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Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences
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.
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.
$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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Donovan Schaefer says there is no division between thinking and feeling
In his new book, “Wild Experiment: Feeling Science and Secularism after Darwin”, the assistant professor of religious studies posits that thinking and feeling are intertwined.
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
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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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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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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‘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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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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