Features

Emily Wilson’s Epic Life

The Classical Studies professor on the power and responsibility of translation, the allure of ancient worlds, and the value of the strange.

Cultivating Discovery

Within the Department of Biology, the self-described “plant group” is employing cutting-edge techniques to explore everything from cancer and developmental biology to how agricultural crops might withstand a changing climate.

Building on Success

Penn’s program in Cinema & Media Studies becomes an academic department.

A Race Against Time

Faculty from Penn Arts & Sciences are confronting the climate crisis and contributing to solutions. They say there’s still time to act.

Flow Motion

Courses across Penn Arts & Sciences show how immersion enhances a liberal arts education.

Seeing Disability Differently

Scholars are trying to understand—and change—how the world works for people with disabilities.

The Clues in the Chemistry

Childhood curiosity led Joseph S. Francisco, President’s Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science, to a career as one of the country’s most prominent atmospheric chemists.

At the Intersection of Incarceration and Health

Medical sociologist Jason Schnittker explores the paradox of healthcare and prison.

The Other 90 Percent

Classical Studies Professors Kimberly Bowes and Campbell Grey reveal the world of Ancient Rome’s rural poor.

The Science of Being Social

Five Penn Arts & Sciences researchers explain why connections are critical not just to human happiness but also to our survival.

Art on the River

Jonathan Katz, Associate Professor of Practice of History of Art and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, takes an art exhibition down the Amazon.

The Physics of Us

Physicists are studying how living matter works, and find that it breaks the standard rules and produces fascinating new phenomena.

Beyond the Margins of Land and Water

Nikhil Anand, Associate Professor of Anthropology, leads two interdisciplinary research initiatives that provide insight on worldwide climate disasters and water crises.

Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Times

A fateful trip to Eastern Europe in 1989 inspired Kristen Ghodsee, Professor and Chair of Russian and East European Studies, to pursue a career studying the impact of the Cold War and its aftermath on the lives of ordinary people.

The Story the Bowls Tell

In an ambitious new project, Simcha Gross, Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, studies hundreds of ancient incantation bowls in the hopes of eventually building a worldwide database.