What's happening at Penn State? Here's a look at some of the cultural events — both in-person and virtual — taking place across the University:
Performances
Delfeayo Marsalis and Uptown Jazz Orchestra — March 21-25, via livestream. The New Orleans jazz program includes mostly original music celebrating the resilient and triumphant nature of Americans in the Deep South, including modern riffs and gospel chants. Free, but registration required.
"Blood at the Root" — March 22-April 2, Pavilion Theatre, University Park campus. Penn State Centre Stage will present Dominique Morisseau's play "Blood at the Root," based on the Jena Six where six Black students were initially charged with attempted murder for a school fight after being provoked with nooses hanging from a tree on campus.
"Summer" — March 23-24, Making S. Kulkarni Theatre, Student Enrichment Center, Penn State Harrisburg. Penn State Harrisburg's School of Humanities will present its spring concert.
"theLASTree" and "Make or Break" — March 23-25, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Penn State Altoona. The campus presents a puppet show focused on the climate crisis and another on the culture of violence. Free.
"Charles Mingus Centennial Celebration" — 7:30 p.m., March 31, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis celebrate the 100th birth year of one of the jazz world's most explosive musicians.
Lectures
"Factors Associated with Sleep Quality in Hospitalized Persons with Dementia" — Noon, March 24, via livestream. Ashley Kuzmik, postdoctoral fellow in the Tressa Nese and Helen Diskevich Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence in the Nese College of Nursing, will be featured.
"Social Costs of Nutrient Pollution in the United States" — 3 p.m., March 24, 312 Ag Engineering Building, University Park campus. Catherine Cling, Tisch University Professor and director of the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future at Cornell University, will present a new model of nutrient pollution assessment that considers its social costs and could reshape the way the U.S. handles water quality. Free, but pre-registration requested.
Ret. Army Maj. Gen. John L. Gronski — 5 p.m., March 24, Penn State Great Valley. Ret. Army Maj. Gen. John L. Gronski will discuss lessons in leadership and his book "Iron-Shaped Leadership." Free, but registration required.
"Ritchie Boy Secrets" —1:30 p.m., March 25, Pennsylvania Military Museum, Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, and via Zoom. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Penn State and the Pennsylvania Military Museum are collaborating to effort a pop-up course with Beverley Driver Eddy, author of "Ritchie Boy Secrets: How a Force of Immigrants and Refugees Helped Win World War II."
E. Willard Miller Endowed Lecture: Stephanie Pincetl — 4 p.m., March 25, 112 Walker Building, University Park campus, and via Zoom. Stephanie Pincetl, professor and founding director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA, will discuss just transitions to renewable energy sources. Free.
"The Quest for Ethical Artificial Intelligence" — 2 p.m., March 29, via Zoom. Timing Gebru, a widely respected leader in artificial intelligence ethics research who said she lost her job at Google for raising issues about their AI practices and discrimination in the workplace, will discuss ethical artificial intelligence. Free.
"Soul of America" — 8 p.m., March 29, Schwab Auditorium, University Park campus. Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham will discuss historic moments of partisan deadlock in America and how previous generations pushed through. Free.
Museum Conversation: The Enduring Legacy of "An American Place" — 4 p.m., March 30, via livestream. Trained art historians, curators and museum professionals hare the exceptional impact of the works in 'An American Place' on the Palmer Museum's permanent collection. Free, but registration required.
Bracken Lecture: Alexa Vaughn — 6 p.m., March 30, Jury Space, Stuckeman Family Building, University Park campus, and via livestream. Alexa Vaughn, a deaf landscape architect and accessibility specialist at MIG Inc. whose work focuses on inclusive design for and with the disabled community, will present "Design with Disabled People Now: Including the Deaf and Disabled Communities in the Design Process." Free.
2022 Charles W. Mann Jr. Lecture in the Book Arts — 4 p.m., March 31, via Zoom. Tia Blassingame, Ben Blount and Tamar Evangelestia-Dougherty, members of the Book/Print Artist/Scholar of Color Collective, will present "Book Arts Advocacy: A Conversation with Members of the Book/Print Artist/Scholar of Color Collective." Free, but registration required.
Peter Pomerantsev — 4 p.m., March 31, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library, University Park campus. Peter Pomernatsev, a senior fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, will discuss his book "This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality." Free.
Events
Cafe Laura Theme Dinner: Yellowstone: An Elevated Western Experience — March 24, Cafe Laura, Mateer Building, University Park campus. Students in HM 430 Advanced Food Production and Service Management prepare a series of themed dinners throughout the semester to be served in the student-run Cafe Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Art After Hours: Penn State Creates — 5-8 p.m., March 24, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. The Palmer celebrates creativity across the University with its second annual virtual student exhibition, Penn State Creates. The museum is hosting an in-person reception for student participants and will feature comments from creators. Free.
2022 Graduate Exhibition — March 25, various locations, University Park campus, and online. The Graduate Exhibition includes visuals arts that will be on display at the HUB-Robeson Center gallery from March 25 through April 17 and a performance at 7 p.m. on March 25 at Recital Hall on the University Park campus.
WWE Road to Wrestlemania — 7:30 p.m., March 26, Bryce Jordan Center, University Park campus. Professional wrestling returns to the University Park campus featuring Roman Reigns facing Drew McIntyre and a three-way match between Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks and Natalya.
Maple Harvest Festival — March 26-27, Shaver's Creek Environmental Center, Petersburg, Pennsylvania. The Maple Harvest Festival returns for the first time since 2019 and will feature activities, live music, animal programs and an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast.
Virtual Wikipedia Editathon — 10 a.m.-3 p.m., March 29, via Zoom. In celebration of Women's History Month, Penn State University Libraries will host a virtual Wikipedia editathon focusing on Native American women activists. Free, and pre-registration is encouraged.
Cafe Laura Theme Dinner: Ratatouille: Flavors from the Big Screen — March 30, Cafe Laura, Mateer Building, University Park campus. Students in HM 430 Advanced Food Production and Service Management prepare a series of themed dinners throughout the semester to be served in the student-run Cafe Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Cafe Laura Theme Dinner: Welcome to the Wizarding World: A Taste of Magic — March 24, Cafe Laura, Mateer Building, University Park campus. Students in HM 430 Advanced Food Production and Service Management prepare a series of themed dinners throughout the semester to be served in the student-run Cafe Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Virtual exhibits
"The World According to Doyle: Editorial Cartoons from The Jerry Doyle Papers at Penn State" — This Penn State University Libraries digital exhibition examines Jerry Doyle, one of the preeminent editorial cartoonists of the 20th century. Free.
"African Brilliance and the Purpose of Art" — This interactive virtual tour accompanied the Palmer Museum of Art’s spring 2020 special exhibition "African Brilliance: A Diplomat’s Sixty Years of Collecting" and will remain available throughout the current academic year. Explore the exhibition installation, images of selected works, videos for guided viewing and related art-making activity suggestions. Free.
"Celebrating the ADA: The Legacy and Evolution of Disability Rights and Lived Experiences at Penn State" — The University Libraries virtual exhibit explores the first 100 years of national disability rights legislation and the movement's impact on the Penn State community. Free.
"Global Asias: Contemporary Asian and Asian American Art from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundations" — This web-based, interactive program from the Palmer Museum of Art features guided video tours of selected exhibition artists in addition to an introductory overview by the curator. Learn about the “Global Asias” concept of personal and cultural identity in a contemporary world. Artists featured include: Jacob Hashimoto, Dinh Q. Lê, Hung Liu, Takashi Murakami, Roger Shimomura, Do Ho Suh and Rirkrit Tiranvanija. Free.
"Pandemic Spaces (1918 Edition)" — The University Libraries virtual display explores architecture related to the devastating influenza epidemic of 1918. Free.
"Who Am I? Art and Identity" — This self-directed, interactive, online tour features a selection of objects from diverse areas of the Palmer Museum of Art’s collection, related through a common exploration of personal or cultural identity. Free.
"Women in Art: Activism + Resistance" — This self-directed, interactive, Palmer Museum of Art online tour is intended for college-level courses and features a selection of objects by female artists in the museum’s collection. In celebration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, this tour highlights artists working in a variety of mediums during the 20th and 21st centuries who have contributed to political, social and cultural change. Free.
In-person exhibits
"Golden Legacy: Original Art From 75 Years of Golden Books" — Through March 30, Madigan Library, Pennsylvania College of Technology. An exhibition of America's beloved Little Golden Books. Free.
"The Historic Hayfield House — Creating a Legacy" — Through April 1, Friedman Art Gallery, Penn State Wilkes-Barre. Images of the Hayfield House and the Conynham family, a part of whose estate was donated to establish the Wilkes-Barre campus, are on display. Free.
"An American Place: Selections from the James and Barbara Palmer Collection" — Through April 24, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, the Palmer is exhibiting its signature collection of American art. Free.
"Printmaking in the Age of Dürer" — Through May 8, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Engravings and woodcuts by Albert Dürer, Germany's most important artist of the Renaissance and the first to fully realize the possibilities of printmaking as an expressive vehicle equal to that of painting and sculpture. Free.
"Lunchbox Moments: Seek Understanding. Share Stories. Stop Hate" — Through May 15, exhibition cases, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. A multi-faceted exhibition about "lunchbox moments," formative occurrences in many Asian Americans' lives where a traditional Asian meal is eaten at school or home and the meal elicits some sort of reaction, whether it is positive or negative. Free.
"A Way Through: Abstract Art of the 1940s" — Through May 15, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. The exhibit provides the comprehensive look at midcentury abstraction in the Palmer's history. Free.
"FRESH" — Through May 17, HUB-Robeson Galleries, University Park campus. "FRESH" invites viewers to look for what makes someone unique as an individual and to celebrate each person's journey, and features works by Harrison Boden, Emily Furr and Sydney Lee. Free.
"Inside the Frames" — Through May 17, HUB-Robeson Galleries, University Park campus. The exhibit tackles the intricacies of body image and disordered eating, and promotes body positivity and acceptance. Free.
Zombie Ant Experience — Through May, School of Science complex, Penn State Behrend. An interactive sculpture melding art and science models the interactions between spores and ants. Free.