Skip to Content Skip to Content

History

Stains Alive
Penn Libraries Fellow Erin Connelly is part of the Stains Alive research project.

Penn Libraries fellow Erin Connelly (left) and colleague Alberto Campagnolo, of the Library of Congress, prepare a medieval manuscript for multispectral imaging at Penn as part of a national research project to analyze stains. (Photo by Eric Sucar)

 

Stains Alive

For Libraries fellow Erin Connelly, stains are some of the most exciting discoveries in her study of medieval manuscripts. She is part of a national team analyzing stains in medieval texts using modern multispectral imaging. An exhibition at Van Pelt-Dietrich Library displays the researchers’ discoveries.

Louisa Shepard , Louisa Shepard

Examining the roots of racial discrimination
Hanchard Michael 2018

 

Photo: Eric Sucar, University Communications

Examining the roots of racial discrimination

In his book ‘The Spectre of Race,’ Michael Hanchard explores xenophobia, racism, marginalization, and exclusionary policies dating back to ancient Greece.
Reclaiming a fragmented history
Cairo Geniza

Reclaiming a fragmented history

Digital humanities scholars are orchestrating an epic crowdsourcing effort to sort and transcribe handwriting on thousands of documents discarded hundreds of years ago, known as the Cairo Geniza.

Louisa Shepard

Examining 20th-century America’s obsession with poor posture, a forgotten ‘epidemic’
Linker.posture wall charts

Wall charts give examples of correct and incorrect posture. Historian Beth Linker is at work on a new book tracing what was seen as an epidemic of poor posture in American in the 19th and 20th centuries. (Image: University of Pennsylvania Archives)

Examining 20th-century America’s obsession with poor posture, a forgotten ‘epidemic’

Poor posture was considered a real threat to the nation’s health through much of the 20th century. Beth Linker of the School of Arts and Sciences is investigating the history of this forgotten “epidemic” and how its legacy is reflected in notions of health and disability today.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Fifty years ago, RFK’s speech at The Palestra on Vietnam
RFK-Palestra-small

Senator Robert Kennedy gives a speech on campus at The Palestra during his presidential campaign on April 2nd, 1968

Fifty years ago, RFK’s speech at The Palestra on Vietnam

Senator and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy’s assassination on the campaign trail was just weeks after he called for a fair draft, unbiased housing legislation, and an end to the war
Immersive trip exposes students to the complex narratives of Israel
Encompass

Immersive trip exposes students to the complex narratives of Israel

15 undergraduates took part in the inaugural Encompass fellowship, a project run by Penn Hillel, with a tour around Israel examining cultural and political sites with a focus on gaining a deeper understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Lauren Hertzler

English professor explores poetic expressions of Japanese-American internment
Japanese Internment--Library of Congress A photograph of the Manzanar Relocation Center, located in California, from the perspective of a tower. Courtesy of The Library of Congress Print and Photographs Division

English professor explores poetic expressions of Japanese-American internment

Josephine Park, professor of English and interim director of the Asian American Studies Program, on the poetry that originated in Japanese-American internment camps, and poetry by incarcerated populations.