We’re the Graduate Division

Home to more than 30 graduate groups spanning the humanities and social and natural sciences, the Graduate Division at Penn Arts & Sciences is here to support your research.

Create New Knowledge

Home to expert faculty, archives, and state-of-the art equipment, Penn Arts & Sciences will help you grow into a leader in your field.

At the Frontiers

Our graduate groups offer a rigorous education, guiding students as they pursue advanced research and begin to make their own original contributions at the frontiers of knowledge.

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News & Announcements

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Graduate Division Spring 2022 Graduation Ceremony

Penn Arts & Sciences formally invites you to watch the Graduate Division Graduation Ceremony via livestream.

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2022 Penn Grad Talks

Penn Arts & Sciences congratulates and thanks all of the 2022 Penn Grad Talks participants.

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Extended funding for SAS Doctoral Students

We hope you are navigating the last weeks of this semester and looking forward to a much-needed break.

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Big Ideas for Strange Times

A series featuring short lectures on life’s bigger questions from Penn Arts & Sciences experts, including Ph.D. Candidates Aylin Malcolm (English), Sara Ray (History and Sociology of Science), and Angelina Eimannsberger (Comparative Literature and Literary Theory).

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Extended funding for SAS Doctoral Students

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the School of Arts and Sciences has provided approximately 300 additional semesters of f

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Resources and Emergency Funding for Graduate Students

Several new initiatives have been implemented to address broader issues affecting graduate and professional students and to provide you with support both immediately and in the longer term.

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Congratulations to the Class of 2022!

Please join us for a live stream of the Graduate Division Graduation Ceremony on Friday, May 13, 2022 at 2:00 p.m.

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Graduate Groups

Learn about our 33 graduate groups in the humanities and social and natural sciences.

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Grad Students in the News

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Stark, Haunting, Elegant

James Diaz, a Ph.D. student studying composition in the Department of Music, discusses his award-winning work.

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Ph.D. candidate’s initiative brings refugees out of Ukraine and supplies in

When History Ph.D. candidate Sam Finkelman’s yearlong research trip to Russia, Hungary, and Ukraine was interrupted by war, he went into action.

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Composing an interplay of music and language

A doctoral candidate in music, composer-pianist Ania Vu brings her Vietnamese roots, Polish upbringing, and experience studying in America to her compositions.

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Don’t let reports of racist acts by Ukrainians against Africans distract from what’s at stake

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon, Ph.D. Candidate in History, says if you want to be mad at someone, be mad at Russian President Vladimir Putin. "It's his fault."

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Diversion programs reduce criminal justice system footprint

Research from Viet Nguyen, Penn criminology Ph.D. candidate, found that such programs increase expungement rates and lower reconviction rates, leading to a net-narrowing effect overall.

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Past plagues, current pandemics, and public hygiene messaging

History Ph.D. candidate Sarah Xia Yu discusses her research on public hygiene in China and what the past might tell us about how governments could better communicate public health messages.

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Tweets by PennGradCenter

Visit Penn Grad Center on Twitter

Penn Grad Talks

Each year, Penn Arts and Sciences presents Penn Grad Talks (formerly Grad Ben Talks): an afternoon of TED Talk-style presentations by graduate students representing the Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Professional Master’s programs. Judges select winners in each of the four categories. There is also an Audience Choice Winner selected by online votes.

Watch the 2021 presentations