President Joe Biden hosted Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the White House on Tuesday as the outgoing administration seeks cease-fire progress in Gaza and Lebanon.

Senate Republicans return to Washington on Tuesday for the first time since they secured the Senate majority to determine who will be the new party leader in the chamber.

A grizzly bear enjoyed every bit of a recent snow day at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Volunteers worked together to clear out floodwater in a suburb of Valencia, after deadly flash flooding devastated several areas locally.

This is the first time Biden and Harris appeared together since Election Day. 

Amateur boxing champion Marley "Baby Bug" McNealy shows off her masterful skills and signature tricks with her speed bag training videos.

Donald Trump has announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate and ally of Trump, will lead a new Department of Government Efficiency.

An international team of researchers led by Ida Djenontin, assistant professor of geography at Penn State, was recently awarded a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems program to investigate the socioecological outcomes of restoration in degraded woodlands ecosystems.

Laura Pulido, Collins Chair and professor of Indigenous, race, and ethnic studies and geography at the University of Oregon, is the featured speaker for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ 2024 EMS Reads program. She will give the keynote lecture at 6 p.m. on Wednesday Nov. 13, in Paterno Library's Foster Auditorium on Penn State's University Park campus.

Penn State will be sending its second delegation of students and faculty to COP29, the United Nations’ annual climate meeting, which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November.

Second-year student Morgan Dawkins and fifth-year student Olivia DiPrinzio spoke to the Board of Trustees about their experiences with the Schreyer Honors College. Honors programming has allowed them to find guidance, craft a courseload specific to their interests and find opportunities for professional development. 

Penn State has named David Rosenberg, a 1974 graduate of the College of Health and Human Development and longtime supporter of Penn State Brandywine, and the Moyer family, whose transgenerational giving has benefited multiple units across the University, as the 2024 Fundraising Volunteers of the Year.

Penn State’s Consortium on Moral Decision-Making and Moral Psychology Research Group are co-hosting a conference Nov. 15-17 to highlight interdisciplinary research on moral and ethical decision-making.

Penn State Brandywine's and Penn State Berks' LaunchBoxes collaborated with Penn State Great Valley to hold the Fall 2024 Idea TestLab Pitch Competition on Nov. 4. Six startup business owners participated in the competition. 

Penn State Brandywine’s and Penn State Berks’ LaunchBoxes, powered by Penn State, collaborated with Penn State Great Valley to hold the fall 2024 Idea TestLab Pitch Competition on Nov. 4. Six startup entrepreneurs participated in the competition, which was held at Great Valley.

Education Week asked three 8th grade teachers to evaluate real student responses to an open-ended question on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in social studies. Here's what they said.

"When the day came to administer the first test I had designed," writes Brandon Lewis, "my heart sank."

AP has managed to dodge the partisan pitfalls that have felled other ambitious curricular efforts—so far, write Chester E. Finn Jr. and Andrew E. Scanlan.

Group projects founder when students don't work well together. Here's the latest thinking on evaluating students on both content mastery and collaboration skills.

The U.S. Department of Education sees two specific challenges potentially undermining the quality of the international assessment program, writes Mark Schneider.

The collection and use of data about just how prepared individual children are to enter kindergarten can be a ticklish proposition.

Jacob Guerrini, a junior electro-mechanical engineering technology student at the New Kensington campus, was named the 2024 Berger Scholarship recipient.

Penn State has announced the recipients of the inaugural Presidential Public Impact Research Awards, a new program designed to support faculty and students who are working on research projects that directly benefit communities.

Five Penn State Commonwealth Campus leaders will be retiring from the University in the coming weeks and months, Penn State Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses and Executive Chancellor Margo DelliCarpini has announced.

Penn State students are experiencing a transformative way of learning thanks to a collaboration between Teaching and Learning with Technology Media Commons and Maker Commons, part of University Libraries, and College of the Liberal Arts faculty in the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Together, they have developed project-based assignments that incorporate hands-on maker technologies, giving students a unique opportunity to enhance their technical and creative skills while promoting social justice and community values.

The Biology and Ecology Student Research Showcase, hosted by the Biology Graduate Student Association and Ecology Graduate Student Organization on Nov. 1, featured poster and podium presentations from nearly 30 graduate and undergraduate students.

The Eberly Family Special Collections Library at Penn State University Libraries has announced that the application period for 2025-26 research grants is now open. Awards are available to support travel and research expenses while utilizing the Eberly Family Special Collections Library at Penn State’s University Park campus. The application deadline is Dec. 10.

At seven of Penn State’s Commonwealth Campuses, campus gardens and farms help to connect students with nature. Programs aimed at sustainable food practices and mental well-being help to create an environment for growth and joy within the community. 

Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus will host the 52nd annual Shakespeare Festival on Oct. 22-23. This event will feature an 80-minute production of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" by The Linny Fowler WillPower Tour, followed by a Q&A session with the cast. The festival, free and open to the public, will be held in the Maggie Hardy Magerko Auditorium, located in the Community Center.

At seven of Penn State’s Commonwealth Campuses, campus gardens and farms help to connect students with nature. Programs aimed at sustainable food practices and mental well-being help to create an environment for growth and joy within the community. 

Students at Penn State Wilkes-Barre are invited to take part in the annual Mental Health Awareness Day, set for 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 18. The event is designed to promote mental health awareness and self-care, reduce stigma, and provide students with an opportunity to engage in self-care activities. 

High school students interested in science, technology, engineering, the arts or mathematics (STEAM) are invited to a day of hands-on STEAM activities at Penn State Wilkes-Barre at no cost. “Exploring STEAM Careers” will be held at the campus on Nov. 6. Sessions will be held in the areas of chemistry, engineering, information technology, mathematics and surveying engineering.

Students who meet transfer requirements at Lehigh Carbon Community College are guaranteed admission to Penn State Hazleton, Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill and Wilkes-Barre.

Penn State Wilkes-Barre held its first Surveying Career Summit on Oct. 16, providing high school students interested in surveying engineering with the opportunity to visit the campus and learn more about their field of interest.

Penn State Wilkes-Barre was selected as “Best College Campus” in a local media group’s annual readers’ choice awards program.

Rebecca Mattson, head of faculty and research services and professor of legal research at Penn State Law in University Park, was recently awarded the prestigious 2024 Service Award by the Research Instruction & Patron Services Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Michael Helbing, executive director of the Center for Energy Law and Policy and adjunct professor of law at Penn State, will give the talk, “Flying into the future: sustainable aviation fuel and the policies impacting its development,” at 4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7, in 112 Walker Building at Penn State University Park.

Accomplished writer and Penn State alum Jami Nakamura Lin will read from her works at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14, in Foster Auditorium as part of the 2024-25 Mary E. Rolling Reading Series.

The Penn State Berks theatre department will present “8 at Eight” — a collection of eight light-hearted, eight-minute plays at 8 p.m. Nov. 13-16 in the Perkins Student Center Auditorium.

Penn State School of Music announces the inaugural performance of its Opera Workshop, led by new faculty members Dawn Pierce and Parker Konkle. The performance, titled "Seasons of Love," will take place on Dec. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the School of Music’s Recital Hall. This unique presentation will explore a range of lyric repertoire, offering an avant-garde experience that merges music, movement, and storytelling. 

The Penn State School of Theatre will produce William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing,” Nov. 16-22, at the Pavilion Theatre on the University Park campus.

Voice assistants (VAs) like Alexa and Siri continue to gain popularity in households and on personal devices. According to digital trends research company Emarketer, the number of VA users will surpass 150 million in 2025. Despite the ubiquity, companies haven’t been able to work around users’ strong negative reactions to advertising on these applications. A research team, including scholars from Penn State, may have a solution.

The News Lab at Penn State has earned a grant to complete two election-related projects as part of a nationwide effort supported by the American Press Institute and the Knight Election Hub.

The six-year-old Centre Film Festival returns this year to screen more than 200 films in a variety of genres at Centre County theaters and online. The festival, which runs Nov. 11-17, continues to provide impactful films under the guidance of artistic director and driving force Pearl Gluck, associate professor of film production in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, with strong support from many Penn State units.

A newscast produced by Penn State students earned first place in a nationwide competition as College Broadcasters Inc. recognized “Centre County Report” as the nation’s best for the second year in a row.

Alumnus Pablo Lopez works to give back to Penn State and State College through his role as film production manager for the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau.

A Penn State faculty member who previously served as a senior editor and newsroom manager during a four-decade career at several major daily news organizations was named as the recipient of the 2024 Richard J. Levine Journalism Champion Award, presented by the Dow Jones News Fund.

Seven productions by Penn State communications students — several television shows, one audio event, a podcast and a short video — earned top-three finishes in the nationwide competition conducted by the College Media Association.

Leaders with OM Argentina help children in Córdoba memorise God's Word.

OM in Buenos Aires journeys to the indigenous Mapuche people to serve, develop relationships, disciple local believers and minister in the community.