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.

Now Accepting Applications

Have you ever wanted to give a TED Talk-style presentation about your research? If you are a Penn Arts & Sciences graduate student, apply to compete in the 9th Annual Penn Grad Talks.

Apply Here

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News & Announcements

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Save the Date! Graduate Division's 2025 Graduation Ceremony

Mark your calendar! The Graduate Division of the School of Arts & Sciences will hold the 2025 graduation ceremony for Master's and PhD recipients on Friday, May 16, 2025 at 10:00 AM, in Irvine Auditorium.

Please stay tuned for more details in the spring semester.

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SAS Graduate Students Honored with 2024 Teaching Awards

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

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SAS Graduate Students Honored as 2024 Dean's Scholars

Penn Arts & Sciences has named 20 students from the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Liberal & Professional Studies, and the Graduate Division as 2024 Dean’s Scholars.

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2024 Penn Grad Talks Winners

Congratulations to this year's winners of Penn Grad Talks!

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At Ben Talks NYC, A Journey from Ocean Depths to Outer Space

In a room overlooking New York's Bryant Park, more than 200 alums heard from scientists studying coral reefs, fractures on the Earth's surface, and the expansion of the universe.

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A Conversation About Free Speech

In the first Living the Hard Promise event from Penn Arts & Sciences, Sophia Rosenfeld, Walter H. Annenberg Professor, spoke with Associate Dean for Graduate Studies Beth S. Wenger about the purpose, history, and challenges of open expression on campus.

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Grad Students in the News

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Patterns of Soviet Jewish emigration in the post-Stalin era

For four decades, more than one million Jews left the USSR despite the Soviet Union’s complex bureaucracy and opposition to emigration. Doctoral candidate Sasha Zborovsky explores the intricate dynamics.

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Chinatown and community as a cornerstone

Will Chan, a Thouron Scholar and Ph.D. candidate in theoretical physics, is also an advocate for building Asian communities.

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Picking up on acoustic signals through better filtration

Yue Jiang, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has led research hinting at a new way to control sound waves at frequencies in which phones and other wireless technologies operate.

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Deep Listening and The Sound of Philadelphia

In a graduate seminar taught by Professor of Music Carol Muller, students re-examined ethnographic research methods and worked on field projects aimed at documenting Philadelphia’s Black music history.

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From College Community to Career Path

Joyce Kim, Ph.D. student in sociology and education, wants to know what motivates undergraduates—especially those who are the first in their families to attend college—to choose the career trajectories that they do.

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Uniting passions for architecture, preservation, and the Near East

Marc Marín Webb, who studied architecture in Berlin and Barcelona, is studying the impact of genocide on the built heritage of the Yezidi community in Iraq.

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Graduate Groups

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

Learn more

Penn Grad Talks

Penn Grad Talks is an annual TED Talk-style event where Penn Arts & Science grad students showcase their knowledge and research while competing for prizes.

Watch the 2024 presentations

2024 Commencement

The 2024 Commencement Ceremony for Master's and PhD recipients took place on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Irvine Auditorium.

Congratulations to the class of 2024!

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