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Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences
Debate as social empowerment
Debate as social empowerment
From debating a team in an upstate New York prison to helping the formerly incarcerated in Philadelphia, the Penn Debate Society sees debate as a tool to help others help themselves
New gift brings design education to underserved youth
New gift brings design education to underserved youth
Lori Kanter Tritsch and William P. Lauder, University of Pennsylvania Trustee, have created a new program for PennPraxis, the practice arm of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design at Penn.
Princess Rahman on ancient history, studying abroad, and her senior-year pivot
Princess Rahman on ancient history, studying abroad, and her senior-year pivot
Princess Rahman, a May graduate in the School of Arts & Sciences, pivoted from a pre-med track to become an ancient history major. After a semester abroad in Rome, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Egyptology.
$12.5M in new scholarships to enrich student population diversity at the School of Social Policy & Practice
$12.5M in new scholarships to enrich student population diversity at the School of Social Policy & Practice
The resources will provide unprecedented support for graduate students in social work, social policy, and nonprofit leadership
How historical racism influences modern poverty and racial inequality
How historical racism influences modern poverty and racial inequality
Sociologist Regina Baker finds that Black people in southern U.S. states with significant institutionalized historical racial practices experience worse poverty today. These states also have a wider poverty gap between Black and white populations.
Helping the brain to heal the gut
Helping the brain to heal the gut
In the second edition of her book on irritable bowel syndrome, Penn psychologist Melissa Hunt explores advances made in the past decade. Her aim is to offer accessible, effective, self-help psychological treatment for those who suffer from the disorder.
Which Americans are most isolationist? It may not be who you think
Which Americans are most isolationist? It may not be who you think
A course taught by Diana Mutz is designed to teach and implement research methodology, discovered a major shift in young Americans’ isolationist views on foreign aid.
Penn and the Science History Institute to serve as new hosts of History of Science Society
Penn and the Science History Institute to serve as new hosts of History of Science Society
The arrangement highlights Philadelphia as a hub for history of science scholarship and will provide mentoring opportunities for Penn students.
Putin, personalism, and the war in Ukraine
Putin, personalism, and the war in Ukraine
Christopher Carothers of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China discusses how Putin managed to personalize power for himself and what that means for Russia’s neighbors and the world.
Do shared life experiences make it harder to understand others?
Do shared life experiences make it harder to understand others?
A new Annenberg School of Communication study reveals that having similar life experiences can actually diminish our ability to perceive other people’s unique feelings and circumstances.
In the News
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee’s Housing First programs shows how lifting people out of homelessness can improve health, and cut costs
Dennis Culhane of the School of Social Policy & Practice estimates that the homeless population older than 65 will triple by 2030 and says that rental assistance works better than building shelters.
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Bloomberg
This is what life’s like in the world’s strictest COVID Zero city
Amy Gadsden of Penn Global says that China’s COVID Zero policies are a stark reminder of the party state’s ability to intervene in citizens’ lives in absolute and even cruel ways.
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PhillyVoice
At Penn museum’s art of smells exhibit, beauty is in the nose of the beholder
Norwegian-born smell researcher and artist Sissel Tolaas will have her first major U.S. exhibition, where interactable installations elicit sensations through smell, on display in the Institute of Contemporary Art through Dec. 30.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Dollars and scents: Follow your nose through this exhibition at ICA
Norwegian artist Sissel Tolaas discusses her first major U.S. exhibition, which uses smell as an artistic medium and is hosted at the Institute of Contemporary Art.
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The Independent
‘We are witnessing the devastating consequences’: Climate leaders sounds alarm as Hurricane Fiona pummels Puerto Rico
Michael E. Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that disasters like Hurricane Fiona are indicative of climate change’s present-day consequences, driving home the importance of taking action now.
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