(Re)Introduction to US History
How two Penn professors revamped the entry-level history class for an age of instant information access and endless quarrels over the meaning of America’s past.
The History Wars
Education scholar Jonathan Zimmerman on how the US republic lost the ability to understand itself—and how we can help our children recover it.
Calling It
How John Lapinski and a squad of Penn faculty and students backing him up on the NBC News Decision Desk navigated an election season that was unprecedented—and could set a pattern for the future.
The Radical and Universal King
Virtual MLK Lecture features Cornel West.
Preserving Civil Rights Heritage
New center aims to preserve civil rights sites.
No Permanent Conflict?
Tracing America and Iran’s 300-year history.
Courage Through History
From storms to serial killers to shipwrecks, bestselling author Erik Larson has made his name writing about frightening moments in history. When a new one came in the form of a global pandemic, readers found unlikely comfort in his latest book—a story of leadership, perseverance, and hope in the bleakest of times 80 years ago.
Cloak, Dagger, and Card Catalogues
Kathy Peiss on WWII’s librarian-spies. Information Hunters.
Göttingen, 1987
Ending the Cold War wasn’t about US (maybe).
The Iranian Revolution at 40
How human rights lost in the Iranian Revolution.
William Walker’s Dark Destiny
Newly settled in Costa Rica, a recent alumnus investigates the legacy of “filibuster” William Walker M1843—largely forgotten in the US but still perhaps the most hated man in Central America.
Safe at the College
After the Armistice.
Horsehide Historian
John Rossi Gr’65 writes about America and baseball.
Penn and Slavery
New studies detail how Penn benefited from slavery.
Wordsworth’s American Champion
Nearly two centuries ago, Penn professor Henry Hope Reed put William Wordsworth on America’s cultural map. More or less forgotten today (make that more), Reed was an impressive scholar whose enthusiasm for Wordsworth and English Romanticism helped shape the nation’s literary values.
Rush on the Mind
A focus on mental illness was a constant throughout the multi-faceted career of Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, prolific writer, longtime Penn faculty member, and the most prominent—and controversial—physician of his day.