Campus Events

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 exhibition, on view in the Annenberg Center lobby and curated by the Arthur Ross Gallery inaugural faculty director Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, will present a selection of recent paintings by Penn alum Allison Zuckerman that exemplify her exuberant, layered approach to image-making. Using paint and collage, Zuckerman creates densely constructed compositions that draw from art history, popular culture, and the internet. Her paintings celebrate the history of the image-making medium while reimagining who has the power to shape its future. Free and open to the public.

Participants of all ages and backgrounds are invited to this Common Press workshop to print a copy of the Declaration of Independence. The composition will be set in Caslon metal type and ready to print on the studio’s 1889 cast-iron handpress. These hour-long demonstrations are part of America 250 at Penn programming. Groups of up to 20 people are welcome. Reserve a time slot.

The Arthur Ross Gallery’s fall exhibition, “At Liberty: Life in the City of Brotherly Love During the Early Republic,” will explore Philadelphia during the nation’s formative years through paintings, sculptures, and works on paper drawn from major regional and national collections. The exhibition is curated by Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, inaugural faculty director of the Arthur Ross Gallery, and will include images of the era made to celebrate important national anniversaries, such as the marking of America’s 150th in 1926, through to the present moment. Free and open to the public.

From Aug. 29th through Dec. 13th, Penn students will offer comprehensive tours of the Arthur Ross Gallery’s fall exhibit “At Liberty: Life in the City of Brotherly Love During the Early Republic.” Visitors are invited to explore, ask questions, and connect with the history of Philadelphia through the Revolutionary social landscape. Tours are offered on a first-come, first-served basis throughout the run of the show on Wednesdays from 4:00-6:00 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00-3:00 p.m. The tours are limited to groups of 10. Free and open to the public. No preregistration is required.

This exhibition explores the history behind what was often a fraught relationship between women students and scholars and Penn faculty and administration. It highlights how women moved beyond earlier stereotypes to integrate themselves into all academic and professional disciplines, including all aspects of University life. From early memorabilia and photographs of women on campus to athletics, literary journals, and community work, the vast and ongoing influence of women on the evolution of the University will be on display. Free and open to the public.

The Weitzman Fall 2026 Lecture Series offers perspective on some of the most pressing issues facing built environment professionals, cultural leaders, and policymakers today. Spanning over 25 events, the series welcomes more than 40 designers, artists, scholars, and policymakers from the U.S. and abroad who are tackling sociocultural and environmental issues. Free and open to the public. Registration is required for some events.

Led by Sarah Guérin of Penn’s History of Art Department, these welcoming, all-levels sessions offer participants an opportunity to fully inhabit their body while surrounded by art. No prior yoga experience is necessary. Attendees should bring their own yoga mat and wear comfortable clothes. Registration is available for multiple sessions or drop-inss, and is required for each session. Space is limited.

In the inaugural iteration of the Institute of Contemporary Art’s new research residency program, interdisciplinary artist Wilmer Wilson IV will explore how squirrels can reflect shifting ideals of American behavior and belonging. Wilson will follow the squirrel across a range of overlooked cultural and political histories—such as Benjamin Franklin’s rodent diplomat Mungo to the recent viral controversies of TikTok star Peanut—and will examine how categories such as “pet,” “pest,” and “wildlife” produce hierarchies of care, visibility, and disposability. The ICA’s gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with extended evening hours on Thursday until 8:00 p.m. Free and open to the public.

This group-exhibition project, developed by Zairong Xiang of Duke Kunshan University in Shanghai and Denise Ryner of the University of Pennsylvania, focuses on historical and social circumstances of solidarity as a process through artistic investigations of primarily Black, African, and Chinese diasporic and economic networks. The exhibit will feature the work of nine artists—representing the Caribbean, South Pacific, West Africa, Taiwan, China, and the U.S.—including video projections, installations, prints, and archival reproductions. The ICA’s gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with extended evening hours on Thursday until 8:00 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Waste Scenes is a two-channel video created by artists Maia Chao and Fred Schmidt-Arenales during the Philadelphia-based Recycled Artist in Residency. Working inside an active recycling center, they built short, performative vignettes choreographed by various materials including discarded books and old tapes found on site. Through episodic narration, Schmidt-Arenales and Chao reinterpret material decomposition to encourage recognition of the throwaway culture of contemporary America. The ICA’s gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with extended evening hours on Thursday until 8:00 p.m. Free and open to the public.

For this installment in the Institute of Contemporary Arts’s “Entryways” project series, the vividly-colored, abstract work of artist Saif Azzuz—a member of the Yurok Tribe, whose ancestral lands are located in present-day northern California—will fill ICA’s Sansom Street-facing windows. The project—informed by research into the natural history of Philadelphia—and its placement on the ICA building exterior is designed to prompt conversations about how communities and the natural environment can support each other. The ICA’s gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with extended evening hours on Thursday until 8:00 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Presented by the Sachs Program for Arts Innovation and Penn Live Arts in partnership with Sruti, Philadelphia’s Indian Music and Dance Society, “Chrysalis” is an exhibition of paintings by artist Pragya Gupta, whose work explores the tension between the selves we construct and the more intimate parts of ourselves that can be harder to hear. This exhibition features a new series of tetraptychs (four-paneled artworks) alongside Gupta’s earlier works that trace the evolution of this inquiry. Free and open to the public. Registration is requested but not required to attend.

This exhibition, curated by Penn Libraries’ Sean Quimby and Samantha Hill—along with Penn Chaplain Chaz Howard and Philadelphia-based art director Eric Battle—traces the evolution of Black characters and creators through the history of comic books in America. Through iconic characters such as Lion Man, Black Panther, Storm, Luke Cage, and Miles Morales, and by examining the parallel journeys of the creators behind these stories, the exhibition invites visitors to consider the power of representation and question who gets to be a hero—and why it matters. Free and open to the public.

Now in its fourth year and running from Nov. 4, 2026, through April 7, 2027, Mind & Mood Recharge offers monthly experiences designed to nourish the mind, body, and spirit with a rotation of wellness activities for all levels. Taking place on the first Wednesday of each month, Mind & Mood Recharge programming includes yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, Afrobeats, expressive arts, and more—powered by Penn Medicine. No experience necessary. Start times vary. Register for individual sessions. Free with Penn ID.

Starting Nov. 6, the Burrison Art Gallery presents “Truth of Presence: Works by Alfred Ortega,” curated by Andreea Dimofte. The foundation of work presented is based on the mysterious, extraordinary, and fascinating existence of presence. The Gallery, located adjacent to the dining room on the 2nd floor of the Inn at Penn, features monthly exhibitions and member receptions. Free and open to the Penn community.

Co-organized by Elly R. Truitt, the Janice and Julian Bers Professor of the History of Science at Penn, the 19th annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age topic will interrogate the multiangled intersections of magic, science, religion, and ritual in the pre- and early modern world. Participants will explore the testimony of handwritten evidence to the ways in which the distinctions between science, magic, and religion were made, blurred, and interpreted for their readers and users. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

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.

During Homecoming 2026, Penn Nursing will bring together leading medical experts and Penn alumni for “Practicing Where It Matters Most: The Future of Community-Based Primary Care,” the Inaugural Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program Symposium. All members of the Penn community are welcome. Participants are invited to attend the full-day symposium or register for the morning or afternoon session.

This program, organized by SNF Paideia, brings together visiting students from the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney and students from across Penn for a conversation about the U.S. midterm elections. Participants will hear reflections from students in Penn’s Political Empathy Lab; Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies; Penn Leads the Vote; and Penn political science professor Matthew Levendusky, followed by small group discussions. Refreshments will be served. Free and open to the Penn community.

This launch party will celebrate the essential role the arts have always played at Penn. Vice provost for the arts Timothy Rommen will share plans for advancing the arts at the University. Then, Institute of Contemporary Art director Johanna Burton will invite participants to experience a unique tour created by theatre arts director Brooke O’Harra and student ambassadors. Provost John L. Jackson, Jr. will lead a toast to kick off the reception and mid-day dance party with a DJ set by second-year Sarah Parmet. The first 100 attendees will receive limited edition Arts at Penn swag. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

As Philadelphia commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, “Celebrating Satire: Political Cartoons and the Boundaries of Free Expression” explores one of democracy’s oldest and most venerated traditions: political satire. Bringing together internationally recognized editorial cartoonists, journalists, legal scholars, free expression advocates, and educators, this symposium will explore the legal, cultural, and political pressures facing satirical expression today while celebrating its unique ability to provoke thought, foster dialogue, and hold power accountable. Free and open to the public. Register by Nov. 1 to attend.

During the 2026 Homecoming Weekend, Penn alumni are invited to stop by the Penn Arts & Sciences table to reconnect with alumni and faculty, pick up assorted buttons representing a variety of Penn Arts & Sciences majors and programs, and learn how to stay involved through mentoring, events, and giving opportunities.

Participants will tour the Morris Arboretum & Gardens viewing trees from Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, an international assortment inspired by the travels of founders John and Lydia Morris. Free with Penn ID.

This conversation between Arthur Ross Gallery inaugural faculty director Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw and two Penn alum and seasoned art curators, Jill Vaum Rothschild and Sylvia Yount, will explore the themes and questions at the heart of the exhibitions being organized around the country—including “At Liberty” in the Arthur Ross Gallery—to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial. The program will be followed by a chance to view the “At Liberty” exhibition. Tea and cookies will be provided. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Kelly Writers House faculty director and Kelly Family Professor of English Al Filreis will invite six of his former students for a wide-open discussion about student-centered learning. Participants will explore the benefits of learned-centered education, including the characteristics it can entail: collaborative, open-ended, digressive, random (or accidental), multivocal, enabling disagreement, and willingness to resist set or even somewhat firm conclusions. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

The Penn Wind Ensemble will present a night of dance music from across the world—and time. Conducted by Paul Bryan, the Penn Wind Ensemble, with an over 40-year history performing and rehearsing in Penn’s historic Irvine Auditorium, is comprised of musicians from across the Penn community. Free and open to the public.

This program will highlight American author, journalist, and activist Barbara Ehrenreich’s landmark book “Nickel and Dimed,” which investigates the impact of the 1996 welfare reform act on the working poor in the U.S. In her late fifties, Ehrenreich went undercover, reporting as she worked as a housekeeper, nursing aide, a home cleaner, a waitress, and a Walmart worker—ultimately helping people to stop “unseeing” lower-wage workers and paving the way for future labor rights efforts. A panel of journalists will discuss Ehrenreich’s work. Presented in partnership with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy and sponsored by the SNF Paideia Program. Free and open to the public. 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 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.

Swing by the Lippincott Library to unwind and explore exciting food creations from Penn’s student entrepreneurs. Sample their innovative snacks, share feedback, and discover how the business library supports creativity and innovation at Penn. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

PennSound co-director Chris Mustazza will discuss highlights from “The Poetic Record,” a book that explores the story of voice collectors and poets working together to record, collect, and study the voices of poets and help preserve this vital dimension of sonic, musical, and literary history. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Presented with the School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) and the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy, this program will explore the political forces that have shaped anti-poverty policy from the New Deal to guaranteed income initiatives, and what it will take to build a more equitable and prosperous future. This event will feature Penn scholars Amy Castro, Sarah J. Jackson, and Brent Cebul in dialogue, moderated by Penn practice professor Ben Jealous and with introductory remarks by SP2 Dean Sara S. Bachman. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Responding to calls to reconsider human-nonhuman relations in a time of global polycrisis, this program will offer a novel framework for imagining connections between animated matter and political action. Drawing on their expertise in the history of science, religious studies, media studies, and the environmental humanities, a panel of authors will present a new theory of animation as action. Free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged.

This program at Kelly Writers House features a presentation from book artist, scholar, and cultural critic Johanna Drucker about her new work: “The Re-Declaration Project,” a limited-edition print that incorporates typefaces and visual cues used in past Declarations, while interrupting the text with new edits. In her contemporary Declaration, derived from engaging with the American Philosophical Society’s exhibition “These Truths: The Declarations of Independence,” Drucker calls attention to the promises of equality, freedom, and justice in the context of ongoing social challenges. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

The forthcoming graphic novel “Framing Emmett Till: Exposing Dark Fear” follows an anonymous Black writer as they investigates Till’s murder, confronting not only the unresolved truths of the past, but the ways Black pain is consumed, reshaped, and monetized in the present. The Kislak Center will host a celebration for the novel launch with artist and “Black Hero’s Journey” co-curator Eric Battle, writer Christopher Benson, director of Abrams ComicArts imprint Megascope John Jennings, and leading comics scholar Qiana Whitted. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

In a discussion guided by writer and curator Anisa Jackson, artist Pragya Gupta and Penn professor of practice James Pawelski will bring together an artist’s lived experience and a researcher’s perspective on human flourishing. Their conversation will consider how art might shape the ways we change and become. Free and open to the public. Registration is requested but not required.

This Kelly Writers House program will feature a conversation between celebrated writer and Penn professor Lorene Cary and English professor at The City University of New York Duncan Faherty. They will explore the histories and contemporary interpretations of Philadelphia’s Declaration House and President’s House. As the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary, this discussion will consider how historic sites shape collective memory, whose stories are preserved or erased, and how literary and artistic interventions challenge dominant narratives of the nation’s founding. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

This student-organized symposium will connect generations of communication research and scholarship to address the crises facing contemporary media systems. The program will bring together media practitioners and scholars across career stages, with each panel spotlighting the continuum that drives today’s mediated crises. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

In celebration of Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia’s (A4BLiP) 10th anniversary, this daylong lab will bring together members of A4BLiP. Participants will collaboratively develop a toolkit to support and provide resources for community groups. Attendees will also reflect on A4BLiP’s accomplishments and activities to date, and plan for the group’s efforts over the next several years. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Participants will explore the variety of conifers—both evergreen and deciduous—on display at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens. These notable specimens provide multiseasonal interest with an array of forms, foliage, bark, and cones. Free with Penn ID.

Penn Flutes will present an afternoon of music directed by Sam Scheibe. Penn Chorale is a vocal ensemble that sings a variety of choral music, with emphasis on works from the late 20th and 21st centuries. The ensemble rehearses in Rose Recital Hall and performs in the St. Mary’s Church in Hamilton Village. Free and open to the public.

The final installment in Penn Climate’s Fall 2026 Seminar Series will feature Scott Moore, practice professor of political science and director of the Penn Global Climate Security and Geopolitics Project at Penn, will draw from recent research on China’s climate diplomacy and climate finance to look at how China views and acts on climate change. Moore will examine how Chinese leaders employ sophisticated audience segmentation strategies, using different rhetoric and deploying varied financing packages to several diplomatic audiences. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Authors and Penn Music PhDs Deirdre Loughridge and Thomas Patteson will discuss their new book, “The Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments.” The book presents a wide-ranging collection of musical instruments that never existed and shows how these phantom artifacts reflect changing ideas about sound, invention, and the limits of the possible. The authors will be joined by musicians Mekhi Gladden (oboe), Thomas Kraines (cello), and Aaron Pond (French horn), who will perform interludes inspired by excerpts from the book. Free and open to the public.

This performance and quilting project, hosted by the Wolf Humanities Center, will ask questions about the meaning of birthplaces today. Participants will collaborate to build a series of performative quilts, culminating in an airing of the quilts and a story-sharing event where audience members can contribute to the final quilts. Aligned with America 250, this program takes inspiration from Penn’s location, Philadelphia (the “birthplace” of the nation), to consider the concept of birthplace more broadly. Free and open to the public. Space is limited. Register to attend.