News

• February 26, 2021

  Sherisse Laud-Hammond was Named the New Director of the Penn Women’s Center (PWC)

  Sherisse Laud-Hammond was named the new director of the Penn Women’s Center (PWC), a position in which she is the first Black woman and woman of color to serve. A 2005 graduate of the Master of Social Work program at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2), Laud-Hammond’s prior social work education and career, as well as her ongoing dedication to social justice and change, are unmistakably evident when she describes her goals and vision for PWC.

• February 26, 2021

  Penn Announces Five 2021 Thouron Scholars

  Four University of Pennsylvania seniors and a 2019 graduate have received a Thouron Award to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom. Emily Davis, is a full-time professional ballet dancer in her sixth season with the Pennsylvania Ballet. Carson Eckhard, is a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow and a University Scholar. Ben Friedman, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and communications with a minor in survey research and data analytics from Penn in 2019. Friedman has worked on a number of political campaigns, most recently as New Hampshire press secretary for the campaign of President Joseph Biden. Lauren Kleidermacher, created PJ Pillows, a nonprofit that raises funds for Alzheimer’s research, and has donated time and resources to several nursing homes. Beau Staso, is a research assistant at Wharton, a research assistant and Russian translator at Penn Medicine, and a teaching assistant in the Russian and East European Studies Department in the College of Arts and Sciences.

• February 24, 2021

  The Joy and Power of Improvisation

  Bringing the joy and power of improv into Philadelphia public schools is the mission of The Unscripted Project, a new nonprofit created by University of Pennsylvania Wharton School graduates Philip Chen and Meera Menon, supported by a 2020 President’s Engagement Prize. During the fall semester, Unscripted placed four local teaching artists—professional improvisors with experience in the classroom—in six schools to teach a unique 8-week improv curriculum in class workshops. Unscripted also became certified to provide professional development to classroom teachers on how to incorporate improv into their lesson plans.

• February 24, 2021

  Florence Madenga’s Specialty Weds Journalism, Censorship, and Internet Shutdowns in Africa

  Florence Madenga, now a third-year doctoral student at the Annenberg School for Communication. At Annenberg, Madenga is seeking to better understand how one defines journalism and nonfiction storytelling at large. Through ethnographic interviews and archival research, she considers questions like: What counts as journalism and what doesn’t? Why are certain types of storytelling censored and others aren’t? Why do people choose to tell the stories they tell?

• February 24, 2021

  Legacy Keepers: Preserving Black History in Philadelphia

  For hundreds of years, there’s been a history of erasure and forgetting of Black heritage and achievements, not just in Philadelphia, but in America in general, says Randall Mason, professor of historic preservation and city and regional planning. The Marian Anderson Museum is one of the “important institutions in Philadelphia that have worked against that,” he says, along with the African-American Museum, the Johnson House, and the Paul Robeson House, among others.