Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

The power of chick lit

Meghan Hall, lecturer and associate director for graduate studies in the Department of English, talks about what gives the popular literary genre its staying power.

From OMNIA

Oscars predictions 2024

Ahead of the 96th Academy Awards on March 10, Kathy DeMarco Van Cleve of Cinema & Media Studies offers predictions for the screenplay categories.

Brandon Baker

Kathleen Morrison on biodiversity and climate change

The faculty director of the Environmental Innovations Initiative, her research spans anthropology, archaeology, and paleoecology, involving the study of historic climates and environments, with a focus on South Asia.

From the Environmental Innovations Initiative

Centuries of ‘TikTalk’

The media popularity of the vocal trend called “TikTalk,” or a combination of uptalkand vocal fry, is actually nothing new, says linguist Mark Liberman.

Tina Rodia

‘Ladysitting’ on stage 

The new play “Ladysitting” at the Arden Theatre Co. is by Penn English faculty and alumna Lorene Cary, based on her memoir about caring for her grandmother in the last of her 101 years.

Louisa Shepard



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia’s Tyshawn Sorey wins Pulitzer Prize in music

Tyshawn Sorey of the School of Arts & Sciences has won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in music for “Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith),” a concerto for saxophone and orchestra.

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The New York Times

Jerome Rothenberg, who expanded the sphere of poetry, dies at 92

Charles Bernstein of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the late Jerome Rothenberg was the ultimate hyphenated person: a poet-critic-anthologist-translator.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

A collector donated 75,000 comic books to Penn Libraries, valued at more than $500,000

Alumnus Gary Prebula and his wife, Dawn, have donated a $500,000 collection of more than 75,000 comic books and graphic novels to Penn Libraries, featuring remarks from Sean Quimly of the Kislak Center and Jean-Christophe Cloutier of the School of Arts & Sciences.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Cherelle Parker promised 30,000 units of ‘affordable housing’ as a candidate. She’s watered down that goal as mayor

Vincent Reina of the Weitzman School of Design says that 30,000 new units of affordable housing is a realistic goal that the city of Philadelphia could meet.

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Newsweek

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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