Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

A historian’s look at abolition and citizenship

In the late 1700s, New York and four other northern states passed laws that freed children born to enslaved women. Sarah Gronningsater, an assistant professor of history in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences, wanted to know more about how this extraordinary situation affected those children.

Susan Ahlborn

The bullet train turns 60

In both Asia and Europe, high-speed rail knits regions, countries, and continents together. What will it take to see more rail infrastructure in the U.S.?

Kristina García

‘A place of collaborative conversation’

On Sept. 26 and 27, the Weitzman School will host Landscape Futures: Centennial of the Department of Landscape Architecture, a two-day symposium to celebrate the department’s unique ecological foundations, its evolving curriculum, and its ongoing global influence on landscape architectural practice and education.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Two Penn faculty awarded Pew Fellowships

Two Penn faculty -- installation artist and sculptor Michelle Lopez, and composer and musician Tyshawn Sorey -- each have been awarded one of 12 arts fellowships by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage in Philadelphia.

Louisa Shepard

Peter Struck: A champion for the liberal arts

The Vartan Gregorian Professor of the Humanities discusses his new role as the Stephen A. Levin Family Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and how the liberal arts are foundational to education.

Blake Cole

Your child’s mental health diagnosis

School of Social Policy & Practice professor Jacqueline Corcoran’s new book is a go-to guide for those raising children with mental disorders.

From the School of Social Policy & Practice



In the News


The New York Times

Europe has a leadership vacuum. How will it handle Trump?

Amy Gutmann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Germany is front and center in the economic problems currently afflicting Europe.

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Los Angeles Times

Trump offers murky worldview ahead of second term, mixing dire warnings with rosy promises

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that Donald Trump is far more hyperbolic on average than traditional presidential candidates, who still routinely claim that they will do something alone that can’t be done without Congress.

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The Hill

Trust in court system at record low: Gallup

An October survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that the public’s trust in the U.S. Supreme Court has dropped to a record low.

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The New York Times

An epidemic of vicious school brawls, fueled by student cellphones

PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton says that many schools don’t have a playbook for addressing student violence or helping pupils engage more positively online, in part because few researchers are studying the issue.

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The New York Times

N.Y.C. grocery prices are high. Could city-owned stores help?

Andrew Lamas of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the logistics of running grocery stores are complicated and that New York City should examine different models like cooperatives.

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