Alumni Weekend Events in the School of Arts and Sciences
May 11 - 12, 2007
The intellectual excitement of your Penn years is still to be found on campus over Alumni Weekend. The School of Arts and Sciences will feature discussions by some of its leading scholars. Listen to political science professor Rogers Smith parse the burdens and benefits for nations with large flows of ethnically and religiously diverse immigrants. Come hear psychology professor Robert Seyfarth discuss baboon societies, how the animals handle predation, infanticide and other stressful experiences, and what these behaviors tell us about human evolution. And be sure to watch for roving teams of Penn Back Then recorders who will be hoping to hear your fondest recollections and most memorable stories.
Citizenship, Borders and Human Needs
4:30 p.m. on Friday
Fisher-Bennett Hall, Room 401
Many nations face a rising tide of immigrants that are more ethnically and religiously diverse than ever before. Heightened disputes have erupted over whether these immigrant flows are harmful or helpful to economic prosperity, political stability, cultural coherence and national security in both sending and receiving nations. Rogers Smith is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science and chair of the new Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship and Constitutionalism. In its inaugural year, the program will take up the theme of Citizenship, Borders and Human Needs. Professor Smith will provide an overview of the main issues that faculty and students will explore over the coming year under the auspices of the Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship and Constitutionalism.
Stress and Social Life in Wild Baboons
10:00 a.m. on Saturday
Fisher-Bennett Hall, Room 401
For almost 20 years, Penn professors Robert Seyfarth (psychology) and Dorothy Cheney (biology) have been studying the social behavior of wild baboons in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. In this talk, Professor Seyfarth will describe the animals’ social structure and discuss how predation, infanticide and social instability bring stress to the baboons’ lives. He will also describe how baboons rely on their close social bonds to overcome stress and consider what this reveals about the evolution of human intelligence and the adaptive value of human social relationships.
Penn Back Then
10:00 a.m. - Noon
College Green and around campus
Alumni from all generations are invited to contribute their notable Penn anecdotes and remembrances to Penn Back Then, a continuing oral-history project begun in May 2005 by the School of Arts and Sciences. Look for roving Penn Back Then recorders wearing blue t-shirts and tell them your best story for this Web-based audio scrapbook. Click here for more information and to hear previous Penn Back Then stories.
RSVP
If you would like to attend either of these lectures, please send an e-mail to events@sas.upenn.edu and indicate the lecture, your name and the number of attendees in your party.