Art history experts at Penn reflect on how creatives have for millennia influenced the way society views the sea
Keeping you up to date with the most recent news from the University of Pennsylvania
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July 20, 2026
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Visual artists have depicted the sea for millennia, capturing its brilliant hues and alluring but disquieting nature—and shifting society’s relationship to the shoreline in the process. In the spirit of the summer season and beach vacations, Penn Today spoke with art history professor Ann Kuttner about ancient Roman portrayals of the sea and with Ph.D. student Benjy Jude about 19th-century French seascapes.
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This summer, millions of people have been affected both by record-setting heat and smoke from wildfires raging in Canada. In this Penn Today story from 2023, climate scientist Michael Mann and colleagues investigate the effects of climate change on the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme weather events like wildfires.
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Penn Today celebrates recent honors received by faculty members in the School of Arts & Sciences, Penn Carey Law, and the Perelman School of Medicine.
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After three decades as a pioneering scholar of journalism studies, Barbie Zelizer has retired from the Annenberg School for Communication. “She is a tireless community builder, a dedicated mentor, and a field builder,” says Dean Sarah Banet-Weiser. “She leaves an indelible mark on Annenberg’s community.”
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Artificial intelligence may help businesses speed up the product development process, but it can’t understand the user’s story and needs, writes Wharton’s Scott Snyder and a co-author. “Every AI-powered experience should still answer a human question: What is this person trying to do right now, and how can we help?” he writes.
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This week, Penn Today revisits the timely topic of summer storms, exploring water quality and management and clean fuel alternatives. Expanding upon community-led water testing and Water Center at Penn education initiatives, the Cobbs Creek Stream Team in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science collected the most detailed water quality data to date at the West Philadelphia tributary.
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MEN’S HEALTH
“There is a certain level of pressure and persistence to these thoughts that make them difficult to ignore and interfere with someone’s ability to move on to their next task or concentrate on a conversation or their work,” says Kelly Allison of the Perelman School of Medicine.
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JULY 21
The Institute of Contemporary Art will host a conversation between featured artist and choreographer Reggie Wilson, whose work explores the intersections of African diasporic and Shaker traditions through movement and embodied research, and artist and composer Jean-Marc Superville Sovak, whose practice engages Black history, spirituality, and collective memory through music, performance, and storytelling. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
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