ABOUT US

The Penn Global Documentary Institute (PGDI) collaborates with global communities to document human migration using film, photography, virtual reality, and other media. Ongoing projects examine the impact of politics, religion, and climate change on displaced and other at-risk communities. PGDI’s network of faculty, students, and partners embrace the latest innovations in scholarship, teaching, and media production to create collaborative, interdisciplinary, multimodal works that tell impactful stories.

In addition to global collaborations, PGDI foregrounds the role of student contributions to research and multimodal scholarship. As a result, PGDI’s award-winning films, books, and other work have been featured in international festivals and exhibits and have been distributed by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Discovery+, and platforms.

LEADERSHIP

Peter Decherney

Sara Byala

2024-25 fellows

Melisande McLaughlin

Deepika Kannan

CAS '26

Shelton Mercer

CAS '23

Jackson Lopiano

Manasi Gajjalapurna

CAS '27

Noa Rubinstein

CAS '26

Abhiram Juvvadi

Or Barak

2023-24 fellows

Sofia Anderson

CAS '24

Anastasia Russell

CAS '25

Xiangyu Chen

SEAS '25

Terer Sharon Chepngeno

CAS '26

Mira Kwon

CAS '25