A Welcome Message from Interim Dean Jeffrey Kallberg

Kallberg, who began his tenure as Interim Dean on January 1, reflects on the “impressive” way the School closed out 2024 and looks ahead to what comes next.

Three people on a raft. One, standing up, is slightly older, holding a stick to paddle across the water. The other two, younger children, site with their backpacks on their back. One is facing forward, the other facing back.

Research from PhD student Nazar Khalid, Professors Emily Hannum and Jere Behrman, and Senior Lecturer Amrit Thapa investigates how more intensive and frequent flooding is affecting young students in the country’s rural north.

Data Driven Discovery

The Missing Data Link

Whether decoding medieval manuscripts or analyzing national polling numbers, Penn’s 100-plus data scientists have plenty to talk about, and Penn Arts & Sciences’ Data Driven Discovery Initiative is leading the charge in fostering collaboration.

Old weathered paper with information hand-written on there, displaying a transcript with information about Martin Luther King Jr., including address, birth date, and three courses he took at Penn.

The original record card listing the classes lives in the University Archives, a visual reminder of the time the 20-year-old future Civil Rights leader spent on campus.

The Monstrous and Mythical

In his book “Centaurs and Snake-Kings: Hybrids and the Greek Imagination,” Jeremy McInerney, Professor of Classical Studies, investigates the power of hybridity in myth.

Research Roundup: Fruit Fly Mating, Airbnbs and Crime, and More

In the first 2025 edition of this series, we examine “wing spreading,” how a popular homestay accommodation increased robberies in London, how to reduce votes lost in the mail, and spending on home care.

From Periodic Table to Libretto

Growing up the child of a famous scientist, Karyl Charna Lynn, CW’65, was expected to follow her father’s path. She pursued chemistry throughout her schooling, but when she started writing about opera, she knew she’d found her passion.

Nurturing a Love for Math

A new book by Professor of Mathematics Robin Pemantle and longtime math teacher Henri Picciotto offers middle and high school educators actionable materials and invites reflection and connection across disciplines.

Processing the Past

A hands-on graduate-level internship course co-taught by Zita Nunes, Associate Professor of English, and Holly Mengel, Head of Archives and Manuscripts Processing at Penn Libraries, reveals the complex world of academic archiving.

Fall/Winter 2024

Omnia FW24 Cover

This issue features leaders in the climate change fight, a look at the storied career of David Wallace and the evolution of Penn Arts & Sciences under Dean Fluharty, Quaker Quotes, a “genius grant,” and so much more.

Penn Arts & Sciences in the News

HuffPost

Experts Reveal The Hack That Will Help You Finally Tackle Your To-Do List

January 28, 2025

According to research from the College of Liberal and Professional Studies, scheduling time blocks with breaks to complete different tasks can help achieve the goals of a to-do list.

BBC

Decoding Melania Trump’s New Official Portrait

January 27, 2025

“She appears ready to wield more of the power that she seemed rather reluctant to embrace in her first stay at the White House,” says Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, Class of 1940 Bicentennial Term Associate Professor, who curated the exhibition “Every Eye is Upon Me: First Ladies of the United States” at The National Portrait Gallery in 2020. “And yet, she has positioned herself firmly behind that ultra shiny table, keeping a bit of a boundary.” 

Earth.com

Powerful Forces Have Made the Structure of the Universe Very “Messy”

January 25, 2025

A study from Mathew Madhavacheril, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, and graduate student Joshua Kim revealed that the distribution of matter in the cosmos is less clumpy than expected. “What we found was that, for the most part, the story of structure formation is remarkably consistent with the predictions from Einstein’s gravity,” says Madhavacheril. 

BBC

How Biden Tarnished his Own Legacy

January 12, 2025

Associate Professor of History Brent Cebul argues that President Biden spent too much time on efforts that American workers wouldn’t feel for years. “The time horizon associated with those big pieces of legislation was way out of sync with the exigencies of the presidential election,” Cebul says.