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Mapping words to color
fanned out color sample sheets depicting a rainbow of shades

A Penn study has looked at the communicative needs that drive similarities and differences in how languages develop vocabularies for color. 

Mapping words to color

Researchers led by postdoc Colin Twomey and professor Joshua Plotkin developed an algorithm that can infer the communicative needs different linguistic communities place on colors.

Katherine Unger Baillie

‘The climate girl’ at Penn
A college-age person standing outside, with greenery blurred in the front of the image. She is wearing a jean jacket with the words "Re-earth IN," a globe in the shape of a heart, and other earth-related designs.

Second year Xiye Bastida, from San Pedro Tultepec, Mexico, has participated in Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for the Future movement. She and friends began the Re-Earth Initiative aimed at “reimaging the future, reconnecting with the planet, and redefining collaboration.” Despite six years of environmental activism under her belt, Bastida says she’s just getting started.

  • Q&A

    • ‘The climate girl’ at Penn

    In a Q&A with Xiye Bastida, the second year describes how she’s bringing climate activism to her college experience, how her Indigenous background influences her path, and why storytelling and protecting Earth go hand in hand.

    Michele W. Berger

    Lauder students put language skills into practice
    Supplies being handed to someone inside a Chinese language school

    Supplies being delivered to the Guanghua Chinese School. Lauder Institute student Angela Huang worked with the school, based in Montgomery County, to translate newsletter materials about wellness. (Image: Courtesy of Angela Huang)

    Lauder students put language skills into practice

    In lieu of its in-country immersion program, which was canceled because of the pandemic, the Lauder Institute incorporated community engagement projects that connected students with communities in Philadelphia and beyond.
    Reimagining scientific discovery through the lens of an artist
    a headshot of Rebecca Kamen in front of an abstract painting

    Reimagining scientific discovery through the lens of an artist

    The latest exhibition by Rebecca Kamen, Penn artist-in-residence and visiting scholar, at the American University Katzen Art Center explores curiosity and the creative process across art and science.

    Erica K. Brockmeier

    Protecting and celebrating civil rights heritage and Black histories
    armstrong house

    The two-acre site of the Armstrong School, which has been out of use since the mid-1950’s, includes a church, burial ground, and school house. Researchers at Penn’s Center for the Preservation of Civil Rights Sites and Tuskegee University are collaborating on stabilizing the structure and developing an interpretation plan for the historic site. (Image: Kwesi Daniels)

    Protecting and celebrating civil rights heritage and Black histories

    Launched last fall, Penn’s Center for the Preservation of Civil Rights sites is fostering new and ongoing partnerships while preserving the legacy of civil rights in the U.S.

    Erica K. Brockmeier

    Coding the emotions that anti-tobacco ads evoke
    A person sitting outside on a silver metal bench wearing a black and white skirt, a white shirt, and blue blazer. Plants are visible to the right and to the left. Junior Gabriela Montes de Oca from Houston has a background working on public health issues and supporting marginalized populations as part of Penn’s United Minorities Council, as a member of the First-Generation, Low-Income Dean’s Advisory Board, and through her role as a Penn Civic Scholar. This summer, in addition to interning in the lab of Andy Tan, she worked on Covid-19 testing and vaccinations at Sayre Health Center.

    Coding the emotions that anti-tobacco ads evoke

    Sophomore Oulaya Louaddi and junior Gabriela Montes de Oca interned this summer with Annenberg’s Andy Tan, helping the research team design and test culturally appropriate anti-smoking campaigns for young women who identify as sexual minorities.

    Michele W. Berger

    Medical anthropologist Fran Barg reflects on three decades at Penn
    A person standing along a black iron fence, one arm hanging over the fence. In the background are trees and a blurred out mural.

    Fran Barg spent more than 30 years at Penn, conducting research that fell at the intersection of medicine and anthropology. Though she technically retired in June 2021, she plans to remain connected to Penn, to the mentoring and research that has enriched her career.

    Medical anthropologist Fran Barg reflects on three decades at Penn

    She spent her career studying the culture of medicine. Through collaborations with colleagues in medicine and anthropology, she’s pinpointed why it’s so crucial to see serious medical problems from both a scientific perspective and a patient one.

    Michele W. Berger

    Remote learning affected high schoolers’ social, emotional health
    In the foreground, a blurred out student holding a pencil over a notebook watching a math lesson on a computer screen. In the background are blurred out plants, table and chairs.

    Remote learning affected high schoolers’ social, emotional health

    Research from Angela Duckworth and colleagues found that teenagers who attended school virtually fared worse than classmates who went in person, results that held even when accounting for variables like gender, race, and socioeconomic status.

    Michele W. Berger

    A new metric for designing safer streets
    megan ryerson cycling down a city bike lane

    Using eye tracking data from cyclists navigating through Center City, researchers from the lab of Megan Ryerson (above) describe how biometric data can be used to find potentially challenging and dangerous areas of urban infrastructure. (Image: Thomas Orgren)

    A new metric for designing safer streets

    Penn researchers demonstrate how biometric data can help city planners more proactively design and evaluate the safety of urban infrastructure for bicyclists and pedestrians.

    Erica K. Brockmeier