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2025 McGraw Prize in Education winners honored
(from left) Cathy N. Davidson, Joe Wolf, and Frederic Bertley

McGraw Prize winners (from left) Cathy N. Davidson, Joe Wolf, and Frederic Bertley.

(Image: Steve Belkowitz)

2025 McGraw Prize in Education winners honored

Four honorees were awarded with Penn GSE’s McGraw Prizes in Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Pre-K–12 Education in a ceremony in New York City this month.

Kat Stein

2 min. read

Understanding the climate record through objects
Melissa Charenko stands in front of art in her office.

In her office, Melissa Charenko has paintings by artist Jill Pelto that depict the kind of climate proxies Charenko writes about in her new book, such as sediment cores containing pollen grains.

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Understanding the climate record through objects

Melissa Charenko’s new book shares the history of how 20th-century scientists used climate “proxies”—such as tree rings and fossil pollen—to understand past climates, which has implications for future climate action.

3 min. read

Brain activity reveals what makes persuasive messages stick

Brain activity reveals what makes persuasive messages stick

A new study by the Communication Neuroscience Lab at the Annenberg School for Communication and colleagues reveals that activity in brain regions associated with reward and social processing can predict the effectiveness of messages.

From Annenberg School for Communication

2 min. read

Air travel quandary: Gad Allon and Megan Ryerson on challenges and solutions
Travelers in a busy security checkpoint at an airport.

Travelers at a security checkpoint at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago during the government shutdown in November.

(Image: Nam Y. Huh via Getty Images)

  • Q&A

    • Air travel quandary: Gad Allon and Megan Ryerson on challenges and solutions

    The recent government shutdown exposed long-standing issues facing commercial air travel. Leading into Thanksgiving holiday travel, Gad Allon of the Wharton School and Megan Ryerson of the Weitzman School of Design discuss the system’s infrastructure challenges and the need for workforce development.

    4 min. read

    Analyzing youth voter turnout

    Analyzing youth voter turnout

    Researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center and the Annenberg Communication Neuroscience Lab find that Voting in an election helps shape the government to work on their behalf; however, the majority of U.S. youth don’t vote regularly.

    Machine learning and the social sciences
    Students work on a pop quiz on their laptops.

    Students work on a pop quiz in Daniel Gillion’s class.

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    Machine learning and the social sciences

    Daniel Gillion’s course teaches students without a coding background how to apply models to a wide range of problems across political science, economics, and sociology.

    3 min. read

    What can mainstream journalism learn from prison journalism?

    What can mainstream journalism learn from prison journalism?

    In their study of the prison publication News Inside, Annenberg School for Communication associate professor Sarah J. Jackson and doctoral candidate Liz Hallgren find lessons for mainstream news.

    New members of American Academy of Sciences and Letters
    Alan Charles Kors (left) and Philip E. Tetlock.

    Alan Charles Kors (left) and Philip E. Tetlock, elected members of the members of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters.

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    New members of American Academy of Sciences and Letters

    Alan Charles Kors and Philip E. Tetlock have been invested as members of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters, a nonprofit that promotes scholarship and honors achievement in the arts and sciences.

    2 min. read

    Handbook on sport and culture: Q&A with Katerina Girginova

    Handbook on sport and culture: Q&A with Katerina Girginova

    As co-editor of a new handbook which presents a systematic analysis of the relationship between culture and sport, research director at the Annenberg Extended Reality Lab Katerina Girginova reflects on the use of extended reality in our experience of sports.