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Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences
Survival of the trees on an urban campus
Since 2015, the Office of the University Architect has been partnering with the Morris Arboretum on a tree donation program in order to determine how particular trees fare in an urban environment.
Did serial killer H. H. Holmes fake his own death?
Biological archaeologists from the Penn Museum have helped resolve a lingering question about serial killer H. H. Holmes that has persisted since 1896: his final resting place.
French lit professor discusses her new book, a stranger-than-fiction tale of finance and fashion
Joan DeJean’s book of French society in the 17th and 18th century is not unlike a modern soap opera, complete with high fashion, murder, bad investments, and family betrayal.
Scholar of Britain discusses the royal family and upcoming nuptials
Historian Alex Chase-Levenson talks the impending wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and Americans’ fascination with the British royal family.
Parents not OK with movie gun violence for younger teens
A new study by researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center reveals how parents determine what makes intense gun violence in PG-13 movies acceptable for teens.
33rd Philadelphia Children’s Festival offers three days of performing arts fun
Now in its 33rd year, the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts ushers in a three-day wave of merriment with the Philadelphia Children’s Festival, marked by its interdisciplinary lineup of performing arts acts.
New ‘match’ streamlines clinical training experience for psych graduate students
A new “match” for clinical psychology graduate students connects trainees with potential externship sites. In its second year, the initiative successfully matched more than 250 trainees in the mid-Atlantic region.
The world on view
The world is on view at the Arthur Ross Gallery, interpreted by 13 students in André Dombrowski’s history of art curatorial class. They chose more than 100 objects from 14 institutions to represent World’s Fairs from 1851 to 1915.
Wrongful convictions reported for 6 percent of crimes
For capital crimes like rape and murder, wrongful convictions happen in about 3 to 5 percent of cases. Such an estimate had proved elusive for the prison population as a whole—until now, thanks to work from Penn criminologists.
Breaking the bank
Economics professor Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde reveals that Bitcoin is not the first private currency in history, and may face regulation in the future.
In the News
Comcast’s Sports Complex plan for South Philly would make our city less livable
In an Op-Ed, Vukan R. Vuchic of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that Philadelphia should make transit more accessible rather than striving to accommodate more cars.
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We don’t see what climate change is doing to us
In an Op-Ed, R. Jisung Park of the School of Social Policy & Practice says that public discourse around climate change overlooks the buildup of slow, subtle costs and their impact on human systems.
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Far fewer young Americans now want to study in China. Both countries are trying to fix that
Amy Gadsden of Penn Global says that American interest in studying in China is declining due to foreign businesses closing their offices there and Beijing’s draconian governing style.
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‘Slouch’ review: The panic over posture
In her new book, “Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America,” Beth Linker of the School of Arts & Sciences traces society’s posture obsession to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
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In death, three decades after his trial verdict, O.J. Simpson still reflects America’s racial divides
Camille Charles of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Black Americans have grown less likely to believe in a famous defendant’s innocence as a show of race solidarity.
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