Omnia Podcast: Democracy and Decision 2024 Episode Four (Audio)

Political Science Professor Marc Meredith and PORES Executive Director Stephanie Perry talk about why voting laws are so complicated, what has changed since the last election, voter turnout, mail-in ballots, poll workers, and why some races take longer to call than others.

An American flag in the background, with silhouettes of a donkey and an elephant.

We All Can Just Get Along

In a Q&A, Professor of Political Science Matthew Levendusky explains the results of a megastudy he worked on with dozens of collaborators: In a nutshell, they found there are many ways to significantly reduce partisan animosity.

An illustration of triangular solar windows, with a bush and floating feathers next to it.

Mark Trodden, Associate Dean for the Natural Sciences and Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor of Physics, explains the School’s multi-pronged approach to what he calls the “massive, generational issue” of our time.

Michele Margolis freshman seminar

A first-year seminar taught by Michele Margolis, an associate professor of political science, applies the lessons of political science to a consequential election—and leans into difficult conversations.

Omnia Podcast: Democracy and Decision 2024 Episode Three (Audio)

Matthew Levendusky, Professor of Political Science and Stephen and Mary Baran Chair in the Institutions of Democracy at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, talks with PORES executive director Stephanie Perry about the myths and realities of political polarization in the United States.

Students of the Occult

In a class this semester, Becky Friedman, C’10, Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of English, leads students down the dark, historical spiral of witchcraft, examining its persecutorial past and transition to palatable and raucous entertainment.

A Panel and a View

In mid-October in New York City, Penn’s Professional Women’s Alliance held a fall get-together, Elevate: Women in Leadership Panel and Networking Event.

A Monumental View of the Ten Commandments

Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures Assistant Professor Timothy Hogue sees the foundational text as more than just words.

On the Record

Launching a podcast about the experience of being first-generation college students opened up a new world—and skills beyond STEM—for biochemistry major Khaliun Dorjmenchim, C’25.

Spring/Summer 2024

Omnia SS24 Cover

In this issue, we feature research on sound, Africana studies at Penn, the LPS certificate program, alums working in the art auction world, the Vageloses, and so much more.

Penn Arts & Sciences in the News

The New York Times

Behind a Wall of Trees, Archaeologists Discover a Maya City

November 2, 2024

Simon Martin, an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Anthropology and a curator at the Penn Museum, comments on the discovery of a previously unknown Maya complex in Mexico. “It is fascinating,” he says. “This demonstrates, to a high degree of confidence, that the landscape was heavily populated everywhere.”
 

The Conversation

International Election Monitors Can Help Boost People’s Trust in the Electoral Process—But Not All Work the Same Way

November 1, 2024

In a piece Sarah Bush, Associate Professor of Political Science, wrote with colleague Lauren Prather of the University of California, San Diego, the pair argue that giving greater access and paying more attention to credible, nonpartisan election monitors in the U.S. could increase public confidence in elections.

NPR

Unknown Chopin Waltz Identified at Morgan Library and Museum in New York

October 31, 2024

Jeffrey Kallberg, Deputy Dean and William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Music, helped verify the authenticity of a recently discovered unknown work by the famous composer. “The way that Chopin writes clefs, the way that he writes noteheads and stems, the way that he writes dynamics, the color of the ink—all of those immediately said Chopin,” Kallberg says. 
 

The Art Newspaper

A New Study Seeks to Establish Ethical Collecting Practices for US Museums

October 29, 2024

Professor of Anthropology Richard Leventhal and Adjunct Assistant Professor Brian I. Daniels are co-leading a new study of museum collections to identify current standards and establish a framework for institutions to model their future practices. “Recent seizures of looted property and calls to decolonise collections force us to reconsider whether acquisitions best serve the missions of museums and the interests of their communities,” Leventhal says.