists in cultures around the globe.
In the News
Marketplace (NPR)
What did you do at work last week? Monitoring performance doesn’t improve it, expert says
Adam Grant of the Wharton School says that people do their best work when they’re given a chance to pursue autonomy, mastery, belonging, and purpose.
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Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
‘Marry or be fired’ and other global efforts to boost fertility
Jesús Fernández-Villaverde of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the world population will peak in 2055, followed by a systematic decline at a rapid rate.
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Men’s Health
These two personality traits make you instantly more attractive, say studies of over 4,000 people
A study by postdoc Natalia Kononov of the Wharton School suggests that kindness and helpfulness can make someone more attractive, regardless of the situation or relationship.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
After years of anti-vaccine advocacy, RFK Jr. said vaccines protect children. But experts say he must go further amid measles outbreak
Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and Jessica McDonald of APPC’s Factcheck.org comment on the need to debunk vaccine misinformation in public health messaging.
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The Guardian
Formerly anti-vax parents on how they changed their minds: ‘I really made a mistake’
According to surveys from the Annenberg Public Policy Center, the proportion of respondents who believe vaccines are unsafe grew from 9% in April 2021 to 16% in the fall of 2023.
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