Upcoming Events

Based on artifacts excavated from archaeological sites in Iran, this talk will consider the problem of identifying tools and their users, which would have been used in professions and crafts in the 7th - 13th centuries. Some of these tools are currently on display at the Penn Museum's new Middle East Galleries.

Renata Holod has done archaeological and architectural fieldwork in Syria, Iran, Morocco, Central Asia and Turkey and on the island of Jerba, Tunisia. Her most recent project is a collaborative study of the grave goods of a Qipchaq kurgan in the Black Sea steppe of the 13th century. She has co-authored several books on art and architecture in the Islamic world, the focus of many of the courses she teaches at Penn.

Expert faculty from the University of Pennsylvania shed light on their research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences at the Penn Science Café. It's an evening of engaging, stimulating conversation, with a Q&A session following each talk.

Presented by Penn Arts and Sciences in partnership with the Office of University Communications, Penn Café events are free and open to the public, but RSVPs are encouraged. For more information or directions, contact Amanda Mott at ammott@upenn.edu.

Menu items are available for purchase. Happy Hour pricing from 4–6 p.m.

Click HERE to see a complete listing of all of the Spring 2018 Penn Science and Lightbulb Cafés. 

Got a minute?

Every spring and fall, Penn Arts and Sciences faculty squeeze a wealth of knowledge and discovery into just one minute. Topics range from human history, to fractions, to fly-fishing.

Lectures are held at 12 p.m. on their scheduled dates, in front of the Benjamin Franklin statue on the College Green.

In the case of inclement weather, lectures wil be held at the Bistro, inside of Houston Hall.

Can't make it to the lecture? Watch a livestream on Facebook or Twitter @PennSAS. 

What is religious freedom? Can it truly be universal? What are the rights of religious minorities when set against a nation's popular majority? And when religious liberties seemingly conflict with gender and sexuality rights, which should prevail if the conflict cannot be resolved?  

In its 2018 Annual Conference, The Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy will address these challenging questions and discuss how the U.S. and other nations accommodates, or hinders, religious expression, culture, and the practice of religious freedom.

SCHEDULE:
9 – 9:15 a.m.
WELCOME
Jeffrey Green, Director of the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy, University of Pennsylvania
Heather Sharkey, University of Pennsylvania

9:15 – 10:45 a.m.
What is Religious Freedom ?
Joshua Matz, Gupta Wessler PLLC
Daniel Philpott, University of Notre Dame

11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Can Religious Freedom Be Universal?
Heiner Bielefeldt, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
W. Cole Durham, Brigham Young University

12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
LUNCH

1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
What Are the Rights of Religious Minorities Against Popular Majorities?
Lori G. Beaman, University of Ottawa
William Schultz, University of Pennsylvania

3:15 – 4:45 p.m. 
Gender and Sexuality Rights v. Religious Rights: Which Come First?
Mayanthi Fernando, University of California Santa Cruz
R. Marie Griffith, Washington University in St. Louis

4:45 – 5 p.m
Concluding Discussion and Remarks

5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Reception

Co-sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Department of Religious Studies.

Click here for additional information. 

Penn Arts and Sciences 60-Second Slam

Saturday, May 12
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM 
Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics, Auditorium (Lower Level)
133 S. 36th Street

Enjoy some networking and breakfast during an hour-long roundup of our famous 60-Second Lectures in the beautiful, new Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics. The live lectures, given by Penn Arts and Sciences’ foremost faculty, students, and alumni prove that a world of knowledge can be condensed into just one minute. Vote for your favorite lecture and see who walks away with the grand prize. Email events@sas.upenn.edu for more information.

REGISTER HERE

Penn Arts and Sciences Tent on College Green

Saturday, May 12
Noon–3:30 p.m.
College Green

Be sure to stop by the Penn Arts and Sciences Tent for an opportunity to reconnect with other College alumni, pick up some unique Penn swag, and find out about opportunities to get involved. Follow Penn Arts and Sciences on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @PennSAS. 

Penn Back Then 

Saturday, May 12
Noon–3:30 p.m. 
Penn Arts and Sciences Tent and around campus

Alumni from all generations are invited to contribute notable Penn anecdotes and remembrances to Penn Back Then. Look for roving Penn Back Then recorders and tell them your best story for this web-based audio scrapbook. Click here to hear past recordings.

What makes us who we are? Is it our genes? Or is it in fact our memories? Projit Bihari Mukharji will discuss how, in newly-independent India two new sciences, genetics and parapsychology, both tried to answer this question in their distinctive ways. At the time both the disciplines were themselves also struggling to define their identities. Even as the quests for disciplinary identities were interlaced with the quest to define human identities scientifically, their political resonances with identity politics and nation-building were too obvious to ignore. As scientists, their methods and their questions moved between these various levels; scientific questions about human identity also became questions about the identity of science itself.

Expert faculty from the University of Pennsylvania shed light on their research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences at the Penn Science Café. It's an evening of engaging, stimulating conversation, with a Q&A session following each talk.

Presented by Penn Arts and Sciences in partnership with the Office of University Communications, Penn Café events are free and open to the public, but RSVPs are encouraged. For more information or directions, contact Amanda Mott at ammott@upenn.edu.

Menu items are available for purchase. Happy Hour pricing from 4–6 p.m.

Click HERE to see a complete listing of all of the Spring 2018 Penn Science and Lightbulb Cafés.