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Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences
Elizabeth Warren’s take on the election and the path forward
Elizabeth Warren’s take on the election and the path forward
The Massachusetts senator’s discussion with Fels Distinguished Fellow Elizabeth Vale was part of the Fels Public Policy in Practice series.
‘You Voted. But Did it Really Matter?’
‘You Voted. But Did it Really Matter?’
On Nov. 7, Pennsylvania’s electoral votes secured Joseph Biden the presidency. Anticipating news of a Biden win, Mary Frances Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and professor of history and Africana studies, called it a time to push forward for change with renewed force.
New seminar series addresses Racism and Anti-Racism in Contemporary America
New seminar series addresses Racism and Anti-Racism in Contemporary America
A new series organized by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program at Penn includes 13 conversations focusing on inequalities across on economic, political, social, and cultural systems. (Pre-pandemic image)
One undergrad researcher powers through the pandemic
One undergrad researcher powers through the pandemic
The unusual circumstances brought on by COVID-19 forced Lana Prieur, a junior in the School of Arts & Sciences, to pivot her approach to research—and sparked new connections in the process.
After a contentious and highly polarized election, what comes next?
After a contentious and highly polarized election, what comes next?
Constitutional scholar Rogers Smith shared his thoughts on how the election has gone so far, what might come next, and the challenges of addressing political polarization in America both now and in the future.
An election night like no other
An election night like no other
Undergraduates in the Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies worked at NBC helping support its Decision Desk.
The sociology and science of genomes and biomes
The sociology and science of genomes and biomes
Rebecca Mueller studies how infectious microbes like the coronavirus can affect communities of people with genetic vulnerabilities.
Alexander Vindman on past events, future concerns
Alexander Vindman on past events, future concerns
The visiting scholar spoke at a virtual event at Perry World House on the first anniversary of his testimony before the presidential impeachment inquiry.
Uncovered burial ground reveals history of 36 enslaved Africans in 18th-century Charleston
Uncovered burial ground reveals history of 36 enslaved Africans in 18th-century Charleston
According to the research, many of these individuals originated in sub-Saharan Africa, in line with historical accounts of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This work, the largest DNA study of its kind to date, was co-led by anthropologist Theodore Schurr and conducted with support from and at the request of the local community.
How the Africana Studies Summer Institute went virtual
How the Africana Studies Summer Institute went virtual
The 2020 Africana Summer Institute adopted a new vision, working to prepare freshmen for a virtual life at Penn.
In the News
The Washington Post
On conservative talk radio, efforts to tone down inflammatory rhetoric appear limited
Brian Rosenwald of the School of Arts & Sciences weighed in on how conservative talk radio hosts will address the incoming Biden administration. “A Democratic administration equals a new boogeymen to focus on,” said Rosenwald. “You might have offhand references or conversation about Biden being an illegitimate president, but the focus won’t be on the ‘stolen election’ unless and until there is fresh news on the topic.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
From the fashion to the flags, Joe Biden’s inauguration presents a vision of a unified America
Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw of the School of Arts & Sciences weighed in on some of the outfits seen at President Biden’s inauguration. “There was a real conscious choice not to wear polarizing colors,” she said. “There was a sense of merging red and blue into one to visualize the bringing together of the country. These two hues have been used to politically separate us into tribes. This was a visual end to that.”
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The Washington Post
The Trump presidency was marked by battles over truth itself. Those aren’t over
Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center said people can be primed to believe false information through repetition. “What Trump did was take tactics of deception and played to confirmation biases that were already circulating in our culture and embodied them in somebody who is president of the United States. He didn’t change what was available, but he changed its accessibility,” she said. “That crazed content has always been there. But it becomes dangerous when it is legitimized and when it has the power of the state behind it.”
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The New York Times
Go ahead. Fantasize
Martin Seligman of the School of Arts & Sciences said dreaming about the future can help people live well in the present. “Imagining the future—we call this skill prospection—and prospection is subserved by a set of brain circuits that juxtapose time and space and get you imagining things well and beyond the here and now,” he said. “The essence of resilience about the future is: How good a prospector are you?”
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Huffington Post
Trump supporters’ main problem was never the economy
Research by Diana Mutz of the Annenberg School for Communication and School of Arts & Sciences found that people who voted for Trump in 2016 did so because of racial anxieties, not economic distress. “It’s the same old same old. White males have been the group with the most power in our country for a long, long time,” she said. “Change is hard.”
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