Department of English

See this coverage as it originally appeared—with bonus video content!—on the School of Arts & Sciences OMNIA website: https://omnia.sas.upenn.edu/story/penn-arts-sciences-pathways-anusha-mat...

Penn Arts & Sciences Pathways: Anusha Mathur, C'25 (Video)

Anusha Mathur, C’25, came to Penn with an interest in history and political science, and through her experiences in the College and Annenberg, discovered her passion for journalism and podcasting.

Video by Sharon Wu

Anusha Mathur, C’25, entered college with a broad interest in history and political science, but her first semester classes changed her direction a bit. "I figured out that to be in interested in politics and political science doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be a political science major," she says. "I realized what I really liked about politics was the communication side of it.” She took Communication and the Presidency with Annenberg School for Communication Lecturer David Eisenhower, analyzing speeches in their historical context and examining how they relate to the modern world. She decided to major in communication.

In the fall of her sophomore year, Mathur took Podcasting with Chris Mustazza, co-director of the Penn Sound Archive in the Department of English, and discovered her passion for audio and audio journalism. “[The course] showed me that what I really wanted to do was go into audio and specifically audio journalism—to merge my interests in communication and writing with this emerging field of audio and podcasting," says Mathur. The course led her to add English as a second major and inspired her to become the host of the College Voices Podcast, which explores the experiences of current students in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Mathur is currently taking a gap semester to participate in the RealArts@Penn program where she is working at the Flathead Beacon in Montana as an editorial intern. She is also an associate editor for the Daily Pennsylvanian, a Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow, and a 2025 Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Fellow. 

Pathways is a student series from Penn Arts & Sciences that highlights the academic journeys of students in the College of Arts and Sciences and the transformational moments that have shaped their intellectual experiences.