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School of Social Policy & Practice
Exploring sustainable development and the human impact of natural disasters
The School of Social Policy & Practice’s Chenyi Ma focuses on the social determinants of health and behavioral outcomes in disaster contexts, including public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Investigating homelessness
In a Kelly Writers House event, writer Jennifer Egan and social scientist Dennis Culhane discuss journalism and the homelessness crisis.
‘Can Technology Spark Joy and Imagination?’
In the 2024 Albert M. Greenfield Memorial lecture hosted by Penn Nursing, Desmond Upton Patton and Courtney D. Cogburn discussed how social media and AI might foster well-being.
Challenging the boundaries of STEM
Female faculty and staff from the School of Social Policy & Practice, the Wharton School, and Penn Carey Law shared how they integrate science, technology, engineering, and math into their work.
How guaranteed income affected a New Jersey city
Research from Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice finds a guaranteed income program in Paterson offers both financial relief for many participants and is a blueprint for future policy initiatives.
First-of-its-kind study analyzes digital mourning practices of gang-affiliated youth
A study led by Desmond Patton utilizes social work, communications, and data science to explore how gang-affiliated Black youth use Twitter content, photos, and emojis to memorialize the deceased and navigate feelings of grief and loss.
Philanthropy and social change
With its free annual toolkit, the Center for High Impact Philanthropy helps donors create a bigger impact.
When young people seem to make threats on social media, do they mean it?
A new app from SAFELab helps teachers, police, and journalists interpret social media posts by BIPOC youth and understand which threats may be real.
Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday, now just 11 years old, was originally conceived in response to Black Friday as a tonic to consumerism. Katherina “Kat” Rosqueta of the Center for High Impact Philanthropy discusses how the day is an opportunity to think about others.
Experts address ‘our changing environment’
Economist R. Jisung Park and political scientist Alice Xu address climate change in an event hosted by the School of Social Policy & Practice.
In the News
There is one major element missing from the debate on kids and social media
In an opinion essay, PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton says that gun violence needs to be part of the conversation about how smartphones and social media impact young people.
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We don’t see what climate change is doing to us
In an Op-Ed, R. Jisung Park of the School of Social Policy & Practice says that public discourse around climate change overlooks the buildup of slow, subtle costs and their impact on human systems.
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Places across the U.S. are testing no-strings cash as part of the social safety net
Stacia West of the Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the School of Social Policy & Practice says that guaranteed income payments improve people’s psychological wellbeing by reducing their distress. Amy Castro, also of the Center, points out that such programs are expensive, so important questions need to be asked.
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New book examines sectarianism and the housing crisis in Northern Ireland
In her book “In Power, Politics and Territory in the New Northern Ireland,” Elizabeth DeYoung of the School of Social Policy & Practice says that sectarianism has contributed to the housing crisis in Northern Ireland and continues to influence decision-making on the needs for homes.
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California says its new gun law is about public safety. But what about these women?
Susan B. Sorenson of the School of Social Policy & Practice says there is no evidence that carrying a gun makes women who have been abused safer.
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