History | Penn Today

Top of a synagogue spire with a star of David.

Orthodox Jews and slavery in antebellum America

School of Arts & Sciences undergraduate Samuel Strickberger investigates how 19th century Jewish migrants to the U.S. squared assimilation with the existence of slavery.

A chance to imagine memorials of tomorrow

A history course taught by Jared Farmer looks at Philadelphia’s monuments past and present, and lets students envision what future memorials may be.

Lynn Meskell standing in front of a glass display case at the Penn Museum.

Studying the past through a modern-day lens

In a Q & A, archaeologist and PIK Professor Lynn Meskell discusses her background, the subjects that interest her—from espionage to World Heritage sites—and collaborations that have organically arisen at Penn despite the pandemic and a mostly remote first year.

How Martin Luther King Jr. changed his mind about America

Kermit Roosevelt III of the Law School wrote about Martin Luther King Jr.’s lesser-known speech, “The Negro and he Constitution,” which argued that “American values” were more shaped by the ratification of the 14th Amendment than by the signing of the Declaration of Independence. “The values we must carry forward are not those of Thomas Jefferson and the Framers of the Constitution; they are the values of Abraham Lincoln and the Reconstruction Congress,” wrote Roosevelt.

Hand-drawn images of charts and graphs and waves, measuring global rise in temperatures and sea levels.

Climate change and the problem with time

Episode 7 of “In These Times” brings together an oceanographer, a geophysicist, and a historian about the challenges to understanding the Earth’s 4.6 billion year history, and how our actions in the present impact a future we can only imagine.

Birth of our America isn't when you think

Kermit Roosevelt of the Law School said the Reconstruction Acts that followed the Civil War marked a rebirth of the United States. “A small number of brave men and women risked their lives to fight for the rights we now hold dear — not Revolutionaries fighting the British in 1776, but Black Americans fighting Confederates in 1863,” he wrote. “That is the moment a nation dedicated to equality was conceived.”

Supporters of Donald Trump scale a wall at the U.S. Capitol as Trump flags wave

Riot at the U.S. Capitol, one year later

Political scientist Rogers Smith shares five things to keep in mind as the country looks back on Jan. 6, 2021, while trying to move forward.

Three historians on the future of history

David Young Kim, Sophia Rosenfeld, and Heather Andrea Williams share their thoughts on how history affects our lives, and what it means to rewrite history.

two students outside with plants behind them

Two Penn seniors named 2022 Marshall Scholars

Kennedy Crowder and Chinaza Ruth Okonkwo have been named 2022 Marshall Scholars, among 41 chosen in the U.S. this year. Established by the British government, the Marshall Scholarship funds up to three years of study for a graduate degree in any field at an institution in the United Kingdom.

Woman leans against a tree with her arms crossed, looking into the camera, with other trees in fall colors behind her on a sunny day

Q&A

Past plagues, current pandemics, and public hygiene messaging

History Ph.D. candidate Sarah Xia Yu discusses her research on public hygiene in China and what the past might tell us about how governments could better communicate public health messages.

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