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 through March 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 28, 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.
"Urinetown" — Multiple performances, April 3-5, Mukund S. Kulkarni Theatre, Student Enrichment Center, Penn State Harrisburg. The Penn State Harrisburg School of Humanities presents its spring musical.
Events
Happy Valley Animation Festival — Multiple events, March 27-April 5, University Park campus and via livestream. The Happy Valley Animation Festival, an international animation competition that seeks to showcase work by student, early career and practicing professional artists, designers and filmmakers, returns for its fourth year. Free.
Drake, Lil Wayne and Lil Durk — 8 p.m., March 31, Bryce Jordan Center, University Park campus. Produced by Live Nation, Drake's "It's All A Blur Tour — Big As The What?" will make a stop at Penn State.
Sustainability Summit — 3-9 p.m., April 1, Heritage Hall, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park. Penn State Sustainability and the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) are partnering again to gather students and others in visioning and planning for a more sustainable Penn State.
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. (Read more about Café Laura in this "Hidden Gems" article on Penn State News.)
Lectures
Beekeeping Around the World: World Traveler — March 28, noon-1 p.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.
Heather McGhee — 6 p.m., March 28, Freeman Auditorium, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus and via livestream. New York Times bestselling author and policy advocate Heather McGhee will deliver the Rock Ethics Institute's 2024 Richard B. Lippin Lecture in Ethics.
Penn State Forum Speaker Series: Lisa Salters — 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., March 29, Presidents Hall, Penn Stater Conference Center and Hotel, University Park campus. Lisa Salters, 1988 Penn State alumna, Emmy-winning sports reporter and ESPN sideline reporter, will present a lecture titled, "My Journey: From PSU to ESPN and ABC." Tickets required.
EarthTalks: "Low-cost sensors for environmental health applications" — 4 p.m., April 1, 112 Walker Building, University Park campus and Zoom. Kristen Koehler, associate professor in the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, will present a talk.
McCourtney Institute for Democracy spring speaker series: David Hogg — 7 p.m., April 1, HUB Alumni Hall, University Park. David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and co-founder of the March for Our Lives movement to reduce gun violence, will speak.
In-person exhibits
"The Other California: land, loss, labor, liberated futures along phantom shores" — Through April 25, Rouse Gallery, Stuckeman Family Building, University Park campus. Alison Hirsch, associate professor at the University of Southern California and landscape theorist, historian and designer, opens the exhibit as part of the Stuckeman School's spring Lecture and Exhibit Series.
"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.