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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 humankind’s best insights into our values,
traditions, and ideals can be found.”
The Penn Humanities Forum (PHF) is charged with taking a fresh
look at ideas that touch on the human experience. Our goals
are to demonstrate the vital importance of the humanities to the life of the mind and the health of society, and to invite people of all ages and places to join with the university
in discovering and celebrating their common stake in the "thinking arts."
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Public Events and Research Opportunities
Through annual theme-based programs (such as Human Nature, Origins, and Peripheries), PHF brings a new perspective to the study of human experience through public events and various research opportunities. |
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Eminent intellectuals and artists from around the nation and world bring their ideas to the Forum each year in public talks that engage the public and scholars alike. These events can include collaborations with galleries, museums, and performing arts organizations, whose exhibitions, performances, and other celebrations at Penn, in Philadelphia, and elsewhere enrich our understanding of those ideas. |
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Students, faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and directors and curators of area
cultural organizations who are interested in conducting original research on some aspect of the year's theme participate in PHF as Andrew W. Mellon Fellows. The Forum's undergraduate and graduate fellows also organize and host, often for the first time, symposia and conferences to discuss their research. |
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Collaborations and New PHF Programs
Humanists and scientists have much to share in our increasingly interconnected world. In keeping with Penn's rich history of such collaborations and to cultivate new directions in the humanities, the Forum intersects with many departments, centers, and institutions across the university's disciplines, schools, and professions on issues that may reach beyond the Forum's annual theme. |
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Launched in Fall 2012, PHF's Digital Humanities Forum is Penn's hub for collaboration and community-building in this emerging field. |
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The Digital Humanities Forum will offer research opportunities for faculty and students to join the widening conversation about methods and outcomes of digital research in which new techniques not dominated by the written word are reshaping the study and teaching of humanities disciplines.
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