Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

From Rwanda to Penn: a journey fueled by hope

First-year student Remy Manzi remembers every detail of his journey from Rwanda to Philadelphia. He remembers the enormous width of the airplane that took him from South Africa to the United States. He remembers the poster featuring Mayor Michael Nutter that welcomes visitors to the Philly airport when they step off the plane.

Heather A. Davis

Floor show

On its way to the Louvre, a large and exceptionally well-preserved ancient Roman floor mosaic—discovered in Lod, Israel, in 1996 and excavated in 2009—is making its final stop in the United States at the Penn Museum.“ Unearthing a Masterpiece: A Roman Mosaic from Lod, Israel” opens on Sunday, Feb. 10, and runs through May 19.

Penn Researcher Explores the World of the Sex Trade

While some Ivy League professors are clean-cut academics who wear suits with bowties and carry stacks of books from the library, others shatter that image.  Instead, some wear jeans and explore very dark, far-away places.  One of those researchers studies the underworld of the sex trade -- not just in Philadelphia but also in New York City and in India.

Jill DiSanto



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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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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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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