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Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences
‘Abortion and Women’s Rights 1970’: A film that’s newly timely
Five decades ago, ahead of the landmark ruling Roe v. Wade, political scientist Mary Summers worked on a documentary film. That film is gaining new viewers through a recently launched website.
Penn junior Ha-Nam Yoon named a Udall Scholar
Ha-Nam Yoon, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named a 2022 Udall Scholar by the Udall Foundation, recognized for leadership, public service, and a commitment to issues related to the environment.
Penn announces plan for Stuart Weitzman Hall at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design
The renovation and expansion of historic Morgan Building will create a state-of-the-art facility.
New journal focuses on how the mind and brain process language
The open-access, online-only Glossa Psycholinguistics recently published its inaugural issue after more than two years of effort from Penn linguist Florian Schwarz and colleagues around the world.
A multidisciplinary approach to considering the Earth’s changing systems
Bringing expertise from each of their disciplines, the School of Arts & Sciences’ Kathleen Morrison and Joseph Francisco and the Environmental Innovations Initiative’s Melissa Brown Goodall infused chemistry, anthropology, policy, and more into an introductory course on climate and the environment.
Toni Morrison and the adventure of the 21st century
In Herman Beavers’ English 101 class, students take an in-depth look at Toni Morrison, reading her 11 novels, writing thesis papers, and presenting on topics of interest to the class.
The past, present, and future of the Positive Humanities
A new Oxford Handbook from Penn’s James Pawelski and Louis Tay of Purdue explores this emerging field, which brings together positive psychology, philosophy, the humanities, and the arts.
The Sachs Program celebrates fifth year of supporting arts innovation at Penn
The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation announced its 2022 cycle of grantees, with new funding for alumni and community partnership projects.
Design on display
For the first time since design became a major two years ago in the College of Arts and Sciences, 15 seniors created an in-person exhibition to showcase their final projects, interpreting the theme “in search of” in a variety of media.
Talking about Chinese diasporas
History Ph.D. candidate Sarah Yu’s class transformed students into tour guides and podcasters as they honed their public speaking skills while learning about Chinese migration.
In the News
What did you do at work last week? Monitoring performance doesn’t improve it, expert says
Adam Grant of the Wharton School says that people do their best work when they’re given a chance to pursue autonomy, mastery, belonging, and purpose.
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These two personality traits make you instantly more attractive, say studies of over 4,000 people
A study by postdoc Natalia Kononov of the Wharton School suggests that kindness and helpfulness can make someone more attractive, regardless of the situation or relationship.
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After years of anti-vaccine advocacy, RFK Jr. said vaccines protect children. But experts say he must go further amid measles outbreak
Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and Jessica McDonald of APPC’s Factcheck.org comment on the need to debunk vaccine misinformation in public health messaging.
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‘Marry or be fired’ and other global efforts to boost fertility
Jesús Fernández-Villaverde of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the world population will peak in 2055, followed by a systematic decline at a rapid rate.
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Formerly anti-vax parents on how they changed their minds: ‘I really made a mistake’
According to surveys from the Annenberg Public Policy Center, the proportion of respondents who believe vaccines are unsafe grew from 9% in April 2021 to 16% in the fall of 2023.
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