Campus Events

A new exhibition curated by students in Penn's School of Arts & Sciences will explore the deep human history associated with the color blue. Into the Blue will span 4,000 years—displaying 20 objects from across the Penn Museum’s collections, including select artifacts from the Middle East, China, Africa, ancient Egypt, and Central America. The exhibition will examine three themes: Obtaining Blue, Making Blue, and Synthesizing Blue. On view through spring 2026. Included with Museum admission.

This exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art marks the first major museum survey dedicated to the work and life of Jamaican-born artist Mavis Pusey (1928-2019), an important figure in geometric abstraction, featuring over 60 artworks from her prolific 50-year career.

This exhibition continues the collaboration between ICA and New York-based textile studio Maharam, which invites artists to reimagine the windows of ICA’s façade. For the 2025-26 edition, Philadelphia-based artist Xenobia Bailey created a design that reflects her “Funktional” aesthetic and rooted in her decades-long fiber arts practice.

Focusing on the work of the Midwestern Contre Coup Press, and founded as the passion project of psychologist and self-taught printer Timothy Hawley, this Penn Libraries exhibit reveals the craftsmanship and creativity behind modern bookmaking. Free and open to the public.

Speakers in the Weitzman Fall 2025 Lecture Series offer perspective on some of the most pressing issues facing built environment professionals, cultural leaders, and policymakers today. Spanning more than 20 events, the series will explore the theme of adaptive reuse in various contexts. Free and open to the public. Registration is required for some events.

Visitors can view a selection of posters by Penn alumnus Sam Maitin, whose signature bold colors and playful forms created the backdrop for artistic and civic life in Philadelphia for decades. Free and open to the public.

Through the rich and varied Aristotelian materials held in the Penn Libraries' collections, this exhibit explores how perceptions of Aristotle have evolved over the centuries—across cultures, disciplines, and imaginations. Free and open to the public.

Renowned journalist, MSNBC/NBC news anchor, and documentary filmmaker Richard Lui will share insights from his 30-year career in journalism, including his historic role as the first Asian American male to anchor a daily national cable news broadcast. Facilitated by Karu Kozuma, Vice Provost for University Life, this conversation will explore the intersections of identity, storytelling, and leadership.

One of Penn’s signature annual events, this fair will bring together staff, campus partners, and community organizations in the spirit of connection and engagement. Free and open to Penn faculty and staff members. Register to attend.

This winter, the Arthur Ross Gallery presents the first American exhibition of work by acclaimed Basque photographer and Penn alumnus Fernando Postigo Silva, who spent over two decades chronicling the Basque separatist movement from the late 1970s through the early 2000s. Participants can take a virtual tour of the exhibition. Register to attend.

Beatrice Sibblies, a Wharton MBA alum, will reflect on her career of projects that strengthen community, preserve culture, and expand economic opportunity. Her latest venture, Village Spice, is a global hospitality, cultural tourism, and food innovation platform celebrating the African diaspora. Free and open to the public.

This workshop, directed by Meg Bragle, presents performances of opera, operetta, and musical theatre, engaging students to combine believable acting with expressive singing in a workshop setting.

Designed for Penn staff, the Division of Human Resources’ Compensation department will facilitate several webinars to review Penn’s job architecture and bring clarity, consistency, and opportunity to how staff understand job profiles and career paths. Penn staff can register to attend.

Sheila T. Murphy, professor of communication in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California and leading expert on using narrative to promote behavioral change, will discuss best practices for utilizing narrative persuasion to increase vaccine uptake. Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.

Penn students, faculty, and staff are invited to join a conversation among three authors working across the fields of lexicography, fact-checking, journalism, and fiction writing. Panelists will discuss the history of fact-checking, media de-funding, and digital upheaval, as well as the status of truth in our current media landscape. Register to attend.

Presented by Public Trust, this series of film screenings will examine the work of Italian filmmakers Cecilia Mangini and Pier Paolo Pasolini. After the screenings, Noa Steimatsky, a distinguished scholar in film and media studies who has held faculty positions at Yale University and the University of Chicago, will discuss how cinema reimagines history, politics, and the body.

Penn Alumni and their partners across the University welcome everyone back to campus for three days of programming during Homecoming Weekend. Registration is required for some events.

Open to the public, this drop-in Open Studio at Common Press will enable attendees to print a broadside—a single-sided print meant for public display—on the reprinting and distribution of the Declaration of Independence. The printing activity takes less than 10 minutes; attendees can drop by at any time. Register to attend.

Perry World House will host the world premiere of “Postigo Express,” a short documentary exploring award-winning Basque photojournalist Fernando Postigo’s remarkable life and work. The film’s director, Peter Decherney, and its subject, Fernando Postigo, will introduce the screening and take part in a discussion afterward. Register to attend.

Five-time Grammy Award-winner and jazz legend Dianne Reeves melds her timeless grace, spellbinding vocals and radiant charisma into an unforgettable evening of holiday favorites including “Let It Snow,” “Carol of the Bells,” “I'll Be Home for Christmas” and more. Secure tickets in advance. Students can receive a discount with Penn ID.

The James Joo-Jin Kim Center for Korean Studies invites public and private educators of all institutions to this free workshop providing an overview of Korean history, literature, and arts. Participants will receive practical guidance for integrating these topics into classroom curricula and engage with leading experts through interactive activities designed to make Korean culture engaging for students. Register to attend by Oct. 31.

As part of Homecoming Weekend, the Penn community is invited to tour the Fisher Fine Arts Library and learn about the five organizations housed within it: the Fisher Fine Arts Library, the Architectural Archives, the Arthur Ross Gallery, the Common Press, and the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. Light refreshments will be provided.

Penn alumni and renowned authors Naomi Xu Elegant, Lauren Francis-Sharma, and Beth Kephart will share more about their new books. Attendees will have a chance to engage with these writers and gain insight into their latest works.

Directed by Daveed Goldman and Nobu Adilman, this interactive, participatory event turns the audience into performers, inviting them to sing some of the greatest hits of all time from Leonard and Joni to Whitney and Shania. No experience is necessary; all voices welcome. Secure tickets in advance. Students can receive a discount with Penn ID.

Erick Guerra, a Penn IUR Faculty Fellow and a faculty member at the Weitzman School, will discuss his new book exploring how outdated policies, flawed funding systems, and misguided metrics led to overbuilding the U.S. roadway network. Guerra examines the lasting consequences of this overbuilding and outlines how policymakers can “unbuild” to create a more sustainable transportation future. Register to attend.

Hosted by the Barbara Bates Center, this seminar will feature Dominique Tobbell, the Centennial Distinguished Professor and director of the Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry at the University of Virginia, providing insight into the importance of nurse-led innovation, community health activism, and the entangled policies and politics of rural health care in the 1970s. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Thomas Gluodenis, associate professor of chemistry and physics at Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) and member of the Philadelphia Regional Center for Children’s Environmental Health (PRCCEH), will discuss potential, hidden exposures to toxic chemicals that can be found in our communities. This session will include an overview of his PRCCEH pilot project, as well as past and future research into exposure science. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Emily Sneff, a leading expert on the history of the Declaration of Independence, will share insights into the first printings of the U.S.’s founding document. She will explore the process of declaring independence and draw connections to the core themes and material focus of the Common Press’s America 250 programming. Register to attend.

This beginner-friendly, non-technical workshop will offer Penn students, faculty, and staff a basic orientation to the generative AI landscape, including a short introduction to Gen AI tools and an overview of environmental, copyright, socio-technical concerns. Register to attend.

Dorit Aviv, assistant professor of architecture and director of the Thermal Architecture Lab, will discuss the future of cooling and emerging innovations to combat rising heat without air conditioning. Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.

Penn researchers interested in AI governance, ethics, and policy can join the Wharton Accountable AI Lab’s monthly lunches, which are informal conversations around recent business, technology, and legal developments. Attendees are encouraged to bring topics to discuss. Food will be provided. RSVP to attend.

The Weitzman School Awards celebrate the achievements of visionary students as well as leaders in architecture, planning, and design beyond the Penn community, while also fostering support for the next generation of changemakers. Free and open to the public. Register to attend by Nov. 7.

This interdisciplinary symposium, organized by assistant professor of landscape architecture Nicholas Pevzner, will bring together experts in wildfire adaptation, fire management, design, forest management, and sustainable forestry to explore the interlinked challenges of designing and managing landscapes for fire resilience in the face of a changing climate.

This talk will cover some of the social and environmental consequences of historic preservation. It will also explore avenues for the next generation of policy action, moving beyond the first-order work of saving heritage sites and buildings to considering the second-order effects on people and their environments. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

The Penn community is invited to the opening of “Spit and Polish All the Time”—an exhibit on the experience of Black nurses during World War II—with the Barbara Bates Center’s recent acquisition of Major Nancy Leftenant-Colon photographs on display. This exhibit launch will include a screening of a documentary clip featuring Major Nancy Leftenant-Colon. Register to attend.

In this Penn Live Arts co-commission, a cast of six dancers and four musicians explores how we are all an amalgam of cultures, identities and generations, fixed and infinitely fluid, fully embodied and fragmented all at once. Showtimes are Saturday, Nov. 14 at 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Secure tickets in advance. Students can receive a discount with Penn ID.

This discussion, open to the public and hosted by the Penn Center on Media, Technology, and Democracy, will feature an expert panel exploring the impact of generative AI on journalists and media institutions. Panelists will examine how generative AI is transforming the online information ecosystem and the economics of media. Register to attend.

Jan Peters, Professor for Intelligent Autonomous Systems at the Computer Science Department of the Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, will explore the core role of inductive biases in robot learning, drawing from insights in control theory, neuroscience, and machine learning. He will also discuss visions for future robot learning systems that integrate structured biases with modern data-driven methods, enabling scalable autonomy in real-world environments.

The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation, Arthur Ross Gallery, and Penn Live Arts present a unique opportunity to experience an installation of acclaimed contemporary artist Nina Chanel Abney’s epic painting cycle entitled I Dread to Think. This artwork comprises a 60-foot-long series of large canvases portraying wildly colorful and sometimes apocalyptic scenes from the Internet Age. Free and open to the Penn community.

Hailing from Kyiv, DakhaBrakha’s “ethno-chaos” sound plumbs the depths of Ukrainian roots and contemporary rhythms, fusing ancient folk melodies with a range of genres from indie rock and pop to hip hop and the avant-garde. Secure tickets in advance. Students can receive a discount with Penn ID.

Since 1990, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians of Japanese descent and their families have gone to work in Japan. “One Day We Arrived in Japan” follows the stories of three such Brazilian families. This film screening and Q&A with director Aaron Litvin will uncover the gripping personal experiences behind a major transnational phenomenon.

Howard Langer, a Penn Carey Law professor and alum, will discuss his careers as both a fiction writer and leading antitrust lawyer. Participants will learn about his most notable case: a class action that recovered $200 million from a bank that had abetted fraudulent telemarketers who preyed on the poor and elderly. Langer began writing "The Last Dekreptizer," his first novel and a National Jewish Book Award winner, in 2021 after attending a Zoom workshop sponsored by the Free Library of Philadelphia.

AI tools promise precision learning, adaptive feedback, and new ways to support clinical reasoning, but they also raise concerns about overreliance, bias, and erosion of core skills. This panel will explore these competing visions for the future of medical training and highlight research, policy, and curricular strategies to ensure AI strengthens rather than weakens the education of tomorrow’s physicians. Register to attend.

From public health and marketing to climate science to logistics, geographic information systems (GIS) is becoming a core competency for professionals in a wide range of fields. This annual day celebrates the expanding influence of GIS and the professionals who bridge disciplines to solve complex, real-world challenges using spatial insight. Free and open to the public.

Penn historian and 2025 Pulitzer Prize-winning author Benjamin Nathans will explore the impact of the Russo-Ukrainian war on academia—the field of European Studies in particular—with Harvard Professor of Ukrainian History Serhii Plokhy. Through the lens of Plokhy’s forthcoming publication and related projects, they will discuss the challenges, advantages, and disadvantages of writing history as it unfolds—as well as what opportunities this may create or hinder for the work and global collaboration of historians.

Attendees will have a chance to hear insights and perspectives from Janet Echelman, a world-renowned designer and multidisciplinary architect whose experiential sculptures draw from various fields, including urban design, material science, engineering, performance, and more.

Organized by the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies in partnership with the Free Library of Philadelphia, this annual symposium will—from a transnational perspective—explore how the material media of transmission influenced the reception of ancient authors and contributed to their reinterpretation, reinvention, and rediscovery over the centuries. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.