Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander in her graduation dress in 1921.

Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander: The first of many firsts

Despite encountering racism, sexism, and bigotry to get her Penn education, Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander became the first Black woman in the U.S. to get her Ph.D. in economics, and was one of the first three Black women to get a doctorate in any subject.

Leah Voytovich and Martin Leet in front of college hall while wearing masks

Empowering refugee communities with access to clean water

With project Maji, seniors Martin Leet and Leah Voytovich will use their President’s Engagement Prize to install a solar-powered water tank and provide agricultural and first aid training for members of the Olua I community.

head shots of Marisa Bartolomei, M. Celeste Simon, Michael Kearns, and Diana Mutz

Four Penn faculty elected to the National Academy of Sciences

The new members of the Academy, honored scholars recognized for their unique and ongoing contributions to original research, include researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Annenberg School for Communication.

A black-and-white illustration with many lines and circles and a person sitting in the middle.

A new theory for what’s happening in the brain when something looks familiar

This novel concept from the lab of neuroscientist Nicole Rust brings the field one step closer to understanding how memory functions. Long-term, it could have implications for treating memory-impairing diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Headshots of six people, in a grid, two rows of three.

Six from Penn elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Faculty from the School of Arts & Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Perelman School of Medicine are honored for their efforts to help solve some of the world’s most urgent challenges.

To improve climate models, an international team turns to archaeological data

The project, called LandCover6k, offers a new classification system that the researchers hope will improve predictions about the planet’s future and fill in gaps about its past.

Penn Museum announces the repatriation of the Morton Cranial Collection

The remains of Black Philadelphians within the Samuel G. Morton Cranial collection will be repatriated or reburied, based on a report that outlined recommendations from the Morton Collection Committee.

A hospital room with all lights off but the fluorescent light above bed, which has a green blanket. Behind the bed is a hospital tray that swivels and a blue chair. On the yellow wall behind are about 8 outlets.

In the U.S., COVID-19 wasn’t sole cause of excess deaths in 2020

Comparing death rates in the United States with those of the five biggest European countries, Penn and Max Planck demographers found that significant excess mortality cost more lives annually than the epidemic itself.

Communicating change in a ‘land of extremes’

In Aurora MacRae-Crerar’s Penn Global Seminar, students are grappling with the impacts of a shifting and unpredictable climate in Mongolia.

The power of architecture to address public health and environmental crises

Two new studies, one on UV sterilization in occupied rooms and another on radiative cooling, show how architecture can help create interior spaces that are both COVID-safe and energy-efficient.

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