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 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.

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.

During this drop-in Open Studio at the Common Press, participants will learn to print a broadside—a single-sided print meant for public display— about how the pace of time impacted life in the Revolutionary era. Free and open to the public. Penn ID or photo ID required. Register to attend.

Jason Karlawish, professor of medicine, medical ethics and health policy, and neurology at Penn, co-associate director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and co-director of the Penn Memory Center, will discuss emerging research into aging, neuroethics, and policy. He has investigated issues in dementia drug development, informed consent, quality of life, research and treatment decision-making, and voting by persons living with dementia. Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.

This exhibit features the work of Penn staff and students who created replicas and new works of art in three campus makerspaces: Education Commons, the Bollinger Digital Fabrication Lab, and Venture Lab. Through experiential learning, the contributors to this exhibit cultivated creativity and new technological skills while deepening their appreciation of cultural heritage. Free and open to the public.

Part of America 250 at Penn programming, this exhibit explores the overlooked yet essential role of nurses during the American Revolution, whose vital work helped shape early American healthcare. It challenges the widespread belief that nursing began in the 19th century with Florence Nightingale by providing rare evidence of a world of nursing and caretaking that thrived before, during, and after the American Revolution. Free and open to the Penn community.

This webinar will explore the practical, clinical, and policy challenges of expanding access to cancer immunotherapies across African settings. Featuring experts from academic medicine, oncology practice, and global health policy, the session will highlight lessons from early implementation, considerations around cost and affordability, and pathways to more equitable access, offering insights relevant to clinicians, researchers, policymakers, and global oncology partners. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Penn professors Emma Hart, Sophia Rosenfeld, and Duncan Watts will address the power and impact of Thomas Paine’s revolutionary pamphlet Common Sense—250 years after its publication—including how to think about the changing meanings of “common sense” in the American political landscape. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Organized by the Environmental Law Project and the Weitzman School of Design, this symposium will focus on environmental justice in Philadelphia. Attendees will explore how environmental law, landscape architecture, and city and regional planning can address issues of environmental justice in Philadelphia’s urban landscapes. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

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.

In this creative typesetting workshop, the Declaration text will be split amongst registered participants, and each participant will have the freedom to choose to include, edit, or redact the words in their segment, as was done by printers throughout the world in the months and years following the initial publication. This event is part of the Penn Libraries America 250 programming. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

The Penn Reads Literacy & Children’s Art Project presents a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service event, “Imagine A World...!” Children ages 3-8 can participate in a theatrical storytime experience, explore a unique Penn library, and create a book to take home. Storytellers, librarians, teachers, and library staff will guide participants. Register to attend.

Part of Reimagining Illumination, a series designed to interrogate and expand the concept of illumination (i.e., the use of light) in books and manuscripts, this workshop will focus on the many ways that modern artists make use of light in their book creations, including transparencies, reflections, and electric light. Open to the public.

The 25th MLK Jr. Social Justice Lecture & Award will be presented to five-time Oscar nominee Spike Lee, an iconic filmmaker who was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2015 for his lifetime achievement and contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Part of the One Health@Penn Research Community Work in Progress Series, this session will feature Sara Cherry, John W. Eckman Professor of Medical Science at the Perelman School of Medicine, and Carol Sobotyk, assistant professor of diagnostic parasitology at Penn Vet, discussing vectors and climate change. A Q&A will follow the presentations. Open to the public. Register to attend.

Perry World House invites the Penn community to a conversation with His Excellency Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, former UN Deputy Secretary-General, who will discuss how the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s closure in 2025 marked the end of an era in global development, threatening the livelihood of millions of vulnerable people. The conversation will primarily focus on future directions in global development—and how the world might do better on this front. Register to attend.

Workshop attendees will strengthen their ability to collaborate, resolve conflict, and reach durable agreements. Participants will gain practical tools they can immediately apply to important conversations, enabling them to approach complex discussions with greater clarity, empathy, and confidence. Open to the Penn community. Register by Dec. 1 to attend.

Every January, the Kelly Writers House (KWH) community welcomes everyone back to campus with “Mind of Winter,” a celebration of the season’s comforts inspired by Wallace Stevens’s poem, "The Snow Man.” Attendees can enjoy homemade soups and stews, followed by winter-themed readings selected by KWH community members. Register to attend.

The Manuscript Studies Interest Group is a regular meeting for people who want to get up close and personal with a variety of handwritten materials from regions across the globe, including the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Western Europe. Penn students, faculty, and staff are invited to contribute their insights, discuss their work, and share the joy of manuscripts. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Rosie Poku, a joint Ph.D. candidate in Africana Studies and comparative literature & literary theory at Penn, will present “The Performance of Translation: Journeys in Afro-Diasporic Women’s Modernisms,” exploring her research into Black women’s diasporic writings and performances of the early 20th century. Free and open to the Penn community. 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. Part of America 250 at Penn programming, this talk 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.

Open to the public, this program will feature a reading by members of Suppose an Eyes, a poetry workshop sponsored by Kelly Writers House. Suppose An Eyes, founded in 1999 and one of the longest-running poetry workshops in the Philadelphia area, provides a supportive place for poets of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences to share and improve their writing.

Karen Goldberg, Vagelos Professor of Energy Research and director of the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science & Technology, will discuss the development of alternatives to oil as feedstocks for chemical and liquid fuels. Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.

Adventive America will place the forthcoming 250th anniversary of the U.S. into a broader global context by examining plants and their agency in nation-building. This two-day program will examine the collectors, collections, and global botanical exchanges between the U.S., Indigenous nations, Britain, Spain, Japan, and China, from the early American republic to the present day. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

This presentation will outline the mission and activities of The Black Space Project, an interdisciplinary research initiative starting at the University of Texas at Austin. These activities include collaboration with the National Trust, an exhibit on communal uses of the Black home, and a digital archive on non-licensed Black contributions to the built environment. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

This program will serve as the opening celebration for “A World in the Making: The Shakers,” an exhibition exploring the design legacy of the Shakers, a religious group whose values of community, labor, and equality shaped their furniture, architecture, and everyday objects. Light refreshments will be provided. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

“A World in the Making: The Shakers” explores the design legacy of the Shakers, a religious group whose values of community, labor, and equality shaped their furniture, architecture, and everyday objects. Through works by contemporary artists influenced by the Shakers, alongside original Shaker-made pieces, the exhibition invites reflection on how Shaker ideals continue to inform conversations around inclusion, gender, and intentional living in the 21st century. Free and open to the public.

Originating as a time for respite from agricultural work and togetherness with loved ones, Lunar New Year is observed by various Asian communities—including those of Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Tibetan descent—involving customs such as feasts, gift exchanges, lantern lighting, and offerings to deities and ancestors. This family-friendly festival will feature various Lunar New Year traditions, such as storytelling, artmaking, live music and dance performances, and a traditional Lion Dance finale. Free with Penn ID.

The in-person STEM & Sustainability Career Fair provides an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students, Penn alumni, and postdocs to engage with employers, apply for positions, and make progress in their job searches and career exploration.

During this drop-in Open Studio at the Common Press, participants will learn to print a broadside—a single-sided print meant for public display—commemorating the important role iron played in Pennsylvanian and American history. Free and open to the public. Penn ID or photo ID required. Register to attend.

Widely exhibited and published photographer Leandre Jackson will join historian, curator, and Penn alumnus Samir Meghelli in a conversation about Jackson’s remarkable career documenting the lives and work of Black history-makers of the 20th and 21st centuries. The conversation will be followed by a reception and a display of Jackson’s photographs in the Henry Charles Lea Library. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Part of America 250 at Penn programming, this exhibit will showcase materials from various groups who have taken strident critiques of a wholly celebratory approach to American history and the mythos of the founding fathers. The exhibit includes posters, buttons, pamphlets, photographs, and other ephemeral materials—many of them produced by people of color, student organizations, and grassroots groups. Free and open to the public.

PennCHIPS at Penn Medicine will host this virtual panel connecting attendees with leaders who have successfully transitioned into industry, healthcare organizations, policy, and other sectors. Participants will gain practical insights on essential skills, strategies, and resources to confidently navigate their career journey.

The Penn community is invited to engage with faculty experts, students, and staff in an interactive, participatory reading of the U.S. Constitution, followed by a guided conversation about how its interpretation has evolved over time. Refreshments and take-home pocket editions of the Constitution will be provided. Register to attend.

Music theorist and ethnographer Anna Yu Wang will discuss the consequential yet still underexamined political implications of Anglo-American music theory’s relatively rigorous, descriptive vocabulary. Attendees will be invited to consider how these patterns and classifications can reflect the limitations and propensities of a given music analyst’s own sociopolitical positionality. Free and open to the public.

Free and open to the public, this Penn Nursing program will honor Black History Month with a viewing of “The Power to Heal: Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution,” a documentary chronicling the historic struggle to secure equal and adequate access to healthcare for all Americans. Participants are invited to stay for a panel discussion after the screening. Light refreshments will be provided. Register to attend.

Participants in the Penn Student Making Workshop, hosted by the Penn Museum and facilitated by Brigitte Keslinke of the School of Arts & Sciences, will explore how and why people in the ancient Mediterranean made votives, followed by using air-dry clay to sculpt their own miniature offerings. Free for Penn students; must bring Penn ID.

Penn alum and media scholar Michael Serazio reveals the story of America’s obsession with ‘authenticity’ through a panoramic, behind-the-scenes tour of the professionals, strategies, and practices working to keep it "real." Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

In early modern Europe, fashion and cartography shared a lot of common ground, but the connection between the two fields has largely gone unnoticed. Emanuele Lugli, associate professor of art and art history and director of public humanities at Stanford, will discuss how this overlooked convergence is precisely where fashion, as we understand it, first took shape. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Recent data offer encouraging signs that opioid overdoses may be declining, with overdose deaths falling nearly 27% in 2024 compared to 2023. As policymakers work to sustain this progress, efforts to expand access to medications for opioid use disorder and to leverage telemedicine remain critical. This virtual seminar will explore the current trajectory of the opioid epidemic and examine policy opportunities and challenges at both the federal and state levels. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

This symposium will unite scholars of 18th-century nursing; early American healers; Indigenous, African, and European care practices; and Revolutionary War era military medicine and battlefield care, including related areas of focus, to discuss how the Revolutionary War—as a major health crisis—shaped healthcare labor in the early national United States. Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.

Part of the One Health@Penn Research Community Work in Progress Series, this seminar will feature Lisa Murphy, professor of toxicology at Penn Vet, and Cindy Otto, professor of working dog sciences & sports medicine, providing attendees with insight on animals and emergency preparedness. A Q&A will follow the presentations. Open to the public. Register to attend.

This Kelly Writers House conversation will feature Matt Katz, a journalist and the executive producer of the City Cast Philly podcast, and Yowei Shaw, an award-winning podcast host and journalist who formerly produced NPR’s Invisibilia, discussing the vital importance of truth and integrity in audio storytelling. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

This interactive training for Penn students, faculty, and staff, equips participants with the skills and resources to intervene with student stress, distress, and crisis. Register to attend.

Part of SP2’s series The Politics of Well-Being, this session will explore the geography of well-being: how neighborhood infrastructure, environmental justice, urban design, and housing access shape physical and mental health. Speakers will discuss how place-based policies can foster or undermine equitable outcomes—and how communities reclaim agency over space. Open to the public. Register to attend.

This Kelly Writers House conversation will feature Margaret Eby, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s food editor, and Hannah Filreis Albertine, a Philadelphia-based writer and editor and formerly the food editor of Philadelphia magazine, reflecting on their experiences in these roles and what it means to be the food editor of a news publication. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.