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
“John Proctor is the Villan” – Multiple performances through Oct. 19, Pavilion Theatre, University Park campus. Penn State Centre Stage presents "John Proctor is the Villain," by Kimberly Belflower, directed by Steve H. Broadnax III. At a rural high school in Georgia, a group of lively teens are studying “The Crucible” while navigating young love, sex ed and a few school scandals. Holding a contemporary lens to the American classic, they begin to question who is the hero and what is the truth, discovering their own power in the process.
PHILADANCO! — 7:30 p.m., Oct. 10, Mukund S. Kulkarni Theatre, Student Enrichment Center, Harrisburg campus. Since its founding in 1970 to counter a lack of opportunity for dancers of color, the Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO!) has been hailed as a pinnacle and example of how predominately Black companies can exist and flourish. Across the nation and around the world, PHILADANCO! is celebrated for its innovation, creativity and preservation of African American traditions in dance.
OcTUBA 10: Azure Duo — 7:30 p.m., Oct. 10, Recital Hall, University Park campus. This concert will showcase the talents of Penn State faculty member Velvet Brown (tuba) and acclaimed pianist Ron Stabinsky, performing together as the Azure Duo. The program will include works by Florence Price, Barbara York, Roland Szentpali and more.
Smithsonian Academy Orchestra — 7:30 p.m., Oct. 11, Recital Hall, University Park campus. The orchestra will play symphonies by Haydn and Beethoven using replica 18th- and early 19-century instruments, including valveless horns, sheepskin kettledrums, and violins strung with sheep intestines. This concert represents a rare opportunity to hear these historic works on the instruments for which they were originally conceived.
“Mean Girls” – 7:30 p.m., Oct. 11, Pullo Center, York campus. From the comedic mind of Tina Fey comes this Broadway musical about a new girl at a suburban Illinois high school who works on fitting in. USA Today said, “We’ll let you in on a little secret, because we’re such good friends: GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!”
Supaman — Multiple events and locations, Oct. 13-14, University Park campus. Hip-hop and Native American artist and musician Supaman melds indigenous flute, tribal dance, and hip-hop rhymes and rhythms to spread his messages of hope and resilience. The Center for the Performing Arts, in partnership with the Penn State Indigenous Faculty and Staff Alliance and Indigenous Peoples’ Student Association, will host the empowering artist-musician with multiple events, including a free performance in Eisenhower Auditorium.
"American Mavericks, Malcontents, and Mischief-Makers" – 7:30 p.m., Oct. 15, School of Music Recital Hall, University Park campus. A new recital series titled "American Mavericks, Malcontents, and Mischief-Makers" celebrates the bold and rebellious spirit of music, highlighting groundbreaking composers and performers who dared to defy conventions. Each recital in the series will incorporate curated remarks delivered by the school's esteemed musicology and theory faculty, providing deeper insight into the inspiring music.
Ailey II – 7: 30 p.m., Oct. 17, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. Ailey II marks its 50th anniversary of merging the spirit and energy of the country’s young dance talent with the vision of today’s outstanding choreographers.
Events
LGBTQ+ History Month — Multiple events at various locations throughout October. October marks a month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history as well as the larger queer rights movement. Penn State’s Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity is hosting several activities celebrating LGBTQ+ history throughout the month.
"Blippi: Join the Band Tour” – 6 p.m., Oct. 10, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. Dust off the drum kit and tune up your guitar! "Join the Band” features musicians performing live on stage. Blippi will be joined by Meekah, along with their singing and dancing buddies and real-live musicians. They’ll explore what makes music, including sounds, rhythms and instruments — all through fan-favorite “Blippi” hits.
Cafe Laura Theme Dinner: "A Night in the Hamptons: Simple Elegance" — Oct. 10, 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.
Pride Parade — 6:30 p.m., Oct. 11, Downtown Altoona. Penn State Altoona and the Blair County Inclusion Alliance will host the Pride Parade on National Coming Out Day.
Queer Con with Carson Kressley — 3-7 p.m., Oct. 11, Perkins Student Center, Berks campus. This inaugural event will feature a presentation by celebrity guest Carson Kressley, television star and LGBTQ+ advocate. Free.
Latino Forum – 9:30 a.m.-noon, Oct. 11, Perkins Student Center Auditorium, Berks campus. The 12th annual Latino Forum welcomes regional high school students and the Berks County community for an event that celebrates Latino heritage. This year's keynote speaker is Javier Ávila, a professor of English, a poet, novelist and public speaker.
PA Dignity Day — Noon to 5 p.m., Oct. 16, Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center, University Park campus. Penn State and the Borough of State College invite students, faculty, staff, residents, visitors and others to share insights about fostering dignity in our workplaces, schools, communities and government during PA Dignity Day, a local celebration of Global Dignity Day. Free. Registration required.
Palmer Museum: Creative Self-Care Studio Session — 5:30-7:30 p.m., Oct. 17, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Get creative, connect with others, move your hands, learn about self-care art techniques, and take time to relax and rejuvenate through art-making processes in these drop-in sessions. Sessions will focus on therapeutic art practices for self-care as well as provide a time and place to build community with other creative people. Free.
Lectures
“In a Mirror, Dimly: Why AI Can’t Tell Our Stories, and Why We Must” – 9 a.m., Oct. 10, HUB-Robeson Center Flex Theatre, University Park campus. Professor Shannon Vallor from the University of Edinburgh is a former artificial intelligence ethicist at Google. She will present a public lecture as part of a two-day symposium on media, communications and ethics. Free.
Palmer Museum Artist Lecture: Holly Wilson – 6-7 p.m., Oct. 10, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Multimedia artist Holly Wilson is an enrolled member of the Delaware Nation, one of the five federally recognized tribes of the Lenape, whose ancestral lands include the area now known as eastern Pennsylvania. Her monumental sculpture titled "Bloodline (2015)," currently on display at the Palmer Museum of Art, explores both the long trail of Native American displacement and the rich lineage of family, history, and identity. Free.
“The Space of the World: Can Human Solidarity (And Ethics) Survive Social Media, and What If It Can’t?” – 9 a.m., Oct. 11, HUB-Robeson Center Flex Theatre, University Park campus. Professor Nick Couldry of the London School of Economics is a professor of media, communications and social theory whose work also has spanned media ethics and journalism studies. He will present a public lecture as part of a two-day symposium on media, communications and ethics. Free.
2024 Nelson W. Taylor Lecture in Materials – 8:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Oct. 11, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. The 2024 Nelson W. Taylor Lecture in Materials will feature keynote speaker Sossina M. Haile, Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and professor of applied physics at Northwestern University, along with additional talks from Penn State faculty. The theme of this year’s lecture series is "Materials for Energy Innovation."
19th Annual De Jong Lecture in Social Demography: "The World’s Population May Peak in Your Lifetime. What Happens Next?” – 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Oct. 15, Room 233 B, HUB Robeson Center, University Park campus and via Zoom. Dean Spears, associate professor of economics at University of Texas-Austin, will present a lecture on depopulation and declining global birth rates. This talk brings facts from demography, economics, and other social sciences and invites the audience to join a big conversation about a smaller future.
“Climate Change and the Environment” – 2:30 p.m., Oct. 15, Foster Auditorium, Pattee-Paterno Library, University Park campus and via Zoom. Professors Emeritus Andrew Carleton, Bill Easterling, Ian Marshall, and David Macauley will participate in a panel discussion that explores the far-reaching effects of climate change on various ecosystems and will feature topics on aviation sustainability, food security, and arboreal wisdom.
Slate legal correspondent Dahlia Lithwick — 4 p.m., Oct. 15, Greg Sutliff Auditorium, Lewis Katz Building, University Park campus. Dahlia Lithwick, senior legal correspondent for Slate, will explore how the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions are affecting the 2024 election and more. Free.
Panel discussion with news photographers — 7:15 p.m., Oct. 15, Kern Auditorium, University Park campus. Three photographers who covered the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in western Pennsylvania earlier this year will discuss that event and coverage of major news events in general. Free.
In-person exhibits
“Lost in Paradise” — Through Oct. 19, Friedman Art Gallery, Wilkes-Barre campus. A new solo exhibition by artist Seth Ellison will feature various paintings reflecting Ellison's life growing up in the rural South. Ellison is a Philadelphia-based painter and multimedia artist.
“Familiar Strands” — Through Oct. 24, McLanahan Gallery, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. Ivyside Juried Art Exhibition winner Zoraye Cyrus uses vintage photographs as the foundation for drawings that utilize personal experiences, family relationships and her Afro-Caribbean American heritage to delve into the intricate connections between belonging and identity. Free.
“Color Intaglio: Fauna, Flora, Figures” — Through Oct. 25, Sheetz Gallery, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. A body of work by Ivyside Juried Art Exhibition winner Yuji Hiratsuka reflecting on everyday human conditions such as wryness, satire, whimsy, irony, paradox or mismatch. Free.
Philadelphia Watercolor Society’s 124th International Exhibition of Works on Paper — Through Oct. 29, The Henry Gallery, Great Valley campus. This exhibition will feature a diverse range of styles and techniques, from delicate landscapes to bold abstracts, to evoke emotion, challenge perception and celebrate the beauty of the medium of paper.
“Made in PA” – Through Dec. 1, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. An ambitious show highlights post-1945 paintings, sculpture, mixed-media assemblages and installations by artists who hail from Pennsylvania or who have made their homes and sustained their careers in the Keystone State.
“Re/Collecting the Andes: Andean Art, Science, and the Sacred at Penn State” — Through Dec. 8, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. “Re/Collecting the Andes” tells the story of more than 10,000 years of agricultural, cultural, intellectual and religious innovation in the Andes region of South America. It also narrates how the Incas and their surviving Andean subjects reclaimed that legacy after Spain's invasion, through museums, science and art.
“Re(de)fining Landscape” — Through Dec. 13, Abington Art Gallery, Abington campus. Bonnie Levinthal’s work is rooted in the exploration and re-presentation of landscape, incorporating methods and mediums that connect process with content to create a visual record of her experiences in response to place. This exhibition showcases three bodies of work alongside artist’s journals, reflecting Levinthal’s response to place through a sampling of artworks completed at home and abroad.
"Caretelling: Stories to Sustain Ourselves" — Through December, Woskob Family Gallery, University Park campus. This interdisciplinary group exhibition explores the intersection of storytelling and caregiving through collaborative art-making, video installations and graphic narratives.
"Patterning with Heat and Water: Knitted Responsive Tension Structures" — Through December, Woskob Family Gallery, University Park campus. The exhibition showcases the responsive textile work of Felecia Davis, associate professor of architecture in the Penn State Stuckeman School’s Department of Architecture, and Delia Dumitrescu, director of the Smart Textiles Lab at the Swedish School of Textiles.
"Myth, History, and the Written Word: Manuscript and Print Culture in Latin America" — Through Feb. 7, 2025, Special Collections exhibition space, 104 Paterno Library, University Park campus. The rare and distinctive Latin American collections held by the Eberly Family Special Collections Library are the focus of this exhibition, curated by Manuel Ostos, librarian and curator of Romance Language and Latin American Collections. Free.
“Biomachine” — Through Spring 2025, Hite Lobby, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. A collaboration between Daryl Branford and Talley Fisher of Huck SciArts offers a glimpse into the microscopic world of viruses and is a reaction to how humanity must learn to coexist with them.
"I Am a Penn Stater: Nittany Lions in World War II" — Through June 2025, Penn State All-Sports Museum, Beaver Stadium, University Park campus. Timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the conflict, "I Am a Penn Stater" chronicles the contributions of Nittany Lion varsity lettermen and Women’s Recreation Association athletes during the conflict and follows their service from training in the United States, to fighting on battlefields around the globe, to their postwar occupations. Free.
Virtual exhibits
In addition to in-person events, a number of virtual exhibits are available through University departments. The Palmer Museum of Art and University Libraries offer a rotating selection of historical and artistic collections to view online.