Campus Events

The Penn Museum Library’s 8th annual student fieldwork photography exhibit will feature photos taken by Penn students conducting fieldwork and research across the world. Contributors include student photographers from Penn’s departments of Ancient History, Anthropology, Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World (AAMW), Classics, East Asian Languages & Civilizations (EALC), History of Art, and Middle Eastern Languages and Civilizations. Free and open to Penn students, faculty, and staff.

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.

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.

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.

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.

During New Student Orientation, participants will have a chance to explore the Penn Libraries’ research materials, high-tech equipment, study spaces, and services that help students succeed. Open to Penn students and their families. Light refreshments will be served.

New Student Orientation between Aug. 19-24 offers incoming undergraduate students a comprehensive introduction to academic and campus life at Penn. Throughout the week, students can enjoy enrichment programs designed to support their growth, engagement, and leadership development throughout their undergraduate journey. Free and open to Penn students.

This presentation will chart the pathway from the February 2025 National Library of Medicine’s Yellow Fever Panel Exhibit and Discussion to an evolving partnership in support of Department of History and Sociology of Science associate professor Rana Hogarth’s undergraduate interdisciplinary scholars within Holman Biotech Commons and Penn Libraries. The session will explore how this collaboration has flourished, and how experiences with students surfaced critical questions about AI and historical research. Free and open to the public. Register to attend either virtually or in person.

Penn graduate and professional students are invited to attend this guided walking tour of green spaces on campus. Participants can explore known and hidden gems for recharging, relaxing, and exercising. Attendees will also learn about on- and off-campus events and things to do in Philadelphia. Sunscreen and water bottles are encouraged. Registration is required. Meet in the Welfer Common Room at the Graduate Student Center. Must have a Penn graduate ID to attend.

This program brings together dozens of student performing arts groups for a series of short, get-to-know-you performances. Organized by the PAC Executive Board with support from Platt Student Performing Arts House and the PAC Shop, this event invites all students to get a taste of the various performing clubs at Penn.

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.

This annual program 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. Free and open to the Penn community.

Mask & Wig and Bloomers Comedy’s annual Free Show is an annual tradition featuring comedy and music to kick off the academic year. Content warning: strong language; adult content; prop gun and sound effects. Reserve tickets in advance.

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.

During New Student Orientation, the Platt Student Performing Arts House’s Theater Arts Council will host a short concert musical production, followed by a “meet and theat” for students to meet and interact. Free and open to the Penn community.

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.

Led by Marilyn Howarth, adjunct associate professor in the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics at the Perelman School of Medicine, this Penn Climate seminar will focus on how the changing climate interfaces with existing environmental challenges, including the health impacts that particularly affect already-vulnerable populations. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

The Rotunda will host a free screening of science fiction thriller film “Sisters of the Shattered Moon.” The movie follows the story of a teenage girl who discovers the hidden corruption behind her idyllic, high-tech society in the clouds, and is cast out into a shadowy, perpetual-night underworld. To save her sisters from tyrannical overlords, she must navigate environmental collapse and unite with unlikely allies in a high-stakes battle for freedom.

This monthly student-run open mic night welcomes all kinds of readings and performances. With a sign-up sheet on arrival, participants will have three minutes 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. Free and open to the Penn community.

To celebrate the opening of the exhibition “To Secure These Rights: 150 Years of Women at Penn,” recognizing the 150th anniversary of women officially enrolling in courses at the University of Pennsylvania, a panel of women—alumnae, faculty, and administrators—will discuss the place of women at Penn, reflecting on the past, considering the present, and imagining the future. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

During this Kelly Writers House conversation, participants will be invited to explore films from the mid-20th century from the perspective of the 2020s. Three scholar-teachers will reckon with the current decade by considering the 1950s and 1960s, two crucial turning-point decades. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Penn has more than a dozen special collections libraries, featuring thousands of rare books, manuscripts, artworks, and artifacts. Five curators from several different Penn collections will share insights into navigating the rich set of resources available. Lunch will be served. Registration is encouraged.

This opening reception will mark the launch of the Arthur Ross Gallery’s fall exhibition “At Liberty: Life in the City of Brotherly Love During the Early Republic,” which will explore Philadelphia during the nation’s formative years through paintings, sculptures, and works on paper drawn from major regional and national collections. Guests can enjoy special remarks from the curator and distinguished guests, themed refreshments inspired by the era, and a live performance by the Penn Shabbatones, the University’s premier Jewish a cappella group. Free and open to the public. Reserve tickets in advance.

A practice called “democratic listening” has shown promise when used by Penn students on multiple trips to communities across Pennsylvania. Having trained and led students on those trips, Lia C. Howard, a political scientist and fellows director for the SNF Paideia Program, will share some early findings that magnify how to reduce current political polarization in the U.S. This event is part of America 250 at Penn programming. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

During this Kelly Writers House panel, award-winning short story author Isabel J. Kim and TechCrunch senior writer Amanda Silberling—both co-hosts of “Wow If True,” a podcast about internet culture—will facilitate a conversation themed around “Predicting the Future: Real and Imagined Technologies.” Free and open to the Penn community.

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.

In celebration of the publication of “Penn’s Sylvania: The Campus as Landscape,” the McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology welcomes the book’s co-editors and two of its contributors for an exclusive preview. Through essays, photography, and interdisciplinary perspectives, the book portrays the Penn campus as a carefully shaped environment that influences how people think, interact, and grow. A reception will follow the program. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

This panel, hosted by Penn’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, will examine the evidence and policy outlook for consumer-directed health care as a federal solution to expanded coverage, with a focus on affordability, access, and health outcomes. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Participants will get an opportunity to investigate the smaller specimen trees at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens that make a vital impact. Ranging in height from 15–30 feet, visitors will learn about the special features of these trees, including their unique bark, shapes, flowers, and leaf colors. Attendees will meet at the Welcome Center. Free with Penn ID.

More than 350 undergraduates representing a range of disciplines will present posters of their research projects. Attendees will learn about the vast array of research opportunities embraced by students at Penn. The event aligns with the Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships’ 25th anniversary. Free and open to the Penn community.

SAS Commons engages students, scholars, and the public in exploring a single theme across the arts and sciences over a two-year period. In this kickoff event, Penn Arts & Sciences dean and physicist Mark Trodden, along with current director of the SAS Commons and historian Sophia Rosenfeld, will introduce and discuss the 2026–28 theme: Democracy and Knowledge. Free and open to the public.

Featuring more than 150 original cartoons and artworks by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonists Tony Auth and Signe Wilkinson, this exhibition—on view at the Annenberg School for Communication for the 2026-2027 academic year—will explore decades of American life through themes including politics, media, social issues, and Philadelphia culture. The opening reception will include a discussion with Auth and Wilkinson. Register to attend.

This conversation, hosted by SNF Paideia Program and moderated by Sarah Banet-Weiser, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication, will feature insights from media, academic, and civic leaders in the Philadelphia area, highlighting the work that individuals can do to help their communities be better informed of their constitutional rights and more easily able to participate in civic and democratic processes. Refreshments and lunch will be served. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

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.

During this talk hosted by the Penn Cultural Heritage Center, archaeologist and economist Peter Gould will explore the economic challenges arising from shifting philanthropic and government priorities; destabilized heritage markets due to competitive, demographic, and cultural transitions; and the dilemmas for heritage arising from global political conflict, climate change and a rapidly transforming global economy. Free and open to the public. Reserve tickets in advance.

With 2026 marking the centennial of Michel Foucault’s birth and the 50-year anniversary of the publication of his landmark “History of Sexuality, Vol. 1,” this two-day symposium, hosted by the Kislak Center, will convene an international group of Foucault specialist to offer a renewed assessment of Foucault’s influential thought. The Thursday session will be 2:00-8:00 p.m. and the Friday session will be 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

A panel of Penn alumni journalists, writers, and editors will discuss media-related career paths, internships, graduate school opportunities, and more. Attendees will gain insight into preparing for first jobs and careers in print, broadcast and online media, publishing, and similar fields. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.

Drawing on themes from her bestselling 2019 book “How to Do Nothing,” author Jenny Odell will examine anxieties about our ability to focus and the way that the issue is often emptied of social, political, and spiritual content. Odell will discuss how modern advice regarding the practice of attention can often be inadequate because it misses the role of purpose, commitment, and love. The talk will be followed by a Q&A and book signing. 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. Free and open to the public.

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. SKIRL! will feature a site-specific installation, sculptures, performances, and works on paper. Free and open to the public.

Waste Scenes is a two-channel video created during Maia Chao and Fred Schmidt-Arenales artist residency at Philadelphia-based Recycled Artist in Residency. Working inside an active recycling center, the artists built short, performative vignettes choreographed by various materials including discarded books and old tapes found on site. This video installation explores how the accumulation of debris embodies the failed aspirations of post-industrial Northern U.S. Through episodic narration, Schmidt-Arenales and Chao reinterpret material decomposition to encourage recognition of the throwaway culture of contemporary America. Free and open to the public.