2.19
Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences
Professor Charles Bernstein awarded Yale’s 2019 Bollingen Prize for Poetry
Charles Bernstein is the 51st poet to be honored with the biennial prize, one of the most prestigious given to American writers. Bernstein’s latest collection, “Near/Miss,” was published last year.
Iconic indeed, will Amtrak’s split-flap sign remain?
As Amtrak decides whether to keep the split-flap sign at 30th Street Station, PennDesign professors lay out research-based and historical considerations.
The scholar behind ‘Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism’
Kristen R. Ghodsee has been intrigued by the former Eastern bloc since she was in high school. Now, her research is reaching a new audience in a provocative book.
Spencer named Robert S. Blank Presidential Professor
Quayshawn Spencer, an associate professor of philosophy, has been named the Robert S. Blank Presidential Associate Professor of Philosophy.
Report predicts aging homeless population will nearly triple by 2030
The national population of people 65 or older experiencing homelessness is estimated to grow from 40,000 to 106,000 by 2030.
Walt Whitman up close
As part of the Penn Manuscript Collective, students transcribe rare documents and original works by Walt Whitman in the University’s collection. Their discoveries will be included in an international symposium at Penn this spring, Whitman at 200, led by the Penn Libraries marking the anniversary of the poet’s birth.
What do opponents of genetically modified foods really know about the science?
The study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, found that the strongest critics actually know less—a pattern similar for gene therapy, but not for climate change.
Cafe series kicks off its spring season
The free, public Lightbulb and Science Cafes for spring 2019 will feature professors talking about everything from the Middle East peace process to translating “The Odyssey.”
Writers House reborn
Renovations were recently completed at Kelly Writers House to expand its premier Arts Cafe and make the space more technologically friendly.
Historic Philly playbills get modern-day crowdsourcing
An innovative online crowdsourcing project led by Laura Aydelotte of the Penn Libraries allows the public to transcribe digitized 19th-century Philadelphia theater playbills. An upcoming conference will explore digital approaches to researching theater history.
In the News
NextCity.org
Philly applies a ‘light touch’ to get dollars flowing for middle-income homes
Vincent Reina of the School of Design discussed Philadelphia’s new Workforce Housing Credit Enhancement program, which guarantees loans to small and mid-size developers building income-restricted projects. The enhancement “is a nice way of releasing pressure on the housing market,” says Reina.
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Miami Herald
Sex and violence were pumped up to “Americanize” Jane the Virgin, study finds
A new study from the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that “Jane the Virgin,” like many other English-language adaptations of telenovelas, was augmented to feature more sex and violence than the original version in order to appeal to American audiences. These changes “could in turn adversely affect its adolescent Hispanic audiences,” wrote the report’s co-authors, Darien Perez Ryan and Patrick E. Jamieson.
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Forbes
What the Middle Ages can teach us about Star Wars’ ancient Jedi texts
The Schoenberg Institute was highlighted for its series of weekly videos in which the Libraries’ Dot Porter discusses parallels between fictional texts in the Star Wars universe and medieval manuscripts.
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The New Yorker
Does democracy need truth?: A conversation with the historian Sophia Rosenfeld
The School of Arts and Sciences’ Sophia Rosenfeld was interviewed about her new book, “Democracy and Truth: A Short History.” Addressing the rise of social media, Rosenfeld said, “we don’t have many tools, most of us, for distinguishing between legitimate stories and illegitimate ones, or we don’t care that much. The end result is a world of truth and falsehood all circulating, undifferentiated, globally.”
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The New York Times
Overlooked no more: Forough Farrokhzad, Iranian poet who broke barriers of sex and society
The School of Arts and Sciences’ Fatemeh Shams memorialized the late Iranian poet, Forough Farrokhzad. “She always had one eye back on tradition, and one eye toward the future,” said Shams.
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