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.

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.

The Spring 2026 Weitzman Lecture Series offers perspective on some of the most pressing issues facing built environment professionals, cultural leaders, and policymakers today—from climate migration to threats to heritage sites around the world. Speakers will explore the lessons of pandemic-era experiments for public space, the dynamics of urban renewal in Portland following a municipal plan to combat displacement, and how an interest in salt lakes became a mission to save our water systems, among other topics. Free and open to the public. Registration is required for some events.

Part of America 250 at Penn programming, this exhibit will feature select photographs by Academy Award-winning cinematographer and Penn alumnus Phil Parmet, who documented life in Haiti after the fall of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier in 1986. This display captures both the "resignation, disappointment, and sadness" and the "strength and determination" felt by the Haitian people during this pivotal time in their history. Free and open to the public.

“Collecting the New Irascibles: Art in the 1980s” opens a window into the 1980s Lower East Side art scene, where low rents and studio-ready lofts cultivated a dynamic arts ecology. The exhibition, located in the Arthur Ross Gallery, brings together loans from world-renowned collections and highlights several artistic movements of the 1980s that signaled a decisive break from past expectations and a full-force tilt toward the “new.” Free and open to the public.

“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.

Building Stories: Time and Change at Weitzman Hall brings together original architectural drawings and lithographs, as well as period and contemporary photographs, to explore the many lives of the building. The exhibition invites visitors to contemplate how architecture can endure challenges by taking on new roles, functions, and meanings beyond what its designers originally intended. Free and open to the public.

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.

“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 exhibition will illuminate 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.

During the 2026 Energy Week at Penn, organized by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, the Penn community is invited to participate and engage with energy-focused events across campus. View the list of events for more information.

The Penn community is invited to recycle old and unused electronics responsibly. Participants can drop off electronic waste at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. Volunteers will ensure items are properly recycled, preventing harmful materials from ending up in landfills and supporting a more sustainable energy future. Visit the event page for a list of items to recycle.

This Energy Week panel will focus on materials and processes for energy storage, conversion, and fuel production. Speakers include Penn Engineering faculty Deep Jariwala, Anthony Shoji Hall, and Aleksandra Vojvodic. Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.

This expert panel of insurance sector leaders will discuss strategies for risk transfer to support greater investments in clean technology and clean energy. Part of Energy Week at Penn, this event is free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.

On the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Perry World House and the Wyss Medical Foundation will host a panel with military trauma surgeons and strategic experts working to save lives on the frontlines of this war. Drawing on experience from Ukraine’s battlefields, these experts will unpack how battlefield medicine can drive operational success, strengthen deterrence, and serve as a form of soft power and diplomacy, including what policy reforms are needed to promote long-term preparedness at home and abroad. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

This hour-long tour of the Penn Museum, part of Energy Week at Penn programming, will explore the collection with questions of ancient climates and energy production and consumption in mind. The tour will focus on how the history of human experience has long involved applying creative solutions to dealing with weather events, adapting to diverse climates, and harnessing the power of nature to produce efficient sources of energy to help us live comfortable lives. Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.

In conversation with Karen Goldberg, Vagelos Professor of Energy Research, participants in this Penn Science Café will hear from Eric Schelter, Hirschmann-Makineni Professor of Chemistry, as he explains how these minerals play a vital role in daily life—from powering smartphones to paving the way for the clean energy transition. Schelter will also discuss the science that helps these minerals tick, transforming them into critical building blocks that fuel the modern world. Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.

Ona Judge Staines, also known as Oney Judge, was born into slavery in George Washington’s Mt. Vernon plantation in 1773, and escaped slavery from Washington’s Philadelphia household in 1796. Despite a massive effort on the part of Washington, she was never recaptured. Her story reminds us to question whose stories should be centered as inspirational examples of the early American fight for liberty and freedom. All are invited to stop by the Common Press to print a commemorative piece on this important day in Philadelphia history. Register to attend.

Penn staff are invited to join this 15-minute conversation focused on ways to strengthen positive emotions. Attendees will practice savoring strategies to enhance well-being. Register to attend.

Heather Boushey, Professor of Practice at the Kleinman Energy Forum and former chief economist of Investing in America Cabinet, will discuss possibilities and future directions for building a clean, equitable economy amid a rapidly warming climate. Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.

The 2026 Energy Week at Penn poster session will feature the work of students and postdocs whose research is related to energy science, technology, policy, and similar focuses. All presenters will be assigned an hour-long block where they are expected to be at their poster but are otherwise encouraged to visit other posters and network with attendees. Attendees can learn about the breadth of energy research at Penn and get a free Energy Week T-shirt. Open to the Penn community. Register to attend.

This year’s Master in Law annual lecture will explore the intersection of data center growth and challenges to energy infrastructure. With a focus on Pennsylvania, panelists will discuss how this unprecedented demand is reshaping energy systems and challenging regulatory frameworks, prompting innovative legal and regulatory strategies. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Native American Nations have long been excluded from formal design structures, yet their contributions to design theory, pedagogy, and practice are sophisticated, visionary, and deeply rooted in landscape and architecture. This discussion series addresses this disconnect by uniting four panels of Indigenous voices and their non-Native collaborators to shift how we approach design—advocating for processes that are for, by, and with Indigenous communities. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Free and open to the public, the 2026 Penn Nursing Story Slam will feature nurses sharing true stories of how AI and technology have transformed care, solved a vexing problem, or led to a remarkable discovery. Stories will spotlight personal moments when clinical compassion met the rising influence of technology—revealing how empathy endures even as practice transforms. Register to attend.

Part of America 250 at Penn programming, this exhibition surveys the revolutions that shook the Atlantic world in the 1790s—and the profound changes that resulted—from France to Haiti to Philadelphia. The books, documents, objects, and images on display will challenge visitors with the questions posed during that revolutionary era. Free and open to the public.

Hosted by the Vagelos Institute and Penn Sustainability (VLEST), the Penn community is invited to take a behind-the-scenes tour of Penn’s energy systems and the VLEST building. Participants will learn about how Penn is leading in building energy design and have opportunities for hands-on engagement with sunshades and lab spaces designed for energy efficiency. Part of Energy Week at Penn programming. Space is limited. Register to attend.

Part of America 250 at Penn programming, the McNeil Center for Early American Studies will host Wendy Bellion, professor of art history at the University of Delaware and renowned author and editor, who will host the seminar “Rachel Weeping: Painting Loss in Revolutionary America.” Free and open to the public.

Part of America 250 at Penn programming, this celebration will mark the opening of The Time to Right All Wrongs: France, Haiti, and Philadelphia in a Revolutionary Age, a new exhibition devoted to the revolutions of the 1790s that stretched from France to the Caribbean and had profound impacts on Philadelphia and the U.S. An exhibition tour will precede remarks by Penn faculty Roger Chartier and Yvonne Fabella, followed by a reception. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Architect and urban conservationist Brinda Somaya, in conversation with CEO of World Monuments Fund Bénédicte de Montlaur and Penn Museum director Christopher Woods, will explore the idea that architecture is not just about buildings and aesthetics, but also about people, politics, heritage conservation, and social responsibility. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

In conjunction with the Wolf Humanities Center’s 2025–26 Forum on Truth, this interdisciplinary symposium will engage experts in an exploration of truth(s) contested or revealed in crises across panels on “institutions of learning,” “land and its technologies,” and “borders.” Panelists from various disciplines will expand upon questions of crisis, its meanings and manifestations in the contemporary world, and the role of truth in surviving. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

This hour-long tour of the Penn Museum, part of Energy Week at Penn programming, will explore the collection with questions of ancient climates and energy production and consumption in mind. The tour will focus on how the history of human experience has long involved applying creative solutions to dealing with weather events, adapting to diverse climates, and harnessing the power of nature to produce efficient sources of energy to help us live comfortable lives. Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.

All Penn students are invited to participate in the 12th Annual Wharton Alliance Diversity Case Competition. Teams of 2-5 will compete in a strategy case at the intersection of consulting, social impact, and global business. This year’s case focuses on fast fashion manufacturing in Asia, challenging teams to balance cost, scale, labor practices, and sustainability while delivering a clear, defensible business recommendation. Register to attend.

On view for the first time in the U.S., this exhibition—blending arts with archeology—features century-old watercolors documenting Egyptian tomb paintings. Created by Egyptian artist Ahmed Yousef during Penn Museum excavations in the early 1920s, these paintings vividly record elaborately decorated funerary chapels from Dra Abu el-Naga, a key burial ground of elite officials and priests during Egypt’s New Kingdom (ca. 1550–1070 BCE). Included with Museum admission.

The Morris Arboretum & Garden’s witchhazel collection is one of the largest in the country. Participants will join an experienced guide to discover many varieties of these plants known for adding bursts of color and fragrance to the winter landscape. Participants will meet at the Welcome Center. Free with general admission.

Tom Nichols, staff writer for The Atlantic and professor emeritus of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, will speak with Brendan O’Leary of Penn’s Department of Political Science department about the state of the world order—and where it may be headed next. With global institutions strained by geopolitical rivalry, democratic backsliding, and economic uncertainty, Nichols and O’Leary will bring deep expertise and analysis as they unpack the forces reshaping our modern world. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

As part of the interactive Global Discovery Lecture Series featuring Penn professors sharing new and innovative research, Michael Leja, James and Nan Wagner Farquhar Professor Emeritus of History of Art, will explore when and how pictures—including illustrations in books, pamphlets, and newspapers; photographs on cards; posters and broadsheets; paintings displayed in theatrical venues, etc.—began to permeate daily life in the U.S. Leja will focus on how the widespread circulation of pictures reshaped a culture accustomed to printed and spoken words.

This panel about the future of preservation will feature Jonathan S. Bell, senior vice president for global preservation strategy and founding director of the Suzanne Deal Booth Institute for Heritage Preservation at World Monuments Fund, and Randall Mason, professor and chair of Penn’s Department of Historic Preservation. Bell and Mason will share their perspectives on where the field stands today and how their institutions are responding to and helping shape its future. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

This workshop, open to Penn students, introduces students to using AI as a supportive tool for effective studying. Participants will explore practical ways AI can enhance active learning and best practices for how to use AI as a study aid while evaluating its accuracy and using it ethically. By the end of the session, students will be able to critically evaluate AI outputs for accuracy and usefulness. Register to attend.

Part of America 250 at Penn programming, the McNeil Center for Early American Studies will host Andrew David Edwards, lecturer in early American history at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, for a seminar about his debut book “Money and the Making of the American Revolution.” Free and open to the public. Sign up for registration information.

Hearing Women’s Voices is a Sachs Program for Arts Innovation grant-funded project from the Daedalus Quartet—Min-Young Kim and Matilda Kaul, violins; Jessica Thompson, viola; Tom Kraines, cello—that amplifies lesser-known gems of the string quartet literature. Listeners will become better acquainted with works from American musicians Amy Beach and Marion Bauer, as well as from Germaine Tailleferre, a French composer with wartime ties to Philadelphia. Free and open to the public. Registration is required for guests outside of the Penn community.

Part of America 250 at Penn programming, this Common Press open studio offers an opportunity for participants to print a broadside—a single-sided print meant for public display—about the Lenape, the original inhabitants of the land around the Historic Rittenhouse Town papermill. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Naturally 7, an a capella group known worldwide for performances with Michael Bublé, Coldplay, Stevie Wonder, and Diana Ross, fuses R&B, gospel, soul, and pop in renditions of music hits. Students can receive a discount with Penn ID.

This webinar, hosted by Penn’s Community For Rigor, will provide an overview of the PlanYourScience app—launched by Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor Konrad Kording—which uses AI to assist investigators with generating and refining their scientific papers and processes. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Hosted by Penn LDI, this expert panel will discuss whether Medicare Advantage is meeting its intended goals, such as expanding beneficiary choice, enhancing efficiency, and driving innovation. The panelists will discuss whether reforms are needed to create a sustainable, affordable Medicare program for taxpayers and beneficiaries. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Alarm Will Sound performs American Stories, a collection of contemporary works that reflect the vast, evolving landscape of American identity. The performance, part of America 250 at Penn programming and joined by composer and interdisciplinary artist Bora Yoon, explores themes of heritage, memory, struggle, and transformation, embracing how America is an unfinished story, constantly being rewritten. Students can receive a discount with Penn ID.

The Peking Acrobats push the limits of human ability, wowing audiences with spellbinding trick-cycling, precision tumbling, juggling, somersaulting, and gymnastics. With a three-decade legacy of elite talent, this world-record-setting troupe takes ancient Chinese traditions to new heights, pairing artful athleticism with live music and festive pageantry. Students can receive a discount with Penn ID.