Social Science

Emergency Response

Solving the complex challenge that is climate change requires breadth in approach. Penn Arts & Sciences is positioned to lead.

Beyond the Policy Paper

PDRI-DevLab, only two years old, is on the ground in developing nations to generate better evidence that can influence real-world decisions.

Knowledge by the Slice: Election Roundtable (Video)

During this lunch-time conversation, which took place a little more than a week after the 2024 presidential election, faculty from the Department of Political Science examined the results, the general state of U.S. elections, and what comes next.

Penn Arts & Sciences: Then and Now

As Steven J. Fluharty steps down as Dean, we look back at how the School has evolved during his tenure.

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Associate Professor of Criminology Aaron Chalfin reevaluates a 2017 research study on proactive policing and finds it not credible.

Dorothy Roberts Named MacArthur Fellow

Roberts, George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology, was honored for “exposing racial inequities embedded in social service systems and uplifting the experiences of people caught up in them.”

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

PORES Executive Director Stephanie Perry and John Lapinski, Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor of Political Science, PORES Director, and Director of Elections at NBC News, discuss election night results from their vantage point at the Decision Desk.

Fox Leadership Program Turns 25

The program, founded in 1999 through a gift from Robert A. Fox, C’52, and Penny Fox, ED’53, aims to equip and empower Penn students and alums for present and future roles as ethical and effective leaders.

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.

Politics in Perspective

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.

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.

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.

1.5* Minute Climate Lectures 2024 (Video)

This year’s experts, who spoke during Climate Week at Penn, touched on climate policy, the role of plants in helping solve this challenge, building a utopia through “radical hope,” and more.

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

Diana Mutz, Samuel A. Stouffer Professor of Political Science and Communication, speaks with podcast host and PORES executive director Stephanie Perry about a range of media-related topics, from media consumption to the institution’s influence on how the public understands government and politics.

A Pandemic Puzzle

This summer, Matthew Breier, C’26, worked with Associate Professor David Barnes to research how the 1918 flu pandemic affected Philadelphia’s Black and immigrant neighborhoods.