History | Penn Today

Mounting job losses. Fear of the unknown. We’ve seen this before during the Great Depression. Here are some lessons learned

Brent Cebul of the School of Arts and Sciences spoke about how Philadelphia was affected by the Great Depression and how its lessons apply to the current pandemic. “A lot of people are talking about the Great Depression these days,” he said. “I need to remind them just how long and how deep that crisis was.”

Person sits on corner of conference table with wall of books behind them, smiling at the camera.

Walter Licht’s legacy of civic engagement

For more than 40 years at Penn, Walter Licht has crafted a career of equal parts renowned historian, teacher, and community activist, including creating the Penn Civic Scholars Program. Licht recently announced he is stepping down from his positions at Civic House.

A long line of people waiting to in a bread line in New York City during the Great Depression in 1932

The Great Depression, the New Deal, and how disasters change politics

History professor Brent Cebul talks about lessons politicians can take from the Great Depression and the New Deal and how disasters like the current pandemic can change politics.

Can studying history tell us anything about life after COVID-19?

Brent Cebul of the School of Arts and Sciences was interviewed about significant times of disruption in U.S. history and the sociopolitical changes that accompanied them.

Parade from 1918 in the streets with people carrying a large American flag

The legal history of epidemics in America

Sarah Barringer Gordon, the Arlin M. Adams Professor of Constitutional Law and Professor of History, offers a commentary on American political responses to epidemics past.

Coronavirus outbreak revives dangerous race myths and pseudoscience

PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts spoke about misinformation regarding race and public health, such as the myth that black people are immune to coronavirus. “These myths have a track record not just of shaping attitudes but of shaping policy and practice in public and private spaces, in hospitals and in schools, in workplaces, too,” she said.

A watercolor painting depicts a three masted ship anchored near a port with a yellow flag aloft.

Pandemics, quarantines, and history

History professor Alex Chase-Levenson explores pandemics and quarantines in his upcoming book, and shares lessons that citizens and politicians can take from the past.

American Philosophical Society and David Library join to create a center for study of the revolutionary era

Stephen Fried and Daniel Richter of the School of Arts and Sciences spoke about the David Library of the American Revolution’s move from Bucks County to Philadelphia, where it will partner with the American Philosophical Society to form a new research center. “This is very much the model of what needs to happen with nonprofits,” said Fried. “You’ll be able to serve anyone who wants to engage with history.”

Anti-Asian propaganda on display in City Hall

Rob Buscher of the School of Arts and Sciences contributed his collection of vintage anti-Asian propaganda to “American Peril,” an exhibition he hopes will help people understand the present-day vilification of Muslims. “These kinds of [anti-Muslim] conversations don’t come from nowhere,” he said.

Sophie Rosenfeld and Sigal Ben-Porath in College Hall

Understanding what makes a fact a fact

Professor of History Sophie Rosenfeld and Professor of Education Sigal Ben-Porath unite their perspectives on truth for Penn Today's first “Understand This ...” podcast episode.

Filters