Advancing Innovative Research

Megan Kassabaum, Associate Professor of Anthropology, and Emily Steiner, Rose Family Endowed Term Professor of English, received grants from the Provosts’ Excellence Through Diversity Fund. Awarded annually, the fund provides resources for innovative interdisciplinary projects on topics related to diversity and inclusion. Kassabaum’s West Philadelphia Community Archaeology Project focuses on community archaeology in the city, while Steiner’s project is a year-long mentoring program for early-career faculty in the humanities.

The Penn Arts & Sciences Data Driven Discovery initiative is supporting multiple faculty members’ Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) projects. Martha Farah, Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the Natural Sciences, and Lyle Ungar from the Department of Computer and Information Science are studying why socioeconomic status-associated depression is different from general depression, while Irina Marinov, Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Science, and Michael Weisberg, Bess W. Heyman President’s Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, are examining socio–economic and political issues surrounding climate change. Other DSSG project grants were awarded to Hanming Fang, Joseph M. Cohen Term Professor of Economics, who is teaming with David Abrams of Penn Law; Emilio Parrado, Dorothy Swaine Thomas Professor of Sociology; and Julia Gray, Associate Professor of Political Science.

Penn Global announced it will support 10 projects led by Penn Arts & Sciences faculty. The program prioritizes projects involving leading scholars and practitioners at Penn and beyond to develop new insights on global issues in key countries and regions around the world. The Penn Global Multi-Regional Project awardees include David Amponsah, Presidential Assistant Professor of Africana Studies; Hsiao-Wen Cheng, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations; and Deborah Thomas, R. Jean Brownlee Term Professor, while the Projects Engaging Africa awardees include Lee Cassanelli, Associate Professor of History; Guy Grossman, Professor of Political Science; and Alain Plante, Professor of Earth and Environmental Science. The Projects Engaging India and China awardees include Thomas Tartaron, Associate Professor of Classical Studies, and Tariq Thachil, Madan Lal Sobti Associate Professor for the Study of Contemporary India and Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India, while the Projects Engaging the Americas awardees include, Kristina Lyons, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, and Michael Weisberg, Bess W. Heyman President’s Distinguished Professor of Philosophy.