“During a time of social unrest, there’s a lot of misinformation, injustice, and frightful things going on,” writes Neelofar Tamboli, a senior at Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science and an alumna of the Penn Summer High School Program’s Social Justice Research Academy (SJRA). “SJRA taught me that in order to make a difference, having the right information and knowledge is key to making informed decisions rather than abrupt, uninformed opinions.”

When Linda Robinson of the Department of Biology learned this summer that fall courses would be moving online, she and her teaching colleagues got started on prepping course materials that allowed students to bring the lab experience into their own homes.

Pivoting to online classes to keep students safe during the COVID-19 pandemic introduced challenges—but also opportunities. Our innovative LPS community discovered new ways to stay connected.

On Monday, November 23, 2020, The College of Liberal and Professional Studies hosted a webinar with panelists from Penn’s Task Force on Support to Asian and Asian-American Students and Scholars. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, an alarming increase of anti-Asian behavior began at Penn, in Philadelphia, and beyond, and members of the Penn community recognized the need to offer support for students and staff by bringing together the University’s experts, resources, and support staff.

This spring, the Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences (MBDS) program organized its second Design Challenge, aimed at connecting students and MBDS Industry Affiliates to integrate cutting edge knowledge in the fields of behavioral economics, decision sciences, network analysis, and public policy into real-life problems. Fifty-four students teamed up to tackle twelve challenges in health, wellness, sustainability, technology integration in marketing, and finance over six weeks.

Fels was privileged to host Senator Elizabeth Warren for their Public Policy in Practice speaker series on Friday, November 6. Moderated by Distinguished Fellow Elizabeth Vale, the conversation was guided by questions submitted by Fels students. Senator Warren shared her thoughts on healthcare, student loan cancellation, and the recent presidential election, “In this election, people proved that nothing was going to stop us from making our voices heard, and our votes count. So, here’s what we know: Voters decide.”

From nine to five, Joseph Hallman works at Penn’s College of Liberal and Professional Studies, interfacing with faculty and departments on course logistics. Outside the office, however, Hallman has a side gig dreaming up musical landscapes that recently landed him a Grammy nod.

Penn’s Organizational Dynamics graduate program celebrated 40 years with a gala held on Friday, June 2nd. More than 120 faculty, alumni and current students gathered at the Mütter Museum to reunite with classmates and make new connections.