5/18
Sociology
How have women in the workforce fared, three years into the pandemic?
Despite hopeful signs that this demographic is returning to work, certain female-dominated sectors, like the care economy, still haven’t recovered, signaling there’s more to learn about COVID-19’s full effect.
Who, What, Why: Zoe Zhao on emerging digital labor
Zoe Zhao, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology, studies digital labor related to video games and livestreaming.
States with high COVID-19 death rates also saw high mortality from other causes
Research from Penn, Boston University, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that between March 2020 and February 2021 non-COVID deaths accounted for some 20% of excess mortality.
New York Times journalist Brent Staples and Penn’s Tukufu Zuberi in conversation
At the inaugural W.E.B. Du Bois Lecture in Public Social Science, the two discussed Du Bois’ legacy and influence, Staples’ personal and professional journey, and the importance of speaking truth to power.
The future of health research in Malawi
A workshop convened by Penn, University College Dublin, and the Young Researchers Forum in Malawi brought together stakeholders to discuss the African nation’s use of technology in health care and the double burden of non-communicable and infectious diseases.
The ‘paradox’ of receiving health care in prison
In an excerpt from their new book, Penn sociologist Jason Schnittker and colleagues dissect the contradictory nature of these institutions, which are charged with both “denying freedom and providing care.”
Who, What, Why: Anya Miller and the ‘thriftification’ of Philadelphia
Anya Miller, a fourth-year sociology major from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, took her hobby of thrift store shopping and looked at it through a socioeconomic lens.
Scholars look at ramifications from ‘zero COVID’ protests in China
The Center for the Study of Contemporary China, in co-sponsorship with Perry World House, held a forum to discuss the protests and what they mean for China and its citizens going forward.
Who, What, Why: Sociologist Wendy Roth on genetic ancestry tests and race perception
With funding from the National Institutes of Health, Roth plans to explore how people view others who change their racial identity based on results from at-home DNA kits.
In sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, young children dying at greater-than-expected rates
The findings, derived from a new model created by researchers at Penn and elsewhere, point to the need for specific and specifically timed interventions aimed at this vulnerable, under-5 population.
In the News
In death, three decades after his trial verdict, O.J. Simpson still reflects America’s racial divides
Camille Charles of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Black Americans have grown less likely to believe in a famous defendant’s innocence as a show of race solidarity.
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‘Slouch’ review: The panic over posture
In her new book, “Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America,” Beth Linker of the School of Arts & Sciences traces society’s posture obsession to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
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The truth behind the slouching epidemic
Beth Linker of the School of Arts & Sciences traces the history of a poor-posture epidemic in the U.S. which began at the onset of the 20th century.
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How two Mass. lawyers are helping DACA recipients stay in the US
Carlos Águilar González of the School of Arts & Sciences says that streamlining the D3 authorization process for DACA recipients may limit the number of people who can benefit by focusing only on the most prestigious and educated.
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The activist academy
In her book “Chasing the Intact Mind,” Amy S.F. Lutz of the School of Arts & Sciences argues that the current approach to disabilities studies marginalizes the most severely disabled.
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Ready or not, self-driving semi-trucks are coming to America’s highways
Steve Viscelli of the School of Arts & Sciences says that autonomous trucking could change the geography of the U.S. economy in the way that railroads and shipping did.
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