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Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences
How do stereotypes affect what people think is fair?
Stereotypes systematically affect what people think is fair, according to new research from psychologist Anna Jenkins. The findings make it possible to predict how people will treat members of different social groups.
Is ‘Democracy in Trouble?’
“Democracy in Trouble?” is the focus of a year’s worth of programming at the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy. Its 2018-19 Speaker Series examines and counters trends regarding the ongoing threats to democracy in the United States and around the world.
PennDesign preservationists complete digital documentation of PA.’s slatelands
Frank Matero and John Hinchman’s website detailing the industrial landscape of the Pennsylvania Slate Belt, a 22-square-mile expanse of quarries, towns, transportation networks, and industrial wreckage, serves as a historical preservation tool via digital humanities.
Q&A with Karen Redrobe, new director of the Wolf Humanities Center
In her new role, Redrobe will oversee the Center's public programs, and the research work of 29 faculty, graduate, and post-doctoral fellows, and oversee Penn Global collaboration with the Perry World House.
Learn from the experts with the Penn Science and Lightbulb Cafes
The lecture series, hosted by the School of Arts and Sciences, offers a casual setting in which researchers can present their work and engage with the attendees during a Q&A period, giving a glimpse into the research at Penn.
Exploring the human propensity to cooperate
Working with a nomadic group in Tanzania, one of the last remaining nomadic hunter-gatherer populations, Penn psychologists show that cooperation is flexible, not fixed.
Leading the subconscious to accept healthy encouragement
A study from the Annenberg School for Communication shows that individual's are more receptive to making healthy life choices when motivation stems from others, not the self.
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.
The College of Liberal and Professional Studies launches online bachelor’s degree
The School of Arts and Sciences’ College of Liberal and Professional Studies has launched a new program that, for the first time, makes an Ivy League bachelor’s degree accessible online. Beginning in the fall of 2019, the Penn LPS Online platform will offer a fully-accredited, online education for working adults and other non-traditional students.
Penn Reading Project gets freshmen on the same page
The Penn Reading Project, in its 28th year, is designed to bring the freshmen class together on one academic project. The Class of 2022 read Thornton Wilder’s “The Bridge of San Luis Rey,” as part of the Provost’s “Year of Why?”
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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