Academics
There’s always something new going on at Penn’s four undergraduate schools and 12 graduate schools. Look here for information on upcoming academic initiatives, new classes and research conducted by professors and students.
Four seniors and one 2019 graduate named 2021 Thouron Scholars
Each year the award is given to four to six graduating seniors, recent graduates, professional students, or current graduate students at Penn to fund two years of graduate study in the United Kingdom.
Some Ph.D. students forced to delay graduation as COVID-19 disrupts research abroad
The disruption has prompted financial concerns for students who may now require additional semesters of funding.
Faculty, students deem Penn Global Seminar’s new virtual format a success
While Penn Global Seminars include an abroad component either during winter break, spring break, or summer break, where students visit the country they learn about in class, the courses now follow the Collaborative Online International Learning format.
Black Penn students allege pattern of racism in Chemistry dept. on viral Instagram page
Multiple posts levy accusations against Penn’s Chemistry Department, leading the department to apologize to certain students for their "negative experiences" related to the department, but the University as a whole has taken no such steps.
Students learning in isolation cope with warped sense of time, concentration issues
Many students experienced fatigue, struggles with time management and concentration, and stress as a result of confinement and the illness itself.
St. Joe’s and University of the Sciences announce potential plan to merge next year
The possible merger is part of a broader trend in higher education, as universities have lost out on room and board money during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professors report unexpected benefits of virtual education despite facing challenges
The DP spoke to seven professors about their takeaways on a virtual education.
Mellon Foundation awards $5 million grant to support Penn professor's project
The project documents dispossessions of land, embodiments, and cultural values in the Americas from 1492 to today.
‘A little slice of normalcy’: Students, professors reflect on in-person learning
Students and faculty participating in the limited number of in-person classes offered this spring are positively focusing on resuming safe instruction amid the ongoing pandemic.
Wharton MBA welcomes back inaugural cohort of deferred admits for new program
The Moelis Advance Access Program is a deferred admission program that allows undergraduate students to apply for deferred admission to the Wharton MBA after two to four years of work experience.
Penn to standardize course times, eliminate back-to-back classes in fall 2021 schedule revamp
Under the new format, classes will start at one of eight designated start times beginning at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 8:30 p.m. Students will have at minimum 15 minutes between classes.
Penn will suspend operations, COVID-19 screening testing on Tuesday as snowstorm continues
Irvine Auditorium is the only COVID-19 testing location set to open on Tuesday, for symptomatic and close-contact COVID-19 testing only.
Dissatisfied with virtual learning, some students take the spring semester off
Some students who had previously taken a gap semester in the fall opted to turn their time off into a full gap year to pursue extracurricular hobbies and internships.
SCUE calls for sector requirement revamp, more FGLI support in first White Paper since 2015
SCUE releases a White Paper every five years recommending long-term changes to Penn's academic policies. This year's paper was set to be released in 2020, but was delayed due to COVID-19.
Deans’ email discouraging pass/fail option amid pandemic leaves students disheartened
Deans' discouragement towards the pass/fail grading option has left students feeling disheartened with Penn's attitude towards mental health.
Penn professor Robert Schuyler retires after backlash from using Nazi phrase and salute
Schuyler, who believed his speech at an archaeological conference was being suppressed, said he used the Nazi phrase and salute to reference limits on free speech in Nazi Germany.
Prof. who used Nazi salute faces call for firing from colleagues in open letter to Penn
The letter was co-authored by University of York Ph.D. candidate Liz Quinlan, the speaker that Prof. Robert Schuyler engaged in a brief altercation with at the Society for Historical Archaeology conference before he used the Nazi phrase and salute.
Penn cancels class of prof. who used Nazi gesture — but students still want him fired
Anthropology Department Chair Kathleen Morrison confirmed that ANTH 220: "Historical Archaeology Laboratory," the course professor Robert Schuyler was scheduled to teach, will no longer be offered in the spring.
Students demand Penn fire anthropology professor who used Nazi phrase and salute
Robert Schuyler, an associate professor of anthropology, held his arm in a Nazi salute and used the Nazi phrase “Sieg heil” during a brief altercation with an invited speaker at an archaeological conference.