Barbara Earl Thomas: The Illuminated Body - Exhibition

February 17 – May 21, 2024  Barbara Earl Thomas’ most recent series of portraits weave an exquisite tapestry of light and color to depict individuals illuminated in moments of creativity. Invoking the history of portraiture, Thomas’ nine large-scale cut paper pieces celebrate great Black cultural icons such as August Wilson, Seth Parker Woods, and Charles Johnson, alongside Thomas’ friends, family, and acquaintances. Set in contexts ranging from public performance to the quiet of daydreaming, they honor the creative spark in all its manifestations. Thomas describes her subjects with nuance and care, encouraging extended viewing of these vibrant and layered portraits. The portraits are presented with The Transformation Room, a luminous installation created from light and intricately cut Tyvek, which offers a moment of respite for reflection and inspiration.

Lecture Series: Jews and the University: Antisemitism, Admissions, Academic Freedom

January 23 - March 14, 2024  The integration of Jews into the university is one of the great success stories of modern American culture and Jewish life. But recent events at Penn and at other campuses have led to accusations that the university has been too tolerant of antisemitism and become less welcoming to Jews. This free lecture series is an effort to share insights from history, sociology, education studies, and other fields that can help put the present moment into context.

The series kicks off with Dara Horn's in-person appearance at Penn Hillel on January 23, and continues with online talks through February and March.

Archaeology in Action: Human Impact on the Landscape of Ancient South India

Virtual | to

Dr. Kathleen D. Morrison shares her work at the intersection of archaeology and climate research. The South Indian Landscape Trajectories project aims to understand growth and decline of cities in southern India over the last 2,000 years. Using new mapping techniques and scientific analysis of ancient environments, as well as traditional archaeological research, you will learn how city life affected farming, food, and regional environments in ways that still resonate today.

David Antonio Cruz: When the Children Come Home

Institue of Contemporary Art | to

An artistic milestone and homecoming for painter and performance artist David Antonio Cruz, encompassing paintings, drawings, sculpture, and performance that center underrepresented communities; Mr. Cruz mixes art historical, literary, fashion, and pop culture references to reinterpret classical modes of figuration; Institute of Contemporary Art. 

Diversity Lecture Series at Penn

Online | to

You are cordially invited to this most timely and informative virtual presentation from Professor Cara McClellan, the founding director of the Director of the Advocacy for Racial and Civil Justice and Clinic and Practice Associate Professor of Law at Penn’s Carey School of Law.  Dr. McClellan will share how affirmative action benefits institutions and how the diversity it brings helps colleges and universities fulfill their educational missions.

Join Zoom Meeting [will be open ten minutes prior to the event]
https://upenn.zoom.us/j/99854593352

Global Discovery Series - The First Homosexuals: Imaging a New Global Identity 1869-1929

Virtual |

Jonathan D. Katz is perhaps the founding figure in queer art history, responsible for the very first queer scholarship on a number of artists beginning in the early 1990s. His scholarship spans a period from the late 19th-century to the present, with an emphasis on the US, but with serious attention to Europe, Latin America, and Asia as well. He has written extensively about gender, sexuality, and desire, producing some of the key theoretical work in queer studies in the visual arts.

Archaeology in Action: Maya Land, Identity, and Human Rights

Virtual | to

Activist Cristina Coc and Dr. Richard M. Leventhal will share how the Maya people of southern Belize are moving forward with the creation of a Maya Homeland with communally owned and controlled land and resources. They will also discuss the development of community museums in the region that focus on identity and representation.

The Overpolicing of Black Boys and Men: Reimagining Solutions to Collateral Consequences

Inn at Penn | to

Constance E. Clayton Lecture Series Presents:

Rashawn Ray is an AIR vice president and the executive director of the AIR Equity Initiative, which is a $100M+ investment in behavioral and social science research and technical assistance to address segregation by race and place. As Professor at the University of Maryland and Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, Ray’s research addresses the mechanisms that manufacture and maintain racial and social inequity.

Free to Learn as Us

Fitts Auditorium, 3501 Sansom St. | to

The Advocacy for Racial and Civil (ARC) Justice Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Law for Black Lives, and Penn Black Law Students Association will be co-hosting an event on Wednesday October 25, 2023, from 3:30-5:00 pm EST entitled “Free to Learn as Us.” The panel will focus on advocacy to ensure dignity and respect for students of all backgrounds in schools. Panelists will consider strategies for combating a hostile environment, including efforts to challenge book banning, harassment based on race and sex, and overly punitive, criminalized school discipline based on race and immigration status. This event will be open to any formal L4BL members, law students, community members, lawyers, and advocates. There will be an informal reception to follow.

The Naked and the Hairy: Material Memory and Jewish Record-keeping in Early Modern Europe

Kislak Center Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, 6th Floor | to

Elisheva Carlebach, Columbia University

Maidservants did it, midwives too, rabbis and merchants, cooks and laundresses—everyone, it seems, was keeping written records in the age of expanding literacy, access to texts, and proliferation of bureaucracy. This lecture will situate the record-keeping culture of the Jews of early modern Europe, with particular emphasis on communal records, within its larger European civic scribal context. A response in part to Randolph Head’s call to explore archives more broadly, we examine a body of writing that scholars seldom viewed alongside its European parallels. Politically, early modern Jews walked a fine line between their roles as minority subjects and the need to impose internal discipline. Together we will explore how material aspects of Jewish records illuminate the complexities of the lives they represent.

This lecture is sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Attendees are invited to a reception following the lecture.

“Twelfth Night” in 2023: Editing Gender, Sex, and Sexualit

Pavilion, 6th floor Van Pelt Library | to

Emma Smith on the intersection of contemporary and historical attitudes to gender and sexuality, using my current work editing Twelfth Night as the case study. I will draw on the First Folio stage directions and other textual apparatus, critical approaches to the play, and a set of questions about the obligations of editing in our contemporary moment. Is it relevant to think about editing historical texts in the contexts of social justice, or progressive politics, or does that undermine some sense of the editorial contract?

CDCS Colloquium: Asian Australians' digital identity performance on TikTok

Annenberg School for Communication Walnut Street Room 300 | to

Tisha Dejmanee is a Senior Lecturer and Head of Discipline of Digital and Social Media at the University of Technology Sydney. Her recent work examines the construction and performance of gender and race on various platforms and digital cultures. Her book monograph, titled Postfeminism, Postrace and Digital Politics in Asian American Food Blogs, was published in 2023. Her work has also been published in journals including Television & New Media; International Journal of Communication; Feminist Media Studies; and, European Journal of Cultural Studies.