Penn Arts & Sciences in the News

Paul Cobb, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, discusses the historical significance of Jerusalem and its importance to Islam and Christianity during the First Crusade.

“Traditionally, VP debates aren’t very important, but there’s more at stake in this one, I would argue,” says Matthew Levendusky, professor of political science. “Because Harris entered the race so late, and there was only one presidential debate, people will be more attuned to this one.”

Dorothy Roberts, George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology, has been named a MacArthur Fellow for her work on racial inequities in health and social-service systems.

Michael Mann, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science, says that stronger winds pile up more water, creating bigger storm surges for hurricanes. “We can’t talk about Hurricane Helene without talking about climate change,” Mann says.

Vijay Balasubramanian, Cathy and Marc Lasry Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, discusses the failure of space-time and where physics can go next.

Anthea Butler, Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought, criticized the “othering” of immigrants and discussed the future of democracy on a virtual organizing call for Catholics hosted by the Harris-Walz campaign.

High costs at the supermarket and gas pump have a “salience” for voters that other “economic maladies” do not, according to Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, Howard Marks Presidential Professor of Economics, who noted that even as inflation cools, “people need like six months, one year, to realize that things have turned a corner.” 

Hand counting ballots in Pennsylvania elections would be “impractical” due, in part, to the sheer number of mail ballots, according to Marc Meredith, Professor of Political Science. “The amount of labor and time you would need to accomplish that task would just not be feasible,” he says.

Leigh Stearns, professor of earth and environmental science, says a landslide and tsunami event highlights the domino effect that can happen with loss of even a small glacier. “It would not be surprising if there are more destabilization events in east Greenland and elsewhere,” she says. 

In an opinion piece, Mitchell Orenstein, Professor of Russian and East European Studies, talks about the similarities between the relationship Trump had with Putin and the one he has with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The latter, Orenstein argues, “may be even more consequential.” 

“Debates are an excellent opportunity to see how candidates handle pressure,” says Matthew Levendusky, Professor of Political Science. “They have to do many things simultaneously: answer questions from a moderator under time pressure, rebut points from their opponent, think quickly on their feet, and appear poised and unflustered.” 

Benjamin Shestakofsky, Assistant Professor of Sociology, sees the emergence of onshore AI training labor as fitting into broader trends in data enrichment work. That type of work has been “increasingly organized by traditional outsourcing companies,” creating “more deeply embedded employment relationships.”