ICA Director Zoë Ryan pictured on campus in July 2021.
In Zoë Ryan, a collaborative new leader for the ICA
Zoë Ryan began her role as director of the Institute of Contemporary Art in November. Here, a look at Ryan’s time at the ICA so far and what’s ahead for the institution.
Participants in the first PennDemic, which took place in 2018, lay out a timeline of the “outbreak.” Two additional simulations have since taken place, with one more scheduled for this coming fall.
Pandemic preparedness, three years early
In a Q&A, team members behind the outbreak simulation PennDemic discuss how the exercise, now in its fourth iteration, equipped an interdisciplinary group of grad students for COVID-19 and beyond.
During the archaeobotany lesson led by Chantel White (not pictured) of the Penn Museum’s Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials—part of a two-week archaeology bootcamp—students including (from left to right) Ashley Ray, Emily Gladden, and Sarah LaPorte, learned a technique called dry sieving used to separate out organic materials like carbonized seeds, wood, and nutshell.
A fieldwork experience, no travel required
During a two-week in-person bootcamp at the Penn Museum, 11 undergrads learned basic archaeological skills in subjects from ceramics and sample-taking to archaeobotany.
As Penn looks forward to a fully in-person campus experience for the fall semester, this summer will be a period of transition as faculty, staff, postdocs, and students navigate evolving public health measures while returning to campus in a way that helps keep the community safe.
What to expect as Penn transitions to a fully in-person fall semester
Penn Today looks at guidelines for those on campus this summer, what members of the community can expect as they return to campus, and the role that vaccines have in safely resuming in-person activities.
Penn’s LGBT Center hosted “Dance Outside w/ Pride,” a virtual and in-person dance class with Philadelphia choreographer Devon Sinclair, as part of its monthlong Pride roster of events for both virtual and in-person celebrations.
Through a yearlong practicum taught by William (Zev) Berger (left), a fellow with the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics program at Penn, rising senior Jeanica Geneus and four classmates learned how the research process works, including what to do when the results are unexpected.
The ins and outs of research, through a yearlong practicum
The course, which just completed its third iteration, takes undergrads through the process, from generating a hypothesis and creating experiments to analyzing results and writing a paper. The most recent cohort studied mentorship and educational inequality.
The Arthur Ross Gallery’s new exhibition features 17th-century Dutch genre paintings paired with rare books from the Penn Libraries collection. On display until July 25, “An Inner World,” co-curated by Gallery Assistant Director and Curator Heather Gibson Moqtaderi, focuses on contemplation.
New Arthur Ross Gallery exhibition focuses on introspection and contemplation
The Arthur Ross Gallery’s new exhibition features 17th-century Dutch genre paintings paired with rare books from the Penn Libraries collection. On display until July 25, “An Inner World” focuses on contemplation.
Pilar Gonalons-Pons is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology in the School of Arts & Sciences and a member of the Population Studies Center.
How gender norms and job loss affect relationship status
Research from Penn sociologist Pilar Gonalons-Pons shows that, in cultures that value men as breadwinners, their unemployment can affect the long-term success of a romantic relationship.
Aja Carter and colleagues found that amphibian vertebrae acquired modifications as their habitat shifted from water to land and back. (Pre-pandemic photo)
For early amphibians, a new lifestyle meant a new spine
Moving from water to land and back again corresponded with distinct changes in animals’ spinal morphology, according to a new study led by paleontologist Aja Carter.
ICA Director Zoë Ryan pictured on campus in July 2021.
