For one University of Pennsylvania doctoral student, promoting increased access to education around the globe led to an unanticipated title: award-winning photographer.  Nathan Castillo, who is enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development program in Penn’s Graduate School of Education, works with developing nations to enhance their education delivery systems. The simple black-and-white image, that Castillo says he snapped “by chance,” took the grand prize for the inaugural Penn GSE Summer Photo Contest.

Marcus Mundy, a senior international relations and modern Middle East studies major, is building a rewarding Penn experience through his studies and campus activities.

As a Mexican, Steven Cabrera says he’s very aware that many individuals who share his culture have a difficult time accessing health care in Philadelphia because of issues like immigration, poverty, or both. As a Penn Nursing student, he’s collaborating with physicians to provide high-quality, Latino-friendly care for those populations.

Q&A with Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet
Born in Tehran, Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, the Robert I. Williams Term Professor of History in the School of Arts & Sciences, spent the first part of her life in Iran during the reign of the shah, and was an eyewitness as events unfolded during the 1979 Iranian Revolution that removed the shah from power and gave rise to the Ayatollah Khomeini.

As the first in his family to attend college, Kevin Hidalgo of New York City is on an adventure at Penn and in Philadelphia, “my city for the next four years.” (Video)

Justin McDaniel, associate professor and chair of the religious studies department at the University of Pennsylvania, has won a $410,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to help fund the Digital Library of Northern Thai Manuscripts project

Anthropology major Estrada Alamo is active in more than a dozen groups on campus. She is particularly drawn to organizations that do advocacy work and mentoring, including Lamda Alliance, La Casa Latina and PennCAP, the college achievement program that works with Penn students from the time they’re freshmen through graduation. “Mentorship is the only way I got to Penn,” Estrada Alamo says.  “It’s incredibly important to continue those cycles of mentorship if we want to advance ourselves as a community.”

A study led by Penn researchers Kathleen A. Brady, MD, and Baligh R. Yehia, MD, MPP, MSHP, shows that receiving care at several sites may increase medication errors, duplicate services and contribute to higher health care costs.

Brent Jules of New York City (far left) and Semi Ibikunle of York, Pa., were part of a Wharton class that analyzed the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges.

College senior Emily Goshey is conducting research that chronicles the cultural experiences of African-American Muslim women living in Philadelphia.