Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

The English major’s cheerleader and champion

Bestselling author Jennifer Egan taught an undergraduate literature course in the spring as an English Department artist in residence in the School of Arts & Sciences. A 1985 Penn graduate, she is a passionate advocate for the English major, the humanities, and a liberal arts education.

Louisa Shepard

Josephine Park on authoring identity

The School of Arts & Sciences President’s Distinguished Professor of English discusses the way literature has influenced the experience of being Asian American in the United States.

Blake Cole

False belief in MMR vaccine-autism link endures as measles threat persists

As measles cases rise across the United States and vaccination rates for the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine continue to fall, a new survey finds that a quarter of U.S. adults do not know that claims that the MMR vaccine causes autism are false.

From the Annenberg Public Policy Center

Fungi on the front lines against environmental injustice

The collective efforts of the Symbiotic Architecture for Environmental Justice research community are making former industrial sites reborn as vibrant community gardens, and safe, green spaces for children to play a reality.

From the Environmental Innovations Initiative

Penn alum named 2024 Yenching Scholar

Chonnipha (Jing Jing) Piriyalertsak, a 2023 graduate, has been selected as a 2024 Yenching Scholar, with full funding to pursue an interdisciplinary master’s degree in China studies at the Yenching Academy of Peking University in Beijing.

Louisa Shepard



In the News


The Washington Post

Doug Emhoff is all over the campaign trail. Melania Trump is not

Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw of the School of Arts & Sciences says that whatever candidates’ spouses choose to do during a campaign has the potential to influence voters.

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The New York Times

The real Trump mystery

Yphtach Lelkes of the Annenberg School for Communication says that political polarization is the engine of “crystallization,” where people’s attitudes won’t be swayed no matter what new information they get.

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Los Angeles Times

Trump’s rhetorical walkabouts: A sign of ‘genius’ or cognitive decline?

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that reporters should throw off the traditional journalistic imperative of brevity and simplicity by quoting Donald Trump in full.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Teaching civics helps to understand government — and how to change it for the better

A survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center finds that 35% of Americans are unable to name all three branches of their country’s government. Kathleen Hall Jamieson is quoted: “Civics knowledge matters. Those who do not understand the rights protected by the Constitution can neither cherish nor invoke them.”

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Bloomberg

Zoning’s here to stay. Here’s how to use its hidden power for good

A study by Erick Guerra of the Weitzman School of Design finds that the cost of expanding roads in urban areas in the U.S. is three times greater than the potential benefits.

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