Origin Story Rewind: Mark Trodden
Ten years ago, Trodden was the subject of our first-ever “Origin Story.” In honor of his new role as Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences, we’re bringing it back.
Creating a Classroom Democracy
Through a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia course, Assistant Professor of History Sarah Gronningsater and her students resuscitate early American history.
The Life Cycle of an Idea
Virtually every product and breakthrough we take for granted—from life-altering technologies to life-saving medical advancements—started at a university, and with fundamental scientific research.
Edda Fields-Black, GR’01, who earned her PhD from the Department of History and is today a professor at Carnegie Mellon, recently won a Pulitzer Prize for her account of the Combahee River Raid, which she argues was the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history.
Unpacking the Contradictions of Artist Romaine Brooks
Lila Shermeta, C’25, has always been passionate about the connections between writing and art history. Her award-winning senior thesis on Brooks, an obscure late-19th and early-20th-century queer artist drawn to fascism, decisively unites the two fields.
Natural Science, Social Science
Training Tomorrow’s Data Scientists
The Data Driven Discovery Initiative has expanded its four-year-old postdoctoral fellow program to include researchers from Penn Engineering and Penn Medicine using cutting-edge techniques in data science and artificial intelligence.
Philly Boy, Jersey Mud
How a team led by Doug Jerolmack, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Term Professor of Earth and Environmental Science and Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, used physics to understand how river muck transforms a baseball’s grip.
Telescope’s Last ACT
A final batch of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope shows our universe in its infancy, but Mark Devlin, Reese W. Flower Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, says many more exciting projects lie ahead.
Bridging Medicine and Business
Arun Das, C’10, W’10, took a winding path to end up at Cabaletta Bio, a biotechnology company that wants to revolutionize autoimmune disease treatment.
Print Edition
Spring/Summer 2025
The issue dives deep into democracy, the importance of fundamental research, and many other challenges facing universities today. Plus, we’ve got baseball mud, a long-lost Chopin waltz, Titanic materials, and more.
Popular Stories
Creating a Classroom Democracy
Through a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia course, Assistant Professor of History Sarah Gronningsater and her students resuscitate early American history.
Unpacking the Contradictions of Artist Romaine Brooks
Lila Shermeta, C’25, has always been passionate about the connections between writing and art history. Her award-winning senior thesis on Brooks, an obscure late-19th and early-20th-century queer artist drawn to fascism, decisively unites the two fields.
Living Deliberately through Existential Despair (Video)
In a recent Knowledge by the Slice, Professor Justin McDaniel discusses the experiences from two of his Penn courses in which students take on “monastic” challenges and how unplugging from distractions can lead to unexpected breakthroughs and moments of clarity.
The Hidden History of Harriet Tubman’s Civil War Service
Edda Fields-Black, GR’01, who earned her PhD from the Department of History and is today a professor at Carnegie Mellon, recently won a Pulitzer Prize for her account of the Combahee River Raid, which she argues was the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history.
Penn Arts & Sciences in the News
Business Insider
Why AI Acts So Creepy When Faced With Being Shut Down
June 3, 2025
AI models imitate human behavior—including traits like manipulation. But Robert Ghrist, Andrea Mitchell University Professor, says that’s actually a good thing and helps to unearth hidden risks. “When a model is set up with an opportunity to fail and you see it fail, that's super useful information.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer
What is So Philly About the Philly Sound in Jazz?
May 30, 2025
Philly has a deep and unique jazz history. Guthrie Ramsey, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Music, says the sound of Philly jazz includes “a kind of expansive approach to sonic spirituality that is able to transcend demographics.”
The Washington Post
One Common Link for 27 Spellers at the Scripps National Bee: Their Coach
May 28, 2025
Navneeth Murali, a rising sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been coaching students competing in the National Spelling Bee since he was 14 years old. This year, his pupils include five contest hopefuls.
Agence France-Presse
Iraq's Jewish Community Saves A Long-Forgotten Shrine
May 28, 2025
Iraqi Jews are working to repair the centuries-old shrine of a revered rabbi. Simcha Gross, Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, says the life of the religious leader is shrouded in myth and mystery.