Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

Penn Forms New Task Force on Student Psychological Health and Welfare

President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price have formed a new Task Force on Student Psychological Health and Welfare.  The Task Force will examine the challenges confronting students that can affect their psychological health and wellbeing; review and assess the efficacy of Penn resources for helping students manage psychological problems, stress, or situational crises; and make recommendations related to programs, policies, and practices designed to improve the quality and safety of student life.

Ron Ozio

John Legend to Speak at Penn’s 258th Commencement

John Legend, a nine-time Grammy Award-winning soul artist, philanthropist and Penn alumnus will deliver the address at the University of Pennsylvania’s Commencement on Monday, May 19, Leslie Laird Kruhly, Vice President and University Secretary announced.

Jeanne Leong

Expanding Horizons Through Arab Music at Penn

After hearing Arab music for the first time at a wedding a couple of years ago, University of Pennsylvania senior Idrees Syed was so enthralled with the sounds that he soon began taking drumming lessons in the Arab Music Ensemble percussion class at Penn.“The sounds were just mesmerizing,” Syed says.

Jeanne Leong



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

Comcast’s Sports Complex plan for South Philly would make our city less livable

In an Op-Ed, Vukan R. Vuchic of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that Philadelphia should make transit more accessible rather than striving to accommodate more cars.

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The New York Times

We don’t see what climate change is doing to us

In an Op-Ed, R. Jisung Park of the School of Social Policy & Practice says that public discourse around climate change overlooks the buildup of slow, subtle costs and their impact on human systems.

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Associated Press

Far fewer young Americans now want to study in China. Both countries are trying to fix that

Amy Gadsden of Penn Global says that American interest in studying in China is declining due to foreign businesses closing their offices there and Beijing’s draconian governing style.

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The Wall Street Journal

‘Slouch’ review: The panic over posture

In her new book, “Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America,” Beth Linker of the School of Arts & Sciences traces society’s posture obsession to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

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Associated Press

In death, three decades after his trial verdict, O.J. Simpson still reflects America’s racial divides

Camille Charles of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Black Americans have grown less likely to believe in a famous defendant’s innocence as a show of race solidarity.

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