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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2023 SAS Dean's Scholars

Penn Arts & Sciences has named 9 students from the Graduate Division as 2023 Dean's Scholars. This honor is presented annually to students who exhibit exceptional academic performance and intellectual promise.

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SAS Graduate Students Honored with 2023 Teaching Awards

Congratulations to this year's Penn Arts & Sciences teaching award recipients.

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SAS Graduate Division Ceremony: Featured Graduation Speakers

The Graduate Division is pleased to announce that our keynote speaker for graduation will be Professor Herman Beavers.

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Penn Grad Talks 2023

Penn Grad Talks features TED Talk-style presentations by Penn Arts & Sciences graduate students representing the Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Professional Master’s programs.

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Demystifying the Hidden Curriculum Panel

SASGov and SAS members of the Fontaine Society hosted a panel discussion for graduate students on the "Hidden Curriculum."

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2022 Dissertation Completion Fellowship Recipients

The Graduate Division extends its congratulations to the recipients of 2022's Dissertation Completion Fellowships. As the name implies, the Dissertation Completion Fellowship is intended for students who will complete their dissertations during the fellowship year.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2023

Watch the Graduate Division Graduation Ceremony featuring Keynote Speaker Herman Beavers and remarks from degree recipients Nakul Deshpande, Sarah Xia Yu, and Kimberly Cárdenas.

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Graduate Groups

Learn about our 31 graduate groups in the humanities and social and natural sciences.

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Grad Students in the News

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Resisting the Resource Curse

Political science Ph.D. candidate Mikhail Strokan’s work looks at the idea that countries abundant in such natural resources as oil and natural gas wind up struggling economically despite the bounty—and examines why some of these countries fare better than others.

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Comparing urban and rural excess mortality during COVID-19

Eugenio Paulino, Ph.D. candidate Sociology and Demography, led the first-ever county-level study of excess mortality in the United States showing monthly excess deaths spread from large cities to rural counties in the second year of the pandemic.

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Who, What, Why: Tamir Williams on Black visibility in Chicago’s nightclubs

Tamir Williams, a Ph.D. candidate in History of Art in the School of Arts & Sciences, discusses their exhibition showcasing the photographs of Wharton alumnus Michael Abramson, who captured scenes from Black nightclubs in Chicago in the 1970s.

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Who, What, Why: Patrick Carland-Echavarria and queer Americans in post-war Japan

Patrick Carland-Echavarria, an East Asian Languages and Civilizations Ph.D. candidate, says his research is all about readjusting the lenses of history.

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Kimberly St. Julian Varnon on the short-lived insurrection in Russia

The history Ph.D. candidate discusses the shocking weekend revolt and march on Moscow by Wagner Group militia members.

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Who, What, Why: History Ph.D. candidate Arielle Alterwaite looks at Haitian debt

Alterwaite’s dissertation uses archives in seven different countries to explore Haiti's sovereign debt in the aftermath of the Haitian Revolution.

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Penn Grad Talks 2023

Nineteen Penn Arts & Sciences graduate students representing the Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Professional Master’s programs shared their knowledge with TED Talks-style presentations during the seventh annual Penn Grad Talks in February. The event was in person for the first time since 2019, but was also livestreamed around the world. A cash prize of $500 went to the best talk in each category and to the Audience Choice winner.

Watch the Talks Here