2023 Year in Review

We look back on some of our favorite Arts & Sciences stories of 2023.

Emily Wilson’s Epic Life

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(Illustration: Jordan Kay)

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

 

OMNIA Podcast: We Haven’t Passed the Climate Tipping Point...Yet (Audio)

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(Image: Eric Sucar, University Communications)

Climate scientist Michael Mann talked with Omnia about this summer’s unprecedented weather events and why there’s still time to take action. Listen here.

 

The Story of Henry’s Hoodie

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Henry's Hoodie
(Image: Courtesy of Marcus Wright, GED’14, GRD’23)

The children’s book by Marcus T. Wright, GED’14, GRD’23, associate director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Sociology, features a little boy who thinks that his hoodie gives him special powers. Read more.

 

Penn Arts & Sciences Pathways: Sara Hansson, C’23, W’23 (Video)

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(Image: Ta'Liyah Thomas)

Hansson intended to study earth science, but experiences at Penn allowed her instead to follow a passion for Medieval and Renaissance studies and pursue a law career. Watch here.


 

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. Read more.


 

The Musical Magpie

Composer and amateur archaeologist Melissa Dunphy, GR’17, finds inspiration all around her—even beneath her feet. Read more.


 

Origin Stories: Heather Love (Video)

The Professor of English on school as a stable place during a mobile childhood, her journey to academia via a furniture store, and her joy in discovering the many ways to study literature and work for justice. Watch here.


 

Silver Screen Time

Faryn Pearl, C’14, discusses co-directing the DreamWorks Animation film Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, and how internships she obtained through Penn Arts & Sciences shaped her career path. Read more.


 

Knowledge By the Slice: Rethinking Electoral Maps (Video)

Mathematician Phillip Gressman (left) and political scientist Daniel Hopkins discussed the latest research methods informing the creation of new voting district boundaries. Watch here.


 

Breaking Down Barriers

The High School Summer Latinx Leadership Institute—a partnership between Penn’s Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies and the nonprofit Centro de Cultura Arte Trabajo y Educación—brought students to campus to expand their college readiness. Read more.


 

Making Space for Urban Animals

Students in the Anthropology course Space/Power/Species designed speculative multispecies architecture projects to help share cities with non-human residents. Read more.


 

Inequality and Parental (Pandemic) Support

Elena van Stee, a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology, examined how social class backgrounds differentially affected parental support during the pandemic. Read more.