Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

Educating community-oriented biologists

Mecky Pohlschröder of the School of Arts & Sciences reflects on an SNF Paideia course that connects research conducted in the STEM field to the broader community, allowing students to observe the influences of their work outside of the lab.

Grappling with a watershed’s uncertain environmental future

Artists supported by the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities created tools for navigating unpredictable ecological challenges, then brought them to life in a series of public workshops at the Independence Seaport Museum.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Solving the mystery of migration into Micronesia

Penn anthropologist Theodore Schurr explains how the use of both ancient DNA and modern genetic materials revealed five paths into this western Pacific region of Oceania, and uncovered subtleties about the society’s marital customs.

Michele W. Berger

The legacy of Shinzo Abe

Frederick R. Dickinson, ​​professor of Japanese history and director of the Center for East Asian Studies, offers his take on Abe’s impact on Japan, foreign policy, and lessons we can draw from his killing.

Kristen de Groot



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

Comcast’s Sports Complex plan for South Philly would make our city less livable

In an Op-Ed, Vukan R. Vuchic of the School of Engineering and Applied Science says that Philadelphia should make transit more accessible rather than striving to accommodate more cars.

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The New York Times

We don’t see what climate change is doing to us

In an Op-Ed, R. Jisung Park of the School of Social Policy & Practice says that public discourse around climate change overlooks the buildup of slow, subtle costs and their impact on human systems.

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Associated Press

Far fewer young Americans now want to study in China. Both countries are trying to fix that

Amy Gadsden of Penn Global says that American interest in studying in China is declining due to foreign businesses closing their offices there and Beijing’s draconian governing style.

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The Wall Street Journal

‘Slouch’ review: The panic over posture

In her new book, “Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America,” Beth Linker of the School of Arts & Sciences traces society’s posture obsession to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

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Associated Press

In death, three decades after his trial verdict, O.J. Simpson still reflects America’s racial divides

Camille Charles of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Black Americans have grown less likely to believe in a famous defendant’s innocence as a show of race solidarity.

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