Penn
Humanities Forum Programs
At the inaugural ceremony of the Penn Humanities Forum in February 1999, William
Ferris, then Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities,
called the humanities the intellectual air we breathe, the cultural
sea we swim in. It is where humankinds best insights into our values,
traditions, and ideals can be found.
The Penn Humanities Forum is charged with taking a fresh
look at ideas that touch on the human experience. The goal of the Forum
is to demonstrate the importance of humanistic thought across the arts,
sciences, and professions, and to invite the public and the university
to discover their common stake in the "thinking arts."
Addressing a different topic each year, the Forum supports an integrated
program of research, teaching, and interchange with the community.
Our annual calendar of public lectures, performances,
and exhibitions, many of them free, feature renowned artists, writers,
historians, scientists, philosophers, and others whose contributions
have helped to shape and reshape the human experience.
Each year, the Forum also offers topic-related fellowships to postdoctoral
researchers, faculty at Penn and Philadelphia-area universities, and directors and curators of cultural organizations in the region. Other fellowships
promote Penn undergraduate and graduate research.
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