News

• December 5, 2019

  Herman Beavers’ Balancing Act of Creativity and Educational Innovation

  A professor of English and Africana studies, Beavers’ scholarly interests and courses focus on 20th-century African American literature and culture, jazz and the blues, and poetry and poetics. A published poet, his love and study of music infuse his works. Beavers’ career is also defined by his commitment to community building, whether it be finding exciting new ways to connect students with local residents, or discussing literature with veterans.

• December 5, 2019

  English Professor J.C. Cloutier’s Book Sheds Light on African American Literature

  Jean-Christophe Cloutier, an assistant professor of English at Penn, has written a book that uncovers his discoveries in archives over the past decade and explains his theories on why African American literary collections are often undervalued. “Shadow Archives: The Lifecycles of African American Literature” explores discovered texts and the dynamics of archival practice.

• November 26, 2019

  ‘This is Not an Old Story’: Penn Museum Reimagines its African, Central American Galleries with a Modern View

  The new African gallery down the hall opens dramatically with a mannequin dressed in a full white skirt of African Kente cloth, topped with a short jacket made of velvet and edged with gold. Fashion designer Breanna Moore and Emerson Ruffin embroidered the skirt with symbols that are carved into the surrounding ancient objects. “We wanted to make it clear: this is not an old story,” said curator Tukufu Zuberi. “This way of using symbols, this way of representation through symbolic logic is not something of the past. It’s also of the present.”

• November 26, 2019

  Rare Earth Minerals Could be Sourced Through Outdated Smartphones, Batteries and Wind Turbines

  From smartphones and computer screens to rechargeable batteries and military weapons, rare earth elements with unique magnetic and electronic properties increasingly pervade our modern lives. Renewable energy solutions also rely on them, making these metals even more imperative.

• November 26, 2019

  The Heroines of America’s Black Press

  The African-American press of the nineteenth century was a lively, dynamic, insistently visible force for change. First emerging in 1827 with Freedom’s Journal, a New York–based newspaper founded by a group of free black men and edited by journalists Samuel Cornish and John Russworm, the initial pre-Emancipation black-owned papers not only railed against slavery and injustice but served as a vital source of community and education. They spread knowledge about current affairs, literature, and the arts, during a time when simply learning how to read and write in many parts of the country could get a black person killed.