Fragmentation is what happens when things that once felt connected start to break apart or feel disconnected. It can describe how stories are told in pieces instead of straight lines, how communities become divided, or how people navigate multiple identities, platforms, and perspectives at the same time.
Fragmentation is the latest theme in the College of the Liberal Arts’ Moments of Change series—an annual, year-long focus on pivotal ideas, events, and movements that shape society. Past themes have explored topics like women’s activism, 1968, sustainability, and immigration, all examining moments when the world shifted in meaningful ways.
Building on this tradition, Fragmentation brings together the work of faculty, students, and alumni to explore how disconnection and change show up across language, literature, culture, technology, and politics. As globalization, rapid technological change, and shifting policies reshape society, long-standing institutions and shared experiences are being challenged and redefined. By looking at examples from both the past and the present, this theme helps us understand how fragmentation influences the way we communicate, govern, and relate to one another—and why it’s such a defining experience of life today.
- AFR 230N/APLNG 230N Language and Social Justice
- APLNG 320N/JST 320N Language, Ideology and Propaganda
- GER/ENG/CMLIT/JST 128N Representations of the Holocaust in Film and Literature
- PSYCH 420 Moral Psychology
- VSTUD 597 the Politics of Color
Identity, Culture, and Community Organizations
- Minorities in the College of the Liberal Arts
- Active Minds at World Campus
- Multicultural Women’s Association at University Park
Advocacy and Social Justice Organizations
- Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council
- NextGen at Penn State University Park
- Lion Pride Caucus at University Park
Political, Policy, and Civic Engagement Groups
Language, Communication, and Media Organizations
- Creative Writing Club
- Future Leaders in Communication at University Park
- Happy Valley Comm at University Park
Service and Community Engagement Organizations
Student Leaders
Isabelle Ems
Shelby Corbett
Barron Owusu
Avery Snowden
Natalie Wright
Alexis Wilson
Faculty Research
Anne Pisor
Mariana Ortega
Tommaso M. Milani
Michael Kulikowski
Sabine Doran
Daryl Cameron
Event Recordings
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: Why the Western Roman Empire Fell and the Eastern Empire Survived
In the fifth century AD, the Western Roman Empire splintered while the Eastern Empire centered on Constantinople endured and prospered. Why did the West collapse so quickly, and why was the East more resilient? The answers may surprise you and offer a timely lens for our own era of fragmentation.
Michael Kulikowski, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History and Classics, will present as part of the College of the Liberal Arts’ Moments of Change: Fragmentation theme.
Communication, the Key to Resolving Fragmentation and Building Community in Precarious Times
In this First-Year Lecture, Kirt H. Wilson, associate professor and department head of communication arts and sciences, explores how communication shapes our lives, our identities, and our relationships. Communication, he argues, is one of the most essential but taken-for-granted human activities, from one-on-one conversations to group discussions and even cross-cultural exchanges.
In the News
Continuing through spring 2027, the year-long theme will include regular programming looking at what happens when “things that once felt connected start to break apart or feel disconnected,” be it how stories are told in pieces instead of straight lines, how communities become divided, or how people navigate multiple identities, platforms and perspectives at the same time.