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Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences
Studying novels with novelist Jennifer Egan
Pulitzer-Prize winning author Jennifer Egan returns to her alma mater to teach a course on English literature.
Musical merger of academics and performance
Music 236 emerges students in focused study on one classical composer through academics and musical performance with the Daedalus Quartet.
Pokémon activates a unique part of the brain, offering insights into its structure
In a study of adults who played the game extensively as children, Penn and Stanford researchers discovered that a particular area of the visual cortex lights up when players view characters from the original version.
New intervention increases healthy behavior among South African adolescents
A new study from the Annenberg School for Communication led by John B. Jemmott found that a specially designed health intervention given to South African youth improved healthy eating and amount of exercise, with effects lasting at least 4.5 years.
The Sachs Program announces 2019 grants, marks one-year anniversary
A year and 23 grant projects later, The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation is phasing into round two of its annual grant awards throughout eight categories that support the teaching, making, and presenting art.
Bush on public service: ‘Don’t be cynical about it’
During a conversation with Presidential Professor of Practice and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, hosted by the Fels Institute of Government, Bush remarked on politics, public service, and policy.
Student group increases the visibility of women in architecture
The members of PennDesign Women in Architecture have created community that increases the visibility and voices of women in architecture, and brings awareness to the gender disparity in the profession.
Latin American and Latino Studies celebrates 30 years of growth, plans for the future
What began as a handful of faculty and students has matured into a program offering a major and minor, grants, and a local and international community hub.
Kurdish is the newest class on the global language roster
A course taught by Annenberg doctoral student Mohammed Salih offered, for the first time at Penn, entrée into the basics of a language spoken by 30 million people worldwide.
Looking beyond the disease to the person living with it
In a new course taught by PIK Professor Jay Gottfried, students lead discussions on cognitive neuroscience topics and then meet patients who have relevant neurologic conditions.
In the News
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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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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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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‘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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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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