Penn Faculty to Convene Teach-In on Knowledge

From March 18-22, 2018, Penn faculty will convene a Teach-In on “the production, dissemination, and use of knowledge.” Events will be free and open to the public at locations all around campus. Coordinated by the University of Pennsylvania Faculty Senate, the effort spans all of Penn’s twelve schools in a collective endeavor by staff, students, and faculty. Organizers have also invited the civic community, schools, local organizations, and policy makers, onto campus to be a part of this dialogue.

Events will highlight Penn collaborations like Monument Lab, a two-month citywide public art and history exhibition that asked, "What is an appropriate monument for the current city of Philadelphia?" Visitors will also be able to visit "story banks" hosted by the Data Refuge Project, which is spearheaded by the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities and Penn Libraries and helps document how data lives in the world and how it connects people, places, and non-human species.

Roundtables include "The Future of the Past: Lessons From History," featuring professors from the Department of Classical Studies, and "Thinking About Evolution: Science, History, Meaning," featuring a panel made up of faculty from the Departments of Biology, History and Sociology of Science, and Philosophy, including Paul Sniegowski, Stephen A. Levin Family Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Biology.

Additional roundtables include "Teaching Race," featuring faculty from the Departments of English, Asian American Studies, History and Sociology of Science, and Philosophy; "Firearm Violence," featuring John MacDonald of Criminology; "The Future of Technology," featuring Rakesh Vohra of Economics; as well as an immigration panel, featuring Michael Jones-Correa of Political Science; and a screening of Young Frankenstein, as part of the Bioethics Film Festival, with discussion by members of the Cinema Studies department.

The Faculty Senate describes the Teach-In as vital to Penn’s Franklinian heritage and designed to be part of a deepening, ongoing conversation on how the University  might best fulfill their crucial intellectual and societal missions.

Click here to read the University announcement.

For more information, visit the Teach-In web site.