Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

Musical magic

For 45 years, Penn Choral Director William Parberry has conducted thousands of Penn singers through hundreds of music scores, resulting in more than 270 concerts by his three ensembles.

Louisa Shepard

Only one approach could plausibly have avoided catastrophe in Syria

Could the U.S. have better protected civilians from mass atrocities during the Syrian conflict in 2013? Research from political scientist Ian Lustick reveals that only one approach—persuading Assad to treat the protests as a reform movement rather than a violent revolution—might have helped.

Michele W. Berger

Astronomical find

Penn Libraries has acquired a rare astronomical treatise dated 1481, with unique diagrams in the margins, and original discs of parchment that turn to demonstrate the movement of the sun, moon, and planets.

Louisa Shepard

Perspective: Gas attack in Douma

Ian Lustick, a professor in Penn’s Political Science Department and a leading authority on international terrorism, says this weekend’s atrocities in Douma can be attributed to a Syrian attack. We asked him to elaborate on a few details.

Jill DiSanto , Jill DiSanto



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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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 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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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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