Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

The making of tomorrow’s voters

There were only 11 days left in Philadelphia’s contentious mayoral race. The entire Philadelphia media scrum had descended on a small classroom at Olney High School.

Elaine Wilner

New Leadership and a New Affiliation for Penn's Fels Center of Government

PHILADELPHIA - Samuel H. Preston, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, has named leading criminologist Lawrence W. Sherman as the new Director of the Fels Center of Government. Sherman will also be appointed the Albert M. Greenfield Professor of Human Relations in the Department of Sociology.

Elaine Wilner

Tales of abuse from a ‘Dream House’

Carmen María Machado, who teaches speculative fiction as a writer in residence in the Creative Writing Program, has received extraordinary attention for her new memoir, “In the Dream House,” using multiple genres to describe an abusive relationship with her former girlfriend.

Louisa Shepard

Two Penn juniors named Truman Scholars

Two juniors, Annah Chollet and Camilo Duran, have received Harry S. Truman Scholarships, a merit-based award of as much as $30,000 for graduate or professional school to prepare for careers in public service.

Louisa Shepard , Aaron Olson



In the News


Deseret News (Salt Lake City)

‘Marry or be fired’ and other global efforts to boost fertility

Jesús Fernández-Villaverde of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the world population will peak in 2055, followed by a systematic decline at a rapid rate.

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Men’s Health

These two personality traits make you instantly more attractive, say studies of over 4,000 people

A study by postdoc Natalia Kononov of the Wharton School suggests that kindness and helpfulness can make someone more attractive, regardless of the situation or relationship.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

After years of anti-vaccine advocacy, RFK Jr. said vaccines protect children. But experts say he must go further amid measles outbreak

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and Jessica McDonald of APPC’s Factcheck.org comment on the need to debunk vaccine misinformation in public health messaging.

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The Guardian

Formerly anti-vax parents on how they changed their minds: ‘I really made a mistake’

According to surveys from the Annenberg Public Policy Center, the proportion of respondents who believe vaccines are unsafe grew from 9% in April 2021 to 16% in the fall of 2023.

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WHYY (Philadelphia)

Many Gen Zers deal with higher rates of mental health challenges and firearm suicides, according to a new report

PIK Professor Desmond Patton says that more young people are speaking openly about mental health, especially on social media. College of Arts and Sciences first-year Anvesha Guru says that cultural attitudes about guns and mental health need more than a simple shift.

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