Penn Arts & Sciences

For decades, teaching & discovery in the physical sciences have taken place in David Rittenhouse Laboratory, but to position Penn for a new era of discovery, the University is undertaking the most significant academic facilities project in its history: Penn Discovery Commons ▶️ https://bit.ly/4e2z0vK

Fiction writer Stephanie Feldman, a lecturer in Penn’s Creative Writing Program, has released ‘The Night Parade and Other Stories.’ The stories are spooky, tense, mysterious, and unsettling—the perfect vibes for a collection releasing just before Halloween. @upenn.edu

Prof. @michaelemann.bsky.social is quoted in ABC News on UN projections which show a hotter world than experts projected last year. Mann says these temperature increases would shave about $1.2 trillion from the global economy. @upenn.edu

Very cool that the LDC exists at Penn. "Amid massive changes in the accessibility of training data since its founding in 1992, the LDC is expanding its focus toward interdisciplinary research, helping solve problems in medicine and education." penntoday.upenn.edu/news/sas-lin... @sas.upenn.edu

Watch the live-stream of today's SAS Commons event, The Mathematics of Elections and Voting, featuring both Penn faculty and guest speakers. Livestream begins at 3:30pm on Friday, October 23rd: https://bit.ly/4ih5K5I

AI and autonomous weapons is a polemic issue. Michael Horowitz talks about regulating these weapons in a new essay for the Council on Foreign Relations. buff.ly/S9WpFYw

What's the future of AI in criminology when algorithms can outperform human forensic examiners? In the fourth episode of “Beyond the Machine: AI in the World,” I discuss how AI is used in research, courts, and the law with Associate Professor of Criminology Maria Cuellar. @upenn.edu @sas.upenn.edu

Kristine Rabberman, Gr’98, Assistant Vice Dean and Director of Academic Affairs in the College of Liberal & Professional Studies, dives into the turbulent history of witches and why they fascinate us. omnia.sas.upenn.edu/story/kris-r...

In the fourth episode of “Beyond the Machine: AI in the World,” Dean Mark Trodden and Associate Professor of Criminology Maria Cuellar discuss how AI is used in research, courts, and the law. @upenn.edu @pennsasdean.bsky.social

Professors Xin Sun, Abdulhamit Arvas, and Bo Zhen are featured in Penn Today's roundup of accolades for faculty at Penn. https://bit.ly/4dw2RMP @upenn.edu

Penn philosopher Daniele Lorenzini and religious studies professor Donovan Schaefer, who organized a recent symposium on the French philosopher Foucault, reflect on the influence of his writings 100 years after his birth. @upennrels.bsky.social @feelingtheory.bsky.social @danlor.bsky.social

The Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC), directed by linguistics professor Mark Liberman, provides data that has played a crucial role in developing large language models and is instrumental in widespread adoption of collaborative research methodologies. @upenn.edu

On the 100th anniversary of the birth of French philosopher Michel Foucault, Penn Today @sas.upenn.edu has published this article about his influence and our 2026-2027 Boardman Symposium "The Foucault Century"! penntoday.upenn.edu/news/sas-phi...

Amy Rose Juang, C’20, majored in English and visual studies and now works at @adobe.com as a product marketing manager in San Francisco, CA. “I viewed college as a precious time to delve into my interests freely,” she says, “which honed my resourcefulness and critical thinking.”

Melissa Charenko, Assistant Professor of History & Sociology of Science, presents her 1.5 Minute Climate Lecture, "Climate Pluralism," as part of Climate Week at Penn. See more 1.5 Minute Climate Lectures from Penn faculty: https://bit.ly/4dT4TXF

How can we study everything from how heat impacts coral to what shipwrecks reveal about historic commerce and labor? Penn graduate students are scuba diving to get the answers.

On the occasion of the nation’s 250th anniversary, a special partnership between Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw of the Arthur Ross Gallery and Emma Hart of Penn’s McNeil Center for Early American History expands knowledge about the nascent American republic. buff.ly/vTBLz8u

What could a Penn education actually cost for your family? Penn’s new Cost Calculator provides personalized estimates, four-year projections, and clearer insight into financial aid—helping students and families see what may be possible at Penn. Explore: https://cost-calculator.apps.upenn.edu/

Georgia A. Feldman, C’00, and Jesse Feldman have made a commitment of $3 million to establish the Georgia and Jesse Feldman Professorship of Jewish Studies in the School of Arts & Sciences. buff.ly/vvZi4Q1

This year marked the 15th anniversary of the Natives at Penn annual powwow. Co-founders Megan Red Shirt-Shaw, C’11, and Paul Garr, C’10, celebrated the milestone and the tradition of Native fellowship, community building, and education. @upenn.edu

BioArt Lab, a student-led Penn club that partners with West Philadelphia public schools to curate immersive, engaging biology and art education geared toward school needs, was launched by Jenny Li, C'26, and is currently led by co-presidents Evelyn Liu, C'27, and Zey Oral, C'29. @upenn.edu

Melissa Hunt, Associate Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology, spent a decade studying social media and mental health—research that ended up playing a pivotal role in Meta’s $17 billion settlement. buff.ly/haJANSo

In September in front of a packed crowd in Houston Hall, SAS Commons kicked off two years of programming with a discussion centered around the initiative’s inaugural theme of “Democracy and Knowledge.” buff.ly/Agfyn5k

Yesterday, OpenAI published a broad range of new mathematical results produced by one of its AI models. What does this mean? In the third episode of our Horizons podcast series, Beyond the Machine: AI in the World, I talk with Philip Gressman about the future of mathematics.

In the newest episode of our Horizons podcast, Dean Mark Trodden talks with mathematician Philip Gressman about OpenAI's systems solving long-standing math problems and how these developments might reshape mathematical discovery, research, and education. @upenn.edu @pennsasdean.bsky.social

Naomi Blau, C'29, and Moaz Elgeziry, C'29, spent the summer using AI to update the code powering a widely used receiver camera on the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. Their research could help astronomers make more effective use of the receiver to better understand how the universe evolves.

A summer research experience at Penn’s Developing Minds Lab gave Sage Sawhney, C'29, a firsthand look at how behavioral and neural dynamics between parents and children may contribute to mathematical learning from an early age. @upenn.edu

In the lead up to the midterms, data centers are a hot-button issue, according to political scientist Matt Levendusky. In recent research he found that nearly two-thirds of Americans say they are somewhat or strongly opposed to the construction of new data centers in their area. buff.ly/ERjbfMC

Andrew M. Rappe, Blanchard Professor of Chemistry, presents his 60-Second Lecture, "Better Living Through Quantum Materials." View all of this fall's 60-Second Lectures featuring Penn Arts & Sciences faculty: https://bit.ly/3gKE37h @upenn.edu @pennchemistry.bsky.social

Join the Filipino Language Program at Penn in celebrating 30 years on October 6th and honoring Filipino American History Month! Learn more: https://bit.ly/4dHrSoc RSVP here: https://bit.ly/3TgpgqB

Marci Hamilton, Professor of Practice, speaks about the importance of identifying the perpetrators of sexual abuse against children. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

I'm heading to the West Coast this week to meet with members of the Penn community. Join us in the Bay Area on 9/30--and in LA on 10/1--to hear from Penn professors about their research ideas, AI in the classroom, and what students really want to learn. https://bit.ly/4iVLGYt @sas.upenn.edu

Did you catch SNL this weekend? So excited to see new cast member Saidah Belo-Osagie, C'18, who made her debut on Saturday night. 🍿 👏 👏 Read more in Variety: https://bit.ly/4dJtTAj

Deborah Christakos, C’90, majored in communication and today is founder and lead guide of Pioneer Valley Food Tours in Northampton, MA. “Penn was a place of possibility,” she reflects. “It taught me to be courageous in my pursuits and trust that my skills would get me where I needed to be.”

The second episode of Season 2 of the “Horizons” podcast series, “Beyond the Machine: AI in the World,” features Dean Mark Trodden and political scientist Michael Horowitz, Director of @perryworldhouse.bsky.social, addressing AI and autonomous weapons. https://bit.ly/4dQFuxr @upenn.edu

The University of Pennsylvania announced a remarkable $22.5 million gift from Gabriel Gilinski, who graduated from the College of Arts & Sciences in 2008, and Stephanie Gilinski to expand educational affordability and elevate academic excellence across Penn Arts & Sciences. https://bit.ly/4ApZJvN

Congratulations to Prof. @fiona-cunningham.bsky.social who has been selected to receive the Edgar S. Furniss Book Award for her 2025 book, Under the Nuclear Shadow: China’s Information-Age Weapons in International Security. https://bit.ly/4rpolkc @pennpolitics.bsky.social

In empowering people, both locally and globally, to actively build more peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, and secure societies, we treat all liberal values as universal—but should we? That tension is at the heart of research from philosophy and economics double-major Nathan Liu, C’27. buff.ly/nFZ0rzE

Helmed by Penn Arts & Sciences AI Lead Bhuvnesh Jain, new offerings—from a broad crash course to specialized department trainings—aim to help faculty become more comfortable with evolving technologies. omnia.sas.upenn.edu/story/AI-tra...

Ben Struhl, Executive Director of Penn's Crime and Justice Policy Lab (CJP), is quoted on the lab's examination of project data that could add to the growing evidence linking cleaner, greener public spaces with reductions in crime. @upenn.edu

Penn Today looks back at how the Penn community came together to grieve, reflect, and support one another following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. https://bit.ly/4A9gBXu @upenn.edu

Assisting Marcy Norton, Professor of History, four undergraduates spent their summers combing through centuries-old texts to learn more about the vital history of the area’s plants. buff.ly/TdOaGez

What are LLMs? In the Season 2 kickoff of the “Horizons” podcast series, “Beyond the Machine: AI in the World,” linguist Charles Yang and I discuss how humans and machines acquire and use language. @upenn.edu @sas.upenn.edu

Melissa J. Wilde, Davidson Kennedy Professor in the College, presents "Political Neutrality and Sociology," at today's first 60-Second Lecture of the fall series. See the full schedule for this September's talks: https://bit.ly/3UhqEFa @upenn.edu

What are LLMs? Season 2 of the “Horizons” podcast series, “Beyond the Machine: AI in the World,” kicks off with Dean Mark Trodden and linguist Charles Yang discussing how humans and machines acquire and use language. @upenn.edu @pennsasdean.bsky.social

Summer academies at Penn offer high school students the chance to immerse themselves in niche subject areas. For some, the experience can be life changing. buff.ly/TH8gWyr

In his new book of psychological history, Martin Seligman, Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology and Director of Penn's Positive Psychology Center, shows how agency—marked by efficacy, optimism, and imagination—drives human progress. @upenn.edu

Prof. Michael E. Mann of Earth & Environmental Science publishes an op-ed in @theguardian.com on the urgent need for climate action following a summer of extreme events—from deadly heatwaves and wildfires to the glacial collapse and devastating flooding in Nepal and Tibet. @michaelemann.bsky.social

From wind ripples to tides the size of the planet, physicist Arnold Mathijssen explains what’s really rolling towards the shore. "From planetary-scale energy to the microscopic mechanics of glowing cells, the shore reveals the hidden machinery of our world," says Mathijssen. @upenn.edu

Marcia Chatelain, Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana Studies, authors an article on "The Black women whose voices lifted hearts at the March on Washington."