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
"Tartuffe" — Multiple performances, March 19-30, Pavilion Theatre, University Park campus. Penn State Centre Stage presents "Tartuffe" by Molière, translated into English verse by Richard Wilbur.
Bach's Lunch — 12:10 p.m., March 21, Eisenhower Chapel, University Park campus. "Bach's Lunch" is a weekly concert series during the school year. Concerts are brief in order to make it possible for the University community to attend during the lunch hour.
Classical Coffeehouse with Dover Quartet and Haochen Zhang — 7:30 p.m., March 21, Recital Hall, University Park campus. Pennsylvania-based ensemble Dover Quartet, designated one of the greatest string quartets of the past 100 years by BBC Music Magazine; and pianist Haochen Zhang, gold medalist at the 13th annual Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, will perform.
"The Wake of Jamey Foster" — 7:30 p.m., March 21 and 22, Wolf Kuhn Theatre, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. Through moments of laughter and absurdity, “The Wake of Jamey Foster” explores how our behavior changes in stressful situations and just how differently we process the deaths of our loved ones.
“Marcello Hernández Live" — 7:30 p.m., March 22, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. “Saturday Night Live” breakout performer Marcello Hernández will headline the second annual Campus Comedy Night at Penn State. Actor-comedian Matt Richards will open the event and Derby: A Women’s Comedy Troupe will perform an impromptu, pre-event set.
Jeff Dunham: "Still Not Canceled" — 7:00 p.m., March 22, Bryce Jordan Center, University Park campus. Comedy superstar Jeff Dunham will bring the second leg of his new 2023-2024 North American Tour "Still Not Canceled" to Penn State.
2024 President's Concert — 7:30 p.m., March 23, The Pullo Center, York campus. The annual President's Concert will feature Centre Dimensions, the Penn State Glee Club, and the Percussion Ensemble. This annual event is sponsored jointly by The Office of the President, the Penn State Alumni Association, and the School of Music.
Rhapsody series: "Romantic Extremes" — 4 p.m., March 24, School of Music Recital Hall, Music Building, University Park campus. Well-known and unknown, miniature and symphonic, beautiful and fun, profound and trivial — just a few of the character traits of a performance from Professor Timothy Shafer featuring a solo piano recital of music by Romantic masters Johannes Brahms, Amy Beach, Franz Liszt and Louis Moreau Gottschalk.
Events
Women's History Month — Multiple dates and locations. Penn State student organizations and units at campuses across the commonwealth will offer events in honor of National Women's History Month in March.
Café Laura Theme Dinners — Multiple dates and themes, Café 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 Café Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Penn State Startup Week — Through March 22, Multiple locations and via Zoom. Penn State Startup Week powered by PNC invites students from across the commonwealth to explore Penn State’s vast entrepreneurial ecosystem, learn from successful Penn State alumni, and connect with innovative peers through free, fun hands-on activities.
The Graduate Exhibition — 1-4 p.m. March 22, HUB-Robeson Center; and 7-9 p.m., March 22, Music Building's Recital Hall. Graduate students from a variety of degree programs will exhibit research posters, visual arts, musical performances, design projects and videos as they compete for monetary prizes and share their work.
Three-Minute Thesis competition — 10-11:15 a.m., March 23, Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center, University Park campus and via Zoom. The final round of Penn State’s inaugural Three Minute Thesis competition will showcase graduate student finalists and their work.
Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium — March 23, Business Building, Smeal College of Business, University Park campus. The Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium at Penn State includes presentations, discussions, workshops, networking, awards, and more focused on unlocking technology’s potential to improve teaching & learning.The event will include a keynote lecture from mathematician and Penn State alum John Urschel. A companion virtual symposium will be held March 28.
Garden Grow-How — 6-8 p.m., March 25, Heritage Hall, University Park campus. Gardeners of all ages, experience levels and garden sizes are invited to learn new gardening skills and get their hands dirty with the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm. The event is a collaboration with campus and community groups like the Penn State Community Garden, the Arboretum at Penn State, Zoils and Pigments, Student Farm Club and others.
Lectures
"Stories from the Field:" Brandi Robinson and Peter Buck — Noon, March 21, via Zoom. Brandi Robinson, associate teaching professor in the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, and Peter Buck, associate director of climate and sustainability education at Penn State Sustainability, who co-lead the Local Climate Action Program, will share insights about navigating the challenges and opportunities of building and managing an engaged learning experience for students while balancing the unique needs of communities big and small across the commonwealth.
“Beyond Content — Teaching for Civic Engagement and Participation” — 12-1 p.m., March 21, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library, University Park campus. Bryan Dewsbury, associate professor of biology and associate director of the STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University, will share his expertise in inclusive teaching in STEM fields and beyond.
Poetry reading: Patricia Jabbeh Wesley — 4:30 p.m., March 21, Lecture Hall room 223, Shenango campus. Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, the inaugural Poet Laureate for the Republic of Liberia and professor of English at Penn State, has been described as "one of the most prolific African poets of the 21st century." Free.
"Seizing the Means of Prediction: Why the Future Belongs to Property Speculators" — 3:30 p.m., March 22, 112 Walker Building, University Park campus and via Zoom. Rachel Weber, professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, will present an industry analysis focusing on the professionals that generate knowledge for investment funds involved in buying and selling commercial real estate.
EarthTalks: "The negative space of neighborhood change: the dynamics of neighborhood integration and segregation in the past four decades” — Michael Bader, associate professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University, will discuss links between long-term patterns of neighborhood racial change and the ways that race and class influence the housing search process.
"Landscape and the Working Country" — 4:30-5:30 p.m., March 27, Stuckeman Family Jury Space, University Park campus and via Zoom. Landscape theorist, historian, and designer Allison Hirsch visits the Stuckeman School to deliver a Department of Landscape Architecture Bracken Lecture as part of the school's Lecture + Exhibit Series.
Beekeeping Around the World: World Traveler — March 28, 12-1p.m. via Zoom. This session of the beekeeping webinar series will focus on the results of the speaker's 2022 Nuffield Canada Agricultural Scholarship, which allowed visits to beekeepers and agricultural partners in 13 countries around the world to investigate bee health challenges.
"On Finding Emptiness: The Harriman Alaska Expedition of 1899 & dAXunhyuuga" — 4 p.m., March 28, Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park campus. Jen Rose Smith (dAXunhyuu/Eyak), assistant professor of geography and American Indian studies at the University of Washington, will trace out the ways that her archival research regarding the Harriman Alaska Expedition of 1899 intersects with her community's language revitalization efforts.
Osaze Osagie Memorial Lecture — 6:30 p.m., March 26, Hintz Family Alumni Center, University Park campus. Savita Iyer-Ahrestani, senior editor of The Penn Stater magazine, will conduct a conversation with Sybrina Fulton, racial justice activist and mother of Trayvon Martin, a Black youth whose 2012 death in Sanford, Florida, helped spark the early #BlackLivesMatter movement.
In-person exhibits
“Animating Autotheory: Personal Essay Films” — Through March 21, Sheetz Gallery, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. Featuring work by Emerging Artist John Summerson.
2024 Golumbic Scholarship Exhibition — Through March 22, Borland Project Space (Borland Building room 125), University Park campus. The exhibit features cross-disciplinary works performed or created by 11 students from the College of Arts and Architecture.
Student art exhibit — Through March 29, Friedman Art Gallery, Wilkes-Barre campus. The exhibit features artwork by independent students and students who were enrolled in diverse Penn State Wilkes-Barre courses.
"Something About the Sky" — Through April 27, Ronald K. DeLong gallery, Lehigh Valley campus. A series of cloud drawing and skyscape light paintings featuring movement drawings created by Lori Hepner, 2023-24 Penn State Laureate.
"Under Pressure" — Through August, Woskob Family Gallery, Downtown State College. A participatory experimental art installation featuring the work of Ryan Kough, a neurodivergent artist, experimental letterpress printmaker and design educator who focuses on participatory community-driven social design initiatives.
"'Where Beauty’s At': Expressions of Black Visual Culture" — Through Sept. 9, Special Collections exhibit space, 104 Paterno Library, University Park campus. Brittany Frederick, a postdoctoral scholar with the Africana Research Center, and Adisa Vera Beatty, a Just Transformations Postdoctoral Fellow with the Center for Black Digital Research, have curated an exhibit highlighting the diversity of Black artistic and literary expression in partnership with Penn State University Libraries’ Eberly Family Special Collections Library.
"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.
Current virtual exhibitions include an exploration of the first 100 years of national disability rights legislation and the movement's impact on the Penn State community; a virtual exhibition of design, craft and makery; and a variety of abstract images that push the boundaries of photography as a medium.