Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

Q&A with Heather Love

The field of Queer studies has its roots in defiance and rebellion. The activists and academics who founded the discipline were revolting against a heteronormative nation and complete and total assimilation, breaking the rules of how to be scholars, and reshaping popular notions about sexuality.

Greg Johnson

Penn English Professor Studies Sexuality by Looking at Renaissance Love Lyrics

Expressions of unrequited desire quoted in romantic comedies and in poems of everlasting devotion read at weddings have their roots in centuries-old texts. Melissa E. Sanchez says a careful look at the language and history of 16th- and 17th-century poetry provides insights on issues of gender, sexuality and romance both past and modern-day.

Jacquie Posey

The Journey From Egypt to Philadelphia of the Penn Museum’s Sphinx

When the massive sphinx arrived at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia in 1913, it was eclipsed by another historic event in the city – opening day of baseball’s World Series with the Philadelphia Athletics hosting the New York Giants. 

Jeanne Leong

Ramon Diaz-Arrastia Appointed Presidential Professor at Penn

Ramon Diaz-Arrastia has been named the ninth Presidential Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, effective July 1. A world-leading expert in traumatic brain injury, Diaz-Arrastia will be Presidential Professor of Neurology in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine.

Ron Ozio



In the News


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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The New York Times

N.Y.C. grocery prices are high. Could city-owned stores help?

Andrew Lamas of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the logistics of running grocery stores are complicated and that New York City should examine different models like cooperatives.

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