Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

A stage ready for a MLK Day of Service performance.

Celebrating MLK

The annual Commemorative Symposium on Social Change features events to commemorate and honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

A prehistoric city with homes, earthen mounds, and pathways

Marking the winter solstice, from Neolithic times to today

For millennia, people have marked the winter solstice with rituals and celebrations—and they continue to do so today. Penn Museum anthropologists Lucy Fowler Williams and Megan Kassabaum discuss both ancient and contemporary customs associated with attending to the shortest day of the year.

Deborah Burnham sits in Kelly Writers House, surrounded by wooden chairs

Healing with words, through writing workshops for cancer patients

Writing a Life, organized by the Abramson Cancer Center and held at Kelly Writers House each month, provides such patients the opportunity to creatively examine and express their experiences.

A black man and a white woman shaking hands

In negotiations, one strategy leads to better economic gains, but worse relationships

Behavioral scientist Nazli Bhatia found that aggressive but retracted offers known as ‘phantom anchors’ can improve outcomes—but only when employed with finesse.

Cutting and folding toward innovations in medicine, design, and more

Artist-in-residence Mike Tanis and physicist Randall Kamien use kirigami, literally “cut paper,” to better grasp scientific concepts and to solve real-world challenges.

performer on stage reading from a script at the Community Monologue event with seated performers behind her on stage

Bridging the gap between Penn students and the West Philly community

In a seminar co-taught by Herman Beavers and Suzana Berger, undergraduates work alongside Sayre High School students and West Philadelphia residents to study the works of August Wilson.

Q&A

World AIDS Day: What’s happening with the epidemic today

Professor of Medicine and Associate Chief of the Infectious Diseases Division Ian Frank explains progress made and challenges still faced in the world of HIV/AIDS research, prevention, and treatment.

Thom Collins teaching class at the Barnes

In this photography class, students become curators—at the Barnes

This year’s Spiegel-Wilks Curatorial Seminar has taken students inside the world of the Barnes Foundation, where they learn about the history of photography and get a hands-on look at museum operations.

From devastation, stories of hope and resilience

On a summer field trip, students assisted in the filming of virtual reality videos of artists in Puerto Rico reacting to Hurricane Maria.

Widening the lens on language study

Penn Arts and Sciences faculty use language to unravel mysteries of culture, cognition, and communication.

Filters