Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

How food moves around cities

Domenic Vitiello, an urban and regional planning expert, teaches classes that invite students to locations in and around Philadelphia to better understand how its denizens dine.

Nathi Magubane

The impact of small seminars for new college students

Sixty first-year seminars offer complex subjects in a comfortable group setting, as well as close connections to professors and peers. This year, 10 are also taking part in a pilot program focused on teaching students how to have respectful dialogue around difficult topics.

Michele W. Berger

As the world warms, how are young people feeling?

Climate scientist Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences and Annenberg School for Communication leads a research community that aims to understand climate anxiety and improve climate communication.

From the Environmental Innovations Initiative

The mechanics of collaboration

Penn Ph.D. student Xinlan Emily Hu leads a group of budding engineers and social scientists who study communication across teams. The group has developed a new toolkit aimed at helping researchers analyze and measure teamwork.

Nathi Magubane

Doing the work to end health disparities

Ala Stanford is a surgeon, a national leader in health equity, and professor of practice at Penn. Her new book chronicles her path from North Philly, how she served thousands during the COVID-19 pandemic, and her work to end health disparities.

Susan Ahlborn

Telling the story of a Hispanic war hero

In his new book “The Ballad of Roy Benavidez,” Penn historian William Sturkey explores the life of this Hispanic war hero, his fight to maintain veteran disability benefits, and the ways in which Hispanic Americans have long shaped U.S. history with scant acknowledgement.

From Omnia



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

Memories of her Holocaust survivor father guided Amy Gutmann’s tenure as ambassador to Germany

Amy Gutmann of the Annenberg School for Communication discusses her work as U.S. ambassador to Germany and the need to stand with Europe in defending Ukraine.

FULL STORY →



Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Civil discourse: Tips for navigating potentially divisive discussions around the holiday table

Research co-authored by Matthew Levendusky of the School of Arts & Sciences found that political discussions between members of opposing voting parties helped reduce polarization and negative views of the other side.

FULL STORY →



Associated Press

Archaeologists discover 4,000-year-old canals used to fish by predecessors of ancient Maya

Jeremy Sabloff of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Museum says that ancient fish-trapping canals show continuity in Maya culture.

FULL STORY →



Scientific American

Grumpy voters want better stories. Not statistics

In a Q&A, PIK Professor Duncan Watts says that U.S. voters ignored Democratic policy in favor of Republican storytelling.

FULL STORY →



Axios

Charted: 988 awareness still low

A survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center finds that public awareness of the 988 national suicide prevention hotline is growing but still low, with remarks from Kathleen Hall Jamieson.

FULL STORY →