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Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences
Penn Reading Project gets freshmen on the same page
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?”
Returning to Vietnam
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.
Through the Knight grant, a new vision for public art
Through the Knight grant, a new vision for public art
Members of PennDesign, Penn Libraries, and the Sachs Program for Arts Innovation are curating a project to reimagine art and new digital technology.
Cinema studies profs predict this year’s Emmy winners
Cinema studies profs predict this year’s Emmy winners
Cinema and media studies lecturers discuss the tricky and nuanced vetting process that precedes announcing winners at the television awards show, including the politics, business, and social issues surrounding the current “Golden Age” of television.
How the Great Recession changed American workers
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.
A neural link between altruism and empathy toward strangers
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.
Theatre students perform on international stage
Theatre students perform on international stage
Portraying dual roles of conjoined twins from the 19th century and a pair of modern-day researchers, junior Duval Courteau and senior Aria Proctor took the stage at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland with the one-act play, “Curio.”
Q&A with Tulia Falleti
The political science professor explains the events of the “other” 9/11, the coup of 1973 that displaced the democratically-elected president of Chile and instated a military dictator.
Collective grief over loss from Brazil’s National Museum fire
Collective grief over loss from Brazil’s National Museum fire
Members of the Penn Museum’s archeological community discuss the devastation felt over the destruction of an invaluable piece of world history.
Floating art installation brings Schuylkill River history to life
Floating art installation brings Schuylkill River history to life
Jacob Rivkin, an artist-in-residence for the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities and an instructor in the School of Design, will present a public art installation on the Schuylkill River called “Floating Archives,” starting this weekend. (Video)
In the News
Marketplace (NPR)
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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Philadelphia Inquirer
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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Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
‘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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Men’s Health
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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The Guardian
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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