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History

Around the world in 1,082 days
a ship in the middle of the Pacific ocean surrounded by text in latin

Around the world in 1,082 days

A Q&A with historian Antonio Feros reflecting on the 500th anniversary of Ferdinand Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe, and how the voyage shaped both the 16th century and today.

Erica K. Brockmeier

What to know about the origins of ‘left’ and ‘right’ in politics, from the French Revolution to the 2020 presidential race

What to know about the origins of ‘left’ and ‘right’ in politics, from the French Revolution to the 2020 presidential race

Sophia Rosenfeld and Brent Cebul of the School of Arts and Sciences spoke about the use of “left” and “right” in political discourse. The terms began as “literal descriptions,” said Rosenfeld, of the seating patterns in 18th-century France’s post-revolution National Assembly.

Tiny township saves, transforms historic quarantine station

Tiny township saves, transforms historic quarantine station

Built in 1799, a quarantine station helped protect Philadelphia against epidemic diseases for nearly a century. “It’s part of American history that we never learn about,” said David Barnes of the School of Arts and Sciences who is writing a history of the building. “It gives us entry to a lost world and into the hidden story of how our country came to be and grow, how it accommodated immigrants and dealt with disasters.”

Woodstock at 50
Three people sitting on high stools on a stage surrounded by windows, two playing guitars and one speaking or singing into a microphone.

Author Anthony DeCurtis (center) teaches writing at Penn and holds conversations with and about musicians at the Kelly Writers House. 

Woodstock at 50

During three days of Woodstock in August of 1969, Anthony DeCurtis of the School of Arts and Sciences was 18, growing up in New York City and obsessed with the music that would form the foundation of his writing and teaching.

Louisa Shepard

A century later: The Treaty of Versailles and its rejection of racial equality

A century later: The Treaty of Versailles and its rejection of racial equality

Frederick Dickinson of the School of Arts and Sciences spoke about the history of opposition to limiting non-white immigration. The racial equality clause in the Treaty of Versailles, for example, was “one of the first attempts to establish ... the unprecedented principle of free and open migration,” he said.

Engaging history
Student standing with historic buildings behind her.

Rising junior Margarita Ortiz, a history major, is a summer intern at Historic Germantown in her hometown of Philadelphia. 

Engaging history

Junior Margarita Ortiz conducted a comprehensive survey of 18 sites as a summer intern for the Historic Germantown consortium in her hometown of Philadelphia.

Louisa Shepard

School board faces mural dilemma: Free speech or racial justice

School board faces mural dilemma: Free speech or racial justice

Mary Frances Berry of the School of Arts and Sciences weighed in on a debate over a Depression-era mural in a California public school. “I would use subjects like the mural to teach the students about slavery and the abuse of Native Americans and the white supremacist actions of Washington and other founding fathers,” she said.

Mary Frances Berry on the 55th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Mary Frances Berry

Mary Frances Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and a professor of history and Africana studies. (Image: Jim Abbott)

Mary Frances Berry on the 55th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Africana Studies professor Mary Frances Berry discusses the history of civil rights legislation, and where the 1964 bill fits in.

Penn Today Staff

Lamentations for Sudan
Dr. Ali Ali-Dinar of the Department of Africana Studies sits at a table in his office.

Lamentations for Sudan

Sudanese scholar Ali Ali-Dinar, a senior lecturer in the Department of Africana Studies, discusses the ongoing uprising in the East African country and the Sudan massacre.