News

• June 11, 2020

  Kindred spirits: Irish-Native American Solidarity

  A fundraiser for two Native American tribes hard hit by the pandemic has received tens of thousands of dollars from donors in Ireland. The Choctaw Nation sent the Irish monetary aid during the Irish Potato Famine. During this dark period in Irish history over 1 million Irish died while they were abandoned by their British rulers. But the Irish never forget, and we are repaying the generosity of the Choctaw Nation now in 2020.

• June 11, 2020

  Scholarship Through the Lens of an Iconic Media Brand

  A new Annenberg course centered around HBO offered undergrads hands-on exposure to media production and a chance to hone their analytical skills using primary source materials. “We thought it could be a nice opportunity for students to think differently, more critically about important media content,” Annenberg dean John L. Jackson, Jr. and Amitanshu Das, a senior fellow and filmmaker at Annenberg and the Graduate School of Education.

• June 11, 2020

  The “Bubble Effect” Means You May Not See That Much Protest Content On TikTok

  As Black Lives Matter protests swelled across the US, my Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook feeds were flooded with images from the protests along with messages of solidarity. But there was one platform where this content was noticeably absent: TikTok. Protest and Black Lives Matter content are huge on the app right now, with 4.5 billion views and counting. But your user habits may determine how much of it you'll see.

• June 5, 2020

  Supporting our Black Artists and Practitioners Within the Penn Community

  As we mourn the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tamir Rice and countless others who have been killed because of the color of their skin, The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation unequivocally condemns racist actions and violence. In response to the urgency of this moment, we are launching a new funding opportunity for black artists. The deadline for submission is June 16th. Applicants will be notified by June 24th.

• June 5, 2020

  Politics, Pandemics, and Protests

  Exactly how the coronavirus pandemic, the current unrest, and the nation’s economic woes will affect November’s presidential election is unclear, but voter turnout will be key, according to John Lapinski, the Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor of Political Science at Penn, a political expert.