Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

Philadelphia and Meiji Japan symposium marks 150 years of deep ties

Scholars from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia, and the Meiji Jingu Intercultural Research Institute celebrate the 150th anniversary of Japan’s Meiji Restoration, and the surprising links between Philadelphia and Japan during a political period that set the island nation on a fast track to modernization.

Brandon K. Baker

Returning to Vietnam

A child of Vietnamese refugees, David Thai has returned to his family’s homeland as a Fulbright Scholar, where he will teach English at the Hoang Le Kha High School for Gifted Students, in the southwestern region of Vietnam, a few hours from where his mother grew up.

Jill DiSanto

Civics knowledge predicts willingness to protect Supreme Court

The annual Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey found that Americans are familiar with constitutional provisions involving impeachment and pardons, but many are lacking basic civics knowledge, including the three branches of U.S. government.

Penn Today Staff

How the Great Recession changed American workers

Wharton experts argue that the fallout from the Great Recession of 2008 persists today. Fewer home owners, increasing retirement age, and lingering debt, plus a debate about the true cause of the financial meltdown continues one decade later.

Penn Today Staff

A neural link between altruism and empathy toward strangers

Studying the brain activity of people who have donated a kidney to a stranger, psychologist Kristin Brethel-Haurwitz found a clear link between real-world altruism and empathy, particularly in regard to the pain and fear of strangers.

Michele W. Berger



In the News


U.S. News & World Report

Has RSV vaccine hesitancy subsided?

A survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center finds that more Americans believe in the effectiveness of vaccines developed to protect newborns and seniors against RSV.

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The New York Times

Europe has a leadership vacuum. How will it handle Trump?

Amy Gutmann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Germany is front and center in the economic problems currently afflicting Europe.

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The Hill

Trust in court system at record low: Gallup

An October survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that the public’s trust in the U.S. Supreme Court has dropped to a record low.

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Los Angeles Times

Trump offers murky worldview ahead of second term, mixing dire warnings with rosy promises

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that Donald Trump is far more hyperbolic on average than traditional presidential candidates, who still routinely claim that they will do something alone that can’t be done without Congress.

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The New York Times

An epidemic of vicious school brawls, fueled by student cellphones

PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton says that many schools don’t have a playbook for addressing student violence or helping pupils engage more positively online, in part because few researchers are studying the issue.

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