On the first and second levels of the Penn Museum Library, visitors can view a collection of photographs by Penn students that reflect key themes from their fieldwork experiences in the past year. Contributing student photographers are from Penn's departments of Anthropology, Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World, Classics/Ancient History, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and History of Art. Free with Penn ID.
Extended for summer viewing, “Revolution at Penn?” examines the formation of Penn, the debates that divided the school during the American Revolution, and the compromises that reorganized it as the University of Pennsylvania in 1791. Several artifacts evoke the contentious era and provoke new questions about the place of universities in America, then and now. Open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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.
The annual Penn Summer Dance Series will take place on Tuesday and Friday evenings, starting June 27 through Aug. 5. All workshops are led by Penn students.
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.
This tour highlights the sculptures that connect human art with the beauty of nature. Visitors will view garden art featured at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens, which includes sculptures that have become featured in prominent places or tucked in the shade of a special tree. Free with Penn ID.
A brand new Penn Medicine mobile mammogram van will make its debut during Penn Medicine's fourth annual community health fair. The mobile mammogram unit will enable Penn Medicine to provide convenient breast cancer screenings at community sites throughout the region year-round. During the fair on July 13, attendees can access a variety of free health screenings and educational resources.
Known for their exceptional musicianship and genre-blending sound, Vertical Current fuses jazz, funk, soul, and gospel into an electrifying musical experience. A driving force in the Philadelphia music scene, the group will perform as part of Garden Jams, Penn Museum’s outdoor summer concert series.
Participants will volunteer with the Philadelphia Orchard Project in the Food Forest at the Horticulture Center for a morning of weeding and tending to the dense food forest. Tools, gloves, and water will be provided, but volunteers are encouraged to bring their own if possible. Register to attend.
“Wings & Wildflowers” will take place on Saturday, July 19, with visitors convening in English Park for music, lemonade and cookies, nature-inspired crafts, and enchanting storytelling throughout the day. On Sunday, July 20, the fourth annual “Exuberant Blooms” program will burst with colors and fragrances in celebration of the variety and splendor of flowering plants, with opportunities for visitors to craft, sing, and dance.
As part of Penn Carey Law’s Ad Hoc Workshop summer series, Seaman Family University Professor Karen Tani and Ph.D. student Christen Hammock Jones will present “Unwanted Histories: Personal Narratives and Constitutional Decisionmaking in Disability and Reproductive Rights.”
Renowned for their vibrant rhythms and infectious energy, Los Bomberos De La Calle is dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich Afro-Caribbean traditions of Puerto Rico. A staple in Philadelphia’s local music scene, the band will perform as part of Garden Jams, Penn Museum’s outdoor summer concert series.
Participants will celebrate the 250th birthday of the U.S. Post Office by making mail. Visitors can use the letterpress to print a quote from the first postmaster general Benjamin Franklin and pull from the Common Press’s rubber stamp collections to create mail art. Registration is required.
Visitors will walk along a shady path to view the glory of summer at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens—all while keeping cool. The summertime tree canopies will be at their fullest expanse, offering remarkable panoramas. Attendees will also get a chance to view several garden features tucked away in the shade. Free with Penn ID.
Volunteers can help with distributing newly acquired metal types and organizing the wood type collection. No minimum or maximum volunteer time is required. Open to the public. Register to attend.
Attendees will experience a guided tour and demonstration of letterpress printing and typography, including the history of letterpress printing, type, and books from 1000 CE to now. Demonstrations will cover how movable type is used and the mechanical history of all the different presses at Common Press. Open to the Penn community. Register to attend.
Recognized for their mesmerizing rhythms and dynamic live performances, Malidelphia fuses the traditional sounds of Mali—home to one of the richest musical legacies in West Africa—with the diverse and vibrant musical landscape of Philadelphia. Their performance will mark the Penn Museum’s final Garden Jams event of the 2025 summer season.
Sisters in Cinema fellows Moya Bailey and India Martin will share their latest documentary film projects during BlackStar Film Festival Weekend. Attendees will get to view "You Just Watch and See" and part of "Out of Focus" and listen to the directors and crew discuss the making of these projects. Lunch will be provided.
This walking tour will highlight natural and man-made water features throughout the Morris Arboretum & Gardens, including natural streams, cascading waterfalls, and the striking Swan Pond, among others. Free with Penn ID.
The School of Social Policy & Practice’s annual Welcome Back event is part of the New Student Orientation events taking place in August. The gathering is free, and will have food, drinks, a photo booth, and a live DJ. All SP2 students, alumni, faculty, and staff are welcome.
The Kelly Writers House Activities Fair offers an opportunity to learn about student-led Writers House activities and initiatives, including magazines, writing groups, film production, and more. Attendees will have a chance to meet student leaders and representatives from numerous campus groups.
This student-run open mic night welcomes all kinds of readings and performances. A sign-up sheet will be available upon arrival, and participants will have three minutes at the podium to perform. Bring your poetry, your guitar, your dance troupe, your award-winning essay, or your flash fiction to share—or just visit to celebrate the work of classmates, colleagues, and fellow writers.
This University-wide career fair covers a range of industries, including consulting, consumer products, education, finance, government, healthcare, insurance, marketing/communications, manufacturing, nonprofits, real estate, retail, and more. Open to all on-campus students, postdocs, and alumni served by Career Services.
Guests are invited to celebrate the opening of Hung Liu: Happy and Gay at the Arthur Ross Gallery. Visitors will get a chance to experience Liu’s vibrant, large-scale paintings that reimagine Mao-era children’s book illustrations with bold color, signature drips, and powerful reinterpretations of propaganda imagery. Free and open to the Penn community.
This two-day career fair, virtual on Wednesday and in-person on Thursday, connects students in STEM fields with internships and full-time early career opportunities in industries and professional paths specific to engineering and technology.
PoemTalk features a roundtable close reading of poetry recordings in the PennSound archive. This special episode of the series, co-sponsored by Penn’s Creative Writing Program and filmed in front of an audience, will feature poems by Pierre Joris (1946–2025) and Jerome Rothenberg (1931–2024), who were longtime collaborators and dear friends of the Kelly Writers House.
This day-long symposium will commemorate Elizabeth (Peggy) A. R. Brown’s extraordinary legacy in the field of Medieval Studies. The program will also mark the official launch of the Elizabeth A. R. Brown Medieval Historians’ archive, a new initiative at Penn Libraries to collect the professional papers of scholars of the Middle Ages.
Participants will learn about the pros and cons of various free and paid tools and platforms—like WordPress, Omeka, Exhibit, CollectionBuilder, ArcGIS Storymaps, Quire, and Wax—that can be used to create digital archives and exhibits. Special attention will be paid to evaluating personal source material, needs, and priorities to find the best-fit tool. Register to attend.
Participants will learn about numerous tree species from around the world that can be found at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens. The tour showcases trees from Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Free with Penn ID.
Schoenberg Curator of Manuscripts Nick Herman will talk about the practice of illumination in premodern manuscripts and present a variety of manuscripts from Penn's collections.
This discussion will explore the intersections of English and history with a focus on common ground and disagreement. Al Filreis, Kelly Professor of English and faculty director of the Kelly Writers House at Penn, and William Sturkey, associate professor of history at Penn, will explore the question of how English and history can better equip each other as distinct forms of the writing arts.
The Manuscript Studies Interest Group examines a variety of manuscripts from Penn’s collections based on a theme for each meeting. This session will focus on materials related to cosmology, astronomy, and astrology. Free and open to the Penn community.
Participants can enhance their search for full-time postgraduate positions and/or summer internships by connecting with a variety of employers. All students, postdocs, and alumni served by Penn Career Services are invited to attend. Online students in a degree program are also encouraged to participate.
This seminar—led by Frances Lee, a professor at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia—will take stock of how data, evidence, communications, and politics shaped pandemic-era health policy and the politics of today. The conversation will be moderated by Rachel M. Werner, executive director of Penn’ Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics.
A panel of Penn alumni journalists, writers, and editors will discuss media-related career paths, internships, graduate school opportunities, and more. The conversation, organized and hosted by the Nora Magid Mentorship Prize Advisory Committee, will provide insight around preparing for first jobs and careers in print, broadcast and online media, publishing, and similar fields.
The U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps were founded in Philadelphia in 1775 and will mark their 250th anniversary in October 2025. To coincide with the anniversary, this conference will unite scholars of various periods of U.S. history to discuss the Navy and Marine Corps in their respective contexts.
All Penn students, faculty, postdocs, and staff are welcome to drop in during Wellness at Penn's annual Flu Clinic for their free flu shot. Penn ID is required.
The Manuscript Studies Interest Group examines a variety of manuscripts from Penn’s collections based on a theme for each meeting. This session will focus on materials related to alchemy and early experimental sciences. All students, faculty, and staff are welcome to contribute their insights and share the joy of manuscripts.